Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2019 i Rugby World

ENGLAND 40 AUSTRALIA 16 Saturday 19 October | Oita Stadium. Att: 36,954 IN THIS MATCH Eddie Jones maintained his victorious run against Australia as England coach, making it seven out of seven as his side recorded their biggest-ever knockout win to reach the last four for the first time since 2007 – and inflicted the heaviest RWC defeat on Australia. Jonny May marked his 50th cap by becoming the first England player to score a brace in a World Cup knockout match since Rory Underwood and Will Carling did so in the 1995 semi-final against New Zealand. TURNING POINT Kyle Sinckler had a stormer, scoring England’s third try and getting on top at the scrum, but the pivotal moment came midway through the second half. As the Wallabies sent runner…

FRANCE 23 23 ARGENTINA 21 Saturday 21 September Tokyo Stadium. Att: 44,004 IN THIS MATCH Despite coming off worse in terms of possession and territory, France dominated the attacking stats: ten line breaks to Argentina’s four, 24 defenders beaten to 12, 19 offloads to six. Yet they conceded 13 penalties to the Pumas’ five and only scraped home in the face of a fierce Argentina fightback. TURNING POINT In a classic game of two halves, France led 20-3 at the break before Argentina came back thrillingly to take the lead in the 69th minute. Camille Lopez steadied the French ship with a drop-goal from the restart – see The Analyst on page 122 – and they held on for the win as Emiliano Boffelli missed a long-range penalty. Argentina felt…

21st Battersea Evolution is hosting a special charity dinner this Thursday for two rugby legends in Matt Hampson and Doddie Weir (below). The captains-themed event will be attended by a host of big rugby names and will raise funds for the two former players’ charities: My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and the Matt Hampson Foundation. See matthampson foundation.org 22nd  Fancy a Friday night rugby chat? Mike Tindall will be at the Walkabout in Bournemouth as part of the For Ruck Sake Rugby Legends Tour (tickets £19.95). Events across the UK are raising money for several charities. See https://forrucksake.co.uk for info. 14th To mark the end of Warren Gatland’s reign as Wales coach, he is releasing an autobiography this Thursday. The book, published by Headline, covers his journey from player to coach…

Last person you phoned My brother, Francisco. To meet him Most important person in phone My girlfriend is the one I have most contact with Last picture taken I took a picture of my dog and sent it to a friend Favourite social media Instagram. I have Twitter but don’t use it Last song played I’ll check Spotify… It was Arruinarse by Tan Biónica Last app downloaded The Headway audiobooks app Guilty pleasure app To be honest I don’t spend much time on my phone Favourite WhatsApp group The busiest is with my rugby friends from Belgrano…

HE WORLD CUP was not without controversy. The increased focus on player safety meant we saw more red cards in this tournament than any other, with high tackles and dangerous play always in the spotlight. Given the publicity surrounding changes to the way referees have been asked to view contact with the head, neck and shoulder, the fact Michael Cheika claimed he no longer recognised the laws of the game came as a surprise. He even said he was “embarrassed” by the decision to penalise Samu Kerevi for ‘leading with the arm’ when going into contact with Rhys Patchell in the Australia v Wales pool match. There was disbelief that this incident was even penalised, let alone involved a TMO review. Yet with the heightened awareness of dangerous play, we…

1 ARWEL ROBSON  Age 22 (21 Feb 1997) Born Caerphilly Region Dragons Position Fly-half When did you first play rugby? At 11. I went to a district trial for Rhymney Valley schools and got picked. Then I played for Wales U11. I was into football and had trials at Cardiff City, but once I played for Rhymney Valley I fell in love with rugby. Have you played other positions? A bit of 15 but I’ve always been a ten really. Who did you admire when you were growing up? Dan Carter, I loved the way he controlled games. And Gavin Henson. It’s mad that I’ve had a chance to play with him these last two years! To think I watched him on the telly in 2005 when he got that…

“Whether you’re wearing the shirt or carrying the bags, it’s amazing to represent South Africa. And to captain the side (against Namibia), in a World Cup, was a dream come true. As for playing at eight, I played eight for the Stormers quite a bit and in general play I’m mostly on the wings anyway!” “My boys want me to score tries so I wear the red scrum cap, so they can see me. And because my wife (Colinda) doesn’t want me to get cauliflower ears!” “The 2015 World Cup was special but this was an unbelievable World Cup. It was amazing to be part of. The way Japan embraced this World Cup was unbelievable. We were treated like royalty.” “ Japan is a totally different culture to what I’m…

