Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2020 i Rugby World

GETTING A sense of déjà vu? More than six months have passed since we were building up to the final rounds of the Guinness Six Nations; now the long-awaited championship climax is upon us. While a win in Italy will seal a Slam for England’s women, the men’s tournament is wide open, with four sides in title contention. This needs a ‘mathematically’ caveat as Scotland’s chances depend on Italy beating Ireland and England this month. Given the Azzurri have never beaten England and have conceded 94 points in three games this year, it’s unlikely they will be able to assist in the Scots’ trophy bid. Effectively it’s a three-way title battle between England, France and Ireland. Two bonus-point wins for Andy Farrell’s side would guarantee them the trophy. They should…

1 Georgia The delayed final round of the Rugby Europe Championship will take place next month. On 1 November, defending champions Georgia (below), the only unbeaten team in the competition, will host Russia while Belgium travel to Romania. On 15 November, the Spain v Portugal match will be held in Madrid. The promotion play-off between the Netherlands (the Rugby Europe Trophy winners) and the bottom-ranked team in the Championship (probably the loser of the Romania v Belgium match) will be on the weekend of 14/15 November. 2 Thailand With international competitions suspended, Thailand sevens coach Lote Raikabula embarked on a tour to six provinces in the country to host a series of rugby clinics and maintain the sport’s momentum. The former All Blacks Sevens player was joined by national players,…

CHARLIE EWELS is in relaxed mood. It’s two days after a telling win at Harlequins, two days out from the next skirmish against Worcester. Bath’s captain is being rested for that one, a well-earned breather during a punishing schedule. He is amused by the turn of events against Quins, when the sin-binning of hookers Jack Walker and Tom Dunn forced Bath to finish the match with 12 men and pack down for an uncontested scrum with Rhys Priestland and Will Chudley in the back row. “And there was me thinking the week before that we played the weirdest game ever against Wasps, when they had everyone throwing in,” he says. “Five days later we’re doing the same thing! I’m getting good at uncontested scrums. I’ve got Rhys on my left,…

MATT GALLAGHER had a secret on the day he played for Saracens against Munster in a Champions Cup group match at Thomond Park last December. There he was in front of 25,000 home fans and few, if any, knew he may soon be one of their own. “Outside of my family, I only told one or two people,” says the full-back. “I was totally focused on the game (Munster won 10-3), but in the back of my mind I was thinking, ‘This is a special place’. It was packed, the noise was amazing, the atmosphere was as good as you’ll find anywhere. “When I told my dad (John, the 1987 World Cup-winning full-back with New Zealand) that Munster wanted to talk to me, his eyes lit up. It was funny.…

ELTON JANTJIES is a self-confessed “workaholic”. That much was evident when, just a few days into lockdown, a video on social media showed him running through a sequence of tackling drills in muddy conditions in his garden. Jantjies’s garage had also been converted into a makeshift gym, allowing the Lions and South Africa fly-half to continue his strength and conditioning work even when confined to his home. Yet the 30-year-old is also a loving family man and while professional rugby in South Africa is now returning, the time away from on-field competition served as a reminder of the importance of having a balance between rugby and life away from the game. “I’m a workaholic,” he says. “I train non-stop and try to get better physically and mentally. I also enjoy…

IFE AT the sugar mill was, well, pretty sweet. “Cruisey” is, in fact, how Richie Arnold describes the laid-back life of driving loaders in New South Wales. He had, by his own admission, some leeway with the company. It helped that his identical twin brother, Rory, had gone on to play at the very highest level of Australian rugby having come through the same mill. So as Richie cut out early some days to traipse off to train or play, everyone hoped they would soon get to boast about another famous former employee. “There are probably tougher gigs!” the 6ft 10in second-row tells Rugby World. “When I started playing in Queensland, I’d have to knock off at the mill early to go up to footy. They were really good, though.…

TOBY BOOTH has just finished reading Consiglieri: Leading from the Shadows, by Richard Hytner. “It’s about how people influence as the second-incommand,” says Booth. “It’s all about influence and why it’s so important.” The word ‘consiglieri’ comes from the Mafia and refers to advisers to the leader. Interestingly, though, Booth is no longer the second-in-command or adviser, he is the top man, the leader, having taken over as head coach of the Ospreys in the summer. It’s a role he’s held before – he was at the helm of London Irish between 2008 and 2012 – but more recently he’s worked as an assistant coach at Bath and Harlequins. There’s a lot he needs to influence too, given that the Ospreys won just two games across both the Guinness Pro14…

LONG SERVICE AWARD “Retire? Not me.” That is the staunch attitude of Allan Robertshaw, 77, York’s fixtures secretary and former lock, despite 61 years of service to the club. He played for 44 seasons and earned a treasured place in the Guinness World Records after 1,075 first-team appearances and another 300-plus for the lower sides. Way back, he represented Yorkshire Colts, featured in five Yorkshire Shield finals and, until recently, was also the club’s registrar and grounds manager. York spokesman Rob Long said: “Allan is still ‘The Man’ after all this time. I saw him play the full 80 against Yarnbury thirds on his 60th birthday.” Robertshaw said: “My most amusing highlight was when a referee penalised me at a lineout with the words, ‘I don’t know what you’re doing……

