Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2020 i Rugby World

1st The return of the Premiership and Pro14 means there are myriad rugby podcasts to listen to. Rugby Union Weekly and The Ruck will reflect on the latest news, and if you want detailed insight from great players, check out the One Game at a Time archive. It features Tom Curry, Gareth Edwards, Schalk Brits, Kat Merchant (below) and more. 18th European quarter-finals weekend kicks off this Friday night with Bristol v Dragons – and Luke Morahan (right) will be looking to add to his chart-topping clean breaks tally of 13 in this season’s Challenge Cup. Watch all eight matches live on BT Sport. 4th Matthieu Jalibert’s Bordeaux (left) travel to Paris to face Stade Français in the opening round of the new Top 14 season. Bordeaux were top of…

1 ANTON SEGNER Age 19 (24 July 2001) Born Frankfurt Position Back-row Club Tasman Mako Country Germany What sports did you play growing up? Like any German kid, football! And a bit of ice hockey. I started playing rugby at nine, at SC 1880 Frankfurt. I went to an English-speaking school and one of my English mates introduced me to rugby. What positions have you played? Prop, back-row and midfield. I had knock knees and my doctor told me to get surgery when I was 11. Since I was quite obese, my rugby coach, Tim Manawatu, told me I should start taking my training seriously and watching my nutrition because after the surgery I wouldn’t be able to train for six months. I lost weight and started growing taller, so…

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ON HIS days off, Rory Sutherland sometimes goes coarse fishing down at Hawick with Edinburgh team-mate David Cherry. They’ll put out a dead weight and a float, pull up a chair and while away a few gloriously tranquil hours. “Where we go to fish is very picturesque, it’s beautiful. We just sit in the peace and quiet all day. Get away from the world,” says Sutherland. As he waits for the pike to bite, the 28-year-old prop may reflect on the volatility of a rugby career that had him hooked from the age of seven but which also sent him to the murky depths of despair. Where once he was a fish out of water, now he is a prize catch; a first pick for Scotland and named in a…

Age 28 (24 July 1992) Born Stockport Region Dragons Position Back-three Height 6ft Weight 14st 4lb Wales caps Three IT FELT like a lifetime ago, but already this season Jonah Holmes has scored four tries in one European fixture. And yet somehow something nags at him about that day. “It’s annoying because I could have got five,” he says, before quickly adding with a wry chuckle, “if I hadn’t just messed up with a dropped ball. That’s what I think about really!” The incredible thing is that Holmes’s try haul that day against Pau in the Challenge Cup was for Leicester Tigers, and before this season is even over, he will next play in the very same competition for the Dragons, where he hopes to shine against Bristol. As he…

HAVING COACHED at Gloucester in the early 2000s, I can’t help wondering why this great club has underachieved so much in recent times. Their wonderful fans deserve more success and the appointment of Alex King as attack coach may just spark a style of rugby that can bring trophies to Kingsholm. King was an integral part of Wasps’ halcyon era. An England No 10, he was a deep thinker who demanded high standards – even criticising half-back partner Matt Dawson for the quality of his passing. He carried that ethos on at Clermont, Northampton and Montpellier as a backs coach, as well as working with Wales. It will take time for him to embed his attacking philosophy. He has charge of Danny Cipriani, definitely a relationship to watch. Like King,…

“Is there time and space to get on the ball (like Sam Cane here)? That’s what I make my decision around. It’s about anticipating how the tackle unfolds. If the cleaners are right there, it’s harder to get in over the ball. It’s also about how the ball-carrier falls. If it’s a dominant tackle, it can be harder as there might be bodies in the way; your team-mates might be on top of him. Those things are all a factor.” “Every ref has different interpretations so it’s knowing what they’re looking for. For example, at the start of Super Rugby Aotearoa, a couple of pulls and people were rewarded. You get a fair idea in the first 20 from what your team and the other team are doing and how…

