Scrum offer you an insight into the best rugby writing on the web with the return of our Rugby Today feature.
October 26, 2008
Safety is paramount at scrum time
Brian Moore has a message of warning for the IRB following the tragic assisted suicide of rugby player Daniel James. Read his words of warning in The Daily Telegraph.
"Though it falls into cliché, rugby union is genuinely the most interactive of team sports. It has a unique ability to provide a meaningful role for people of all physiques and strengths. It loses this at its peril. For this reason, among others, that I continue to deride the International Rugby Board and their elite referees for failing to implement Law 20, which mandates that the ball is put in straight at the scrum."The put-in issue has gone beyond a mere risible aside and is now straying into the area of personal safety. As it is now impossible to win a strike against the head due to the ridiculously squint feeds allowed by elite referees, power scrummaging is what is left.
"This means young players now simply hit as hard as they can in the scrum and continue driving until it is finished. As such, the attrition on their spines is heightened; leading to an increase in early retirements and indisputably an increase in the pressure in scrums."
October 24, 2008
Wales bids farewell to Stradey Park
Brendan Gallagher has fond memories of one of rugby's "cathedrals" in Llanelli. Read his farewell message in The Daily Telegraph.
"A massive housing estate is planned there now but the human drama therein will never match that we witnessed and experienced at Parc Y Stradey over the last 129 years. Victory, defeat, hope, despair, honest graft, committee room rows, romance, life and even death. Almost a year to this day we gathered to commemorate Ray Gravell whose public funeral at the ground proved such an unexpectedly uplifting occasion. The capacity to surprise and inspire has always been a Stradey trait."In the land of chapel, Stradey has been an open air cathedral, somewhere for believers to congregate and air their faith. Those who believe in Welsh language and culture, running rugby and the urgent need for wine and song whenever emotions, happy or sad, need to be voiced.
"Those who believe in miracles - and have occasionally witnessed them on the pitch - but also practical sons of the Carmarthenshire soil, dockers and steel workers who have known bloody hard times and appreciate that fighting the good fight is what sees you through life when the odds are stacked against you. Stradey was their Saturday afternoon playground, where they went to be diverted - delivered even - from their everyday grind. Which is possibly why Llanelli have always been under huge pressure to perform and entertain as well as win."
October 20, 2008
Declan Kidney has men to lift Irish ambition
Brian Moore is impressed by Munster and Leinster in the latest Heineken Cup clashes. Read his latest offering for the Daily Telegraph.
"A dominant performance by Leinster swept Wasps aside as comprehensively as you are likely to see a Wasps side beaten. In the pre-match build-up, the commentators billed it as the clash of two world rugby stars - Brian O'Driscoll and Danny Cipriani; hardly apposite. It says much that Cipriani's celebrity has affected even experienced rugby observers. It was a convenient opening hook, but can anyone seriously make a case for the bracketing of the two?"As it was, Cipriani had to deal with ball on the back foot, whilst O'Driscoll turned in a performance of the kind which was all too absent last year; one which made you sit up and applaud irrespective of allegiance.
"Whatever O'Driscoll's status with regards to captaincy, Ireland need him to be fit and on form; against Wasps he looked the former, but also the latter; failing to emerge for the second half with a knee injury."
October 20, 2008
Tour no go for Sione and Joe
Writing in the New Zealand Herald, Richard Loe offers his thoughts on the All Blacks selection options ahead of their end of year tour.
"As far as I am concerned, Joe Rokocoko and Sione Lauaki should not go on the All Black tour to Britain and Ireland - and Stephen Donald should also be in the gun."Why? Because the first two have been way out of form and Donald is out injured.
The temptation is to take them and get them in form and back to health on tour but, I tell you what, I don't reckon the All Blacks should be taking players who aren't in form or who aren't fit."
October 19, 2008
Comforting sight of Seabass the heartthrob
Sale Sharks and England star Matthew Tait falls under the spell of club mate Sebastien Chabal in his latest blog offering for the Guardian.
