Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2019 i Rugby World

Last person you phoned Let me have a look… My mum Last person texted Ross, my decorator. I recently bought a flat in Cheltenham. We were looking at wall colours Last photo taken A selfie showing my missing front tooth. It provides a lot of hilarity Favourite social network Instagram. It’s a more positive landscape than Twitter Last app downloaded IMDb (Internet Movie Database). The go-to for movie stuff Favourite WhatsApp group The Late Party Group. It’s my friends from school Last song played Take You Home by Dido. It’s from her new album Guilty pleasure app Deliveroo. It’s probably the thing I spend most money on. It’s dangerous!…

LET’S LOOK at the incident involving Danny Care and Liam Williams in the 54th minute of Saracens’ recent match against Harlequins at the London Stadium. Sarries were four points behind but David Strettle crosses the line to seemingly put them ahead. However, due to the Care-Williams incident on the other side of the field, referee JP Doyle disallowed the try. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t the worst foul play I’ve seen and, with other senior officials around, he could easily have allowed the try and sorted the players out with minimal fuss afterwards. To compound matters, Doyle decided Quins started the scuffle and restarted the game with a penalty to Saracens. He tried to set precedent in law by telling players that you can’t award a try…

1 ALEX CALLENDER Age 18 (29 July 2000) Born Carmarthen Region Scarlets Country Wales Position Back-row How did you get involved in rugby? Two years ago a few girls from school told me to come down to a training session at my local club, Llanelli Warriors. It involved a contact session and I absolutely loved it. Did you play any sports before that? I’d been involved in netball, playing for my county and Wales U21. It was difficult to do the training for both, so I decided to carry on with rugby. I like the physicality. Did you have an interest in rugby before? My parents are big rugby fans, but I was always more interested in netball. Then as soon as I went to training, I wanted to learn…

“I’m doing an Open University course in economics and mathematical sciences. It sounds harder than it is! I’ve been doing it for about a year in my spare time and I’ll get a degree out of it. I like maths and after rugby this could help me get a job in something like the finance sector.” “The biggest joker at Saints is Ehren Painter. He keeps everyone entertained, plays jokes here and there, and is very funny.” “Don’t take criticism too hard – that’s probably the best advice I’ve received. There’s a lot of pressure and criticism can feel like a personal attack, but it’s there to help you. It can be a good thing at the end of the day.” “Rugby-wise, my heroes growing up were World Cup winners…

Age 56 Position Lock Teams Bath, London Scottish, Wasps, Scotland & Lions “I WAS forced to retire in 1998 due to a persistent knee injury. I was 35 and had enjoyed a good innings until then. “I would say the fondest memory in my career was that 1990 Grand Slam with Scotland. And then next up would be winning the Pilkington Cup final with Bath that same season. “I have my own company dealing in reclaimed and new wood and stone flooring (woodstoneuk.com), which I’ve been doing for 30 years now. “I miss the camaraderie and banter in rugby, the everyday goings-on with the lads at the club and the stories. As with a lot of rugby players, cycling now plays a large part in my life to keep fit…

Age 25 (19 June 1993) Born Dysart, Queensland Club Glasgow Position Centre Height 6ft 1in Weight 14st 13lb Scotland caps Four Points Ten (2T) Instagram @samjohnson013 IT WAS initially only meant to be a two-year stay in Glasgow for Sam Johnson but life comes at you fast. The centre can come at you even faster, as England learnt in a frenetic Calcutta Cup clash in March. Here the Aussie-born back tells us of his first sports obsession, sweating with nerves and Test ambitions… Rugby league was my first love. Where I’m from in Queensland it’s very much a league town, as you could say that parts of Glasgow are all about football. It wasn’t until I went to high school that I started playing union and there I saw I…

Home Edinburgh – Scotland’s capital, sometimes called the Athens of the North. Team colours After a recent rebrand for the club, it’s navy blue and burnt orange. Stadium For now BT Murrayfield houses them and the Scottish national team. As capacity is 67,144, it can feel cavernous with small club crowds. But it’s a rugby cathedral. Greatest player A lot of Scottish icons have passed through the East Coast city. But on this day Allan ‘Chunk’ Jacobsen presented the match ball – the former prop is the ultimate cult hero and our favourite.…

