Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2021 i Rugby World

DO YOU believe people can change, or ultimately will they always revert to who they are? It’s a question prompted by Harlequins after their madcap run to the Premiership title this season. And answering it isn’t straightforward. You see, through history, Quins have been seen as devil-may-care and in recent weeks looked valorous going forward. For bits of the season, they also appeared paralytic under the influence of rival attacks. It was great fun and the title deserved. But to get to this point, there was great transition. Upheaval even. When their old boss Paul Gustard left midway through the season, he was never really replaced. Instead, hierarchy went out the window and a band of staff – headlined by Billy Millard, Nick Evans, Jerry Flannery and Adam Jones –…

FRIDAY 9 JULY Summer International South Africa v Georgia (6pm, Emirates Airline Park) TV Live on Sky Sports Rugby Africa Cup Burkina Faso v Tunisia SATURDAY 10 JULY Lions Tour Bulls v British & Irish Lions (5pm, Loftus Versfeld, referee Wayne Barnes) TV Live on Sky Sports RWC 2023 Qualifier – 1st leg Samoa v Tonga (5.30am, Mount Smart Stadium) TV Live on world.rugby Summer Internationals New Zealand v Fiji (8.05am, Forsyth Barr Stadium) TV Live on rugbypass.com Wales v Argentina (1pm, Principality Stadium) TV Live on S4C England v Canada (3pm, Twickenham) TV Live on Channel 4 Ireland v USA (7.15pm, Aviva Stadium) TV Live on Channel 4 & RTÉ Rugby Europe Championship Netherlands v Portugal (2pm) TV Live on rugbyeurope.eu Rugby Africa Cup Uganda v Ghana Oceania U20…

1 Chile The high-performance programme in Chile will receive £200,000 from World Rugby over the next two years. Chile Rugby president Cristian Rudloff said: “We’re very grateful for the support we’ve received from World Rugby and Sudamérica Rugby to achieve this first step. Now we must work even harder and not forget that this is a long road that requires the effort, sacrifice and commitment of all Chilean rugby.” 2 Italy Benetton (above) became the first Italian side to win a major club competition when thumping South Africa’s Bulls 35-8 in the final of the Guinness Pro14 Rainbow Cup in Treviso. It was a remarkable turnaround for a side that had failed to win a game during the regular Pro14 season and the hope is that the result will revitalise…

A FEW YEARS ago I was at a coaching seminar. All sorts of coaches were there – tennis, football, rugby union, rugby league – and one presentation talked about this young lad’s vision, how he was way ahead. Who was it? Marcus Smith. From then on I followed his progress and when I went down to Harlequins in 2019, a lot of the tens and 12s, like Marcus and James Lang, gravitated to me and started asking questions about stuff I’d done in my career as a player. It was about passing on knowledge. Marcus is so inquisitive. We’d have a coffee every morning, do individual training and reviews. He is so dedicated to rugby and would be out there for hours after training, working on his kicking and passing.…

MORE TEAMS and fewer matches. A new name and no more conferences. The Pro14 has a fresh look for the 2021-22 season. As well as expanding to 16 teams, it has been rebranded as the United Rugby Championship (URC) and has a simplified competition structure. And the fact league games don’t overlap with international windows will mean supporters get to see the competition’s best players in action more often. “Fans have always asked more of our league and now we are taking it to new heights,” said tournament CEO Martin Anayi. “Since the Celtic League in 2001, the vision has been to innovate and evolve to create a compelling competition which would challenge our players and teams to be at their very best every week.” Here’s what you need to…

THE TOUR is roaring and the Test series will soon be upon us. Can these Lions replicate the feats of 1974 and 1997 or will the Boks come out on top? We’ve canvassed the views of modern experts to look at the areas likely to be most impactful when determining the winners. We drill down into the importance of the maul, the kicking duel and whether leaders can get their team playing the ideal style. But first, it’s all about the scrums… THE SCRUM HYPE FOR the Test series isn’t exactly lacking as we prepare to see the Lions and Springboks throw down. But when it comes to battles within a battle, the heavyweight clash of two scrums gets top billing. And you can understand why. In 1997, a supposedly…

