Innholdsfortegnelse for Dec-2018 i Rugby World

“Super Rugby fits my game. I like it fast and open” GROWING UP I was more into soccer, but I started playing rugby at my school, Balmoral, and around U13s I got hooked playing at my dad’s club Pucará. Rather than follow my schoolmates to another club connected to the school, I chose Pucará, which is where my friends were and where I felt most comfortable. My brother, three years older, was already there and my father and uncle played for the first XV, so it was a simple choice. Already at school I noticed that I had speed and things started to work for me in sports. I got selected for U16 provincial trials and it all took off from there. I grew in confidence when I was a…

Rick Lads, I’m raging. Ken U okay, hun? Rick Rugby’s dead. That red card for England totally killed the match. Billy What?! He punched that bloke while he was jumping for the ball. Rick Okay, technically it IS a red. But it ended the contest. The game’s gone. Raj Stop being a snowflake! One incident in 80 minutes doesn’t mean an entire sport is ruined! Ken Okay, I’ll bite. How would you ‘save’ rugby? Rick Use cards properly. Punches, high shots – warning. Diving, which is rife, celebrating wildly, backchat – card ‘em. Raj Unbelievable…

HOW DO you define ‘greatness’ in rugby union? To play 100 Test matches for the All Blacks? Given their dominance of the sport, this seems a fair enough criteria. Only nine men have managed it. That’s endurance at the very highest level. Captain Kieran Read joined the illustrious club in 2017 and a second-row made it to three figures this year. Sam Whitelock led New Zealand out against Australia in the opening game of the 2018 Rugby Championship. And that’s about as much as any of us remember of him. Bar family and friends, the lasting memory was of his second-row mate, Brodie Retallick. Whitelock, well, as ever he was good, very good. But Retallick, he was great. None of this woolly notion of greatness for a couple of tries…

HERE IS a question for everyone in rugby in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Are we all missing a party, maybe the best party ever thrown in sport? Are we in the home nations either immune to sevens or unprepared to share in its glories? And despite the amazing profile given by the arrival of sevens as an Olympic sport in the heady days of Rio 2016, do we really care about winning Olympic medals? When the dust settled on the Rio Games, the sevens fan base increased by more than 30m. No, I’m not quite sure what that statistic means either, but the research was done by a noted company called Nielsen. World Rugby’s website also points out the biggest uplifts came in places like USA, China, India and…

Lending a hand Scotland have appointed two new assistant coaches for the season – sevens coach Scott Forrest (defence) and Bryan Easson (attack), who works at the Scottish Rugby Academy. Griggs’s picks Ireland head coach Adam Griggs has selected three development players – Beibhinn Parsons (below), Daisy Earle and Aoibheann Reilly – in his squad for the November Tests against USA and England. Growth spurt There has been a 14.6% increase in female playing numbers in New Zealand in 2018, with the number of registered players in the country now 27,838. Gardens party The Tyrrells Premier 15s final will be played at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday 27 April. There is an early-bird ticket offer of £5 for adults – see englandrugby.com/tickets for info.…

CHI’S JEWEL A £600,000 project, eight years in the making, has brought about the expansion of Chichester’s clubhouse into a lavish new facility for the community. To turn the Oaklands Pavilion scheme into reality, hundreds of hours of volunteer time dovetailed with donations, members’ loans and larger sums from bodies and individuals. Paddy McAlpine, the One South club’s chairman, said: “This is the place where lifelong friendships are made and rugby journeys begin.” That applied to Jess Breach, a former Chi youngster, who officially opened the clubhouse. Last year, the Harlequins wing scored six tries on her England Women’s debut. INITIAL STRUGGLES Hove captain Martin Macdonald has highlighted the challenges of going up a level. His club lost their first five matches in One South. He said: “We made a…

“You want an upright stance when kicking the ball, not bent over. That gets me more power and distance – and more accuracy – when I’m striking the ball. I use trigger phrases – get alongside the ball, stay upright, make contact through the ball. Because I’m focused on executing those points, I forget about the crowd.” “As I run up, I plant my left foot alongside the ball about a shoulder-width apart from it and look to hit the sweet spot with the instep of my right foot, then follow through. Don’t stop once you strike the ball, take your weight through it and finish past the tee.” “Once the ball is on the tee, I take four steps back and then five to the left, to leave myself…