Namibia (19 matches) and Russia (four) will be the only teams at Japan 2019 yet to win a World Cup match Namibia’s best two results (statistically) both came at RWC 2015, losing 35-21 to Tonga and 17-16 to Georgia The Georgia match gave Namibia their first pool point and saw them lead a RWC game at half-time for the first time (6-0) That tournament produced their most tries (eight), fewest points conceded (174) and smallest average losing margin (26) Namibia kept the All Blacks at bay. Their 58-14 defeat four years ago was only the 14th biggest win by NZ in a World Cup…

HONOUR AT HQ Pride in performance upheld the traditions of Northampton School for Boys, who battled their way through to the National Schools U15 Cup final at Twickenham, where they played valiantly in a 23-5 defeat by Wellington College. They had beaten Rugby School 21-0 in the semi-finals at Allianz Park and the squad were presented with their cup final shirts by England lock Courtney Lawes, one of the school’s alumni. Simon Hepher, who coaches the side along with Adam Civil, was thrilled by their progress. “They’re a fantastic bunch of boys,” he said. ELITE EIGHT There was a special moment for British Police when all seven players with 50 appearances were at Stourbridge to see the eighth, Kev Allen, of Dyfed Powys Police, receive his gold cap. Newcastle Falcons…

1 MOVE SO IT turns out that your hydration needs can be pretty unique. “Each athlete has their own sweat rate (how much fluid they lose per hour) and each athlete has their own amount of key salts that they lose during a session,” explains James Morehen, our resident nutritionist. For that reason, it would be odd to advise you to have X amount of fluid each day or to consume Y amount of electrolytes with a blanket approach. “Always take a bottle with you on long car journeys” At elite level, you might individually test each player to work out their hydration and sweat rate. For us regular folk, you can monitor bodyweight loss pre- and post-session/match and then replace the fluid at 150%. So if 1kg of weight…

POOL STAGES FRI 20 SEP Japan v Russia (11.45am, Tokyo) SAT 21 SEP Australia v Fiji (5.45am, Sapporo) France v Argentina (8.15, Tokyo) N Zealand v SA (10.45, Yokohama) SUN 22 SEP Italy v Namibia (6.15am, Osaka) Ireland v Scot (8.45, Yokohama) England v Tonga (11.15, Sapporo) MON 23 SEP Wales v Georgia (11.15am, Toyota) TUE 24 SEP Russia v Samoa (11.15, Kumagaya) WED 25 SEP Fiji v Uruguay (6.15am, Kamaishi) THU 26 SEP Italy v Canada (8.45am, Fukuoka) England v USA (11.45am, Kobe) SAT 28 SEP Argentina v Tonga (5.45, Osaka) Japan v Ireland (8.15, Shizuoka) S Africa v Namibia (10.45, Toyota) SUN 29 SEP Georgia v Uruguay (6.15, K’agaya) Australia v Wales (8.45am, Tokyo) MON 30 SEP Scotland v Samoa (11.15am, Kobe) WED 2 OCT France v USA…

SEDBERGH successfully defended their Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens Cup title by beating Dulwich College 38-5 in the final. Captain Tom Curtis and Will Panday were both standout performers for the back-to-back champions. Bromsgrove were comfortable Vase winners, beating Rugby School 26-5, and St Peter’s York pipped Millfield 15-12 to lift the Colts trophy. Weston College beat Exeter College 26-14 to win the girls’ title and Hartpury saw off Loughborough College to win the AASE girls’ event. In the World Schools Festival in South Africa, hosts Paul Roos Gymnasium dominated, soundly beating Southland Boys’ High 93-5 and Napier Boys’ High 62-7. The final day also produced a dramatic 31-31 draw between Christchurch Boys’ High and Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool. The latter, known as Affies, will host next year’s festival from…

“Farrell is the one irreplaceable player in the England team” LEADERSHIP. IT’S sometimes felt to be an intangible thing yet, within sport, it is increasingly sought after. Around five or six years ago, at the start of my hugely enjoyable time working in Australian sport, it was noticeable how much more store was placed on it. Along with team culture, it was felt to be a key differentiating factor behind consistently successful teams. Every side had an identified leadership group, many used external companies to develop a leadership culture whilst players and coaches talked openly about improving their leadership skills. Skip forward half a decade and the difference has all but disappeared. In Gareth Southgate we have an England coach in our national game who is visibly driving huge cultural…

