Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2025 i Rugby World

CANTERBURY HAVE just given more than 450 players in Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) one less thing to worry about thanks to a landmark deal that will provide high-performance rugby boots to all players. Unlike football, most players in both the men’s Gallagher Premiership and women’s PWR are neither given free boots nor signed up to exclusive brand deals, with most paying for boots out of their own pocket or through their agent’s fees. This deal with the New Zealand-based, British-owned brand will ensure all players from the nine PWR clubs have free access to multiple pairs of Speed Infinite Elite, Phoenix or Stampede rugby boots from Canterbury’s current range. The deal is not exclusive, so players can still opt to wear other brands should they choose. However, those who sign…

1 Argentina Argentina will provide three of the seven sides when Super Rugby Americas 2025 begins on 14 February. With los Tarucas replacing American Raptors, it’s now an all-South American competition. Los Tarucas will play in Tucumán, a hot bed of Argentine rugby that’s produced Pumas such as Nicolás Sánchez and Mateo Carreras (both below). A fourth franchise, from Rosario, is expected to join Super Rugby Americas in 2026. 2 France Béziers, the 11-times French champions, have high-profile new owners. Former Bok Bob Skinstad and ex-All Black Andrew Mehrtens – who played for Béziers – have combined with an Irish investment fund to take over the Pro D2 club. Béziers (above) had spent four years under municipal control and the city’s mayor, Robert Ménard, said the deal had saved the…

WHAT’S THE funniest thing you’ve seen on the pitch? Probably Joe Marler’s assist off his head for Courtney (Lawes) at the World Cup (in 2023). Actually, when Freddie Steward caught a ball in the backfield against Wales and someone pantsed him, so he did 20 metres with his arse out! Do you have any phobias? I wouldn’t be great in real tight spaces. I wouldn’t be able to crawl through things on SAS: Who Dares Wins like Sam Burgess did. What really annoys you? Messiness. I’m a clean freak, I like things nice and tidy. JVP (Jack van Poortvliet) is living in my house and is driving me up the wall. He isn’t awful, I’ve tried to train him. Fred Steward is abysmal, Gengey isn’t great. If your house was…

IN THE SPRING of 2003, Marcus Horan, the Irish loosehead prop of the day, and Martin Johnson, the England captain, got chatting about Croke Park, the bastion of the Gaelic Athletic Association on Dublin’s Northside. Johnson said that he’d caught a glimpse of the stadium and that it looked seriously impressive. Horan, from GAA stock in Clare, said it was probably the greatest stadium in the entire world, a place where legends were made, a sacred patch of ground. “Do you think we’ll ever get a chance to play there?” asked Johnson. “Ah, there’s history, Johnno,” Horan replied. “We haven’t a hope.” Horan, nor anybody else, couldn’t have known it at the time but a handful of years after that chat with Johnson, rugby was played at Croke Park. The…

BEFORE YOU complain about our picks, we want to assure you that this ultimate men’s Six Nations XV has been selected on nothing but vibes and vibes alone. We haven’t pored over a single stat or nugget of data. We haven’t studied Wikipedia lists for ‘players with the most men’s Six Nations titles’, nor have we analysed positive attacking ruck hits per 80 minutes. Instead, we have consulted our trusted band of contributors to create a composite XV of stars that made us feel something. Players who captured our imaginations, made us sit on the edge of our seats and, in some cases, even spurred us on into the jobs we do today. It’s a cross-generational homage to the men who made the championship truly great. Some of the picks…

ACRISP AUTUMN night and the playing fields of Newlands Park are abuzz. In every direction, young players are honing their skills under the floodlights. This is the home of Cheltenham Tigers RFC, where Jill Douglas is president and all is right with the world. There’s an older group playing too, chucking the ball around and having fun. It’s clear from their body shapes that they aren’t members of the men’s first team that competes in the Regional Two Midlands West league. So why are they here? Welcome to MAN v FAT Rugby, the health initiative that has just hit the UK and which has Cheltenham Tigers at its vanguard. An offshoot of the successful football programme that launched in 2016, MAN v FAT Rugby is aimed at men with a…

2003 RUGBY WORLD CUP COMMENTATOR NOTES £39 thesportscommentators.com A print of John Taylor’s colour-coded commentary notes that immortalise the greatest day in English rugby history, presented in a wooden frame. Sports Commentators is run by Charlie Starmer-Smith, son of commentator and ex-Rugby World editor Nigel Starmer-Smith. ADIDAS ALL BLACKS WAFFLE POLO SHIRT £45 adidas.co.uk Anything endorsed by big Keven Mealamu is a hit with us. This waffle polo is one part of adidas Originals’ latest drop with the All Blacks and combines the iconic New Zealand silver fern and adidas trefoil. The matching half-zip jumper is decent too. BLACKEYE LONDON DRY GIN £35.95 blackeyegin.com If you had asked whether we need a gin from James Haskell, Mike Tindall and Alex Payne, we’d have probably said no. But for every bottle sold,…