"There are so many players here of international calibre. For a back to play outside guys like Luke McAlister, Dwayne Peel and Charlie Hodgson is a dream. It makes me feel excited. And then a quick look across at the forwards makes me feel safe. Andrew Sheridan, Jason White and company are one thing, but then Sébastien Chabal walks in and you know you're in the right changing room."It has quickly become obvious since I arrived here that Seabass is a club legend. The fans just love him. Even my mum's got a crush on him. Must be something to do with the beard, because my dad has one as well. I dare say I'm a disappointment to her, because it would take me about three years to grow anything like that. And having experimented with the shaggy hair look myself, I've decided to cut my losses. I've had a short back and sides since coming to Sale."
October 18, 2008
Pacific Islanders looking for a revolution as they prepare to tour Europe
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Paul Ackford previews the return of the Pacific Islanders to UK shores.
"In two weeks Sitiveni Rabuka, the former Prime Minister of Fiji, will check in to a Heathrow hotel as manager of the 28-man Pacific Islands' squad who will play Tests against England, France and Italy. The choice of Heathrow is deliberate."We didn't want our boys getting dazzled by the bright lights of London," said a spokesman for the party comprising the best players from Tonga, Samoa and Fiji.
"Not that the manager should have too much trouble maintaining focus. Major-General Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka, OBE, MSD, Order of St John - as he was once known - is best remembered as the instigator of two military coups that shook Fiji in 1987. Two years ago he was found not guilty, on a casting vote, of inciting a mutiny in 2000. Colourful bloke, Rabuka."
October 17, 2008
Meet the new kids on the block
Steve Deane, writing in the New Zealand Herald, offers his thoughts on the potential make-up of the All Blacks touring party.
"With five props likely to go on the tour, Greg Somerville's decision to head overseas means two spots are up for grabs. One of them is almost certain to go to Southland captain Jamie Mackintosh, who looms as the long-term replacement for incumbent loosehead Tony Woodcock."Having played against Ireland earlier this year, Schwalger looks to have the inside running as the additional tighthead. If the selectors opt for a bolter, 26-year-old Tongan Faka'anaua (Sona) Taumalolo has been in destructive form for Hawkes Bay this season."
October 17, 2008
French rugby fans blanche at multi-coloured shirt
Writing in the Independent, Hannah Wright surveys opinion on the latest addition to the Stade Francais Paris wardrobe.
"The shirt, with fetching denim-look sides and sleeves, made its debut this month against Montauban. Although the club's other shirts are decorated with flowers, and all have pink on them, the new version has created a verbal ruck in French rugby chat-rooms."One fan said: "If it wasn't so expensive I'd buy loads just to throw away. It makes me feel nauseous." Another said: "Who's smoking what at Stade Francais? And where can I get some?" A contributor on the British site, rugbyforum.com said: "Are they purposely trying to make every kit gayer as each season passes by?" Another asked: "Are they designed to hypnotise the opposition when they go to tackle them or something?"
October 16, 2008
Heineken intensity takes toll on regions
Writing in the Western Mail, former Wales skipper and now TV pundit Gwyn Jones surveys the opening weekend of Heineken Cup action.
"However, most of the teams face sterner challenges in the next few days. I have often felt that it takes a while for the Welsh regions to adjust to the ferocious intensity of the European cup competition. They never quite seem prepared for the step up despite the fact that they know it's coming. They all need to improve to keep the dream alive. The Scarlets were as captivating in the first half as they were calamitous in the second. They defend a lead like my mum pole vaults."
October 13, 2008
Classy Lewsey can land knockout blow
Writing in the New Zealand Herald, Paul Lewis chats to Martin Snedden, CEO of Rugby New Zealand 2011.
"Snedden is fond of the Beijing Olympics comparison. Multi-billion dollar facilities, impeccable organisation and coordination, a showcase of talent and effort - but no atmosphere; no connection with visitors; and therefore no real sense of involvement; all preventing it from being labelled one of the great Olympics. Part of the plan to provide the festival and the stadium of four million is to have different regions host different teams. To do even that, however, takes gargantuan coordination. It's too big for one centralised body to pull off."So Snedden and his team are devolving responsibility to 20 RWC regions, involving local councils, venues, tourism operators - anyone who needs to be involved in a region's efforts to host teams and the visitors who come to watch them and experience this country. Snedden does this job largely by talking. And talking. And talking."