SCOTT PENNY Just 19, the powerful, ball-carrying flanker has skipped the sub-academy and gone straight into Leinster’s full academy. He was one of the key men in Ireland’s Grand Slam-winning U20 side this year and has already taken his first steps into the senior Leinster team despite his tender years. LIAM TURNER Another 19-year-old, Turner played at 13 for Ireland’s U20 Six Nations Grand Slammers, starting all five games and becoming one of the key leaders in the side. A very resilient defender and strong attacker, he’s been the subject of comparisons with Garry Ringrose. RYAN BAIRD Yet another player to emerge from the St Michael’s nursery, Baird is an outstanding athlete, a 6ft 6in lock who is exciting everybody in the Leinster coaching network. Injury curtailed his season a…

THE INJURIES are inevitable. They always have been. And now, with the extra intensity of year-on-year attrition, long-term injuries mount. It can be a curse, especially as far as the Six Nations goes, but it’s also a blessing. If Wales go on and win the World Cup, don’t bet a single yen against Taulupe Faletau being named Player of the Tournament. Wales were good enough to win a Six Nations without him; they’ll be infinitely better if he is up and running in time. He – like Huw Jones and Anthony Watson – are headline players whose presence could have a significant impact upon the fortunes of their country come the World Cup. However, the vast core of selections are long done and dusted. In a squad of 31, there…

Age 22 (25 July 1996) Born Pontypridd Position Fly-half Region Cardiff Blues Height 5ft 10in Weight 13st 7lb Wales caps One Twitter @jaaaarod DURING WALES’ last autumn campaign, Warren Gatland recounted how Jarrod Evans had introduced himself to the squad: “He mentioned it was about time he was here considering he had been playing in front of Gareth (Anscombe) for the last two years.” Gatland appreciated the show of confidence from the young fly-half, who insists it was all done in “good spirits”, and Evans duly won his first cap off the bench against Scotland. That is one of three career highlights he lists, the other obvious one being Cardiff Blues’ European Challenge Cup final triumph last year, particularly given its comeback nature. Yet it is the third that provides…

Name Sarah Bonar Age 25 (9 Feb 1994) Nickname Bons Position Lock Club Loughborough Lightning Describe your personality Bubbly, bit of a joker, hard-working Fave film I have a top three – The Guardian, Brave and Blue Crush TV show Shetland Last book read I’m reading Doddie Weir’s book – it’s really good Best holiday After my GCSEs, I went to Hong Kong to teach English to Cantonese kids Dish you like to cook A tagine is my go-to Other sport you’d like to do professionally Track cycling or surfing…

WINTERS TALE In what is quite a coup, Peter Winterbottom has been appointed DoR of National One Esher. The England and Lions legend will be assisted by Chris Wilkins, a former Esher captain who is head of rugby at Whitgift School. The pair have begun planning for next season while interim head coach Tom Williams sees out this campaign. Winterbottom, who coached at Esher in the early 2000s, said: “Chris and I have a real love for this club. We’ll do everything possible to ensure Esher is where it should be in rugby’s pecking order.” Previous DoR Ricky Nebbett has left the club after a decade’s service. HEFTY SIGNINGS National One club Chinnor will present a formidable scrummaging challenge next season. They have signed props Joe Rees, 28, ex-Wales U20…

With 19 teams spanning senior level, mini-juniors, girls and two even playing rugby league, there’s plenty of action at Milnthorpe Green, Sandal’s base since the club’s formation in 1927. They are mid-table in North Premier, having gone down from National Two North in 2016. Secretary Richard Stevens, a Sandal clubman for 46 years, said: “I joined the committee in 2017 to continue the development of the club. It has been a huge part of my life.” England full-back Tim Stimpson and Scotland lock Richard Metcalfe are among Sandal’s products. England centre Bryan Barley also played for the club, whose newest internationals are England U20 scrum-half Ollie Fox and Dave Martin, of England Deaf. The Thompson brothers, Austen, Declan and Elliot, all appear in the first XV that is led by…

The Grand divide Congratulations to England Women on the Grand Slam. However, should a fully professional team be in a tournament with five semi-pro teams? Is it a level playing field? Does it devalue their Slam? Gareth Parfitt, Dinnington, South Yorkshire RW says: The growing gap in the Women’s Six Nations is a concern and if such one-sided scorelines continue it could put off supporters. Time for French revival I was really interested to read what Olivier Magne had to say (April issue), and I would love to see France play like they used to. Who can forget their brilliant players, such as Blanco, Sella, Saint-André and Magne, of course. More important was the scintillating rugby they used to play. If I had anything to do with French rugby I…