“Hurrah, it’s the inaugural Secret Player Awards!” POP ON your best dickie bows and ball gowns, it’s the end of the year and time for the inaugural Secret Player Awards of the Year Awards. We are workshopping a catchier name but in the meantime, let us run you through the winners and grinners of these prestigious gongs… It’s been a stellar awards season for England. First up, brought to you by Zoom, is Best Hybrid Worker of the Year. That goes to Felix Jones, who served his notice as England defence coach from behind a laptop in Ireland until December. We assume he’s been doing what all remote workers do with their time – watching old episodes of Can’t Pay? We’ll Take it Away! on YouTube whilst wiggling his mouse…

I GET a warm, fuzzy feeling whenever I think back to previous men’s Six Nations. Happy memories come from reminiscing on the rivalries that built up through time, the plot twists, upsets and storylines of each championship. Most of all, I pine for the nostalgia of the players who made it so special. Those who define the tournament. And for me, I think of one certain chisel-jawed, regal giant – Sergio Parisse. Italy’s perennial leader. The Godfather of Rome. The man who carried a nation upon his back. When I think of rugby’s greatest championship, it’s Parisse who brings the good memories flooding in. So it won’t surprise you to learn that the great man makes our Ultimate Six Nations XV from the past 25 years. See who else joins…

FRESH FROM the world fighting off the Y2K bug, the inaugural Six Nations Championship gripped rugby fans across the globe in early 2000, writes Joe Robinson. Italy had been invited into the fold following 117 years of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England battling it out in the Home Nations Championship, before France made it a Five Nations in 1910. Many were sceptical about Italy’s inclusion, expecting them to struggle. Rugby World sat down with captain Massimo Giovanelli, who defended the nation’s chances and cited young talent such as 20-year-old Mauro Bergamasco as the new face of Italian rugby. As we know, Italy’s place in the tournament was instantly vindicated when they defeated Scotland 34-20 in their historic opening match. Elsewhere in the mag, we broke down the hopes of England,…

RUGBY IS the reason why Blaine Hunt is a Paralympic medallist. Hunt won track cycling silver for Great Britain at Paris 2024 but only had eyes for the oval ball growing up in Hertfordshire. Starting out at Watford RFC, the bug quickly bit and he became a powerful winger who idolised Jonah Lomu and Jason Robinson. “It was just such a tight-knit community,” says Hunt. “All of the parents stood on the sideline in the rain and then we were in for bacon butties and beers. That’s something I miss in cycling, the community aspect of it. And the fact that they let me run and smash the s*** out of people.” Hunt soon locked on to the idea of becoming a professional and moved clubs to Ruislip to advance…

ANDRE-PIERRE CRONJE “WHAT MAKES this vintage of the Springboks so unique, and the reason I believe a Bok ‘B’ team would have every chance of winning the Six/Seven Nations, is precisely because South Africa does not have a ‘B’ team! “Take the position of fly-half: the Boks cycled through four starting tens in 2024 (Handre Pollard, Manie Libbok, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Jordan Hendrikse) and all but Hendrikse have a credible claim to being the ‘first choice’. Ask Bok fans who is No 1 and you will get three different answers. “The same is true of full-back (Fassi, Willemse and le Roux), scrum-half (Reinach, Williams, Jaden Hendrikse and de Klerk) and to some degree or another across the entire pack. “To label any Springboks team a ‘B’ team is to miss…

IF THE CALCUTTA Cup could speak, it would be developing a Scottish lilt. In its long history, the cherished silver pot has never spent such an extended period north of the border. When England and Scotland cross swords again in the Six Nations, Steve Borthwick’s side will go into the match in the unprecedented position of having won only once in the last seven encounters. Taking into account population, playing numbers and pro sides, it’s a remarkable imbalance. Scotland have tried hard to move past one result against England making or breaking a season, but it’s a domination which brings an involuntary twitch to the corners of every Scottish mouth. England as their patsies? How delightful. Especially bearing in mind how routine Scotland defeats in the fixture had become during…

RYANAIR HAS always been given a bad wrap which I’ve never really understood. I’ve just been transported across the Irish Sea at 30,000ft and arrived safely in Dublin an hour after leaving London, in one piece, for less than a Marks & Spencer Dine in For Two meal deal. The fact I had to chuck in a bit extra for baggage and that some of the window seats may actually not be next to a window is by the by. I also find it hilarious that they have a jingle for when they land on time. But to be honest, I’d have taken transportation by 19th-century horse-drawn carriage and steamboat to be here today. It’s Ireland. It’s the All Blacks. It’s a Friday night in Dublin at the Aviva Stadium.…

