Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2022 i Rugby World

THE END-OF-SEASON run-in… In years gone by, we’ve often reached this stage and the play-off places have been sewn up. Not this time. There is still plenty to play for – and lots of drama expected – across this season’s Gallagher Premiership, Allianz Premier 15s and United Rugby Championship. Leicester have romped their way through the Premiership season and were the first club to guarantee a semi-final slot, but a host of teams are in the mix below them. Exeter host Quins on 4 June – a repeat of last year’s final that could have a big say in the standings. Much like Leicester in the Premiership, Saracens have led the way for much of the Premier 15s season. They’re assured of a home semi but, with two rounds to…

MORE AND more people are listening to your stuff now. Where did your love of music start? I’ve always loved listening to songs and I always used to write poems. About things I was feeling or thinking. Then one day in 2018, I said, ‘Right, if I recite one of these poems with a bit of production behind it, could it be a song?’ What were those early attempts like? I don’t do a lot of production because I’m fortunate enough to have some friends who are very talented with instruments and all the software. But yeah, there’s some shocking stuff that hopefully nobody else will ever hear! Who inspired you? I’m inspired by a whole range of people, mainly UK artists that are stepping out. Anybody trying to be…

BLACKROCK COLLEGE won the Leinster Schools Senior Cup for a record 70th time when they beat Gonzaga College 50-21 at the RDS, Dublin. As part of the legacy programme for this year’s women’s World Cup, a development camp for 15 secondary school girls and five ‘Game Changers’ – representing Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, PNG and the Cook Islands – will be staged during the tournament in New Zealand. Schools Rugby Asia has begun a new partnership with New South Wales rugby that will see Waratahs Academy Coaches provide expertise to coaches of Asian schools rugby. The thoughts of all at Rugby World are with the family and friends of Liyabona Teyise and those at Dale College in SA after the student, 18, died from an injury suffered in a match against…

CAMPBELL BURNES Editor of Rugby News NZ SURELY IT’S a no-brainer, if you’ll pardon the expression? A 20-minute red card punishes the ‘transgressor’ yet doesn’t ruin the game as a spectacle. Imagine if Wales had had recourse to a sub when Sam Warburton was sent off in the RWC 2011 semi-final? Or if England could have put on their No 19, 20 minutes after the Charlie Ewels incident in the Six Nations? The other key point is that a 20-minute red card allows for the fact that the referee might have got it wrong. This slavish adherence to player safety is seeing referees dish out red cards for mere accidents where we might see head clashes. Last time I looked, rugby was a fast, dynamic game where occasionally the players…

ARGUMENT AND discussion rage over the decline of Welsh fortunes at junior, regional and national level. So where has it all gone wrong after the success of the Gatland years? To my mind, the turning point of Welsh fortunes has its origin in two key WRU decisions. The first was the gradual disbandment of the Saturday morning Dragons Rugby Trust U18 Schools and Youth Leagues. The second was the union takeover of the running of U18 rugby from the Welsh Secondary Schools and Welsh Youth Rugby Unions back in 2004. Wales got it right when the DRT Schools League, with the backing of the WRU and Lloyds TSB, was introduced in 1998-99. At its prime there were 110 schools playing on a Saturday and many top players first shone in…

A QUIET MAN but a mighty man.” Lawrence Dallaglio’s pithy summary struck a chord with all who knew Tom Smith, whose passing at the age of 50 rocked rugby on its axis. Quiet? This writer recalls a Sydney press conference at RWC 2003 when Smith had journalists straining to hear him, team-mate Kenny Logan alongside him grinning at the sea of earnest faces. The loosehead saved Scotland’s bacon in that tournament, scoring a late try against Fiji to get them to the knockout phase. He won 61 Scotland caps, leading them three times, and has been labelled “pound for pound, probably Scotland’s greatest international” by Scottish Rugby chair John Jeffrey. Yet he didn’t covet fame or publicity, preferring to go about his business with the minimum of fuss. Hooker Gordon…