WEEKEND 9-10 OCTOBER Gallagher Premiership Semis TV Both live on BT Sport Top 14 Agen v Stade Français Bayonne v La Rochelle Bordeaux v Clermont Castres v Brive Pau v Lyon Racing 92 v Toulouse Toulon v Montpellier FRI 9 OCTOBER Guinness Pro14 Dragons v Zebre (8.15pm) TV Live on Premier Sports Mitre 10 Cup Manawatu v Canterbury SAT 10 OCTOBER Guinness Pro14 Ospreys v Ulster (5.15pm) Benetton v Leinster (5.15pm) Munster v Edinburgh (7.35pm) Cardiff Blues v Connacht (7.35pm) TV All live on Premier Sports/eir Energia Community Series Ballina v Sligo Ballynahinch v Queen’s University City of Armagh v Banbridge Clontarf v Naas Cork Constitution v Cashel Galwegians v Galway Corinthians Old Wesley v Old Belvedere Rainey Old Boys v Malone Shannon v Highfield St Mary’s College v Lansdowne…

IT FELT like taunting fate when the Southern Kings were bailed out financially by The Greatest Rugby Company in the Whole Wide World (Pty) Ltd (GRC) last year. Could selling a hefty 74% stake in the Guinness Pro14 side to the less-than-modestly named business consortium safeguard the future of an outfit with a history of struggles? By the time Covid got its teeth into the professional game, we had the answer. In June, SA Rugby resumed control of the Kings after GRC failed to honour its contractual commitments. In August, the Kings suspended all rugby activities. In September, the company that trades as the Kings went into voluntary liquidation. Teams going out of existence ain’t new in this league. Many good people and fine players have felt the sting. For…

GIVEN EVERYTHING that has happened in rugby since Covid came into our lives – the mass cancellation of fixtures, the financial turbulence and the mad scramble to survive – Scotland’s spring of discontent seems insignificant by comparison. In real time, it was a gargantuan story, of course. Take yourself back to January when Finn Russell exited Gregor Townsend’s Six Nations squad, and then February when he went public on a whole battery of grievances against his national team coach, and you’re reminded of how thermonuclear it all was. In fallout terms, Scottish rugby hadn’t seen anything like it since John Jeffrey and Dean Richards played pass the Calcutta Cup on a drunken stroll around Edinburgh in 1988. Peace and understanding has now broken out between the protagonists. Or, should we…

PATIENCE IS a virtue, goes the proverb, so Rob Herring must be extremely virtuous. Born in Cape Town, the hooker qualifies for Ireland through his mother’s family, who hail from Belfast, and made his Test debut from the bench in Argentina in the summer of 2014, just two years after joining Ulster. However, he didn’t double that tally until facing South Africa in Dublin in November 2017. Then at provincial level, Herring spent close to a decade as understudy to Rory Best, who played into his 37th year Yet the past year has marked a change in fortunes for Herring. He’s now Ulster’s first-choice hooker, scoring a try as the province beat Edinburgh to reach the Guinness Pro14 final, and is set to hit the 200-appearances mark over the next…

ACROSS 1 Shane - - -, Connacht hooker sent off for leading with an elbow v Munster (8) 7 Do fraternal Welsh internationals Aled and Nathan fancy a cuppa? (4) 8 England World Cup winner who dyed his hair blond during lockdown (3,5) 9 Fans voted Jamie - - - Northampton’s 2017-18 Player of the Season (6) 10 Ryan Wilson and Owen Farrell were involved in a scuffle in the - - - at Murrayfield in 2018 (6) 11 - - - Cokayne, women’s hooker with Harlequins and England (3) 12 - - - Ross, former All Black lock who plays in the Top League (5) 14 Ross and Harry - - -, brothers vying for the Leinster No 10 shirt (5) 16 Chris - - -, Bristol forward who…

THERE HASN’T been a Premier 15s game for eight months and the competition will have a new look when it returns, with two new clubs in the line-up. Here’s your team-by-team guide for the English women’s top flight… BRISTOL BEARS Kim Oliver’s squad already had a strong Welsh flavour with the likes of Wales captain Siwan Lillicrap, fly-half Elinor Snowsill and scrum-half Keira Bevan involved. That has been further emphasised with the addition of more Wales internationals in Jasmine Joyce, Alisha Butchers, Kayleigh Powell, Natalia John and Courtney Keight over the off-season. The re-signing of Red Roses Amber Reed and Sarah Bern is also key. Inconsistency has resulted in mid-table finishes thus far but with international pedigree throughout the side, the play-offs will be in their sights. DMP DURHAM SHARKS…

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YOU’RE AN ambassador for mental health organisation LooseHeadz – how did that come about? It was quite mutual. One of the guys who set up LooseHeadz is friends with one of the Gloucester players and I’d seen what they’re trying to achieve. In today’s world everyone is fully aware of the discussion around mental health, so I felt if I could help spread a positive message it would be a good thing to do. World Mental Health Day is on 10 October. How important is it that more people are talking about it? A lot of people talk about how you should open up more but how many people actually do? We need to encourage people to do it, reach out to people we care about who may not be…

