Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2021 i Rugby World

1 WILL PORTER Age 22 (14 Dec 1998) Born Philadelphia, USA Position Scrum-half Club Wasps Country England Where did you first play rugby? At my local club, Amersham & Chiltern. My family isn’t really a rugby one – they’re big swimmers – but my dad took me down when I was ten years old. Then at school, Merchant Taylors’, I really fell in love with it. At the age of 15 I got into the county set-up and then Wasps. Did you play any other sports? A bit of hockey, cricket and tennis at school, but nothing as much as rugby. Have you always been a scrum-half? I used to be a fly-half; I joined Wasps as a fly-half at 15 and the coach, James Honeyben, suggested I moved to…

“This Six Nations will be interesting. I look forward to keeping the ball rolling. Scotland really stand a chance of pushing it.” “There’s no music in the Gloucester changing room. George Skivington doesn’t want us listening to it, I’m sure he won’t mind me saying. He’s all about focusing on the game. We’re there to work. I don’t mind it.” “I went to uni before I started rugby. I went to Northumbria for four years and I was studying architectural technology. I’m thinking about picking up a Masters in September, in project management.” “I love cooking. My girlfriend’s an accountant, so as she works I’ll knock something together. Know the Big Green Egg barbecues? For my birthday/Christmas, I got one. Rain or shine, I’m out there.” It’s my worst nightmare…

“ABOUT 25 years ago I had a factory making inflatable boats, which would do 60 or 70mph, and after rugby it was a nice foil. You have that adrenaline rush. We were in a race, I fell out of the boat and a guy ran over me. I had a double transfusion and was lucky to survive. “Then I was invited to give a speech at Nelspruit. We took off in a plane and the pilot missed the runway. We careered off into the bush and I pulled some guys out right in the middle of Kruger Park. “In 2009 I had a stage four melanoma and was given four months. There was no treatment but Johann Rupert flew me to the Anderson Clinic in Texas. A year later it…

The former England and Lions fly-half turned analyst IF THE Autumn Nations Cup was a taste of things to come, thank god the forthcoming Six Nations will broadcast free to air. At least viewers won’t have to pay to watch it. That eminently forgettable competition was a wasted developmental opportunity for a few of Europe’s Test-match coaches. In theory, with so much more at stake in the higher-profile Six Nations, the styles of the various teams should be even more risk averse. The mantra ‘winning is all’ is ubiquitous. But there is hope. Eddie Jones is the arch contrarian. The louder the media bemoaned England’s kick-and-chase strategy, the less likely he was to alter his game plan. Given a few months’ break it might just be that he will balance…

SIX NATIONS HIGH In the early 2000s, the Six Nations was generally a shootout between England and France, and in 2002 it was les Bleus who sat top of the table with five victories from five. Key to that Grand Slam was a Serge Betsen-inspired 20-15 win over England. The tries may have come from Imanol Harinordoquy and Gérald Merceron but it was Betsen’s man-marking of Jonny Wilkinson that shut down an England team who would be world champions 20 months later. SIX NATIONS LOW No team with the resources of France should be propping up the table but that’s exactly what they did in 2013 – the only time they have finished sixth in the Six Nations. After a first-round defeat in Rome, they were beaten 16-6 in Paris…

SIX NATIONS HIGH Not many. Scotland have never got themselves in serious contention to win the title, so we’re talking about isolated victories, false dawns as it were. The Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield in Gregor Townsend’s first season in charge in 2018 was probably the pick of the last two decades. Finn Russell was masterful, Huw Jones was like a rapier. It was a triumph built on ambition and glorious execution. SIX NATIONS LOW Too many. Going to the darkest of dark places we find the 2007 loss to Italy at Murrayfield, when the visitors scored three tries in the opening six minutes and won 37-17. Scotland finished bottom of the table. Wretched. OVERVIEW The good news is that having missed all but a few minutes of last year’s championship,…

OF ALL the recommendations to come out of World Rugby’s governance review, the one I found most pleasing was the need for players to be represented throughout committees “to ensure player-centric decision-making”. The lack of people with experience playing the modern game in the bodies that ultimately determine the future of the modern game has long been flagged as a concern by Rugby World. Take the Executive Committee, where only Brett Robinson has played in the pro era, and that was at the end of the last century The decisions made by administrators directly affect players and their views must be represented. It’s good to see the likes of Jamie Roberts, Sene Naoupu and Conrad Smith sitting on committees now but more could be done, across all governing bodies and…