AS PROFESSIONAL rugby players we live lives that are fairly regimented and where people have total control over us. They tell us when we eat and what we should eat, they control what time you train, what time you go to a meeting. Well, there’s one thing I have total control over; I control my hairdresser.” Those are the words of Brian O’Driscoll from 2005, with the Ireland legend referring to his decision to go blond in the early Noughties, his “rebellion” against rugby’s strictures. Nearly two decades on, players are still making statements with their hair, a drop of bleach almost tame in comparison to some of the styles we’ve seen in more recent seasons. Take Nathan Hughes, who has experimented with blond, blue and pink dye over the…

SPOTLIGHT ON Age 25 (14 Nov 1996) Born Swansea Position Centre Club Gloucester-Hartpury Height 5ft 8in Weight 10st 3lb Wales caps 35 Instagram @hannahj_12 WITH ALL the talk of skill development and fitness gains since Wales introduced professional contracts for a dozen women’s players at the start of the year, it can be easy to overlook the mental benefits of those deals. Yet the first thing Hannah Jones points to when discussing becoming a full-time player is “confidence”. Of course, there are physical pluses: the ability to lift more in the gym; the conditioning to deliver in the final quarter (that came to the fore as they delivered come-from-behind victories against Ireland and Scotland at the start of this year’s Six Nations); the training to perfect passing skills. However, it’s…

THERE’S A sliver of extra steel in the good folk of Jarrow, the South Tyneside town synonymous with shipbuilding and the long march to Parliament in 1936. And it’s needed at the rugby club, where Jarrovians were assured of bottom place in Durham-Northumberland Three North long before Easter. An average scoreline of 6-71 tells the story, with a single point gleaned by April – for scoring four tries against Gosforth. Many teams would have forfeited games or even folded but not Jarrovians, where 20 guys turn up every week, boots in hand and ready to go, no matter how difficult the ensuing 80 minutes. “We’re not the most talented team but we just love playing. It’s a release valve,” says club stalwart Barry Grimwood. “Yes, it can be demoralising losing…

BECOMING A track and field star was always the goal for Naya Tapper. Until it wasn’t. “I ended up getting bored with it in my senior year. So I decided to just go to college and focus on my academics and having a social life, because I felt like I kind of missed out on that in high school,” the USA star tells us of how she first got into sevens. “So while I was in college (studying sports medicine at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), I started missing the competitive aspects of sports. I was still working out at the time but it wasn’t the same. “So I decided ‘why not try rugby?’ I was always an aggressive child, full of energy. I loved playing football, wanting…

COASTAL PATH Shoreham, of Sussex Two East, have taken a ground-breaking step by teaming up with Greene King IPA Championship side Richmond as a pathway club. The arrangement kicks off next season and will include joint sessions and opportunities for the West Sussex minnows to train at Richmond. TRICK SHOT Gosport & Fareham wing Robert Ellis went close to a rare hat-trick of hat-tricks in Hampshire Premier. He followed trebles against Sandown & Shanklin and New Milton with two early scores in a 47-9 win over Ellingham & Ringwood but a third eluded him. Gos coach Mark Pollard said: “I don’t think he had another opportunity to get another try but he played well again.” LAMBERT’S LANDMARK Veteran Basingstoke fly-half Dave Lambert scored a try to mark his 100th start…

SOMETIMES IT’S hard to be daring in a pro rugby environment because it’s a cutting and juvenile (yet also jovial) environment. People like to have a bit of craic and take the mickey, so whenever anyone enters the building looking even slightly out of sync or different, you can guarantee that half the changing room is ready to tear you to shreds. Certainly when it comes to how you dress. Everyone has their own taste and nobody really gets hammered for reading or watching something different. Questions over music only really creep over boundaries if it’s somebody trying to influence tunes in the dressing room or to blast it out on a team bus and destroy other’s eardrums. There are always two heavy rock heads who enjoy death metal and…

1 USA Premier Rugby Sevens – North America’s sevens league that features men’s and women’s teams (below) – will stage events in San Jose (PayPal Park, 9 July), Washington DC (Audi Field, 16 July) and Austin (Q2 Stadium, 30 July) this summer. “We believe the Bay Area, central Texas and the DMV will give our league a footprint for fans to easily witness the spectacle that is a PR7s live event,” said chief executive Owen Scannell. See prsevens.com for more information and to buy tickets. 2 France England and France won all three of their matches at the U18 Men’s Six Nations festival in Marcoussis last month. France (above) ended their campaign with a ten-try, 66-21 win against Wales that featured hat-tricks for Gabin Rocher and Hoani Bosmorin. They had…

