Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2019 i Rugby World

THE FIRST XV at Merchiston Castle ended 2018 on a high by winning the Scottish Schools U18 Cup at Murrayfield. Captain James Dobie was Player of the Match as the Edinburgh school beat St Aloysius’ College 40-7 to lift the trophy for a record sixth time – and the first time in ten years. “We’re extremely happy for the whole school and this set of boys as they thoroughly deserve this success through their hard work and determination,” said Merchiston director of rugby Roddy Deans. “Many of these boys have been in the school since their primary years and are firmly rooted into our culture. “To see the sheer delight and joy on their faces is what our rugby programme is all about: enjoyment, teamwork and commitment.” In the U15…

MIKE ROSS FORMER IRELAND PROP Ireland’s strength in depth has been transformed in recent years and I expect them to back up last year’s Grand Slam with another title. Joe Schmidt has so many options that he can adjust his team based on the opposition. James Ryan is phenomenal at 22. Usually guys mature into second-row but he’s been outstanding from the get-go. His athleticism and the way he gets up to counter-ruck is not an easy thing to do for a man of 6ft 8in. Ireland have won 18 of their last 19 Tests and in the last two years have beaten every other side in the world’s top ten. If you picked a World XV right now, half the side would be Irish: Furlong, Murray, Sexton, Healy, Ryan,…

“My favourite place in the world is the Alps in Austria. I used to go skiing there when I was younger.” “Every summer we went to Fermanagh where my mum is from. I have great memories of being there. I played U20 for England but my mum was overcome with emotion when I got capped for Ireland.” “I have dreamed about making the World Cup squad, but I know the reality. I’m a peripheral player right now. I’ll take on all the good advice I can get in order to push myself forward.” “Steve Diamond, my coach at Sale, and Rory Best, my captain at Ulster, are similar. Both push standards, have a massive love for their club, and have an infectious ability to pass on that pride to those…

“I SUFFERED a knee injury in the first pre-season game of 2015-16 and despite spending 14 months and a few surgeries trying to get back fit, it wasn’t right and I couldn’t carry on. I was incredibly lucky, though, to play 15 years professionally. “I studied for a degree and masters in biochemistry and sports nutrition whilst playing and had been a practitioner in sports nutrition towards the end of my career. That meant I had a clear idea of what I wanted to achieve next. “My focus is working towards my PhD thesis, which I’m studying at Liverpool John Moores University. This research is alongside applied sports nutrition at Gloucester with the players, trying to improve recovery and match preparation. “Modern rugby is fantastic. I think it’s a great…

Best dressed – I really don’t want to say… Maro Itoje is into his fashion. He was on the cover of Tatler. He loves the camera, is well dressed. Cheapest – Easy, that’s Alex Goode! He’s reluctant to pay – he has the shortest arms and deepest pockets. Best dancer – I would put myself into the top three there. My brother is also quite good, but he can get real cringey and makes a bit of a horrible face when he’s dancing. Best singer – Owen Farrell’s actually really good. He’s reluctant when he’s sober, but get him a few drinks and he’s like, ‘Yeah, yeah, get me on there!’ His go-to at the moment is Michael Bolton’s Drift Away. Funniest – There’s a mix at the club. Richard…

Age 25 (9 Dec 1993) Born Inverness Position No 8 Club Harlequins Height 5ft 10in Weight 13st 5lb Scotland caps 33 Points 30 (6T) Instagram @jadekonkel THERE WERE few opportunities for Jade Konkel to play rugby growing up, but since focusing on the sport aged 17 she has excelled, becoming Scotland’s first female professional player and a key figure in the national side. Here she talks long drives, going vegan and meaningful tattoos… I used to drive three-and-a-half hours each way to play. There wasn’t much girls’ rugby around the Black Isle, but at 17 I drove to Edinburgh for a development day and got selected for Scotland U20. After that, every week I drove along the A9 to Glasgow to play for Hillhead-Jordanhill. Sometimes I’d leave at 5am and…

2011 SWEET VICTORY “Beating France for the first time in the Six Nations was an incredible day. It was at the Stadio Flaminio, where I loved playing because the crowd was so close to the pitch that it created a great atmosphere. “Obviously for me, the victory was particularly sweet as I’d spent years losing to France and getting a lot of jokes when I returned to Stade Français. This time I was the one with the big smile!” 2017 OFFICIAL LINE “I’ve a passionate character so I know I have to get the balance right in talking to referees. Over the years I’ve learnt a lot about the psychology of referees: how they react to pressure and how they talk to players. “I always try to treat them with…