8th Twickenham will stage the Rugby Players’ Association awards dinner. We know that Mathew Tait (below) will be honoured with the Special Merit Award, but who will be crowned Players’ Player of the Year? 21st If the Nations Championship is to get off the ground, this Tuesday’s World Rugby Council meeting is crucial. It will decide whether to proceed with the proposed competition – the key facet is promotion and relegation, so that emerging nations have a pathway. 2nd  Looking for some good book recommendations? The shortlist for the 2019 Rugby Book of the Year will be announced this Thursday – keep an eye on rugbyworld.com for all the details. Last year the gong went to Wrecking Ball by Billy Vunipola (left), and this year’s winner will be announced at…

8 Argentina Pumas scrum-half Martín Landajo (above) and prop Santiago García Botta will join Harlequins next season. Italy’s Michele Campagnaro and Wales hooker Scott Baldwin are also among those heading to the Stoop. 9 New Zealand Four-time World Cup winner Anna Richards (above) will coach Barbarians Women against the USA on 26 April and England on 2 June. “The Barbarians is such a historic part of rugby,” says the ex-New Zealand fly-half. 10 Fiji Frank Lomani (above) captained Fiji Warriors to a fourth successive Pacific Challenge title in Suva. The scrum-half’s side beat Tonga A 56-14, Junior Japan 66-24 and Samoa A 48-16 to lift the trophy.…

“This will be one of the most tightly-contested World Cups” RASSIE ERASMUS really expanded his net in his first year with the Springboks. He took an inexperienced side to the US to take on Wales, then had a good series against England. They had a here-and-there Rugby Championship, but secured that epic win in Wellington against New Zealand. So Rassie will have a good idea about his starting XV and his 31 for the World Cup – and leading up to the tournament it will be about fine-tuning systems. This is going to be one of the most tightly-contested World Cups. At the start of 2019 you’d have thought Ireland were the team to beat, then Wales have put their stamp of authority on the game, going 14-and-0 for Test…

SOME 20 years ago, just after the Armed Forces became inclusive, HMS Caledonia celebrated with a ‘coming out’ rugby tour, writes RW reader Owain Williams. At the time I was studying at Glasgow University and was part of the Glasgow and Strathclyde University Royal Naval Unit. HMS Caledonia were struggling to get enough bodies to go on the tour and were aware we had a sevens team, so invited some of us to help out. It was the weekend of the 1999 World Cup final and we lost heavily in both tour games against Dumfries and Annan – but that is irrelevant to this tale. Whilst most of the squad turned up on the Friday afternoon, we couldn’t get the URNU minibus until the Saturday morning, so we arrived later…

DAGG DONE Crusaders and New Zealand wing Israel Dagg, who was part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad, has been forced to retire at the age of 30 due to a knee injury. WADE BILLING Former Wasps wing Christian Wade has joined Buffalo Bills NFL side as a running back. BIG DEAL Harry Williams, 15, has signed a five-year contract with Scarlets. The scrum-half (right) is one of two St Joseph’s College, Ipswich, pupils to join professional clubs, with Emmanuel Iyogun signing for Northampton, and he will stay at the school for sixth form. BAA-BAAS INVITES Walesʼ Rhys Webb will play for the Barbarians against England on 2 June with his Toulon team-mates Malakai Fekitoa, Josua Tuisova and Filipo Nakosi. NOVÈS CASE The French federation have been ordered to pay…

ON THE third occasion a club steward comes up to crack a joke as we do our rounds of the ground, with me mugging at the camera, it becomes readily apparent that everyone in and around the stadium has a bit more pep in their step on this unnervingly sunny day. Call it percolating optimism. Having a home tie for the European knockout stages will do that for you. Not since those heady days of 2011-12 have Edinburgh played in a Heineken Cup quarter-final. That was a barmy old season, right enough. You may just remember the truly bonkers 48-47 win over (then-named) Racing Métro in the pool stages, when attacks were aflame and defences where made of marzipan. After that dizzying affair, Edinburgh bested French powerhouse Toulouse in the…