EVERY NOW and again, incidents arise in a match that aren’t part of a referee’s ‘run of the mill’ challenges. Ever-increasing pressures of the game have increased the range and diversity of such issues. Take the recent Gloucester v Sale game, when Billy Twelvetrees landed in hot water. Gloucester were three points behind with seconds to go. The ball went into touch close to the technical area and was picked up by a water carrier, who denied Twelvetrees possession. Frustrated, Twelvetrees pushed him over and the ugly scenes that followed spilled into the stand. The water carrier was clearly trying to deprive Twelvetrees of the ball in order to run down the clock and ensure Sale won the match. Typically, match officials have taken a ‘hands off’ approach to water…

Former England fly-half, analyst and journalist Glasgow-based freelance writer and podcaster THE DEAD-BALL area is part of the playing field. You wouldn’t know it to see replacements doing their constant warm-up drills in there. Not just when possession is in the other 22 but with the game within a sprint of the try-line. Nobody wants a pulled hamstring but someone has to enforce the replacement problem. The field belongs to 30 players and the referee. Not 46. The merge of one and all occurs when a try is scored. As players slide in pursuit of a chip through, replacements are inches the other side of the line, urging them on. It was a while ago, in the Pro14. Don’t ask me the match or who was referee, but let’s say…

LEAVING SARACENS was the hardest decision I’ve ever made. Even retiring was a decision made for me by a doctor. There was an emotional wrench at leaving Saracens but a nostalgic pull towards Sale. I played for them, captained them, and every time I’ve been back they treat me like I never left. Tickets for my wife, make me cups of tea. I’ve always kept a special place in my heart for Sale. That’s on an emotional level. On a professional level, I was very excited about trying to help Saracens get back to the Premiership, about righting some wrongs. I wanted to prove critics wrong who said it (Sarries’ success) was about money when that’s not the case. But we managed to play out the (2019-20) season and there…

ENGLAND HAVE an embarrassment of back-row riches. Sam Underhill, Billy Vunipola and Tom Curry are the incumbents, with a World Cup final behind them and their defensive effort against Ireland last autumn – 74 tackles, no misses – still fresh in the memory. Wasps’ Jack Willis, the reigning Premiership Player of the Year, has won just a couple of caps despite his 46 league turnovers in 2019-20 and a heap of other qualities besides. Exeter’s Sam Simmonds, the European Player of the Year, averaged a try a match in 2020 and has repeatedly proved there is far more to his game than the blistering pace that embossed his opening-day score at Harlequins. Ben Earl, a regular benchman for England, is another who combines exceptional pace and power while Alex Dombrandt,…

SIX NATIONS HIGH To win a Grand Slam is special enough but to win it on St Patrick’s Day against England at Twickenham while playing with flair and power is quite another. It was 17 March 2018 and three first-half tries put Joe Schmidt’s team into an unassailable lead. The middle one, an epic strike move involving Tadhg Furlong, Bundee Aki and finished off by CJ Stander, was one of the great Ireland scores. A glorious rout. SIX NATIONS LOW When Lansdowne Road was getting rebuilt as the Aviva Stadium in 2007, Ireland played their home games at Croke Park. The historical significance of a ‘foreign’ sport being welcomed into the heart and soul of the Gaelic Athletic Association was profound. With the eyes of the nation upon them, there…

SIX NATIONS HIGH Wales have won more Grand Slams – four – since the championship expanded to six than any other country, but perhaps the most significant was in 2005 when Wales completed a first clean sweep since 1978. It started with Gavin Henson’s penalty delivering an 11-9 victory over England and finished with tries from Gethin Jenkins and Kevin Morgan against Ireland at a raucous Millennium Stadium. SIX NATIONS LOW Back in 2003, Wales lost all five of their matches, including an ignominious 30-22 defeat by Italy in Rome, to collect the wooden spoon. The campaign, part of an 11-match losing streak under Steve Hansen, was one to forget. OVERVIEW Wales started their Grand Slam defence last year in impressive style, putting five tries past Italy and conceding zero…