“I DECIDED to retire in 2014 because my body needed rest and recuperation. I was tempted to play for one extra year but it was the right choice to stop. “When I stopped playing I decided to concentrate on my own inner healing and spiritual works. I wanted to find out, ‘Who am I?’ When professional athletes finish it can be devastating. Why? It is when the identity that was created over so many years is lost – but it can be the ultimate catalyst for self-discovery! “I’m an entrepreneur, a transformational retreat facilitator. I look after healing journeys. I’m the community leader at Rama Organica Organic Farm in Costa Rica. See us at ramaorganica.com. “I’m passionate about organic lifestyles. On our farm we use no modified crops or pesticide…

THE RUGBY World Cup had barely begun when the sport’s governing body released a stunning missive, saying that in the opening week of the competition the referees “were not consistently of the standards set by World Rugby and themselves”. It was a stinging rebuke. From the start of RWC 2019, noise swelled about missed incidents, what went on at the breakdown and offsides. And World Rugby, who wanted to clamp down on contact with the head in particular, introduced the officials to the underside of the bus early. The message was clear and a flurry of cards ensued. Things would slow down in the knockouts, but fans were treated to more cheese and tomato than they would have expected. There were a record seven reds in the pool stages, while…

FACT FILE Age 33 (21 Jan 1986) Born Osaka Position Hooker Club Wild Knights Height 5ft 11in Weight 16st 5lb Japan caps 66 (10T) Twitter @shotahorie FOR A man who at one stage feared he might not be fit enough to make the World Cup, Japan hooker Shota Horie had a tournament to remember. The 33-year-old underwent surgery last November to treat a stress fracture in his right foot and was due to return to action in July or August, giving him little time to prove to Jamie Joseph he was match-fit and worthy of selection. However, as he has done in the past – most notably returning from a neck issue in 2015 – Horie bounced back quickly. Not only did he resume training and playing months ahead of…

THE HIGHLIGHT of the whole Japanese experience for inveterate travellers was blindingly obvious from an early stage of the World Cup. The Shinkansen – bullet train – simply shrivels Japan up. It is so beautiful, so rapid and so efficient that the country seems way smaller than it actually is. The precision of the whole thing is extraordinary. You stand exactly by the door to your carriage, which is indicated on the station platform. Every seat is reserved in advance except for a few coaches for latecomers. It is always spectacularly, inevitably, on time when it arrives and when it drops you off. No messing around, you jump off at your exit and it glides elegantly away to hit the schedule at the next stop. Rolling stock? Absolutely tons of…

BY HALF-TIME in their Pool A loss to Japan, Ireland centre Garry Ringrose had blazed past five defenders and made four line breaks. Despite the 19-12 defeat, he would end up skinning two more players and throwing a few fine offloads. After the match he was gifted with a replica samurai sword, a token of respect from the mightily impressed Brave Blossoms. Ireland may have misfired in Japan but Ringrose has earned a lot of praise from his peers. “He’s been absolutely outstanding,” flanker Josh van der Flier tells Rugby World after the quarter-final loss to New Zealand. “Even against Japan, when we didn’t quite perform as well as we wanted, Garry was outstanding. For me, he’s been the standout player for us this World Cup. I think he’s been…

“I come from a place where we have to fight for everything.You can’t show weakness” HIS NAME is Tagir Gadzhiev but some call him Tiger. “That’s what he is,” says Lyn Jones, the Welshman in charge of Russia at the World Cup. “He’s a tough boy, a blindside or openside flanker who could play at a higher level, no doubt about it. He’s 25 and he would absolutely thrive in a professional environment. Put him with good coaches and good players and in a month you have an even better player.” Russia didn’t win a game, or get that close to winning a game, in Japan but Gadzhiev, whose first sporting love was martial arts, drew positive reviews. Jamie Joseph said nice things about his destructiveness after Japan toiled to…

THE MOST interesting aspect to Scotland’s dispiriting World Cup was the changing of the guard in the back row, from the tried, tested and seemingly immovable John Barclay and Ryan Wilson to the younger pair of Jamie Ritchie and Magnus Bradbury. The former missed the Ireland game in Yokohama because he was recovering from facial surgery that had threatened to destroy his tournament and the latter wasn’t picked in the original 31-man squad. If there was any crumb of comfort for Scotland in Japan it was the sight of this new back row forming and it was led by the 23-year-old Ritchie, a player with plenty of old-school dog in him. He’s exactly what Scotland need, a guy who can carry and who can hit hard and often. Even in…