HANDRÉ POLLARD was 15 years old when the British & Irish Lions toured South Africa in 2009. Obsessed with the Springboks, as well as the mythology around the famous northern hemisphere team, he made his way to Newlands and watched with wonder as Western Province pushed the Lions close. “South Africa’s win in the 2007 World Cup made a big impression on me,” Pollard says. “It was only after I watched that Lions tour in 2009, however, that I started to dream about pursuing a career in rugby and becoming a Springbok. “I grew up watching Morné (Steyn) slot all those kicks for South Africa that meant the difference between winning and losing matches. That kick to beat the Lions left a big impression on me.” Pollard had starred for…

WHAT DOES it mean to play for the British & Irish Lions? It’s a question that is asked a lot and one that can be hard for players to answer, to articulate the feeling of being part of the legendary touring side. As Kyle Sinckler says: “It’s like me describing to you what a food tastes like, but you have never tasted the food. Or what a colour looks like and you have never seen the colour. It’s hard to find words in the English language to describe how special it is to put on that jersey. It is the pinnacle.” It’s also unique – four traditional rivals coming together to travel to the other side of the world and take on the best of the southern hemisphere. Willie John…

BRUNO AND Brutus are part of the family, two French bulldogs whose pictures might well adorn Zander Fagerson’s bedside locker in South Africa, along with those of his wife and two young kids. When you talk to the big prop you get a very clear sense that family is what it’s all about for him. Family and faith. Christianity is part of who he is and is part of why he is where he is. “I’m a Christian, yeah,” he says. “It gives me a decent grounding in life. I’m Zander – husband, father, son, brother, friend and after that I’m a rugby player. I’m a follower of Jesus. Don’t get me wrong, I love rugby, it’s my job and I’m grateful for everything it has given me. But I…

“THE LIONS means something, it’s important. A lot of sport now, you play next week or next year. There are only so many teams in rugby union, so when the Lions turn up it is different. It’s rare in sport; there’s that mystique value about it.” Those are the words of three-time tourist, two-time captain Martin Johnson, highlighting why the Lions still hold such a special place in rugby 133 years after the first trip south. We’ve celebrated that heritage in this issue, with tales of Lions past, present and future. Yet every tour now raises questions about how the Lions fit into the modern calendar, given competing interests, commercial factors and player welfare. So we’ve put together a masterplan (P60-65) to ensure the Lions remain on the agenda because…

WHAT’S YOUR most embarrassing moment? I could write a book of them! Most recently it would be my first game at the World Cup, Italy v Namibia. Sergio Parisse came off the back of a 5m scrum and was screaming for the line. He barrelled into me and we both went over. You could chalk it up as a try-saving tackle from Namibia’s perspective but Sergio didn’t see the funny side of it. Needless to say my mates loved feeding it to me. Back in the sheds my phone was lit up like a Christmas tree. Are there jokers on the refereeing circuit? Wayne Barnes has the whole world thinking he’s an eloquent barrister but he’s got a complete other side to him. It’s nothing sinister but he’s got a…

8 Ireland Ireland (above) will play the USA in the inaugural Las Vegas Rugby Cup on Saturday 30 October. It will be the first rugby match staged at the city’s Allegiant Stadium and it’s expected to become an annual event. 9 France The European finals have been moved from Marseille twice due to Covid, but the city is due to host the 2022 events. The dates at Stade Vélodrome (above) are: Fri 27 May, Challenge Cup; Sat 28 May, Champions Cup. 10 New Zealand Auckland’s Blues ended their 18-year wait for a Super Rugby title by beating NZ rivals the Highlanders 23-15 in the Trans-Tasman final. Back-rower Dalton Papalii (above) said: “It shows we believed in ourselves.”…

