Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2022 i Rugby World

WE DO this edition on rugby’s movers and shakers every two years, and it’s always interesting to see who has burst into the frame or fallen away (P33-67). When it comes to decision-making in rugby, there are bound to be differences of opinion and problems that are hard to solve – a men’s global calendar for one. Yet one area where it’s important that all rugby’s powerbrokers are on the same page is brain injuries. This is the biggest issue in the game right now, but with several conflicting voices in this space it is hard to see a clear way forward. Take the clampdown on dangerous high tackles. This was introduced to try to improve player safety, but there are coaches, players and others bemoaning the amount of cards…

TUE 2-SAT 6 AUGUST European Touch Championships (University of Nottingham) SATURDAY 6 AUGUST Rugby Championship South Africa v New Zealand (4pm, Mbombela Stadium) TV Live on Sky Sports Argentina v Australia (8.10pm, Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza) TV Live on Sky Sports WEDNESDAY 10 AUGUST Pre-season Friendly Bayonne v Ulster (7pm, Parc des Sports Jean Dauger) SAT 13-SUN 21 AUGUST Bingham Cup (Ottawa) SATURDAY 13 AUGUST Rugby Championship South Africa v New Zealand (4.05, Emirates Airline Park, Jo’burg) TV Live on Sky Sports Argentina v Australia (8.10pm, Estadio del Bicentenario, San Juan) TV Live on Sky Sports Women’s International South Africa v Spain (midday, Emirates Airline Park, Jo’burg) FRIDAY 19 AUGUST Women’s International South Africa v Spain (2pm, Fanie du Toit Stadium, Potchefstroom) Pre-season Friendlies Brive v Bristol (tbc) Jersey v…

1 South Africa The Junior Springboks (below) won the U20 Six Nations Summer Series, beating Wales 47-27 in the final in Treviso, Italy. There were three tries for Bulls hooker Tiaan Lange, a double for centre Suleiman Hartzenberg, and other scores by Louw Nel and Ethan James. In the other play-off matches, Italy beat England for the second time this year, winning 38-31 in a nine-try thriller to finish third, while France finished fifth following a 44-17 victory over Georgia. Ireland triumphed 41-24 against Scotland to avoid bottom spot. 2 Namibia A hat-trick by MLR back-rower Wian Conradie (above) helped Namibia book their spot at next year’s World Cup in France. They beat Kenya 36-0 to lift the Rugby Africa Cup and qualify as Africa One. They go into Pool…

“We made history but hopefully it’s just the first chapter” FEW WORDS can explain our feelings after we beat Italy. It wasn’t just for us or for the crowd, it was for the whole country. It was a fantastic day, history was made and hopefully it’s one of the first chapters of a bigger story to come. It was an amazing experience. The result had everyone in Georgia talking about rugby; it was a big day and it felt amazing. The whole country, our people, deserved it and hopefully we will bring them more joy in the future too. We played Italy in 2018 but we didn’t get to prepare as well as we did for this year’s match, and it was a home game with a full crowd in…

THE STRUCTURE of the Champions Cup has become a little complicated in recent seasons and there are yet more tweaks for the 2022-23 campaign. So we’re going to break it down… What’s the format? The Champions Cup involves four pool rounds, where teams will play home and away against two opponents who don’t play in their domestic league. Defending champions La Rochelle will face Ulster and Northampton, for example. The 24 teams are split into two groups of 12 and the top eight in each after the pool rounds advance to the last 16. Unlike last season, that will be played over one leg, with the top-ranked team in Pool A playing the eighth-placed team in Pool B and so on. Then it’s onto quarters, semis and final. Which new…

1 BERNARD LAPORTE World Rugby vice-chairman ▲ Up one Bernard Laporte was 26 years old and was heading for his hometown of Gaillac. It was July 1985 and the day was blisteringly hot, mid-30s. Even in his car the temperature was scorching. Maybe that was part of the reason he fell asleep. Maybe there were other reasons. What’s undeniable is that his car hit a tree and he was put in a coma. He was taken to a military hospital where his doctor brought him grim news upon his return to consciousness. “Rugby is going to be complicated for you now, Bernard,” he said. It was a kind way of saying that his playing days were over. “It’s like he stabbed me,” Laporte recalled years later. His playing days weren’t…

HIS NAME reads like a rugby fan’s bucket list. Leicester Ofa Ki Wales Twickenham Fainga’anuku. A birth certificate that tells you: pack your bags, we’re going on a road trip. But while he is the second oldest of three brothers and two sisters, he is the only Fainga’anuku kid with a name that bears explaining. “I’m trying to figure out if it was right place, right time or if my old man had a bit too much to drink!” he laughs of his former Tonga prop father, Malakai or ‘Ta’u’, picking his names. “It’s everything to do with Dad’s experiences at the 1999 Rugby World Cup. And obviously for people who come from the small nations of Tonga or Samoa in the Pacific, to attend a World Cup was something…

