Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2020 i Rugby World

“Who will win the Six Nations?” GRAND SLAMS are on the cards in all three Six Nations championships, but can those teams finish the job? In the Women’s Six Nations, it’s a resounding yes. England are overwhelming favourites to secure back-to-back Slams having beaten France – their chief rivals – 19-13 on the first weekend. In their subsequent matches against Scotland and Ireland they have scored 80 points without reply, hence the expectation that they will seal another clean sweep with wins over Wales and Italy. The fact it’s such a cakewalk for England after seeing off France highlights not only the poor scheduling of having the decisive fixture first up but the lack of competitiveness in the entire event. The best thing about sport is its uncertainty; the women’s…

“How does cutting Championship funding sit with RFU values?” THE Championship is a great competition that people aspire to be in. It’s a great springboard for young players, coaches and referees who want to challenge themselves and want to get better. You always have to look at what you’re doing, whether it’s worthwhile and things are improving, but how does cutting funding to the Championship sit with the RFU’s core values? It’s been well documented that the way it was done and the timing of it was pretty bad. Those Championship teams may have recruited people on the funding they expected and now have to adjust their plans. If I take my time at Nottingham, the cut in finances is something like ten players. You’re talking about making people redundant…

THESE ARE early days in the WAG (Wales after Gatland) era, so much so that the cabinets housing the ceramic Groggs at team headquarters feature two figurines of Gatland but none of his successor, Wayne Pivac. Josh Adams, Cory Hill and Rob Evans (‘two-week delay’) are newly available, and it surely won’t be long until one of the youngest talents joins their number. With his glasses and bushy moustache, Aaron Wainwright would make perfect Grogg material. And if he were required to do a sitting while the clay statuette was crafted, doubtless he’d be an impeccable artist’s model. He is polite, engaging and a credit to Welsh rugby. He’s had what is termed a ‘meteoric rise’, making his Test debut aged 20 in Argentina two summers ago and rarely missing…

OVAL AND round ball overlap at Sunderland RFC, where former pro footballer Leon Ryan is full-back and goalkicker. Ryan was once on Middlesbrough’s books and played in England’s lower leagues and in Finland before returning to rugby in his mid-30s. “He last played rugby when he was 12 or 13, so when he arrived three years ago he was playing like a 13-year-old,” says John Gregson, one of the first XV’s three coaches with Clive Fish and Martin Watt. “He’s 6ft 3 or 4 and it was all cuddle tackles and sideways running. But his thirst to get better is unbelievable. He’s the kind of person who rings coaches on a Sunday for feedback on the game. “I wouldn’t say he’s our best player but he’s a talisman. Opponents will…

SPRINTERS, BOBSLEIGHS and reggae. Whenever Jamaica men’s sevens S compete, the headline writers get excited. But there’s so much more to the team than the clichés and stereotypes. With the Crocs to compete in the final Olympic qualification repêchage this summer, and with World Rugby’s Challenger Series in Chile and Uruguay under their belts in February, Jamaica see the sunny side. “We’re not just there to make up the numbers anymore,” skipper Conan Osborne says. “As we go past big teams in the corridors at competitions, it’s no longer a double take from them. “We’re almost part of the furniture now, even if it’s furniture that doesn’t get sat on that often! People are starting to recognise us, which is nice. “And it’s also giving us a mentality change. We…

ON A ROLL West Norfolk, based near King’s Lynn, have been enjoying one of the best sequences in the club’s history. Backed by a successful youth system, the London Three Eastern Counties side averaged 40 points a match in 13 straight wins stretching into February. Coach Darren Clarke’s team were locked in a two-horse race with Cantabrigian, who led by four points but had played a game more. West Norfolk also reached the London Senior Vase final after a 57-17 defeat of Hitchin. NERVY FINISH Havant will remember their 27-24 win over Cobham, whether or not it helps them win the One South title. They ended the game defending with 13 men due to two yellow cards and coach Will Knight said: “In many ways we had no right to…

TOUGH LIFE, being a rugbyman. And, paradoxically, the better you are at it, the tougher life becomes. In many jobs, reaching the top of the pile affords a certain level of privilege and ease. I have a friend who recently qualified as a consultant, and while his earnings have leapt up, suddenly he has the time to recognise his two young children. More responsibility but also more leeway. In rugby, if you end up as a staple in your national team, everything multiplies. Greater workload, longer hours and, most of all, constant pressure. Let’s be honest, 40% of any pro squad will consist of guys who are happy to pootle along at 6/10, do a job, take their pay cheque and with any luck fit in a trip to Dubai…