AMISH WATSON is pondering the job awaiting Scotland in the Six Nations, a schedule that sees them visiting Twickenham, a place where they haven’t won in his lifetime, and Paris, where they haven’t won since he was seven. “I don’t want to sound like an arsehole,” he says, “but you have to believe in yourself, right? You have to have a bit of arrogance about you. Those are massive challenges against two of the best teams in the world, but why can’t we win? “Why can’t we win our three home games? I expect us to win them. People might read that and think, ‘Oh yeah?’, but all good teams have a bit of arrogance about them, they all have a quiet aura, don’t they? Nothing wrong with it.” There’s…

Rugby’s most outspoken and inf luential journal ist IS RUGBY safe for children and young adults? It’s clearly the most important question of the era for rugby’s future. Not only for young men and women, and boys and girls, but for concerned parents and, in fact, for everyone involved in the sport. We have all seen the recent mass of adverse publicity and warnings, and if we took those headlines at face value we might all run a mile. But I am not even going to make you wait for the answer. Is rugby safe for young people? The answer is yes, it is. Clearly it is not chess, so it will never be injury-free. And in this column, we are going to visit some scary places, to delve inside…

1 Step to it Having worked with Shane Williams, you realise that a lot of what an individual does is natural. Yet he often practised stepping using cones or ladders, or even visualising defenders. Use touch games to practise evading defenders and learning how far away from defenders to step. Good steppers use their upper body to feign going one way whilst placing a lot of weight on one leg, to power away and change direction. Try one-on-one ‘shadow’ exercises, with defenders coming from different positions and directions to hone skills. 2 Juggling act Quick ball transfer can be practised by all. Simple ball familiarity can be enhanced with ball tricks, hand-to-hand juggling and balancing. Hold a ball to the chest with one hand and quickly change hands. Do this…

Email your letters to rugbyworldletters@futurenet.com or write to our editorial address STAR LETTER Eight ways to improve rugby We are three former players mortified at the direction our game has taken. From a fast, entertaining game of skill and nuance, play has become turgid, uninspiring and devoid of creativity. Here are some ideas to improve it: 1. A tackled player should play the ball without delay, either by releasing it or placing it, and then get up or roll away. 2. Players should be required to stay on their feet and bind, rather than ‘belly flop’ onto a tackled player. 3. Penalise crooked scrum feeds. 4. Surely every fan is sick of the battering by the offensive side five yards from the try-line. The ball-carrier at the back of the…

2nd The RFU is celebrating 150 years of English rugby throughout 2021 and this week sees the publication of a coffee-table book that marks the sesquicentennial. England Rugby: 150 Years, which has been published by VSP, charts the history of the game in England. The book is priced £30 and available from englandrugby store.com, shop.visionsp.co.uk and Amazon. 26th A documentary about the world’s first gay rugby club, Kings Cross Steelers (right), gets its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival this Friday. Tickets to watch Steelers online are £9.99 – buy them from glasgowfilm.org/glasgow-film-festival 6th On your marks! In four weeks, 6-7 March, there is a 24-hour cycling challenge in aid of the Head for Change foundation, which has been launched by Alix Popham. The ‘Rugby Ride’ will be on…

Last person you phoned Robbie Smith at the club, about Call of Duty Most important person in phone My girlfriend. She’ll probably read this! Last person you texted My girlfriend Last photo taken A pizza I made with blue cheese, mozzarella, onions, chorizo, peppers Favourite social network Instagram Last app downloaded The Pets at Home app. I’ve got Pablo, a cocker puppy Last song you played Hold The Line by Toto Favourite WhatsApp group The Newcastle one without any of the staff!…

AND JUST like that, the Six Nations is back! How this French team has evolved is just incredible. Until October 2020, a lot happened to fill my heart with joy and hope. Between last January and then, the French federation and Top 14 finally allied forces, with Fabien Galthié and his staff creating an exciting, revived, positive and aggressive style of play where the hot French talents thrived. With Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack as spearheads, an enthralling starting XV put France back into the position of serious contenders for World Cup 2023. Our World Cup. But by the autumn, anxiety and economic pessimism – plus the global pandemic – brought back some old demons. Just as performances were getting better and the squad yearned for more time together, the…

LET’S JUST say the trip was of its time,” said Gareth Llewellyn, recalling a Neath tour to the South of France in 1988 to a WalesOnline reporter. “It was an eye-opener in every respect. Brian Thomas, who was running the rugby side of things at Neath, had told us it would be character-building. So it proved.” The day after one match, they visited a farm. Many of the team were farmers, so they enjoyed the tour, then had a nice outdoor lunch with several bottles of pastis to loosen everyone up. Once everyone was suitably refreshed, the visit had a change of pace – they were led to a bullring and told they could go in and have a go. Six were brave enough, thinking they would only encounter calves,…