“Coming into the lineout, the most basic thing is to pick up the numbers early. Then pick up the formation they’re in. From the team they picked before the game, you’ll get a good understanding of their shape. Most sides operate with a primary jumping back-row, so put less attention on the other back-rows.” “It’s rare to get a double-handed steal in the lineout. A little fingertip tap might be enough and just putting pressure on them by jumping in front helps. You cannot risk going across or taking the ball out their hands now. If they catch it but it’s not clean, good job. Get some disruption and we might be able to pressure their nine.” “If you pay more attention to the second-rows and jumping back-row, then you…

Q The modern player trains for so many different aspects of the game. So why is it important to do neck exercises too? A The neck is an essential muscle group to train in contact sport, say Gatherer Systems. It’s one of the most undertrained muscle groups. Massive forces are transmitted through the neck during scrummaging, mauling and tackling. A strong neck is required to absorb these forces safely, to prevent injuries but also maintain performance. One study revealed that every 1lb increase in neck strength reduces your risk of suffering from concussion by 5%! The nerves in the neck innervate the upper limbs, so in order to prevent nasty neural symptoms, a strong neck is paramount. 1 MOVE WARMING UP may look like a pain in the backside –…

The continual referrals to the TMO are taking a bit of joy out of the game. It’s generally worked well in rugby and we’re certainly not in the mess that football is currently in with VAR. However, it seems that an awful lot of tries at the World Cup were referred upstairs, taking away the moment of elation from the players and crowd while waiting for a final decision. In the England-Australia quarter-final, we saw a wonderful run by Marika Koroibete for a consolation Aussie try… only for Jérôme Garcès to make the dreaded TMO sign. That late ‘try’ had no bearing on the result (England led 40-16), so surely the ref has to trust his judgement and make a call there and then. What is the point of checking…

JAPAN 30 30 RUSSIA 10 Friday 20 September Tokyo Stadium. Att: 45,754 IN THIS MATCH Russia scored the fastest try in a RWC opener – Kirill Golosnitskiy crossing in the fifth minute – and Luke Thompson became the second player to represent Japan in four World Cups, Yukio Motoki the other. Five Japan players made 50m-plus but no Russian hit that mark. TURNING POINT A brilliant offload from Timothy Lafaele set up Kotaro Matsushima’s first try and calmed the nerves after an error-strewn opening ten minutes – Will Tupou’s failure to take a high ball that led to Russia’s try a prime example. Japan weren’t perfect after that try but did enough to get the bonus-point win. WINNERS’ PODIUM Hat-trick hero Matsushima: “We were able to connect with each other.…

SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD Jacob Kneepkens will join the New Zealand Sevens set-up at the end of the school year. Kneepkens is co-captain of the first XV at Francis Douglas High School in New Plymouth and played for NZ Schools in 2018. He has signed to the sevens programme for two years. Coach Clark Laidlaw says: “Jacob was part of our development programme earlier this year and we could see what a naturally talented athlete he is.” Premiership Rugby has launched an app for primary-school teachers with the aim of inspiring children through the sport. The Premiership Rugby Champions app features player videos and lesson plans to develop pupils’ digital literacy and life skills. Australia Schools & U18 beat NZ Schools for the first time since 2012 with an 18-14 win in Hamilton.…

OH MAN, Japan, I’m going back! I’ve travelled the world many times but Japan surprised me. The culture, the geography, the kindness and beauty are all extraordinary. Not forgetting the bars. Wild! My friend and I saw two of Wales’ pool games and I wouldn’t have missed them for the world. Everything was so well organised, even down to where the end of the toilet queue was, there was somebody there with a sign. Everything runs beautifully in Japan because the people respect what they have. We saw four cities and drove for hundreds of miles and there was not a single piece of litter, not one. The people were so friendly and calm. Japan suffered a devastating typhoon and yet still staged a wonderful World Cup. I’m from good…

JOSH ADAMS has come a long way since his days with the Llanelli U11s, but one thing has remained the same – or, more accurately, been revived. Back then, he was asked for a few pieces of information for a player programme and when it came to the nickname section, he wrote ‘Chips’. The story goes that it’s because he liked chips so much, not that people actually called him that. They do now, though, for Adams told this tale during Wales’ pre-World Cup camp in Switzerland. “We were having a conversation about nicknames and it came up, so now the majority of the squad call me that,” he explains. “Before it was ‘Jadzy’.” Some would argue Chips is an improvement! “I think I’ve matured. Before I’d maybe rush decisions.…