ACROSS 1 Welsh forward laid week aside (4,4) 7 Go - - -, as Tevita Kuridrani did when missing relegated Biarritz’s match at Toulouse in June (1,1,1,1) 8 City that will stage the Wales-Fiji match in next year’s World Cup (8) 9 Losi - - -, Samoan sevens international who received a supervision order for assaulting four people in 2016 (6) 10 Jimmy - - -, Leinster utility back in Ireland’s squad for the tour to NZ (6) 11 Waratah Hanigan tidies dirty den (3) 12 “I’m not too fussed about - - -, I’m very physical myself,” said Courtney Lawes ahead of his first appearance against the Springboks in 2010 (5) 14 A new one will be fully open at 24 Across for the start of next season (5)…

“Sometimes, no matter what you do, it’s like they have your playbook” I REMEMBER playing for one team where, from the very first defensive sessions on a Monday or Tuesday, the coach would put mug shots up on the screen of the opposition’s star players that we’d have to obliterate in order to win the gain-line at the weekend. Those important players would then be ‘replicated’ during the week, with some of our reserve players carrying the ball like them. They would have different-coloured bibs on, too. It was a ploy to give you a spark when you saw those people on the field, like a mental jog. It was envisioned as a signal to go to the next level because there was an extra effort required to dominate that…

“The changing North-South divide” THE SOUTHERN hemisphere has long been considered the dominant side of the equator when it comes to international rugby. A quick flick through the history books illustrates why. Since the Second World War, the Lions have won only five Test series against the so-called ‘Big Three’ – two in Australia, one in New Zealand and a couple in South Africa – and only one of the nine men’s World Cups played to date has been won by a team from the North, England in 2003. Scotland have never beaten the All Blacks while Wales haven’t done so since 1953. Yet more recent history suggests that the famous North-South divide has closed significantly. Ireland not only beat the All Blacks in New Zealand for the first time…

WHAT WAS the off-pitch highlight of the South Africa tour? We did a little safari. We saw most of the animals, just not elephants. A few of the boys went on it and it was a good laugh. What was the best animal you saw? A lion. They’re big and scary. Who are the jokers in the squad? Tomos Williams, he doesn’t stop rinsing everyone. Dillon Lewis, he’s pretty hilarious. There are a lot of people you don’t think would be funny but the one-liners they come out with are hilarious. Biggs (Dan Biggar) is actually really funny. We all rinse each other. Any practical jokes? It’s always the same people who do things but I’d never snake on them! It’s things like hiding kit or hiding boys’ sliders or…

8 New Zealand Glasgow and Scotland scrum-half Jamie Dobie (above) has joined Bay of Plenty on a short-term loan deal to gain experience ahead of the new URC season. He said of the move: “I’m buzzing.” 9 Japan Japan (above) will play Ireland twice this month – in Fukuroi on 20 August and Tokyo a week later – as part of their preparations for the World Cup later this year. It’s the first-ever summer tour for Ireland’s women. 10 Colombia This month’s South America Tri-Nations will be staged in Barranquilla, featuring hosts Colombia (above), Brazil and Paraguay. The Tucanes face Paraguay on 20 August and Brazil eight days later, with Brazil v Paraguay on 24 Aug.…

AT TIMES it was possible to forget that he has early onset dementia, a condition that has ripped his life asunder. Steve Thompson not only arrived bang on time for our rendezvous, at a hotel in Hartford close to his Cheshire home, but then spoke movingly and with barely a pause for two-and-a-half hours. As Thompson has detailed in his powerful book Unforgettable, there are vast chunks of his rugby career that he cannot recall. It includes the whole of 2003 when England won the World Cup and Thompson was shortlisted for World Player of the Year. Sir Clive Woodward says every other player in the team was replaceable, even Jonny Wilkinson. Not so hooker Thompson, who played all 100 minutes of the final victory against Australia, despite the attritional…

39 RONAN O’GARA La Rochelle head coach • New entry “I have ambitions in the years ahead to coach at a high level and, with this in mind, I can confirm that I will be joining Racing Métro’s (now 92) coaching staff in July.” And with that statement, Ronan O’Gara left his beloved Munster and the offer of an extended one-year contract in 2013. From the moment he had first laced his boots to the clear-cut decision to switch from player to coach, the legendary Munster and Ireland fly-half has benefited from his clarity of thought, either making the right decisions at ten for province and country or deciding when to make the next move in his rugby odyssey. With 128 caps for Ireland, a Grand Slam, three Triple Crowns…

IT STARTED with two guys from the Edinburgh team. Dancing on the concourse by the side of the main pitch, enjoying the music on the PA system. A couple of female Spanish players, from UR Almeria we think, joined in, and people nearby laughed as the quartet did a ‘wave’ movement by shrugging their shoulders and arms in sequence. Suddenly more Almeria players were there too, dancing happily, and soon a conga emerged, the group snaking along in front of the filled main stand where spectators clapped along in approval. Integration, energy and joy – all in one spontaneous moment. Welcome to IMART Cork 2022, a kind of World Cup for the phenomenon that is mixed ability rugby. RW previewed the tournament in 2020 and wanted to be there when…