“Appreciate the new stars of the Six Nations” AS THE Six Nations finale grips us, how good is it to see a new cast of talents shining through? Yet at a time when we fear for the funding of Championship clubs and some believe Premiership sides offer the best avenue for kids to make it to the top, it’s important to acknowledge the challenges that face any young players when they first make that climb. In fact, anywhere in the world, no two journeys to the summit are identical. Our special report on the challenges facing young pros highlights the complexities (P64), but stars like Grégory Alldritt (P42), Aaron Wainwright (P38) and Sarah Beckett (P52) show us a few different routes available too. In Scotland many are waiting to see…

FRI 28 FEB Gallagher Premiership Gloucester v Sale (7.45pm) TV Live on BT Sport Guinness Pro14 Edinburgh v Cardiff Blues (7.35) TV Live on Premier Sports Leinster v Glasgow (7.35pm) TV Live on Premier Sports/eir Super Rugby Highlanders v Rebels (6.05am) Waratahs v Lions (8.15am) TV Both live on Sky Sports Greene King IPA Championship Coventry v Ealing Trailfinders Hartpury v Ampthill Energia All-Ireland League 1A Garryowen v Young Munster FOSROC Super 6 Stirling County v Boroughmuir WEEKEND 29 FEB-1 MAR World Sevens Series (Men, Los Angeles) SAT 29 FEB Gallagher Premiership Harlequins v Exeter (3pm) TV Live on BT Sport Leicester v Worcester (3pm) Northampton v Saracens (3pm) Guinness Pro14 Zebre v Ospreys (1pm) TV Live on Premier Sports Benetton v Ulster (3pm) TV Live on Premier Sports/eir Munster…

1 France Former England captain Lewis Moody is embarking on a Mega-Tri challenge in France. The fund-raiser takes place from 2-5 May and involves kayaking the Lake of Sainte-Croix, trekking the Martel Trail and a 100km bike ride around Verdon Gorge (below). The aim is to raise more than £50,000 for the Lewis Moody Foundation, which helps fund research into brain tumours and support the families of those diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. To donate to the charity or for more info, see thelewismoodyfoundation.org 2 Canada Before the Americas Rugby Championship kicks off in August, Canada will play two matches in July: French Barbarians (Montreal, 4 July) and Italy (Halifax, 11 July). Canada lost all three of their matches at last year’s World Cup and coach Kingsley Jones said: “These fixtures are an…

HOW DO you cope with a catastrophe, an event that might easily have taken your life? After Michael Lynagh suffered a stroke in 2012, he found discussing it therapeutic, even writing a book about it. Steve Ojomoh, the former Bath and England No 8, prefers to block it out. “I package it up, put it in a box, whoosh,” he says. “Just like I did with my mum’s funeral. Some day it catches up. I haven’t been able to go in and dissect it.” He has a copy of Lynagh’s book on his shelf but has never read it. I’ve come to one of the two children’s nurseries he owns, Little Willows in Bath, expressly to ask about the stroke he had in October 2018. If he’s reluctant to do…

WITH SO many of his dad’s side of the family based in Scotland and his own brother even working in Edinburgh, it is no surprise that every time Grégory Alldritt scores for France against the Scots the texts fly. UK-based relations support the young back-row, sure, but mick-taking is an inevitable part of family life. “That game in the Six Nations is a very important one for our family,” Alldritt tells Rugby World. The No 8 scored twice when he faced the Scots for the first time, in Paris in 2019, and he scored the very next time he faced them, in Nice in a World Cup warm-up. “It is always the big game, but mostly when I wear a France jersey my family are supporting France and me. We…

SARAH BECKETT has not yet lost a Six Nations game, having helped England to a Grand Slam last year and wins over France, Scotland and Ireland so far in 2020. So as the Red Roses build towards back-to-back Slams, we asked the back-row to tell us more about herself, starting with why her Twitter profile says: ‘Working to prove doubters wrong’… Growing up I was a bit of an underdog. I was never really rated, sat on the bench for a lot of age groups, did U20 trials twice and didn’t get in. It’s what motivates me – when someone says you can’t do something, you want to prove them wrong. The girls say I’ve come out of nowhere. I eventually made it into the U20s. Matt Ferguson, then England…