SIX HUNDRED and eighteen days, 58 players, one lucky shirt. That’s what it took for Rassie Erasmus to transform a South Africa side that had been humbled 57-0 by New Zealand into winners of rugby’s greatest prize. He arrived in late 2017 as director of rugby but by March 2018 was head coach – and quickly made his mark. He capped 13 players in his first Test, a 22-20 loss to Wales, and appointed Siya Kolisi as South Africa’s first black captain for the England series that followed. The peaks and troughs leading up to the World Cup meant several new shirts as Erasmus changes clothing after every loss. He smiles: “This year I had to change only once! This is my lucky shirt.” Shirt apart, how did he take…

ENGLAND 19 NEW ZEALAND 7 Saturday 26 October | International Stadium Yokohama. Att: 68,843 IN THIS MATCH England beat New Zealand for the first time at a World Cup and Eddie Jones became the first coach to triumph over the All Blacks twice at the tournament, having guided Australia to victory in the 2003 semi-finals. England scored the fastest-ever try against New Zealand at a RWC – Manu Tuilagi crossing after 99 seconds – and ended the All Blacks’ record 18-Test winning run at the event. TURNING POINT From the ‘V’ shape the match-day 23 formed around the haka to Tuilagi’s early try to George Ford ripping the ball off Nepo Laulala within five minutes… England’s intensity was obvious from the get-go to the final whistle. They smothered New Zealand…

8 Fiji Leone Nakarawa no longer performs Fiji’s Cibi for personal reasons. The lock previously took part in the pre-match ritual, but stopped this year and instead prays on the sideline. He says: “For me, I only glorify God.” 9 Georgia Mamuka Gorgodze could extend his career beyond this season. The Georgia icon’s Toulon deal ends next summer, but he says: “While I won’t look for a club, if I play well and a club wants me, I’m ready to discuss.” 10 USA Coach Gary Gold wants the USA to host RWC 2027 to grow rugby in the country. He points to the example of this year’s hosts reaching the last eight, saying: “Japan are an unbelievable role model for so many reasons.”…

MIDNIGHT AFTER Wales have beaten Georgia in their opening World Cup game and Rugby World has hit the streets of Toyota to find a post-match recovery beer, writes RW editor Sarah Mockford. This reporting lark is thirsty work, even more so in Japan’s humidity! With few bars open and the interestingly named Booby’s rammed with fans, we settle for buying a couple of cans – local varieties of course – and sipping them on a roadside bench with two colleagues. Little did we know we’d have prime seats for the sort of late-night drama often captured on 24 Hours in Police Custody. A few police officers had arrived to move supporters from the pavement to inside Booby’s to keep noise levels down. It was all very amicable until an inebriated…

WELCOME ABOARD Uruguay’s union has joined the World Rugby Council, following in the footsteps of Fiji and Samoa this year. NEW OAKS BOSS Andy Robinson, the former England and Scotland coach, is the new head coach of Romania. Marius Tincu will work with him as performance manager. THE GREATEST CAPE South Africa will host the 2022 Sevens World Cup – a first for the continent. The world’s best 24 men’s and 16 women’s teams will compete at the Cape Town Stadium. CALLING IT QUITS Heinrich Brüssow, 33, the Saints and ex-Boks flanker (left), has retired after a series of injuries. KIWI CHALLENGE Sean Fitzpatrick and Olympic great Michael Johnson are leading a 100km trek from 1-6 March in aid of Laureus Sport for Good. See just-challenge.com/ newzealand2020 FILLING THE BUS…

FACT FILE SAM UNDERHILL Age 23 (22 July 1996) Born Dayton, Ohio Position Flanker Club Bath Height 6ft 1in Weight 16st 10lb England caps 15 Instagram handle @samunderhill TOM CURRY Age 21 (15 June 1998) Born Hounslow Position Flanker Club Sale Sharks Height 6ft 1in Weight 16st 10lb England caps 19 (3T) Instagram handle @thomascurry_7 CAT CAFÉS became a talking point for Tom Curry during the World Cup. He was keen to go to one but none of his team-mates wanted to accompany him, not even his back-row bestie Sam Underhill. Instead, he had to wait until his parents arrived in Japan to visit one in the week of the New Zealand semi-final. After all the build-up, Curry was left disappointed. “It didn’t live up to expectations,” he says. The…

Name IRELAND Class/Year 2019 SUBJECT: Gold star The opening win over Scotland was impressive if, in hindsight, misleading. Many players who had struggled for form in 2019 appeared to come roaring back that night. Ireland were without Rob Kearney, Keith Earls and Robbie Henshaw but they put Scotland away with a bonus point. Jordan Larmour and Andrew Conway showed up well. It was the perfect beginning. SUBJECT: Room for improvement In his final weeks in the job, Joe Schmidt crossed his fingers and hoped his old guard would find their 2018 form, but it never happened. They peaked a year early and it was downhill from there. The error-strewn loss to New Zealand – one of the worst defeats in years – was a disintegration of the Schmidt…