HAVING SPENT the previous eight years in rugby league, Alan Tait was shocked when a letter arrived informing him of his selection for the 1997 British & Irish Lions. So highly thought of was the Kelso man, who had represented Widnes, Leeds and Great Britain during his time in the 13-man code, that he was drafted in by Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer to tackle South Africa. “I had no idea I was even being considered,” Tait, now 57, says. “It was a real surprise to me. I’d just come back to union and was playing at Newcastle. I got a couple of caps during the Five Nations and it was a whirlwind. I didn’t think I’d get on the tour but getting the letter to say I’d been selected,…

MINDSET IS defined as ‘the established set of attitudes held by someone’. So how do you go about changing your long-standing attitudes? For Dan Biggar it started with a conversation last autumn; two former Wales fly-halves suggested the incumbent Wales fly-half alter his focus. “Stephen Jones and Neil Jenkins have been there, done it and worn the T-shirt in terms of the Wales ten position,” explains Biggar. “They said they could see I wanted every aspect of the game to go well, that it was causing stress and taking away from getting my own house in order. If I’m worrying about the back row bringing line speed, it could take away from the tactical kicking strategy. “It was a really good moment for me; it made me worry about myself…

THIRTY-THREE ENGLAND caps, a Six Nations champion, World Cup finalist, Player of the Year, British & Irish Lion – Tom Curry’s achievements by the age of 23 are ridiculous. Yet in discussing how the Sale back-row has attained such heights, it’s impossible to separate him from his twin brother Ben. They’ve played nearly all of their rugby together and many fail to distinguish between them in playing ability, let alone in physical likeness. Indeed, in 2017 Ben was selected ahead of his brother for England’s tour of Argentina but suffered a back spasm and saw Tom take his place. “It’s scary the way they’re only just getting going really,” says Noel Speed, who coached the pair at Bishop Heber HS in Cheshire and now works for Sale’s junior academy. “What…

KURT BAKER reckons what you see is what you get. Straight up and honest with a ready smile, he has a public persona very much in keeping with who he is: a friendly bloke and popular team-mate. His jovial nature is no act. But he is also a smart ultra-professional who knows when to switch off the laughs and when to perform. He’s a new dad who loves to cook and is cultivating quite the vegetable garden, and who also used the Covid lockdown to sit his real estate papers. He’s a guy who knows how good he has it as a New Zealand Sevens player. You won’t hear him complain that they don’t get the kudos of other national teams; Baker and his team-mates are grateful to have jobs…

I DON’T see the extra rugby that the tourists have played during the pandemic as an advantage. Some Lions players will be battle-hardened, some will be fresher, such as the Saracens contingent and Courtney Lawes, who has been on fire since returning from injury in May. What I do see is a group of players far superior to anything the Boks had to face whilst winning the World Cup. Starting in the front row where tighthead Tadhg Furlong could be waiting instead of Dan Cole, who had a torrid day in the Japan 2019 final after coming on so early. Warren Gatland – one win, one draw in his previous series as head coach – said this was the hardest Lions squad he’s had to pick, such is the talent…

EDDIE JONES is the Rumpelstiltskin of rugby. Not in the traditional fairytale sense but, stick with it… the modern-day reincarnation in Shrek Forever After. Shrek falls for greedy Rumpel’s powers of persuasion and sells the day he was born just to be a real ogre again. After signing the contract, Shrek’s world falls apart and Rumpelstiltskin becomes the King of Far Far Away. Twisted Mr Stiltskin then carries on attempting to do a deal with anyone and everyone. Instead of a magical kingdom, England coach Jones has made Twickenham his own deal factory. And hiring himself out thanks to the shiny England badge has gone on for far too long. Coaching All Black Beauden Barrett at Suntory Sungoliath, the Tokyo club where Jones is a consultant, after England’s joint worst…

