Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2018 i Rugby World

IN RECENT years, talk of introducing promotion and relegation in the Six Nations has grown ever louder. Italy’s travails and the strides made by Georgia have been central to the debate, but as recently as 2014 there were also calls for Scotland to drop out of the championship after a dismal showing against England. The ability for any team, be it a grass-roots club or Test side, to aspire to climb the ladder is a crucial element in sport. If there is no way of moving up, a team’s motivation to develop and progress can suffer. Yet the championship has never had promotion and relegation. France and Italy were introduced when their form called for it. But adding Georgia or Romania, who won last year’s Rugby Europe Championship, to make…

WEEKEND 3-4 FEB HSBC World Sevens Series Men (Hamilton) TV Live on Sky Sports FRI 2 FEB Women’s Six Nations Wales v Scotland (6pm, Parc Eirias) TV Live on BBC Wales U20 Six Nations Italy v England (6pm, Stadio Enzo Bearzot) France v Ireland (8pm, Stade Amédée-Domenech) Wales v Scotland (8.15pm, Parc Eirias) TV Live on BBC Wales Anglo-Welsh Cup Scarlets v Sale (7.05pm) Dragons v Worcester (7.30pm) Ospreys v Bath (7.30pm) Cardiff Blues v London Irish (7.45) Northampton v Harlequins (7.45) TV Live on BT Sport Principality Premiership Bridgend v Cardiff Carmarthen Quins v Aberavon SAT 3 FEB RWC 2019 Qualifier Uruguay v Canada (Montevideo) Six Nations Wales v Scotland (2.15pm, Principality Stadium) TV Live on BBC France v Ireland (4.45pm, Stade de France) TV Live on BBC Women’s…

1 Chile Uruguay and Chile completed the men’s line-up for the Sevens World Cup in San Francisco in July after securing their qualification in Vina del Mar. Uruguay finished third overall in the two-legged Sudamérica Sevens Series – the first event was in Punta del Este – behind guest teams South Africa and France, while Chile were fourth. Both teams will compete in the World Sevens Series qualifier in April in Hong Kong – they each played there last year (below) – while Uruguay will feature in the Las Vegas and Vancouver legs too. 2 USA The Under Armour All-American game in Orlando in January gave high-school American Footballers a chance to impress college scouts – and Tyrese Johnson-Fisher (above) became the first non-American to play in it. The teenage…

 MATHIEU BASTAREAUD’S three-week ban for homophobic abuse towards Sebastian Negri in Toulon’s game against Treviso has generated a lively debate. Why did rugby baulk at the opportunity to live up to its values? The statement announcing the ban was issued by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) on the same afternoon that James Haskell received a four-week suspension for his poor tackle on Jamie Roberts. Naturally, comparisons were made about the leniency of one compared to the other, but Bastareaud’s disgusting language should be taken in isolation. Our game trades itself on its core values; differentiates itself on the respect there is between its players, coaches and fans; and celebrates its much-hyped inclusivity as well as the work that it is doing to improve diversity. So when handed footage of a…

“In a game of giants, he makes a place for players of speed, skill and guile” IT’S TEN years since Doug Howlett arrived at Munster and was given a heads-up about a new team-mate. “My New Zealand colleagues, Rua Tipoki and Lifeimi Mafi, were here at the time and told me, ‘Look out for this kid, Keith Earls. He’s got it.’ It didn’t take long to see that this guy was a talented individual.” As New Zealand’s record try-scorer and not long out of a 62-cap Test career, Howlett made an ideal mentor to his fellow winger, who was then 20 and a few months away from making his Ireland debut. Ironically, Earls now has 62 caps, so his next appearance will take him past the great All Black who…

Team-mate you’d like to be Sarah Law, because she is very calm and very organised in life and on the pitch, and has incredible knowledge of the game Best rugby memory I have two – beating Wales at home and captaining the sevens team to promotion in the summer Surprising fact about yourself When I was younger I looked like Dora the Explorer because of my hair AT JUST 20 years old, Lisa Thomson is already a history maker in Scottish rugby. Part of the new breed of young Scots who have broken into the national side and helped the team win their first Six Nations games in years with victories against Italy and Wales last year, she is now one of only three Scotland players with a full-time contract…