FACT FILE Age 19 (14 Mar 2000) Born Werribee, Vic Position Wing/centre Franchise Reds Height 6ft 3in Weight 16st Australia caps 3 (1T) Instagram handle @jordanpetaia JAMES SLIPPER had to wait until his 94th Test to notch his first try – the second-longest scoring drought in Test rugby; Jordan Petaia had to wait less than half an hour into his Wallabies debut to do the same. “He’s 19, scored a try in 20 minutes and I’ve been slogging for ten years,” joked prop Slipper after seeing Petaia cross in the 45-10 win over Uruguay before finally touching down himself. Petaia’s involvement against the Teros made him the youngest Wallaby to play at a World Cup, taking the field aged 19 years 204 days. By touching down, he also became the…

HIROSHI MORIYAMA – or Bak-san as he’s better known – became the cult hero of Japan 2019 after undertaking the challenge of having the shirts of all 20 teams painted on his torso while attending matches. He painted the tournament in every colour of the rugby rainbow. In fact, it’s his wife, Rika, who does the painting and the level of detail means the process can take up to three hours, especially now his new-found fame sees fellow fans coming to ask for photos. So where did this idea spring from? “It started about five years ago,” explains 53-year-old Moriyama, who played in his younger days before getting back involved with a vets’ team in Osaka in 2014. “I’d seen people on TV doing this kind of thing, using blue…

A HUMAN OBSTACLE course awaits Rugby World as we arrive at the Tonga team hotel in Sakai, a city around 20 minutes from Osaka. The forwards are going through their early-morning ‘activations’ – a series of stretches – so we have to step over and around various huge limbs to reach the team room. Thankfully we make it to the destination without any embarrassing trips. Inside there are backs dotted around various tables having breakfast, while coaches go through notes and footage on their laptops. Telusa Veainu is strumming a ukulele that has been left in the room. A table on one side has packs of laundry stacked up, all labelled with the relevant person’s squad number. Laptops on the opposite side of the room are ready for players to…

CHESLIN KOLBE is a beast! He’s a pocket rocket!” Ardie Savea gushed in the aftermath of the All Blacks’ 23-13 pool victory over South Africa at the World Cup. “He’s probably the smallest guy on the field, but he’s just so hard to tackle.” It’s been an unforgettable year for the 26-year-old, who won the Top 14 with Toulouse, where he’s become one of Europe’s top players, then the Rugby Championship and the World Cup. It’s hard to believe there was a time – and not too long ago – when he was thought to be too small for Test rugby. Fast-forward to the present and Kolbe is one of South Africa’s primary strike weapons – he scored in the RWC 2019 final – and is regularly spoken about as…

SILVER SERVICE “Everything came together that day. We knew what we had to do going into that game – we had to win by seven points to win the Six Nations Championship. “The atmosphere that day! The stadium roof was shut and the England anthem was loud. I remember thinking, ‘The English have turned up here’. Then the Welsh anthem came on and it was just another level. I’d never heard it that loud before and I got emotional, a bit teary. It got the guys pumped up for the game. “That day was absolutely phenomenal. The way we put 30 points on England with them only getting three points, it was a brilliant performance by the team. We’d won the Grand Slam the year before, so to defend the…

IN WORLD CUPS gone by, the drop-goal played a significant part in deciding big matches, none more so than Jonny Wilkinson’s effort  in the 2003 final and Joel Stransky’s in 1995. In fact, the number of drop-goals at Australia 2003 reached a record high of 23, surpassing the 21 kicked four years previously. The past two tournaments have seen the use of this beautiful weapon diminish. I say beautiful because in its manufacture the drop-goal is as much an art form as it is a technical skill. It’s a tactical build-up of chess and calculated timing, coupled with precise execution. At a time when space on the field is at a premium, with ferocious defensive performances and great speed off the line commonplace, this ploy is being underused. We did…

Timing of RWC was amiss I’d like to know why World Rugby decided to hold the World Cup in Japan during the typhoon season with its concomitant heavy humidity, rains and winds. Any high-school student could have told these ‘experts’ that the opening game should have taken place around the date of the final game this year. That would have avoided the horrible conditions that affected the performance of many countries. John W Condon, San Francisco, California Haka wrong for World Cup I couldn’t agree more with the way the English responded to the haka in the semi-final (forming a V shape). Teams at the World Cup should have a level playing field, just like how grounds are stripped back of corporate advertising and the pitch furniture is identical. I’m…