“He brings something out of the norm. You need to allow him that freedom” YOU MAY need to take some time to wind the mechanism, but once you let Rosko Specman go, good luck stopping him. As Blitzboks coach Neil Powell explains: “Rosko was with a province called the Pumas when he came over to sevens. I actually called up their coach and asked, ‘Can this guy talk? Because I haven’t heard him speak in a year!’ “That’s not the guy he knew – their guy couldn’t keep quiet. It took Rosko a while to find his place in the system, what he was allowed to do and when. But once he finds his place you can’t shut him up!” Aged 32, some may have written off Specman, but Springboks…

WITH RECENT changes in the Super Rugby format, not all due to the pandemic, there appears to be a gap developing between the performance levels of Australian and New Zealand franchises. Historically, the obvious point of difference is NZ’s domestic national provincial programme, where players and coaches cut their teeth. The competitive nature of the domestic game in New Zealand has always been the driver of standards and innovation on and off the field. The lack of the equivalent in Australia has manifested itself in two ways. Firstly, the addition of two franchises (Rebels and Force) to Super Rugby has led to increased competition for the current and next generation of talent, often resulting in inflated contracting costs and players starting careers before they’re ready. Secondly, those overlooked often leave…

ACROSS 1 Position also known as fly-half or outside-half (5-3) 4 Shape of a rugby ball (4) 8 In 2015, Oxford University players went on a Good - - - course run by anti-misogyny groups (3) 9 Jasper - - -, Leicester No 8 named in the Springboks squad (5) 10 - - - Reed, former Wales lock now working in medical sales (3) 11 Legendary Ireland wing who was a teenager when he toured South Africa with the 1955 Lions (7) 12 Harlequins flanker Will - - - suffered a season-ending injury at London Irish 13 Ireland organically bred an eight? No, more like a lock-six hybrid (5,6) 17 Sounds like Bordeaux and Pumas lock Guido is of little importance (5) 18 Steve - - -, ex-Sale boss who…

WHATEVER ELSE stands out about Meg Jones – and she’s a hell of a player – it’s clear she knows exactly who she is. “I think that’s from rugby,” the Team GB co-captain says, when it’s put to her. “When we’re talking about leadership qualities, it’s something I’ve learnt, okay. That’s my super strength. That’s really authentic to me. Loving myself allows me to pull from the cup and give people that extra bit. If I don’t look after myself, then I can’t look after the team around me. “I think that’s really important as sometimes people are apologetic about that. Actually, we should love ourselves unapologetically. It gives freedom to pick people up without any hindrance to yourself.” This is what makes the half-back the perfect candidate for the…

Mind your language Tom English, not good enough! I know you will think I’m being prim ’n’ proper, but many Christians are fervent rugby supporters. The odd s*** doesn’t upset me, or worse, but do not take the Name of God in vain please – no need for it! Page 45 (Stuart Hogg feature, July issue), middle column, four lines up. Patricia Chapman, Linlithgow, West Lothian I can’t get my money back I had planned to travel to last year’s Italy v England match as part of a group for my 40th birthday. I booked the tickets using the website the Italian Rugby Federation tell you to use, TicketOne. When it was clear the game wouldn’t be played in March 2020 due to Covid, I decided to wait to see…

I’VE BEEN wondering: are press conferences actually worth it? Because for us players, you can never really show a slice of how you’re feeling or how the team is truly getting on. You’ve got a coach who is crap. You know he’s crap. But you have to say, ‘Oh, no, we’re confident and we’ve got a lot of faith in what we’re doing.’ You keep plugging away but ultimately you know what you’re doing on the pitch will end in another big L. There’s also the element of not wanting to put any unwanted pressure on your team-mates or building up expectations by saying anything stupid. You just don’t want to trip yourself or anyone up. In 2021 in France, whenever a player or president says something in a conference…