1 DAN DAVIS Age 20 (17 September 1998) Born Oxford Region Scarlets Country Wales Position Back-row When did you move to Wales? When I was four. My parents are English but moved because of my dad’s work. I feel Welsh, not English. As soon as I started playing rugby I’d support Wales any day. When did you first play? I was about eight at Llandeilo. My dad used to play football but rugby is the biggest sport in Wales and I fancied playing for a club. I loved it. I worked my way through all the age grades, then Scarlets U16 and U18, then the national team, U18 and U20. Did you play any other sports? I played a lot of football and was in the Cardiff City Academy set-up.…

OURS WAS a classic love-hate relationship, writes former Scotland wing Kenny Logan of his national team coach Jim Telfer in his autobiography. I really didn’t like him back then, and I don’t suppose he liked me, but I was always desperate to impress him, and not just because he was the Scotland coach. By the end of my international career I was very fond of him and our relationship was excellent. I did all right on the (1996 Scotland) tour and if you went to New Zealand and played well, Jim would have respect for you. Mind you, I could have done with showing him a bit more respect in Hamilton. We were staying in some condos. One time I noticed Jim watching TV as I walked past his window.…

FUND-RAISER Brewery Field will host a charity match between a Gareth Williams XV and a Home Nations Deaf XV on 9 November at 7.30pm. Admission is £5 and proceeds will go to the MSA Trust in memory of ex-Wales forward Williams. STAYING PUT Munster scrum-half Conor Murray (right) has signed a contract extension with Ireland until June 2022. DOUBLE HEADER The Wallaroos will play their first Test in Perth when they take on the Black Ferns on 10 August 2019 before the Bledisloe Cup tie between the men. ITALIAN JOB The Italian rugby federation is set to become a Celtic Rugby shareholder in the next 12 months. The agreement would guarantee two Italian teams competing in the Pro14 until 2023 and provide increased funding, as well as a commitment to…

PUTTING AN England squad together for next year’s World Cup didn’t take me long – all 31 players are listed at the end of this piece – and I’m sure selection would change a little before the tournament as form and injury force people in and out of the squad. Still, the key for me in picking a squad now was getting a blend that would allow the right playing style as well as have the ability to change if and when needed depending on opponents or the environment. I don’t subscribe to the idea that you pick players in a squad because they have the flexibility to play more than one position, but those players are often the most talented and the best readers of the game, so I…

SPACE EXPLORERS Bridgnorth, of Midlands Premier, hope to develop a new clubhouse and car park, and have approached the local council about buying an acre-and-a-half of land close by. The club still use a former town centre pub for after-match hospitality. “We’re proud of being the largest community-based sports club in Shropshire in terms of playing membership, but that brings its own challenges,” said club chair Karen Sawbridge. “We’re eligible to apply for grant funding from the Lottery and the RFU to build a new clubhouse only if we own the land where the proposed building is to be erected.” STARDUST Dave Ellis, the former New Zealand and France defence coach, made a flying start after being appointed as head man by Two West (South) Kenilworth. They notched 124 points…

BORN AGAIN Remember Orrell, who spent ten years in what is now the Premiership until the spring of 1997? Their reincarnation is well under way since they disappeared from the higher echelons and resumed on the bottom rung in the South Lancs-Cheshire leagues. They’ve since climbed two levels, play at St John Rigby College, Wigan, on a floodlit all-weather pitch, and major and exciting plans are afoot. Paul Wingfield, who became head coach last January, said: “We’ve signed a lease on land for a new ground and need to raise significant cash to get diggers on site and foundations laid. “We don’t own a clubhouse but after several great years at the Delph Tavern we’re switching to Winstanley Tennis Club in Billinge. It’s a stone’s throw from our new ground.…

THIS YEAR’S Rugby Championship was one for Michael Cheika and the Wallabies to forget. Australia’s fall from grace throughout the tournament left them seventh in the world rankings, with some desperately poor performances and selection headaches to boot. The familiar blueprint of Wallaby rugby seems to have gone missing and the fabric of what has made them the iconic team they are is in danger of disintegrating, despite the amazing comeback against Argentina in the competition finale in Salta. In watching Australia’s performances, you get the sense they are trying too hard to find a way to resurrect themselves, leaving many doors open for the improved Springboks, the relentless All Blacks and the rapier attacking threats of the Pumas to exploit. If the coaches of the northern hemisphere teams are…