CHRISTMAS IN Japan means KFC. A modern ritual, the country’s Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets are swamped on 25 December as young and old alike gather to consume the unusual festive fare. The KFC tradition might have been around since the 1970s in the predominantly non-Christian society, primarily due to a turkey shortage at the time, but rugby is also moving in on that calendar space now. This development is due to the advent of the nationwide Japan Rugby League One, whose fourth edition kicked off three days before the cookers fired up and the fried stuff flew out the door at a rate of knots. The successor to Top League, which ran from 2003-21, the arrival of the new entity settled the kick-off point of the country’s domestic action, which…

WEDNESDAY 1 JANUARY United Rugby Championship Cardiff v Ospreys (3pm) TV Live on BBC W & Prem Sports TV Live on S4C & Premier Sports FRIDAY 3 JANUARY Gallagher Premiership Newcastle v Harlequins (7.45pm) TV Live on TNT Sports SATURDAY 4 JANUARY Gallagher Premiership Gloucester v Sale (3pm) TV Live on Discovery+ Leicester v Exeter (3.05pm) Saracens v Bristol (5.30pm) TV Both live on TNT Sports Premiership Women’s Rugby Bristol v Gloucester-Hartpury (2) Leicester Tigers v Sale (5.50pm) French Top 14 Toulon v Racing 92 (1.30pm) Castres v Pau (3.30pm) Lyon v Perpignan (3.30pm) Montpellier v Bayonne (3.30pm) Stade Français v Bordeaux (3.30) La Rochelle v Toulouse (8.05pm) Celtic Challenge Clovers v Gwalia Lightning (11.30) Edinburgh v Brython Thunder (2) Wolfhounds v Glasgow (2.30pm) SUNDAY 5 JANUARY Gallagher Premiership Northampton v Bath (3pm) TV Live…

“NOWADAYS I’M a teaching assistant in Duffryn in Newport and “ the days fly by. I love it. “I have a company, Mark Ring’s Corporate Entertainment and Leisure Team, T/A Mr Celt, and still do one-to-one coaching. All sorts of ages, men and women – anyone who books. “When I first played I was in the Civil Service, working for the Department of Trade & Industry in Cardiff. It was the amateur days and there was a running stadium across the road from the office. You had flexible hours, so I could do extra training and that’s how I kept so fit. “I finished with Wales after the World Cup in 1991. I’d moved on to repping and had my own industrial roofing business. After Cardiff had played Toulouse in the…

“The Six Nations is still full of relevant rugby traditions” THE SIX Nations just has that nostalgic element to it. Every year there are records to be broken and teams on winning runs. The history of the championship means it’s still full of relevant rugby traditions as you can look back at all the old games against Scotland and England or whoever and then try to write yourself into the history books. It’s that time of year as well. It starts off quite cold and not miserable but with that wintery, cold feel. Then by the end, you get towards the first glimpse of a nice spring and even summer and a bit of warmth. It’s brilliant playing against the southern hemisphere sides but you don’t get that same rivalry…

“Kick-offs might change. They could become genuine contests” I’M A FAN of the new directives on escort lines brought in during the autumn Tests. We need to make the game more exciting where we can and clearing the path for the kick chase does that. We have some unbelievable athletes in the game and opening the catch zone up gives them the stage to show their athleticism. The height these guys reach, and the commitment they show when they take each other on, is incredible. The ability to win the ball in the air is an art form in itself. Jonny May was one of the best that I played with. When I put the ball up, he had an amazing ability to get it back and a game can…

FITZ HARDING. Remember the name because he is going places with the Bristol Bears. It’s an unusual enough one though, isn’t it? Even the club he captains had trouble with it at first. “The first game that I played in the Premiership, the name on the back of my shirt was Fitz-Harding, which is quite often what people assume my name is. I had to ask for it to be reprinted,” he recalls. “My parents named me George but decided that they wanted to call me Fitz, so my middle name is Fitzgerald. My real name is George but I’ve only ever been called Fitz, which for other people is often quite confusing. It’s honestly the bane of my life.” Since those teething troubles against London Irish nearly four years…

WHEN I think of the Six Nations, I think of cozy winter afternoons sitting on the sofa having been to rugby training on a Sunday morning, watching John Inverdale in a pair of elaborate leather gloves debate Grand Slams with Jeremy Guscott and Thomas Castaignède. I think, too, of the eloquent prose of an Eddie Butler monologue and panicked shriek of “NUMBERS!” from Jonathan ‘Jiffy’ Davies and Lawrence Dallaglio being constantly in tears. When you, the reader, think of the Six Nations, these are the moments you remember… 1 Ireland purr in Paris France 25-27 Ireland, 2000 While Italy’s introduction to the Six Nations was the headline act, it was Brian O’Driscoll’s supporting cast hat-trick to earn a first Irish win in Paris for 28 years that captured your imaginations for…