SHORT-TERM DEAL Ex-Ireland fly-half Ian Keatley has signed for Glasgow Warriors for the rest of the season. DAI RETURNS Dai Young is back as Cardiff Blues DoR until at least the end of the season following John Mulvihill’s departure. DUE WEST The Ospreys have signed Wales prop Thomas Francis from Exeter for next season. TOP GONG Exeter Chiefs DoR Rob Baxter has won the prestigious Rugby Union Writers’ Club Pat Marshall Award, which is given to the personality of the year. RULED OUT Jason Ryles (left) won’t be part of England’s coaching team for the Six Nations after his family chose not to relocate to the UK last month. Ed Robinson joins as skills coach. GAMES TIME Funding has been secured for the GB Sevens teams ahead of the Tokyo…

SIX NATIONS HIGH In 2003, England were rampant as they seized their first Grand Slam of the pro era. They finished the tournament with a points difference of plus 127, scored 18 tries and only gave up 46 points, with Jonny Wilkinson claiming 77 for himself. It came down to the last round, with Ireland also hunting a Grand Slam, and at home no less. But England tore on to a 42-6 win in Dublin. There were five England tries, including a brace for Will Greenwood, while Wilkinson kicked 15 points, including two drop-goals. SIX NATIONS LOW It’s wild to think that as recently as 2018 England had an absolute stinker, finishing fifth in the table. Not since back in 1987 had they bombed as much in the championship. Despite…

SIX NATIONS HIGH It all started so strongly for Italy in the Six Nations. After years of hammering at the door outside of Europe’s premier international competition, they won their first-ever match, taking their bow in 2000 and beating the reigning Five Nations champions Scotland 34-20. It has never been plain sailing for them in this grand championship though, and the best season you may remember came in 2013 when they beat France and Ireland in the same term and went on to finish fourth. SIX NATIONS LOW It’s hard to argue that Italy are not still in the midst of their worst spell ever. The hope is that they’re on their way to climbing out of the darkness of perpetual losses. In the recent past it has felt like…

If any player has suffered a suspected concussion, they should be removed from the game and not return. Look out for the following signs to recognise a concussion and remember: If in doubt, sit them out. Visible clues Loss of consciousness or responsiveness Lying motionless/slow to get up Unsteady on feet/balance problems/incoordination Grabbing/clutching of head Dazed, blank or vacant look Confused/not aware of events Signs and symptoms Loss of consciousness Headache/neck pain Seizure or convulsion Dizziness/balance problems Confusion Difficulty concentrating Nausea/vomiting Drowsiness/fatigue More emotional/sadness Blurredvision Sensitivity to light or noise Nervous, anxious or irritable Difficult remembering/amnesia Or simply ‘don’t feel right’…

THE NAMES of Ntamack, Dupont, Alldritt and Le Roux have been lauded over the past 12 months, but the brightest jewel in France’s crown is Fiji-born Virimi Vakatawa. The 28-year-old Racing centre qualifies for France through residency and made his Test debut in 2016 after illuminating the World Sevens Series. The sevens game requires pace and physical fitness, but it’s also the breeding ground for ball skills, footwork and exploiting space. Vakatawa’s ability to step defenders, often multiple times in one sequence, made him a star in that format, coupled with an insatiable appetite to offload and a physicality that enables him to break tackles, make big hits and fend off would-be tacklers. Not many players have made the transition from sevens to 15s as successfully as Vakatawa. Moreover, few…

1 MOVE ONE THING nutritionists and performance chefs try to do is keep it interesting and varied in long camps, writes nutritionist James Morehen. So in a camp like England’s, normally breakfast has an omelettes station with lots of toppings available. There will be other protein options on a buffet service, like eggs, yoghurts, 100% meat sausages, bacon (fat off) and a variety of milks. On heavier training days it’s important for players to consume a high-carb breakfast. Overnight oats, fruit, porridge, bananas and cereals will be available. Lastly, a strong hot drink spread is ever present, from the espresso machine to the normal range of teas. Some players even bring their own coffee machines! “On heavier training days it’s important to consume a high-carb breakfast” Daily snacks should be…