14th It’s decision time for the World Rugby Council this Wednesday as they select the 2021 Women’s World Cup hosts. Trans-Tasman rivals Australia and New Zealand – the two countries to have submitted bids – are going head-to-head, but who’ll get the nod? 26th Did you apply for 2019 World Cup tickets in the global ballot? Well, this is when you’ll find out if you’ve been successful. Remaining tickets will go on sale on a ‘first come, first served’ basis from 19 January – see rugbyworldcup.com/tickets 10th The eligibility debacle earlier this year was a double setback for Romania. Not only did it cost them their place at RWC 2019 but they must also fight to remain in the Rugby Europe Championship. The Oaks sat bottom of the table after…

Last person you phoned My mum – just checking in Most important person in phone Robert Croft. He sent us a video before the third (2017) Lions Test Last person texted Gordon Elliott, the horse trainer. A group of us own a horse News app Daily Mail Favourite social network Instagram. For highlights of American sport and cool photographs Last song played Murder She Wrote, Chaka Demus & Pliers. I’ve recently been listening to reggae Guilty pleasure app Ballz. It’s a game. I don’t play it much, just when I’m bored Music app Spotify now. It used to be iTunes…

IT HAS been a successful 2018 for New Zealand Schools, who won all three of their recent fixtures in Brisbane. They kicked off their campaign with a 54-0 thrashing of Tonga Schools, in which Gideon Wrampling crossed for two tries, and followed it up with a 55-31 win over Australian Schools Barbarians. Wrampling again scored a brace, as did Blair Murray. They completed the series with a 24-12 defeat of Australia Schools, with Murray, Saula Mau, Tamaiti Williams and Rivez Reihana all scoring tries. Fly-half Reihana scored 23 points across the three matches, while full-back Murray was awarded the Jerry Collins Memorial Bronze Boot. New Zealand’s Barbarians Schools team lost both their fixtures in Wellington, going down 21-20 to New Zealand Maori U18 and 15-10 to Fiji Schools. The Maori…

EDDIE O’SULLIVAN EX-IRELAND AND USA HEAD COACH We all cherish strands of our own culture but we don’t inflict them on opposing teams. In fact, rugby is the only sport that allows an international team the opportunity to demonstrate their culture immediately before the game and the opposition must passively observe that cultural demonstration. There is a sense of unfairness around a team doing the haka just before a game kicks off. The haka is a motivational tool and the ceremonial ‘war dance’ offers the All Blacks a chance to intimidate their opponents. Other than the opposing side standing passively in front of the haka, there seems to be no acceptable response available to the opposition. The NZ union has never offered an acceptable response to their opponents and New…

“My sister, Matilda, played water polo for Great Britain. She was made a Bristol Red (top sports achiever) when she graduated.” “I coach Cullompton in South-West One West. Will Chudley used to be the other coach but he left to go to Bath, so Tom O’Flaherty took over. I’m able to go to the majority of games.” “I studied English and sports science at Loughborough. I wasn’t as committed as I could have been – in my third year I was travelling to Nottingham virtually every day (for rugby) – but it was a really cool experience.” “My heart is in two places. I grew up in South London and my parents still live in West Dulwich, and that whole area really does it for me. Then I love it…

STORM ALI is battering Dublin on the day of Rugby World’s meeting with Rob Kearney. Pedestrians are struggling against the power of the wind. Trees have been brought down across roads. Flights are delayed. When we arrive at The Bridge 1859 – the pub Kearney owns with his brother Dave, Jamie Heaslip and Sean O’Brien – big piles of autumnal leaves have settled in the doorway, only to be blown into the air again when the next gust comes along. Yet when Kearney walks in, he’s completely unflustered – much like when he’s taking a high ball in a high-pressure International. He arrives without a coat or scarf, there’s not a hair out of place – and he’s ready to get straight down to the photo shoot, turning on the…

THE BATTLE of the boot began early that night in Paris, Greig Laidlaw doing his kicking drills down one end of the U Arena surrounded by his Clermont team-mates and Finn Russell doing the same down the other end, watched over by his new pals at Racing and an expectant home crowd. “Two Scottish boys in the middle of this very French rugby occasion,” says Laidlaw. “It was kinda cool. You know what Finn’s like. He’s all chat and crack. At one point in the pre-match I turned around and he landed a nice one, straight between the sticks. He looked down at me and gestured, ‘Look and learn. That’s how you do it’. Hahaha. “I stay in touch with Finn. I’ve been a bit of a sounding board in…