WHAT AN Easter weekend of European rugby! We started with Leinster crucifying Connacht, then witnessed several classic matches, the highlight being the resurrection of a seemingly dead-and-buried Toulouse. With eight teams left in the egg hunt, can we make a prediction about who will be celebrating in Marseille at the end of May? Two of the quarter-finals we can call straight off the bat: Racing v Sale and Munster v Toulouse. Racing and Toulouse will be in the semis. Nothing against Sale and Munster, they are two fantastic teams; it’s just that invariably the winner of Europe is consistently good. Consistently good teams are at or close to the summit of their league. Sale and Munster may be in the hunt for the play-offs but they are far enough behind…

BIG GAME – Harlequins’ festive visit to Twickenham – has become a regular feature on the calendar and the club will be back at English rugby’s HQ this month, albeit with a somewhat warmer offering. Quins’ Gallagher Premiership fixture against Gloucester on Saturday 21 May has been moved across the road from the Stoop for what is being called the ‘Big Summer Kick-off’. As well as the match itself, which could be crucial in terms of the play-offs, there will be plenty of activities going on around the stadium as the club tap into a summer festival theme. There will be live music, with ‘Massaoke’ (think karaoke but with the whole crowd singing along), fairground rides, BBQ and craft beers – hopefully with the sun shining too. Of course, if…

HOW DO you represent the people of an entire ocean region? That was the challenge facing the Moana Pasifika franchise when they began plotting their first season in Super Rugby. Based in Auckland but held up as a symbol for all of Pasifika and their diaspora of kin, what they wore out on the field had to speak to, and for, a vast array of people. According to Moana chief executive Pelenato Sakalia, step one was deciding on a logo that represented the Pacific as well as symbols that bind peoples together. With the help of designer Phila Lagaluga, they settled on their badge. But then it was all about the jerseys. “We assembled a number of people so that we had different perspectives,” Sakalia says. “Phila was a part…

THE STORY has grown enough arms and legs for three Vitruvian Men, but Elrigh Louw still finds an involuntary laugh. “It’s not as bad as it sounds but it was one of my first trainings at the Bulls, coming from the Kings,” starts Louw, 22. “We had a ‘shoulder check’ kind of training and I obviously didn’t know what that means here at the Bulls. “I’m always a guy who goes 100% and I think Duane (Vermeulen) was holding back a bit, thinking I would go down when he tried to tackle me, and I just ran through him. I think a few phases after that he got a bit agitated and smashed the s*** out of me two or three times on the try-line! He was just showing me…

CHIEF PRIOR No 8 Sam Prior, 33, a Taunton Titans legend, has done most things in his ten years with the Two South club but still manages to break new ground. He travels three times weekly from Dorchester to Taunton and his latest brief was a loan spell with Exeter Chiefs, in which he made his debut in the 31-29 win over Worcester Warriors in the Premiership Rugby Cup at Sandy Park. He looked every inch a pro player with his powerful runs. FATHER AND SON It’s not long since Harry Sigley was a water-carrier for his dad, Rob, in Bournville’s first team, but now the roles have been reversed. Harry, 17, has broken into the Two North team. Rob has retired but patrols the touchline and brings on water…

RETURN OF THE REF It’s welcome back to Staffordshire’s Becky Davies, 51, who has answered the RFU’s call for retired match officials to get back involved. She played for nine seasons, ‘retired’ 11 years ago and became the first aider and injury therapist for Eccleshall, a role she’s continued to fill. As well as coaching youngsters, she obtained her referee badge, officiating mainly age-grade games. She also officiated at an occasional colts’ match and recalled: “Then I was thrown in the deep end and took charge of a men’s game when the ref was injured!” Now she’s back in the middle and loving it. GONE FOR A BURTON A 15-game unbeaten run in Midlands Premier came to an end for Newport with their 30-22 defeat by Burton. Bob Adams, the…

A TACKLE CAN only occur in the field of play and who the tackler and tackled player are is clearly defined in law, as are their responsibilities. Most importantly, both players must allow for a fair contest for possession! The basic requirement for a tackle is that the ball-carrier is held and brought to ground by one or more opponents. This means that the tackler must continue to hold the ball-carrier until they are safely on the ground. In the recent Women’s Six Nations match between Ireland and Italy, an interesting situation occurred that highlighted some technical aspects of the tackle. Ireland’s Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe had taken the ball six metres from the Italy line and tried to go around her opponent, Manuela Furlan. The Italian captain made a good…