POOL STAGES All kick-offs are UK & Ireland (add eight hours for Japan). Friday 20 September  Japan v Russia (Pool A, 11.45am, Tokyo) Saturday 21 September  Australia v Fiji (Pool D, 5.45am, Sapporo) France v Argentina (Pool C, 8.15am, Tokyo) New Zealand v South Africa (Pool B, 10.45am, Yokohama) Sunday 22 September  Italy v Namibia (Pool B, 6.15am, Osaka) Ireland v Scotland (Pool A, 8.45am, Yokohama) England v Tonga (Pool C, 11.15am, Sapporo) Monday 23 September  Wales v Georgia (Pool D, 11.15am, Toyota) Tuesday 24 September  Russia v Samoa (Pool A, 11.15am, Kumagaya) Wednesday 25 September  Fiji v Uruguay (Pool D, 6.15am, Kamaishi) Thursday 26 September  Italy v Canada (Pool B, 8.45am, Fukuoka) England v USA (Pool C, 11.45am, Kobe) Saturday 28 September  Argentina v…

HOT AND COLD Not many clubs have an ice-bath in the form of a customised skip but Bourne, of Three East (South), have one, donated by Chris Seggie, the owner of Bourne Skip Hire. On the flip side, Andrew Farmer and Ian Green, other businessmen in the Lincolnshire town, have provided a set of waterproof tops for warming up before matches. They watched Bourne beat Dunstablians 30-12 and chairman Ted Thornburn said: “We’ve had a tough run but everyone is behind us and it’s great that local businesses are keen to support the club.” TURNING IT ROUND Worcester DoR Niall Crawford was a relieved man after his side dragged themselves away from the One West drop zone. They suffered six defeats in seven games before beating Stourbridge Lions, Sutton Coldfield,…

WHO SHOULD play outside-half for Wales? That is the hot topic for fans in the Principality. Dan Biggar (65 caps) has been cemented as the Wales No 10 of late but now has serious competition. Last autumn, Biggar started against Tonga while Gareth Anscombe (21 caps) started against Scotland, Australia and South Africa. Yet Rhys Patchell (11 caps) might well have got the nod but for a lay-off due to concussion. A settled side needs a settled ten. He is the player that shapes the play, implements the game plan and drives the team forward. The battle will need to be decided before the World Cup. For me, the Wales fly-half has to be Biggar. I coached Daniel for many years, seeing him grow from a teenage protégé into a…

Patience for Lions Re Lions 2021 coach: Warren Gatland beat the Aussies (third Test was a hammering) and drew against the All Blacks (best team on the planet), so how can you say, “No, not Gatland”. Two years ago everyone was shouting for Eddie Jones to be the Lions coach. That’s gone quiet. Now it’s Andy Farrell, before he’s even started coaching Ireland (I personally think he’ll be good). So let’s just wait and see in 18 months who has the best results as a coach. Karen Aherne Pullen, via Facebook A miracle shot I challenged my son, Oscar, to kick a rugby ball from a tee into a basketball hoop at our local play park. I said: “If you get it in the basketball ring I’ll give you £10.”…

8 France The logo for the 2023 World Cup has been revealed, with the new take on France’s tricolour flag described as “different, powerful and modern”. Keep track of 2023 goings-on at rugby worldcup.com/France2023 9 Australia John Folau could be lining up alongside his brother Israel in Super Rugby this year having earned a spot in the Waratahs training squad. He has impressed with Sydney Rays in the National Rugby Championship. 10 Japan Hosting the World Cup later this year is set to deliver a £2.79bn boost to the Japanese economy. More than two-thirds of the ticket requests have come from outside Japan, with a lot of rugby tourists expected.…

“Attack is sexier but you need as much energy for defence” EVERYONE wants line speed in defence because it’s sexy and you get turnovers, but if you’ve got poor connections between players you get big gaps. So if I was giving advice to an amateur team I’d say to focus on spacing and connections. Look at Exeter and Wales – they don’t have great line speed but have great connections, which means two-on-one tackles and slower ball. That’s the technique side of things but mentality is key too. You need to have as much energy for defence as attack. Attack is sexier but you can get energy from stopping teams too, winning the contest both with and without the ball. It’s about creating excitement about defending. That’s where the ‘Wolfpack’…