RUGBY REFS are respected to a degree that is the envy of other sports. England’s Football Association used to work closely with the RFU’s elite referees to learn what we did differently to command the respect of players, hoping to eradicate some of the issues football referees experience. Rugby isn’t perfect but there is a major difference between dissent or ‘backchat’ and verbal abuse. There’s no place in the game for abuse of any kind and in my experience this rare event is treated severely on and off the field. Backchat comes on a sliding scale from amusing comments and ‘advice’ to aggressive frustrations that boil over. Referees have to quickly work out where on this scale the dissent lies and treat it appropriately. This will depend on the language…

PETE FAIRBAIRN TO BE clear, I don’t know Joseph Suaalii, but judging by his highlights and the media reports, he’s an incredibly talented young man with a good head on his shoulders and a supportive family who just want what’s best for him. I’m thinking more of what’s best for Australian rugby and, regardless of his talent, I don’t think it makes sense to offer big sums of money to a player who hasn’t opposed adults yet. And at a time when the game is financially imperilled. We keep hearing from NZ that the depth of talent in Australia isn’t there to compete with our mates across the ditch. However, if you scour the globe you will see more than a half-century of Aussie players capable of competing at Super…

EDDIE JONES has a big smile on his face as he settles himself into a sun-dappled corner of Pennyhill Park, where he has an office even when the England squad are not in camp. After a weekend of travelling around the country to watch the first matches of the restarted Gallagher Premiership season, it’s clear he is delighted rugby is back – as are we all. Club rugby is now in full swing and Internationals will return next month, with Saturday 31 October the next big date circled on Jones’s calendar for that is when England will finally complete their Six Nations campaign against Italy. For now, though, Jones gives his thoughts on the current state of the game… Rugby World: What do you get from seeing a game live…

Age 23 (18 Oct 1996) Born Weston-super-Mare, Somerset Position Centre Region Scarlets Height 6ft 3in Weight 16st 7lb Honours England U20, XV Instagram handle @johnnwilliamss HE BURST on to the scene as a teenager at London Irish, was diagnosed with cancer while at Newcastle and is now embarking on a new chapter at Scarlets. Here Johnny Williams, who is eligible to represent England, Scotland and Wales, tells his story… I started playing rugby when I was six. My dad is big into rugby and took me to Redingensians; I never looked back. I played once or twice at No 8 but I definitely prefer being in the backs. Lifting people in lineouts and scrums – I prefer watching that stuff! My first year out of school I was playing for…

1 Strike with the laces In training, initiate the skill by receiving a pass from a nine. This way the kicker can shape their hands to catch the ball correctly to kick quickly. The grubber needs to be kicked from low and the ball placed on the foot. Dropping it from height can mean it rotates in the air and you want your kicker to strike the ball with his laces, at the top half of the ball to enable it to bounce end over end. This allows it to bounce up conveniently for the chaser. Use flags or tackle tubes as obstacles for the kicker to thread the ball through. Also a marked target area on the floor for the kicker to judge distance. 2 Lean back for height…

“If we don’t change, rugby won’t survive” I HAD A look at what’s under the bonnet at Scarlets and liked what I saw: they’re ambitious, have a good board and good people. It’s a nice fit. I’ll be getting involved in the community game as well as making the Scarlets a bigger brand. The Scarlets have done a fantastic job in West Wales and have grown the fanbase there, but we want to grow the brand globally too. The Scarlets also have a good affiliation with New Zealand rugby and I want to help facilitate that, looking at ways for academy players and coaches to gain experience offshore. Joe Marchant going to play for the Blues in Super Rugby is a perfect example. Unfortunately Covid limited his game time but…

WHEN PEOPLE talk of how Munster humiliated the All Blacks at Thomond Park in 1978, I get embarrassed, writes the late Moss Keane in his 2005 autobiography. We didn’t. We beat them, that was all. They were the best rugby team in the world and went on to achieve the Grand Slam on that tour. The elevation of the win to a quasi-religious experience was as much a compliment to the might of the All Blacks as to anyone else. Many years later, I found myself sitting in the second row of the Dunamaise Theatre in Portlaoise watching John Breen’s play Alone It Stands, a dramatic recreation of the events of 31 October 1978. Niamh McGrath, who played me, opened with the immortal line: “I’m taking the ball and your…