THE SLOW burn or the quick hook? For Beno Obano it’s definitely the latter. When it comes to sports documentaries, he wants to be drawn in quickly; do that and he could find himself watching something quite unexpected. The All Or Nothing and Drive To Survive series are some of the popular recent sports documentaries, but Obano’s viewing dates back further to ESPN’s 30 for 30. “I went through all of them,” says the Bath and England prop. “There was a lacrosse one that was really good; if I can watch something on lacrosse, for them to make something interesting, there’s a story. “I think it (a documentary) has to be fast, to keep things moving. Some people like more of a slow burn, to take time to build a…

RUGBY IS one of the most physical games on the planet. Yet when teams enter the cauldron of the big occasion, semi-finals and finals, the mental side of the game is just as crucial. Don McPherson is a mind coach who has worked across Formula One, tennis, golf and rugby. He describes mental training as simply ‘better preparation’. “If you have looked after your body, if you have done your best in training to adjust your skill-set, have you prepared mentally? Have you tuned your brain so you will get the best out of your physical preparation and skill-set?” he says. “If you can tick that box by seeing a mind coach or having a quiet chat after training, that is the way to boost confidence, so you go in…

ONE LOOK at the Allianz Premier 15s table illustrates exactly how dominant Saracens have been this season. As the league resumes this month, they are the only team to have booked their place in the semi-finals; in fact, they are assured of top spot whatever happens over the last two rounds as they have a 13-point cushion on Bristol in second. They have 15 wins from their 16 games and they average more than 37 points a game. So what is the key to their success? “With Saracens, it’s always mindset,” says captain and wing Lotte Clapp. “You go out to win; that’s always the intention. Sometimes it’s not pretty, sometimes it’s close to the mark and we make things a bit dramatic. Most of the time we get over…

BARNES BONANZA The Forest XV v Wayne Barnes XV match and fun day is back for a seventh year at Regentsholme, Lydney on 3 June, the day after a special dinner, all in aid of Breast Cancer Now. The Bream-born Barnes is bringing a team of top players to take on a select side drawn from the Forest of Dean. Looking back, England head coach Eddie Jones once led the Barnes XV to a 71-57 win, with the occasion raising £15,000 for the charity. CHIN-WAG Chinnor Falcons won the Oxfordshire Cup for the eighth time after opponents Oxford Harlequins withdrew from the scheduled final on 14 April. The clubs booked their place in the showpiece at Iffley Road more than two years ago before Covid saw the final postponed. Quins…

CASTLE TOUR Scarborough, of One East, have indulged in that rare modern commodity – a tour. The Danesmen, their development squad, headed to Kent on a three-day trip organised by club director and player Richard Guthrie. They stayed at Hever Castle and played Chiddingstone Badgers, a local social side. The Danesmen took a two-try lead but the Badgers XV won 43-26. That evening, both teams feasted in Boleyn’s Banqueting Hall at the castle. DOUBLE CENTURY Hooker Jack Yarker made his 200th and final appearance for Wirral in the North Premier defeat at Preston Grasshoppers. A Wirral spokesman said: “A great achievement for a top bloke. He’ll be missed when leaving for pastures new.” CLARK’S MARK It has been a tough season for bottom club Northwich in the same league. They…

ACROSS 1 One of Exeter’s best-ever recruits, this Irish centre was signed from Ulster in 2012 (3,7) 8 - - - McBryde, former Wales forwards coach working with Leinster (5) 9 - - - Sharks, what the now Cell C Sharks were called when the Super Rugby franchise system began in South Africa in 1998 (7) 10 Ospreys flanker who played all three Tests of the 2013 Lions series (7) 11 - - - Jones, Springboks assistant coach and the only Irishman with a Rugby World Cup winner’s medal (5) 12 Johannesburg township where John Smit played his 100th Test, a 29-22 loss to New Zealand in 2010 (6) 14 “They didn’t just - - - a win today,” said James Hook of Italy’s 2022 Six Nations win against Wales…