A game show picks the next England coach? Kay Seen this mad TV show for Eddie Jones’s replacement? Deano Yeah. Bold call for Dave Benson Phillips to host alongside Holly Willoughby Samir She’s great tbf, but not sure what they know about rugby Benny Can’t wait for Jake White to get gunged! Kay Is this more or less dignified than the public courting of a job in the press, plus all the back-door meetings? Samir Lanny is going for the ‘extra training time’ ticket under the tank of slime! Kay Yeah, Gatland looks a bit nervous. Think he regrets getting into that boiler suit… Deano Bloody hell, Harry Redknapp won!…

Age 24 (7 Mar 1994) Born Newport Club Dragons Position Hooker Height 6ft 1in Weight 16st 9lb Wales caps 13 Twitter @elliotdee2 IF YOU want a prototype for the modern Welsh player, you won’t go far wrong with Elliot Dee. The 24-year-old is doing the nuts and bolts of the hooker’s role with the same assurance that his national coach Warren Gatland once did in a black jersey, but also offers the ball-playing finesse that Wales need to go the extra mile. Nineteen offloads against Tonga in November, nine of them by forwards, was evidence that Wales are determined to grow their game into something potentially world-beating. Third in the world and in the midst of their best winning run since 1999, they are serious contenders for this year’s World…

The most enduring half-back pairing of recent years is the eight Tests of Baptiste Serin and Camille Lopez (below). They were first paired together against England at the start of the 2017 Six Nations, and almost orchestrated the first French win at Twickenham in the championship since 2005 before England edged them out 19-16. The pair remained for the rest of the tournament in which France beat Scotland, Wales and Italy, but Lopez was then rested for the summer tour to South Africa. The Clermont ten broke his ankle early in the 2017-18 season and didn’t resume his partnership with Serin until last November. Despite encouraging performances against South Africa and Argentina, the duo were dire in the historic defeat by Fiji and the French press is demanding change for…

1 Japan and the world in union  Let’s first wish for a grand union at RWC 2019 – between Japan and the world. The barriers of language, alphabet, customs and cultures mean that Japan and the wider rugby world have always had to circle each other a little warily. So let us communicate in any way we can, and make friends, maybe even fall in love. Rugby has been slow in entering new fields, slow to realise the potential of inducting other teams at a top table that has remained the same for too long. We should wish Japan victory, on the field and in everything they do as hosts. Customs tip – the handing over of business cards is a near-sacred right in Japan, according to Andy, my cultural…

NICK’S KNACK It was many happy returns with a difference for Nick Wakley at Bury St Edmunds. He was named head coach on his 38th birthday. He succeeds DoR Jon Curry, who left due to a funding shortfall in the pro-am coaching structure. A former centre and wing, Wakley has also coached Ebbw Vale, Samurai and Wales Women. When Wakley took over, Bury stood 11th in the Two South table and his first match brought a tantalising 17-13 defeat by Clifton. He said: “I’ve been doing my research and seen 90% of Bury’s matches this season. My main focus will be boosting our defence because we’ve been conceding too many points.” GRAND DESIGNS National One club Bishop’s Stortford have spent £950,000 on improvements to the clubhouse and pitch space at…

Few clubs are as well matched to their league status as Malton & Norton. After 11 games in One East, they had six wins and five losses with 266 points for and 265 against! They’ve flitted between Yorkshire One and their current level in recent years and provide rich entertainment at The Gannock, their well-appointed headquarters for 22 years that has four pitches. Pat McCarthy, an ex-flanker and Blackheath manager, is in his ninth season as DoR while flanker Sam Triffitt is captain. Former fly-half Chris Creber heads the coaching team and Richard Webster looks after the forwards. The club has produced the likes of Wales prop Tomas Francis, Newcastle’s Will Witty and England women’s duo Tatyana Heard and Rachel Lund. McCarthy said: “In addition, Mary Griffiths was the first…

1 Strike fast Before instigating a ‘flash play’, the fly-half has to make the opposition feel he’s part of the folding attack. Patchell ‘attaches himself’ to the forward pods wrapping around the rucks. His stealthy movement is cat-like but when he strikes, he strikes fast and hard. The run can be lateral as you’re running across field, but the sooner the player can square up his hips and shoulders to the try-line to engage defenders at pace, the better his chance of committing or beating them. 2 Distance and hang time Biggar makes his high kicks on the run. He strikes the ball on its point so it immediately has a high trajectory. I used to practise with Daniel, using the two ten-metre lines as a gauge; you’re after a…