1 Squats // 3 x 5 REPS With bar on back, keep chest up. Bend knees, lower body until hips slightly below knees. Push through heels on floor, return to start. 2 Pull-ups // 3 x 5 REPS With an overhand grip on the bar/apparatus, hang with arms extended. Pull up until chest touches bar, then lower again. 3 Bench // 3 x 5 REPS With back flat on bench, arms shoulder-width apart, lift bar out and controlled, lower to chest and press the bar back up.…

UNCONTESTED SCRUMS have been a blight on the game for more than 20 years. World Rugby have not really come up with a satisfactory solution to the thorny issue of front-row injuries or suspensions that lead to a lack of ‘suitably trained’ players. The law, as it stands, seems fairly straightforward. In a squad of 23 players, you need six front-rowers in the group and at the first time of asking, you must be able to replace each one. Now don’t get me wrong, player safety is the game’s top priority. No exceptions. Gone are the days when France played three props in the front row. Uncontested scrums have always been wide open to abuse, though. Teams who were getting hammered in the scrum all of a sudden suffered a…

SCOTT COOKE Chair of the Quins’ Supporters Association ONE OF the things I love about rugby is the rivalry and noise when you’re there. There is a lot of love between supporters but a lot of rivalry come game time, and I’d never like to see that taken away. The football thing is different, home and away pubs, and that would be awful, but if 400 of us want to be together at an away game why not? It is people’s choice and we’ll continue to offer it. Some clubs are really accommodating and do try to help. Everyone sitting together at Bristol for the 2021 Premiership semi-final was a Covid thing and the council had to approve it. We’d had no rugby for two years and people wanted to…

TWO YEARS ago, my daughter began playing with the Ogwr Hawks and it has changed our lives. From being a socially awkward child, I now see her arm in arm with her team-mates, head to toe in red, dragons on her cheeks, draped in the Welsh flag and screaming at the top of her voice when Carys Phillips scored against Canada on a cold November night at the Arms Park. That same awkward pre-teen has scored her first try, won her first match, her first tournament and been awarded her first medal. Ogwr Hawks are the only official girls-only hub for Bridgend and the surrounding areas. The coaches, organisers, first-aiders, admin staff, fundraisers and coordinators are all volunteers who work tirelessly to provide rugby for local girls. It allows the…

BACK IN May, Jasmine Joyce underwent shoulder surgery with the goal of being “in the form of my life” for the World Cup. By July, she was not only getting stuck into the first week of pre-season training but was eager to broaden her skill-set too. “She’s coming through rehab and is the type of person saying, ‘Can I do this, do that?’,” says Keira Bevan, who is team-mates with Joyce at Bristol and Wales. “It just shows her character; she always wants to learn and get better. “We had a kicking session with Stephen Myler; it was mainly meant to be half-backs and she said, ‘I want to do it as well’. She’s constantly taking her game to the next level. She’s not content with being a winger, finishing…

“Gone are the days when New Zealand can dictate the terms of everything” RUGBY HAS always been my game. I played in my school years – I was a full-back – and I’ve always loved it. In my media career, at Network Ten I secured the rights to rugby, so I’ve always been in and around the game. I’ve been passionate about it since I was a kid. In my era, everyone loved the Ella brothers. Mark was the first indigenous captain of Australia, so it’s nice for him to be honoured by having the trophy for the recent Australia-England series named after him, the Ella-Mobbs Cup. I’ve spent a bit of time with Mark recently, and Gary has been around too. They were icons of the game when I…

9 SALLY HORROX World Rugby director of women’s rugby • New entry The past few weeks have illustrated the continued rise of women’s football, with record crowds and huge TV audiences watching the Women’s Euros. We saw something similar during the Women’s Six Nations. The challenge now is to maintain that momentum – and not just in Europe but around the world. On the pitch, there is work to be done to increase competitiveness, to ensure more countries are in the trophy mix and that the ‘product’ is more attractive. Sally Horrox is the person charged with looking after the women’s game, coming into her World Rugby role in May. She has an impressive record in women’s sport, helping to grow both netball and football. Now it’s rugby on the…

SEPT 2009 New Zealand, Australia and South Africa invite Argentina to join them in an expanded four-team annual competition. “This is historic,” says former Pumas captain Agustín Pichot MAR 2010 The IRB (now World Rugby) give Argentina £1.3m to help fund their introduction to The Rugby Championship (TRC) AUG 2012 NZ beat Australia 27-19 in Sydney in the first TRC match, Israel Dagg having the honour of scoring the inaugural try AUG 2012 Argentina lose their first match 27-6 to South Africa in Cape Town. They draw with the Boks a week later in Mendoza SEPT 2012 News emerges of financial fraud at the Argentinian union, with two employees forging signatures to steal a total of around US$370,000 AUG 2013 The Boks crush the Pumas 73-13 in Johannesburg SEPT 2013…