PLAYED 19, lost 19. Namibia’s World Cup record makes bleak reading but delve into the detail and a brighter picture emerges of Japan 2019’s lowliest team. Perhaps not blazing sunshine but wispier clouds than the dark skies that marked their World Cup nadir 16 years ago, when they sent the Adelaide Oval scoreboard spinning by succumbing 142-0 to Australia. Phil Davies was preparing to take Leeds Tykes into their first Heineken Cup at the time of that chastening campaign Down Under. Today, he has swapped West Yorkshire for Windhoek, rainswept moors for arid savannahs, and is plotting similar against-the-odds heroics on the game’s grandest stage. As head coach of Namibia, a title he assumed on the brink of England 2015 after a shock resignation left him holding the baby, Davies…

DO YOU ever have the feeling at a live rugby match that you’ve seen the game before? Well, you probably have, scores of times, and most likely it will be the same match next week too. Rugby always used to be played in different styles by different teams; now it is a homogeneous, samey repeat. The shape and the patterns and the styles are so similar as to make no difference. Rugby can be exciting still, but the infinite variety with which it was played is disappearing rapidly. When former Test No 8 Nick Easter, one of the wisest of the English rugby brains trust, appeared on The Ruck podcast this year, he was fascinating. “My big concern is that everyone plays the same way these days,” said Easter, who…

Miller’s time Ireland winger Alison Miller, 34, has retired from international rugby having won 47 caps since 2010. She said: “It’s been an honour and a privilege to play for my country. However, all good things must come to an end.” Home Tests South Africa (below) will play a two-Test series against Scotland in Cape Town later this year. Their first home Internationals since 2013 will take place on 28 September and 5 October. Panel of judges The World Rugby Women’s Player of the Year will be decided by its own judging panel for the first time in 2019. The panel includes former women’s internationals Danielle Waterman, Liza Burgess, Lynne Cantwell, Fiona Coghlan and Gaëlle Mignot. Aussie champs NSW Waratahs beat Queensland Reds 8-5 to win back-to-back Super W titles.…

CONVEYOR BELT Two South-West club King’s College School Old Boys, who were this season’s first champions in any of the RFU Leagues, produce players for themselves – and others. Their initial ‘class of minis’ was in 1993 and included the current secretary Tom Moore. Since then former England prop Alex Corbisiero graduated through the club and now to the future… Wing Jude Williams, who went on to Wasps’ academy, and flanker Jack Reid, of Harlequins, are in the England U18 squad and another flanker, Fin Rossiter, of London Irish Academy, captained the Red Rose side in South Africa last year. Other KCSOB products are excelling in Premiership club academies – Tobias Scalabrini, Jack Potter and Hayden Hyde at Harlequins, and Jamie Miller and Albert Dwan at London Irish. THE FAST…

Ancient clubs are often receptive to modern thinking and Bath-based Walcot, founded in 1882, have a mixed abilities team, Warriors. President Chalkie Wardle said: “They come from different backgrounds but they’ve not previously played sport. It’s fantastic to teach them self-confidence and camaraderie.” Wardle, 54, a former captain who guided Walcot to an unbeaten season in 2000-01, has been with the club for 40 years, spanning his ten with Bath at the Recreation Ground. He added: “Jerry Guscott is my best mate and the top player to emerge from Walcot.” Last season they survived relegation from Southern Counties South by a point but, led by hooker Conor Branagh, they’ve climbed to mid-table. Dave Cobb is head coach with Kieran Norris assisting. Wardle added: “I still have a run-out. I’m not…

A FEW eyebrows were raised when Paul Gustard chose to leave England’s coaching team ahead of a World Cup to take the reins at Harlequins. But he saw an opportunity, and his processes are beginning to work. He has retained his long-time friend Mark Mapletoft, an intuitive coach and a man I played with in our university days. Ex-Wales prop Adam Jones – who I taught in college and coached at the Ospreys – now has a more senior role with the forwards. Add to this the fresh eyes of Nick Evans and a canny forwards coach in Alex Codling and the balance seems to be right. It’s showing on the field. Gustard brings the defensive organisation and edge that is required to be a leading Premiership team, but good…

Diving has no place in rugby Did he dive? Was the force of the innocuous-looking nudge enough to send this grown man sailing to the ground? We’ll never know if Tadhg Beirne deliberately took a theatrical tumble when Munster played against Edinburgh in the European quarter-finals, but whether he did or not, what he/we/everyone must say categorically, publicly, is that diving is a total disgrace. I’m not one to say football is the great evil waiting to destroy our wonderful game, but diving in both sports is absolutely garbage. And in rugby it totally incenses people because it’s so rare. It sticks out like a sore thumb. Let’s stay angry about this. Rugby has the expectation of a little cheating here and there, but that’s all based on a contest.…