14th Tadhg Furlong, Siya Kolisi (below), Stuart Lancaster, Joe Schmidt and Johnny Sexton are all nominated for the Rugby Union Writers’ Club’s Pat Marshall Trophy. The winner will be revealed at a dinner in London this Monday. 23rd This Wednesday the coaches and captains of the men’s and women’s Six Nations teams will descend on London for the championship launch. Keep your eye on newspapers and websites, and tune into TV shows and radio stations, for all the big stories. 9th  Whitgift (left) start the new year with a big match, hosting Ivybridge Community College in a National U18 Schools Cup quarter-final. Last year, their U15 side beat Manchester Grammar to win the national competition, while Warwick are the defending U18 champions. Whitgift and Ivybridge will battle it out for…

Last person you phoned My mother. No matter how badly I’ve played, she says I was great! Most important person in phone My wife Last person texted Fergus McFadden for lunch Last photo taken My twin boys out in the back garden Favourite social network Instagram – there’s less negativity Music app Spotify. I’ve only recently got it. Jordan Larmour set up my first playlist News app I use Twitter for news Favourite WhatsApp group The RC group – me, Noel Reid, Ben Te’o and Dominic Ryan…

1 OLLIE LAWRENCE Age 19 (18 Sep 1999) Born Birmingham Club Worcester Country England Position Centre How did you get involved in rugby? My dad played for Moseley, so I went along to tag rugby there and then played for the juniors. That was it – I always had a passion for it. I went to a rugby-playing secondary school, Old Swinford Hospital, and then went to sixth form at Bromsgrove School on a scholarship. Did you play any other sports growing up? I played football and was involved in the academies at Aston Villa and Birmingham City, but I stopped when I was ten as I didn’t like the environment. I also played cricket and at 16 I had to choose. I went for rugby as I enjoyed it…

JUST AFTER the World Cup in 1999, we played Wasps at Loftus Road and Gary (Armstrong) injured his shoulder, writes Doddie Weir. Afterwards, Paul Mackings, CEO at the Falcons, asked if anyone wanted to drive his motor back to Newcastle. I fancied getting up the road quicker and Gary wanted home because he was in pain. I was probably enjoying the ride on the M1 too much, because next thing the blue lights are behind us. I pull in and jump out, to show the police officers I was really keen to meet them. They were so pleased to see me, they offered me a seat in the back. “What’s your name?” “Doddie Weir.” “The rugby player Doddie Weir?” “Yes.” Maybe I had a rugby fan. “I had ten quid…

ASSISTANTS IN Scarlets’ Stephen Jones and Glasgow’s Jonathan Humphreys will join Wayne Pivac’s Wales coaching team when he succeeds Warren Gatland after the World Cup. DUBLIN DATE Jérôme Garcès will be in charge of the crunch Ireland-England match on the opening Six Nations weekend. HUB CLUB The latest phase of the WRU’s hub programme, headed by Ryan Jones (right), is underway, with 90 universities, colleges and schools appointing full-time hub officers. More than 40,000 boys and 19,000 girls regularly played rugby during the last academic year. BREAKING GROUND London Irish will move into Brentford FC’s Community Stadium from summer 2020, ending 20 years of tenancy in Reading. TOP TIGER Leicester have made Geordan Murphy their permanent head coach. He had been in an interim role since early September. GALLIC SHIFT…

AS RELAXED as Mako Vunipola is, one idea makes him balk. “There’s no chance I’d get in a ball pit!” the loosehead prop says after it is revealed we toyed with the idea of taking him to a soft-play area. “I remember Brad Barritt doing one of those pictures – well, not with a ball pit but it was with a bowl of fruit – and he still gets haunted by that picture today.” There is no savaging as severe as that from your team-mates, even if you’re a leader. And according to those who see his influence every day at Saracens, Vunipola is one of the most vocal players at the club alongside the half-backs and captain Barritt. Despite missing all of the November Tests with England, Vunipola is…

There have been so many down the years but two combinations were a particular calamity for les Bleus. Who can forget the dross dished up by Sébastien Bézy and Jules Plisson (above) when Guy Novès selected them for his first two Tests in charge in 2016, against Italy and Ireland? The French won both but the rugby was headless and hapless; in the 10-9 win over the Irish in Paris it took the home side 62 minutes to work their way into the visitors’ 22. The other half-back pairing from hell was Maxime Machenaud and Frédéric Michalak, partners on seven occasions, which include a humiliating defeat by Italy in 2013, a 30-0 thrashing by New Zealand in the same year and a 50-23 drubbing by the Wallabies in 2014.…