October 12, 2008
Danny Cipriani takes the time to prove himself at Wasps
Former England international and now respected journalist Paul Ackford delivers some home truths in a piece for the Sunday Telegraph.
"This week the frenzy that accompanied Cipriani was ludicrous. The fact that his Land Rover was clamped even made it into one tabloid newspaper. And that followed the revelation that his girlfriend, actress-cum-model Kelly Brook, had bought a new king-size mattress."At least Johnson and Wilkinson did something to justify a fraction of their media profile. Cipriani has done nothing. He hasn't played in a World Cup; he hasn't toured with England; he hasn't faced Australia, New Zealand or South Africa; he hasn't turned out for the Lions. He hasn't achieved any of the targets which are necessary to earn lasting respect as an athlete."
October 12, 2008
Classy Lewsey can land knockout blow
Stephen Jones stands up for England and Wasps star Josh Lewsey in the Sunday Times after he hit the headlines for the wrong reasons in the week.
"With respect, I regard the selection last year of Lesley Vainikolo over Lewsey as the most appalling decision made by England in the past 25 years. There is also a wearying inevitability in the premature espousal of the cause of the usual young gang of early-season bolters yet to become acquainted either with reality or consistency at an elite level."Lewsey for me is one of England's greatest and hardest postwar backs, a World Cup winner, a man good enough not simply to play in successful elite teams but to change the course of matches at the most rarified levels (Tests, Heineken Cup and Guinness Premiership finals) with his brilliance - remember the uncompromising tackle on Mat Rogers in England's win over Australia in the summer of 2003 that followed fisticuffs between the pair, below. The whisper from the England camp is that his most recent athletic test results are sensational. And to say he's playing badly at present because he had two kicks charged down is preposterous. It happens."
October 12, 2008
Perfect 10s reach a crossroads
Writing in the Sunday Times, David Walsh reflects on the injury-ravaged career of England and Newcastle star Jonny Wilkinson.
"It is hard to imagine anyone who has been more admired in the game, but not at all difficult to understand the reasons for the admiration. For here he is, sitting in a hotel room on Thursday afternoon, not long after hearing that he will be out of the game for at least five months, and he is being asked how he feels about a situation that has seen him limp out of the squad and allow Cipriani to stride back in."He laughs, self-deprecatingly, as if he only now realises he could have timed this better. But when you suggest the loss of another opportunity must hurt because he's human, he gets serious. "Incredibly human," he says, "but at the same time, things can be hugely frustrating and quite problematic if it's all about you. "
October 11, 2008
The search for the next John Eales
Writing in The Australian, Mark Ella previews the Wallabies' chances ahead of their end of year tour.
"It is important for Deans that Australia develop the next generation of players and how our forwards perform on this tour will be an important indicator of future success."If you thought it was important to have strong set pieces in Tri-Nations encounters with New Zealand and South Africa, life will be much more difficult for the Wallabies if they are not competitive in this area in Europe. If there is one part of the game that the northern hemisphere sides are particularly strong at, it is the scrum and lineout. "
October 11, 2008
Mauler on wheels revs up Wallabies
Writing for Rugby Heaven, Greg Growden pays tribute to one of the stars of the Australian wheelchair rugby stars who claimed silver at the Beijing Paralympics.
"Ryley Batt is nowhere near as well known as Lote Tuqiri or Stirling Mortlock, but at another level of the rugby code he is the ultimate world beater."For anyone who watched the ABC's excellent television coverage of the Paralympic Games in Beijing, Batt was the Australian standout. It took only a few minutes of watching any Australian wheelchair rugby match to realise that the youngster in green and gold was something extraordinary.
"Batt was the antagonist. The enforcer. The master of fearlessly smashing into opponents. The speedster. The try sneak. The man with guile. The one player each opponent wanted to nullify, but each time failed. And he came so close to winning Australia a gold medal, succumbing only in the final seconds of the final to the US."
October 10, 2008
Wasps facing scramble to keep Cipriani
Writing in the Daily Mail, Peter Jackson reveals that Wasps face a battle to retain the services of fly-half Danny Cipriani.