“I come from a very soccer-oriented background, coming from Argentina. Independiente is my team. I still follow them.” “Bristol was my first professional club and I was starting to play for the national team as a starter, coming off the ’99 World Cup. In those days, moving into pro rugby was a big thing for an Argentinian guy.” “I was lucky to be with Gus Pichot and Eduardo Simone at the beginning, later Emiliano Bergamaschi. In three years at Bristol I played with such good players. Garath Archer, David Rees, Jason Little, Daryl Gibson…” “Argentinian kickers are very natural. Start with Hugo Porta, Mesón, Quesada, Todeschini, Sánchez – it’s a very natural swing, not a studied, biomechanical kick. It’s because you grow up with a soccer ball.” “Gus Pichot is…

“Sevens needs to slim down. At times series legs self-implode” QUESTIONS have been building for some time as to the direction and role of sevens, specifically with European teams. Does it need to be part of a national programme? How else could it be used? Could it/would it flourish with independence from unions? The main complication to a nationally-represented World Series debate is also the biggest draw: the Olympics. There are few greater sporting honours than being an Olympian, meaning national sides are in a cycle to peak every four years. This is now the driver for creating programmes and developing players – and is vital to players remaining in ‘the system’ when more lucrative routes may be attainable. However, ‘the system’ looks different for each nation. Some programmes are…

THE SENSE of pain and frustration surrounding our sport at the moment would be almost unbearable if we were not to keep in mind the grim casualty statistics of Covid-19 and the many other hardships the virus nightmare has bestowed on families, livelihoods, and mental and physical health. The sporting inclination is to bemoan the chaos caused to the rugby season and to the European Champions and Challenge Cups, both of which were boiling up to splendid conclusions – but they may yet have them. Will the fans be there? It seems unlikely that any followers will be allowed in for the quarter-final rounds of both competitions on the weekend of 18-20 September, or for the semi-finals a week later. EPCR will follow the directives of national governments and local…

ONE OF the key selection criteria for the current Springbok coaches involves looking for a point of difference among players. What sets an individual apart? Call it X-factor or that special something; South Africa under Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber have placed a premium on looking for players who boast qualities that set them apart from the crowd. In that context, there is probably no player who better epitomises this criteria than Cheslin Kolbe. Through sheer weight of performances over his first two years on the Test stage, the Springboks star has blazed his own unique trail in world rugby. Such has been his success that any conversations around his size have faded into the distance as if mirroring the England defenders who were left in his wake as he…

THE DAYS of media parking in the car park next to Welford Road are long gone. Now it’s a stroll from the King Power Stadium. It’s not too gruelling. Not quite spitting distance (no spitting in these times, please) but near neighbours would be a fair description of the East Midland clubs. The last time I made the walk from one to the other was for the top versus bottom clash between Leicester – serious contenders for the drop if not for Saracens’ automatic relegation – and Exeter – contenders for the title that has been won ten times by the Tigers. Leicester played well for the first 40 minutes but in the second half Exeter steamrollered the hosts. In a way that no team would once have ever even…

1 MOVE AT A TIME when European rugby is back on the agenda, how do players ensure they follow nutrition strategies during periods of heavy travel? We now face strange times at airports, with many food vendors closed or operating with reduced provision, writes nutritionist James Morehen. This also results in a cluster of people around the few vendors open. This can be high-risk. It’s probably a good idea to avoid them. Likewise, in-flight food should be avoided for two reasons: one, this provides another risk for infection with others handling your food and two, the food quality is just not good enough. Depending on the length of the flight, I’d take the following in my hand luggage… “In-flight food quality is just not good enough” The night before, prepare:…

Email your letters to rugbyworldletters@futurenet.com or write to our editorial address STAR LETTER The cost of ‘professionalism’ It was fascinating to read the stats comparing ball in play in the modern game (July issue), and I wondered if the same applied at grass-roots level. Village rugby clubs are now au fait with substitutions, sin-bins, time out and leagues – all to the detriment of the game. Young players at my club (Claverdon) have different attitudes: though totally amateur, the attitude is professional at the expense of loyalty and passion. A non-league Saturday is a chance to go shopping with the missus. They’re not interested in friendlies. The fixtures secretary had an easy job in pre-pro days. We played our local oppo for bragging rights only and fought fiercely for it.…