LAYING ROOTS Midlands Premier club Bournville have appointed Birmingham builders Logmoor, owned by ex-Moseley captain Dave Warren, as contractors for their new £4m HQ in Edgbaston. Work on laying an artificial pitch at the ground in Sandon Road has begun, with the construction of the clubhouse due to start next season. The 14-acre site will have two full-size grass pitches and an artificial one. It will be the club’s first permanent home. STOP SIGN Telford Hornets attribute their climb to the top of Three West (North) to improved defence. Their opponents scored only 53 points in ten league games. “We’ve been working on defence for the past few years,” manager Roger Bates said. “If you look across league tables, as far as the Premiership, you’ll struggle to find such a…

TEEN DREAMS Aspatria had reasons to be cheerful as three teenagers helped them top North Lancs-Cumbria at the halfway stage. Secretary Barney Clegg said: “It’s been great to see wing Patrick Noutch, fly-half Josh Watson and centre Fraser McNee proving their capabilities. It augurs well.” They scored 14 tries between them in 15 appearances, with Noutch getting eight in six games. “I can’t recall any previous club coming up from the Cumbria League, as we did, and going straight to the top of North Lancs-Cumbria,” Clegg added. “The side has done exceptionally well.” LUCKY 13 York broke a club record that had stood for 33 seasons when achieving their 13th consecutive win, by 31-5 over Old Brodleians in Yorkshire One. Prop Lewi Jackson and scrum-half Alistair Bradford, both 18 and…

HOME, AWAY, I’ve never been all that bothered, certainly not at international level. For clubs it’s a slightly different story, as clearly any away match in the UK will likely involve a just-slightly-too-long coach trip. For starters, going by bus is no way for a grown man to travel. You can feel the macho being sucked out of you with each slowly-passing mile. So three hours on a coach, followed by a Travel Tavern’s interpretation of pre-match fuel (boiled chicken, pasta drowned in Dolmio and dessicated sandwiches) is no way to go into your Saturday business in the best fettle. But once one reaches the Six Nations, one’s comfort and ease becomes of paramount importance to a small army of lackeys, and long Saturday morning schleps and awful pre-match grub…

Who’s the biggest character in the Quins changing room? Dave Ward. And in the backs, Danny Care is pretty quick-witted. I room with Dave (Ward), I’m the sensible roomie. He says I shower too often so he buys loads of Dove stuff and makes out it’s been sent by them because I’m such a loyal customer. He knows far too much about me – he does his research, I’ll give him that. And who makes you laugh the most? Joe (Marler). He’s pretty bright and understands what makes people tick. He likes making people feel as socially awkward as possible, but he’s a great guy to have around. A one-off. What makes you chuckle online? The Betoota Advocate, a satirical newspaper about a typical Aussie town. There are clever headlines…

WHEELCHAIR RUGBY has become more inclusive with the launch of a new game, Wheelchair Rugby 5s. The strict disability criteria that applies to major competitions like the Paralympics has been relaxed, allowing less-disabled players to participate. The move will help sustain the growth of wheelchair rugby following a surge of interest in the sport since London 2012, with the number of UK clubs having risen from eight to 22. Adam Simmons, Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby’s projects officer, oversaw the launch of the new game at Stoke Mandeville Stadium in December. “Despite bad weather we were able to make four sides from those who got there,” he says. “And if there was any doubt before that 5s was needed, the smiles on the players’ faces removed those concerns. “Rugby 5s is…

FORD FOCUS “This was a newspaper shoot. My dad (Mike) was coaching at a high level and with Joe being at Northampton and me being at Leicester there was a club rivalry, so they got us all together. We’re not playing first team there by any stretch of the imagination, we’re both trying to break through. “I’ve played against Joe two or three times in my career, and we played two games together for Leeds when I went on loan there. “But this season is the first proper time we’ve been at the same club and I’m loving it. It’s great to see what he does day-to-day; he’s a brilliant professional and as brothers it’s gone from not seeing each other as much as we’d like, to seeing each other…