"Wasps are in the throes of a more serious fight over Danny Cipriani - this time to keep their highest-profile player. Cipriani's contract runs out at the end of the season and his advisers will want the English champions to recognise his rising status by doubling his salary towards £200,000 a year. Under Premiership rules, Cipriani, 20, will be open to offers from January 1 unless he has agreed a new deal by then."
October 7, 2008
Fear not for Jonny Wilkinson, do so for rugby
Mick Cleary reflects on the latest injury woe for England star Jonny Wilkinson in the Daily Telegraph.
"On Tuesday morning Wilkinson is again setting out on the road to recovery, nursing himself back to fitness after dislocating his left kneecap a week before at Gloucester. He knows the routine. He has been there at least a dozen times. Slog and gloom."He will spend too much time asking himself why the gods seemed to be lined up against him. That's just the way it is, as his new-found Buddhist-inspired outlook will be telling him. That does not stop the rest of us wondering if the sport has become too demanding of the human frame. The hits, the contact, the thunderous exchanges at close quarters, are of a ferocity way beyond those experienced 10 years ago."
October 6, 2008
Wasps suffering
Brian Moore lays it on the line for Premiership London Wasps in an analysis piece for the Daily Telegraph.
"Like everyone else, I thought the difficulties suffered by Wasps at the start of this season were merely a repetition of their usual torpor at this stage. But after seeing them struggle and lose against Gloucester on Saturday, I'm not so sure. Wasps' game at Kingsholm bore no resemblance to the juggernaut that has, for several seasons, swept all before it."I did not recognise the defensive patterns or the limitation of their attack which, while attritional as ever, was restricted to narrow channels close to the breakdowns. To add to the woe, their line-out, never a strong suit, is not functioning and they are vulnerable in the scrum to packs that know their stuff."
October 5, 2008
Johnson needs flexibility to pick England's finest
Former England international Paul Ackford offers an insight into the machinations of the England management team in a piece for the Daily Telegraph.
"Each Wednesday of the season so far, Johnson, Rob Andrew, the RFU's director of elite rugby, and an assortment of medical and fitness advisers have participated in a conference call to monitor England's ill and injured. And in each week of the season to date Cipriani could have been moved up because one or more of Johnson's elite squad was on the treatment table. The only way Johnson cannot switch players between squads is if all his senior men report fit in the immediate build-up to England's first international against the Pacific Islands. Given that, on average, a fifth of the national squad are crocked at any one time, that is not going to happen."The implications of this are wide-ranging. It means that in-form players like Bath's Nick Abendanon and Harlequins' David Strettle, both in the Saxons squad, could come under consideration for positions for which their senior colleagues have yet to stake a claim. It also means that, were Iain Balshaw to continue scoring a hat-trick of tries in the remaining fixtures leading into the autumn series, he, too, could play a part, even though he features in neither of England's two squads at present."
October 5, 2008
Best in the world keen to test themselves in the Heineken Cup
Former Wales and Llanelli star Scott Quinnell recalls some painful Heineken Cup memories in the Wales on Sunday.
"A few weeks ago, I was back in the city for the first time since the Scarlets' narrow semi-final defeat to Leicester in 2002. I had to drive around the outskirts for a while before I could summon up the courage to enter the city. Seeing Nottingham Forest's City ground brought all the memories flooding back and the image of Tim Stimpson's last-ditch penalty crawling over the posts was as vivid as it was all those years ago."
October 2, 2008
Modern cross-border rivalries lacking in bite
Stephen Jones laments the lack of spice in modern Anglo-Welsh clashes in his "Rolling Maul" blog for The Times.
"Whole generations of rugby followers were brought up on Anglo-Welsh clashes in club rugby. The first week of Bristol's season used to bring games against Cardiff and Swansea and Newport, all inside eight days, every year. At the end of the week, for those inclined, there was a decent Christian burial."All that was before leagues, of course, but I recall as a schoolboy taking in those gladiatorial games and never feeling in the slightest cheated because they were, essentially, friendlies. I come to think of it, leagues took so long to come in because there was already so much bite in the games without league status at stake."
| Live Scores |
| Results |
| Fixtures |