RUGBY’S RETURN has brought new reminders of what World Rugby is looking for in order to speed up the game. The chat about cleaning up the tackle area has brought short-lived hope and then the realisation that nothing really changes, players don’t improve their behaviour and most referees get caught in two camps, with continuity on one side and penalties (and structure) on the other. There was a good example of this in the Dragons v Scarlets game recently. The Dragons had a try disallowed after Taine Basham was deemed to be in an offside position as opposition nine Kieran Hardy tried to pass. The ball went loose and Jared Rosser scooped it up, ran and thought he’d scored… only for play to be brought back on TMO advice. The…

WOMEN’S RUGBY is a waste of time.” But it inspires the future generation of women to believe they can be whoever or whatever they want to be. “Women’s rugby isn’t a proper sport.” But it teaches girls that they’re physically able to compete in contact sports and to build their bodies for a physical purpose, not only to ‘look pretty’. “Women’s rugby is rubbish compared to men’s.” But it instils confidence in girls to challenge societal norms and be confident in carving their own future. The stories surrounding women’s rugby are a small example of the day-to-day gender stereotyping females go through. For example, being in a bar when that really friendly bloke asks what sport you play, then continues the quizzing including, but not limited to, questions like “Oh…

THE PANDEMIC may have put paid to the traditional November Internationals but there is still a feast of Test rugby to come this autumn. Following the conclusion of the Six Nations at the end of this month, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales will join Fiji and Georgia in competing in the Autumn Nations Cup over four successive weekends in November and December. The eight teams taking part will be split into two pools of four, with three rounds of group matches followed by a ‘finals weekend’ where countries will play against the side ranked in the same position in the other pool – 1st v 1st, 2nd v 2nd and so on. Group A features England, Georgia, Ireland and Wales while Group B has Fiji, France, Italy and…

JUST WHEN we needed calm and vision, we got Covid-19 and confusion. This should have been a period when those in charge of women’s elite rugby were laying down an alluring future in tablets of stone. Instead, there is sheer frustration. One of the keys would have been the future shape of the Six Nations, which has been struggling in key areas for some time and which really now should be looking to divorce from the men’s tournament and boost its own separate future. The great Danielle Waterman, now retired from rugby in favour of her burgeoning broadcasting career and coaching, believes there are some major issues to fix. In passing, it is preposterous that neither Waterman nor any of the great players have yet been asked to sit on…

DIVE TIME Chris Ashton produces his familiar ‘Ash Splash’ as he scores the opening try of the 2017 final, where Saracens beat Clermont 28-17 – the second of their three European titles. Ashton is the record try-scorer in European history, with 40. IN THE CLEAR Drew Mitchell delights his team-mates as he bursts clear of Clermont’s defence to score the crucial try in Toulon’s 24-18 final win. That victory ensured the star-studded French side became the first club to win three European Cup titles in a row. POWER LIFT Martin Johnson shows the Heineken Cup to Leicester fans at the Millennium Stadium after the Tigers had secured back-to-back European titles with a 15-9 victory over Munster. At the time, Leicester were the only team to have lifted the trophy more…

HOW WAS it for you? Lockdown posed problems for us all, but we’ve been heartened by the drive and ingenuity shown by so many grass-roots clubs over the past seven months. You’ll find some of those stories on pages 88-89. With no results on which to assess performance, we’ve awarded our first 2020-21 Team of the Month title to a club that, in the words of their DoR John Muir, “realised we had a bigger role to play than just offering rugby opportunities”. Stewartry, in Scotland’s South-West, were top of West Regional One when the 2019-20 season was interrupted in March. Despite having promotion in their grasp, they voted to nullify the season in the SRU poll that followed. “People were dying from coronavirus. Our priority was the safety of…

AS PART of a pre-season bonding exercise, Giselle Mather sent her Wasps squad on a scavenger hunt around London. They set off in teams, tasked with taking photos at various locations and spotting certain things, a golden retriever for one. For Ellie Kildunne, it was the perfect way to get to know her new team-mates. Kildunne only recently turned 21 but she’s already got an impressive rugby CV – try-scoring England debut at 18, nine tries in eight Tests, part of the England Sevens side that booked Team GB’s place at the Tokyo Olympics… The Olympics is still the ultimate goal but with England’s sevens programme up in the air, it’s on to another challenge for Kildunne – a Premier 15s campaign with Wasps. And she cannot wait to not…

THE BUS trip has always been the best part of amateur rugby. It gives you some incredible memories, of odysseys back from far-off lands. Win or lose, it does not matter because you’re with your best mates enjoying a beer. That feeling 100% translates to the professional game too, though it has undoubtedly evolved. For example, one of the best parts about playing in the Pro14 is that every second weekend you’re on a plane (well, you were before Covid. Cheers). You’re off to Belfast, Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh – some of the best places in the world for a night out. Generally you fly out the day before the game. The charter or commercial flight is set for the day after anyway, so it just makes sense to grant the…