Name Jasmine Joyce Age 23 (9 Oct 1995) Born Haverfordwest Nickname Jaz Instagram handle @jasminejoycee Favourite film Matilda. It is so good TV show Love Island or Celebrity Juice Last book read I wanted to read The Girl on the Train and I did ten pages, but I lost concentration I like to cook… Chicken fajitas Rugby highlight The Olympics, Commonwealth Games, World Cup… there are so many Rugby lowlight I’ve not had any. There’s losing, but you’re going to lose. It’s been really positive…

FORWARD MOMENTUM Rotherham Titans struggled to adjust to their new lower-level environment in National One, but head coach Joe Barker had praise for both Yorkshire Carnegie lock Matt Smith, who has been working with the pack, and fellow coach Christian Head. He said: “They’re doing an outstanding job. The forwards fronted up against Darlington Mowden Park, who have controlled a lot of packs, and we really damaged them.” Titans lost 42-19 but soon inflicted a 29-12 win on Rosslyn Park before beating Sale FC 32-27. ’DALE DOUBLE Rian Hamilton not only became the 300th person to play league rugby for Wharfedale in 32 years but scored two tries on his Two North debut in a 26-19 win over Sedgley Park. The feat occurred the day before the wing, dual-registered with…

NEW BOUNDARIES Jenny Bosley is a pioneering Oxfordshire president, having become the first female to hold the office, but modesty prevails. “Other women have been presidents in the game but I feel privileged,” she said. “The support I’m getting from the clubs means a lot.” Her first involvement was with Harwell RFC, where she offered to help out Brian Flanders, the fixture secretary, for a fortnight. That was 30 years ago and she is still providing input at the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Premier club. Her love of rugby began while watching her other half play for Harwell and her interests widened with a role in 2005 as the county disciplinary secretary. Now a new chapter is about to be written. SUNNY SIDE UP Players from 15 clubs, some of…

1 Moving as one A lot of teams use a ‘shooter’ to jump out of the line and ‘spook’ the attacking receiver. This is causing the Wallabies problems as they’re slow to react either side of this player and aren’t getting the numbers and spacings of players correct either side of the rucks. Defensive alignment should be aggressive and in harmony, with every player moving forward together. 2 Chop away A low, hard chop tackle and a jackal over the ball allows the tackler to get to his feet and get back into the defensive line. If the jackal at least slows up play, Australia can fill numbers into their line so they’re better placed for the next defensive phase. The chop tackle also brings Pocock and Hooper into the…

1 MOVE EVER HEARD of recovery or smoothie bowls? Our nutritionist James Morehen believes they are the next big thing in elite nutrition. “They are a brilliant way to add in key nutrients depending on what the day or session looks like,” he says. “They are similar to smoothies but a lot cheaper than the ones you get at the shops!” He thinks they would make a perfect, pre-prepared breakfast addition. “The golden commandment for breakfast is take on protein” Regular readers know that we preach this a lot but for the uninitiated: the golden commandment for breakfast is to ensure that you take protein on board. When you sleep, it’s the longest period of the day that you go without consuming any protein, so it’s vital you get a…

Amateur sides can do it… So far this season I’ve watched three very entertaining matches involving amateur teams at level six. I haven’t seen a collapsed scrum, or a penalty given away at a scrum. I’ve seen two reset scrums, one of which was in very wet conditions when both front rows lost their footing. It makes me wonder why the highly paid professionals at the top of the game seem unable to master the basic skills of scrummaging. John Throup, Heaton Mersey, Cheshire Gold, silver and spice I’ve read a lot of complaints about international friendlies being pointless. In response, I’ve devised a competition similar to tennis’s Davis Cup format for the November Test window. The teams from the Six Nations, Rugby Championship and the two best-ranked countries outside…

I referee junior age groups from U12s through to U16s and recently I’ve seen, and been subjected to, a large rise in parents criticising from the touchline. I know rugby is subjective but more often than not these are people who won’t volunteer to help and certainly won’t volunteer to referee. Plus, how is a player expected to listen to and respect the referee when his or her parents don’t? In a recent match, one parent actually told his son on leaving the pitch that the result was purely down to my bad decisions and nothing to do with anything else! How can we expect our young players to thrive when this is the example being set by some parents? Keith Warhurst, Stockport, Gtr Manchester RW says: Spectator abuse is…