IF YOU are a big name in Galway, it is tough for you to be aloof. With such a close-knit community, you had better be prepared to get to know the people of your adopted town. Just as Bundee Aki has done. With three examples in quick succession, the energetic Connacht and Ireland centre illustrates how he finds himself yammering away in and around his home in the West of Ireland. At first, he explains how he can find himself deep in conversation with the public at Fat Tony’s Barber Shop. It’s an easy-going atmosphere in there and the staff look after Connacht’s stars like him when he’s getting the works, so why not pass the time of day? The next example is of Aki’s stint in a recent Visit…

10 WALES 31-24 SCOTLAND 13 FEB 2010 Scripts don’t come this far-fetched. This match had everything, including a near-catastrophic injury for Scotland wing Thom Evans as his head snapped back when being tackled. He never played again professionally. That was the bad news; the good news was a game of high drama that saw the Scots seize control from the off. Leading 21-9 in the second half, they butchered a try through Sean Lamont’s forward pass. It mattered not, we all thought, especially after Dan Parks responded to Lee Byrne’s try by dropping a goal. But then things went crazy. The final six minutes saw Scott Lawson and Phil Godman binned, and Leigh Halfpenny’s try and Stephen Jones’s penalty level the scores with 14 seconds left. Down to 13 men,…

SATURDAY 10 FEBRUARY looms large in the diary in the Greene King IPA Championship. That’s the day the league’s leading sides, Ealing Trailfinders and Bristol, meet in a 7pm kick-off in West London. Big-spending Bristol may be favourites to be promoted back to the Aviva Premiership, but Ealing have not given up hope of finishing top themselves. “Probably on paper they should (go up) with the money they’ve spent, but we’re not accepting that,” says Ealing director of rugby Ben Ward. “They’ve got to come to our place and we’ve got to keep trying to knock off wins. We’ve got a good opportunity to keep putting in performances and pressure can do wonderful things in sport.” It’s a mark of Ealing’s progress in recent years that they are even part…

THE SEVENS World Cup in July will not only mark the end of the international season, it will call time on the 13-year career of an iconic athlete. Since 2012, fans have witnessed Jen Kish pummel through the field in the World Series. But she will be hanging up her boots in the summer. “I intended to retire after the 2016 Olympic Games, but I was not fully ready to,” Kish tells Rugby World. “The only thing I was certain of was moving back to my hometown, Edmonton. Since I moved back, I’ve trained away from the team and it’s getting harder each year to stay at the level of play I want to be at. Ending my career after a World Cup seems fitting. I’d like to leave the…

HUNDRED UP Rochford Hundred have laid a proud claim to be the top-scoring team in England. By early January they had amassed 782 points while winning all 13 matches in Two North-East. Their closest rivals were Bedford Athletic, with 751 in 15 Midlands One East games. Rochford DoR Chris Green brushed off his side’s success, saying: “We still need to be doing more and I’m looking forward, not back. We need to kick on.” Full-back Mark Billings was the top try-scorer with 16 as Rochford topped a half-century of points nine times, their biggest haul a 97-12 win v Chelmsford. NAVY COUP Petersfield have created a fund-raising tradition with their annual floodlit match against the Royal Navy. The third such fixture raised £2,400, with players combining from the three senior…

Reece Frith No Rieko Ioane in the top ten? Is the northern hemisphere so envious of the All Blacks? Rohit Ponnaiya IMO Amanaki Mafi should be in the top 20 – was raised in Tonga and plays for Japan Jefferson Nuualiitia Farrell over Beaudy? You guys know as much about rugby as I do underwater knitting Derek Brown Impossible to compare positions, they all require specific skills. Would a prop ever be No 1? _lucajh You should give a trophy and do the rugby equivalent of football’s Ballon D’Or rugbymindset Young All Black Damian McKenzie (54 on the list) has come a long way this year guy.wilson2580 Good to see Welsh flanker James Davies make your list. He’s underappreciated M1lo_lucas Charles Piutau is a class player but he’s not better…