HE WAS earmarked as special, early. As one respected youth mentor tells us, “He was described by top coaches as the next England tighthead.” But things didn’t quite pan out like that for Jack Stanley. Brought into Exeter for his second of two years with Truro College, he played A league and LV= Cup in 2015 and trained with the first team. But soon he decided he did not want that life. As the Cornish native tells Rugby World: “There was a small element of being exposed to it all too soon. I must have been 18 when I had this feeling come down that I didn’t want to be at Chiefs.” The prop was not coerced to sign up and is full of praise for the academy and coaches…

MARK BENNETT spent his mid-season break in Turkey playing golf. “Seven rounds in seven nights,” the Edinburgh and Scotland centre says. He’s also got back into the swing of things – see what we did there! – on the rugby field. Bennett’s first two seasons at the capital club, following his move from Glasgow, were disrupted by injury, but by mid-January he had already played more games this term than in the entire 2017-18 or 2018-19 campaigns. Those early spells on the sidelines meant it was hard for him to settle in his new environment, but he’s made up for that lost time this season. The 27-year-old kicked off his campaign with a hat-trick against Zebre and has formed a productive centre pairing with Matt Scott. “My first full pre-season…

SEELEY SENSE Sutton & Epsom have a resourceful campaigner in Chloe Seeley, a prop and captain of their U15 girls’ team. She led a successful mission to have rugby put on the curriculum at her school, Blenheim High in Epsom, after asking why the sport was available only to male students there. Sutton spokesperson Elle Ross said: “Chloe wrote an amazing letter to the school to put her case. Several members of our women’s team attended Blenheim and would have loved this opportunity. Chloe worked with teachers to set up a team and they beat Bishop Thomas Grant School 35-20 in their first match.” LOCAL SPIRIT Wharfedale made a magnificent contribution towards a fund to help seven-year-old Luke Mortimer, a mini player with neighbours Skipton. He has lost limbs to…

LONGEVITY AT SEVENTY You can’t keep a good man down, as Cheltenham Civil Service would testify. Flanker Steve Yiend, 70, turns out regularly for the second XV and vets’ team at the Gloucestershire Two North club, and is reputedly the oldest player in the county. He has been with Civil Service for 35 years and after his recent birthday was presented with a framed shirt with No 6 on the back, signed by past and present team-mates. He said: “I get aches and pains but I’m happy to take that. Guys who take part in vets’ games just love rugby.” Club president Marcus Johns said: “I had to retire at 28 and I’m 37 now. Looking at Steve playing at his age makes me very envious!” ON THE UP One…

“I prefer a small slice of a big pie to a big slice of a small pie” HOW ARE you finding doing commentary with the BBC? I’ve enjoyed it. I much prefer it to ‘punditry’ – you say what you see. With punditry you need a beginning, middle and an end, and you have to have an opinion. It has challenged me to remain a student of the game. In real time you have to say what’s going on, so that it’s interesting and gives insight. So I’ve recently sat down with Stuart Lancaster – I met him two weeks ago for dinner – and talked with Joe Schmidt. What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? One of my first jobs was collecting glasses at a local nightclub when I…

THERE ARE a few examples from the Six Nations of why ‘grounding’ the ball can be tricky. It sounds easy but we must clarify the phrase. Law 21 describes the in-goal area and what can and cannot take place there. At its most basic, the ball is grounded in-goal by holding it and touching the ground with it; or pressing it down with a hand or hands, arm or arms, or the front of the player’s body from waist to neck. There are two situations you must correctly ground the ball – scoring a try or touching it down in your own in-goal. Look at round two. In the Ireland-Wales game, Hadleigh Parkes bursts through and appears to score. The ref appears to allow the try, only for Irish protests…

TIM HAYWARD England rugby supporter DO YOU remember England losing to the All Blacks by one point in November 2018 after choosing to kick a penalty to the corner rather than at the posts? I do. Games can be won and lost by the finest of margins, so why is rugby apparently not applying the same philosophy of maximising marginal gains that we hear so much about in other sports? These days sports at the highest level seek to optimise every aspect, to nudge every variable in their favour. We now see nutritionists and psychologists, tight-fitting shirts and GPS trackers. So why aren’t the statisticians in rugby advising players on such a crucial issue which can so clearly make the difference between winning and losing? Over the past three years…