56% Wales’ overall winning percentage since Gatland took over in 2008 2 Grand Slams won in the Gatland era. Wales also won the Six Nations in 2013 while he was on sabbatical with the Lions 69% Gatland’s winning record as Wales coach in the Six Nations – they have won 31 of his 45 matches in charge 0 Times a Gatlandcoached side has lost to Italy – he’s won all 13 Tests whether in charge of Ireland or Wales. His Wales teams have always beaten Scotland too MOST-CAPPED COACHES WARREN GATLAND 153 109 Wales, 38 Ireland, 6 Lions GRAHAM HENRY 140 103 NZ, 34 Wales, 3 Lions EDDIE JONES 140 57 Australia, 48 Japan, 35 England STEVE HANSEN 125 96 NZ, 29 Wales…

Game Changer Harlequins aim to break their own record for the highest attendance for a women’s UK club match (4,542) when they face Gloucester-Hartpury at the Stoop on 30 March. Tickets for ‘The Game Changer’ are £10 for adults, £5 for juniors. See quins.london Ladies first Black Ferns No 9 Kendra Cocksedge (below) is the first woman to be named New Zealand Player of the Year, winning the Kelvin R Tremain Memorial award. Black Ferns Sevens were named NZ Team of the Year. Sweet victory Tonga won a Test for the first time, beating Papua New Guinea Palais 62-26 in the Oceania Women’s Championship. Sporting times Portuguese champions Sporting beat Spain’s Olimpico 26-8 in Lisbon to win the Iberia Cup – the only cross-border club competition in women’s rugby.…

DART CHARGE Work is underway on a new ground and community clubhouse for Dartford Valley, of Kent Two. Founded in 1977 as Darenth Valley, the club began life as a pub team, known as The Bells. How things have moved on, with the scheme also delivering a floodlit 3G pitch, second grass playing area, car park and fully landscaped environment. Chairman Peter Timon said: “Our partnership with Dartford Council means our dream is now coming true.” Originally a nomadic club, Darenth Valley folded in 2005-06 but were revived in 2009 and became fully integrated with the Dartford area. CENTENARY PLANS It’s a memorable season for Barnet Elizabethans, who launched their centenary programme in the autumn. The Herts-Middlesex One club has played at Byng Road since 1957 and can count ex-England…

Tom Rance is back as DoR at One East basement club Stratford after Tom Greevy, ex-Leamington and Birmingham & Solihull, departed in mid-December having spent barely six months in the role. Rance had stepped down at the end of last season after five years and emerged from his short-lived retirement when a young squad, at least half under the age of 22, had won only one of 14 matches. They also endured some long-term injuries and the pre-season retirement of experienced players. Stratford, who have three senior teams, a women’s touch side and 300 mini-juniors, has always been a ‘destination club’ for touring sides because of the town’s Shakespearian connections. Sporting Club Universitaire de France (SCUF) hold a special place in their history. An annual game against SCUF began in…

“You need your hands around the ball to be able to do anything with it – to pass it, kick it, run with it, anything. Usually you don’t have a preconceived idea that you’re going to kick the ball straightaway; sometimes you just drop it onto your foot. I find kicking quite instinctive, and you get a lot of feedback from the feel of it.” “When punting, obviously you point the ball in the direction that you want it to go. Then you want to kick up through the ball, cutting through the middle of it. The main thing is getting your body weight going through it – not just making it about the kick but about where your body’s going so that the ball will follow.” “If you make…

1 MOVE CHANCES ARE you will have heard of ‘fasting’. Essentially it means delaying energy intake (food) over certain periods of time in an attempt to reduce your overall intake. For example, some may skip breakfast, fasting from the previous evening meal until around mid-morning. This could be a fasting period of around 13 hours. The inference is that this will result in some weight loss. Yet while this may be true and you could lose fat mass, you potentially lose lean muscle mass too. Simply, less protein less often equals a reduction in anabolic stimulus. Understandably, this can spell trouble for the serious amateur or elite athlete. “It can negatively affect training, performance and recovery” Our nutritionist James Morehen says: “Personally, I wouldn’t suggest athletes implement this during normal…

In The Daily Telegraph recently, Ealing Trailfinders director of rugby Ben Ward said: “The difficulty in England is that nobody knows who makes the decisions. The RFU or Premiership?” Answer: the Premiership clubs. Ward added that moves to ring-fence the Premiership should lead to legal action from Championship clubs. Well said, not only in the interests of the Championship but clubs throughout England’s domestic structure. The Ealings, Bedfords, Coventrys and the rest must stand up to these Premiership bullies. Ring-fencing the Premiership would be the biggest-ever disaster for English rugby, given that it now has no representative stepping stone between club and country for modern-day Bill Beaumonts and Wade Dooleys. Premiership clubs’ actions are putting the Lions at risk too. The RFU, via acting CEO Nigel Melville, has also suggested…