TWO YEARS ago, Dylan Hartley came up to Ben Scully and asked: “What is your role?” It was a fair question. Scully had been working in Eddie Jones’s set-up for a couple of months but the players didn’t know what his remit was. So who was he? Simply put, Scully was Eddie’s intern. When Jones took charge of England, he wanted to bring a community coach in as part of a development programme and Scully was the first pick. The Sudbury coach was with the squad two or three days a week during tournaments in 2016 and went to training camps, and his role was to ensure Jones had everything he needed – moving kit, setting up the pitch for sessions and so on. There were also occasions when Scully…

WITH PLAY marching into extra-time, the ball is fired out to Kazuki Himeno. The 23-year-old lock has been a star for Teikyo University, is a relative newcomer to professional rugby and this is his International debut. But as the menacingly-sized Wallaby Lopeti Timani bears down on him, the young second-row absorbs a hit, spins, then powers forward and over the line to score his first-ever Test try. The Nissan Stadium in Yokohama erupts. Rugby World are in the capital of the Kanagawa Prefecture, the birthplace of Japanese rugby, to see the venue of the 2019 Rugby World Cup final. This stadium will stage some of the most exciting matches at the RWC, so there is every reason to study this battleground on a match day. However, while we arrived thinking…

Cheetahs wing Makazole Mapimpi has led the way in the Guinness Pro14 this season, topping the stats tables with nine tries and 19 clean breaks. Yet the 27-year-old has now joined the Sharks ahead of the new Super Rugby season. We find out more about his busy few months… How did you find playing in the Pro14? It’s tough. It’s not the same as Super Rugby. It’s not as quick but is very physical. Did you enjoy the overall experience? It’s nice to go to different places but coming from South Africa to play in Ireland and Scotland is difficult for us with the weather. It’s so cold! Do you think it’s good for South African sides to play in Pro14? It was definitely good for me. It’s great for…

STAYING POSITIVE Broadstreet head coach Paul Hurst believes his side can still escape relegation despite losing 14 of their first 17 league matches. The Coventry-based club were transferred to Two South as part of the restructuring required after the demise of London Welsh last term, so are in new territory. “I’m confident we can maintain Level Four status,” Hurst said. “It’s important everyone believes this is where we should be. The step up from National Three is huge and we have a young squad, but we must keep working hard.” NATIONAL SERVICE Five players from Two South club Bury St Edmunds have won recent honours for their respective countries. The roll of honour is headed by Matt Harrison playing for England Academy Sevens, Conan Osborne for Jamaica in the abbreviated…

STACE STATION Centre James Stacey, a 22-year-old personal trainer, was appointed Oxford Harlequins’ first-team captain in mid-season. He took over from Allan Purchase, who remains club captain after initiating the change in his belief that the young squad would benefit from a leader of a similar age. SUPER SAM Mixed martial arts fighter Sam Stockdale is adding his power to Plympton Victoria’s Devon Two campaign. He scored a hat-trick in the 43-0 win over St Columba & Torpoint and coach Chris Hunt said: “Sam’s strong and fast around the field.” NIFTY 50 Salisbury Colts are marking their 50th anniversary with a dinner on 7 April. They’ve provided 11 players for various international levels, their two most famous products sharing the same name: Richard Hill, respectively an England back-row and scrum-half.…

1 Scotland are developing ball-playing and carrying forwards. Three forward runners look like they are about to thrust forward. The middle man, hooker Stuart McInally, passes the ball out of the back of these three players to the hidden Finn Russell. 2 Russell hits the ball at pace, posing a real threat to the defensive line. The previous play has committed All Black defenders. Russell commits and holds even more as he runs and squares up close to the New Zealand line. 3 There are forwards in the wider channels – some act as ball-carriers, some as decoys. Here, lock Grant Gilchrist runs a hard ‘unders’ line – targeting the inside shoulder – to try to hold even more All Black defenders. 4 Huw Jones and Byron McGuigan are the…