THE DRAW for the 2023 World Cup takes place after this year’s November Tests. Not since RWC 2003 has the draw been conducted closer in time to the actual tournament it’s for. And there seems to be no reasonable thought behind this. We’re back to a 30-plus month wait between the draw in December and kick-off in the autumn of 2023, and no doubt we’ll be told it’s down to planning and preparation – something no other worldwide sports organisation manages to struggle with over a shorter period. World Rugby would like us to believe that arranging a few hotels in France is comparable to trekking through the Andes without a compass, even though UEFA managed to do it for a 24-team, four-week European Championship in the same country (France)…

THIS YEAR’S line-up for the European Challenge Cup knockouts features several teams who would usually expect to compete for honours in the elite event, including two former European champions… TOULON v SCARLETS Fri 3 April, 8pm, Stade Félix Mayol These familiar foes have not only met twice already this term but another six times at various stages in the European Cup since 2010. Three-time European champions Toulon have led the way in the Challenge Cup and are the only team to win all six pool games. Scarlets have been competitive on their last two visits to Stade Félix Mayol, but ultimately suffered one-point losses. If they marry their flair with a clinical edge they should push Toulon all the way. LEICESTER v CASTRES Sat 4 April, 12.45pm, Welford Road Both…

ONE QUESTION and about ten seconds is all it takes for Zander Fagerson to mention the word vasectomy – an unconventional beginning to a chat with the Glasgow and Scotland tighthead, a man who has the size and the ability to become a huge force in the game if only he can catch a break on the injury front. Fagerson is 24 years old and it feels like he’s been around forever. He made his Glasgow debut at 18 and his international debut at 20 against England in Eddie Jones’s first match in charge. His CV includes mountain biking, choir singing, lifeguarding, something involving prawns – and rugby. “I’m a changed man,” he says, when talking about his new life as a father of little Iona, born in May 2019…

QUARTER FINALS CLERMONT AUVERGNE v RACING 92 Saturday 4 April, 3.15pm, Stade Marcel-Michelin OVERVIEW When these two clubs met at Stade Marcel-Michelin in the Top 14 last season it ended in a 31-31 draw – and they look evenly matched as they head into this last-eight tie too. Neither side had it all their own way in the group stages but they still topped their pools – and top some of the stats as well. Racing’s attacking intent is obvious, with the most metres made (2,932), most defenders beaten (197) and most clean breaks (85) of all teams during the pool matches. Clermont, meanwhile, are fearsome at the breakdown and won the most turnovers (52), so will look to disrupt their opponent’s possession to limit those attacks. There will be…

THERE’S A running joke at Harlequins Women about players taking a break T from their friendships during the Six Nations and, looking further ahead, World Cup qualifiers. The club’s mix of nationalities will all pull together when wearing the famous quarters as they look to end Saracens’ dominance of the Tyrrells Premier 15s, but when it comes to Test matches there is a change in approach. “At Quins I live with an Irish girl, Leah Lyons, and play with Scottish girls, Jade Konkel and Chloe Rollie,” explains Italy captain and back-row Giada Franco. “We’ve said we were friends in January, in February and March we stop being friends, then we’re friends again until September, when we’re not friends!” It’s little wonder September’s World Cup qualifiers, which will feature Ireland, Italy,…

THRILL SEEKERS Wolverhampton are living up to coach Ian Harley’s ambitions for his side to be the entertainers in Two West (North). A 24-22 opening defeat at Burntwood was followed by 14 straight wins. He said: “We go into every match targeting four tries, knowing more often than not we’ll win by achieving that.” FINAL DATE Malvern reached the regional Intermediate Vase final in which they will meet Leighton Buzzard, in one of the three Midlands play-offs on 14 March. To qualify, they staged a stirring fightback to beat Leek 37-32 in the semi-final. Leek led 22-3 after 30 minutes but a hat-trick from wing Lewis Hardiman took Malvern towards victory. Their previous National Cup final was in the 1994 Pilkington Shield at Twickenham. ED BRACE Spalding secured a place…

UPSTREAM Whitley Bay Rockcliff’s return to Durham-Northumberland (D-N) One after a 15-year gap has underlined the physical, high-tempo game that exists at Level Seven. Last season they won all 26 games in D-N Two but this term they have a 50-50 record. Secretary Andrew Sugden said: “Our first eight bonus points were for scoring four tries or more, illustrating that our ability to cross the line has not deserted us. Scrum-half Dan Leach is leading the side and we also value the ongoing work of head coach Darren Cunningham and player-coach Craig Hamilton.” HISTORICAL DEAL Harrogate, challenging at the top of North Premier, have a new sponsor in Ashville College, which already had a long association with them. Founded in 1877, Ashville are almost as old as the rugby club…