The View From Twickenham - England vs. All Blacks

Prior to kick off the talk was all about the All Blacks, the All Blacks’ dominance, the All Blacks’ power and the All Blacks’ experience and England, well England played second fiddle to all of that. However this afternoon in a blustery Twickenham Stadium England decided, for forty minutes at least, that they’d had had enough of that and that they wanted to be the ones in control. However Steve Hanson’s side aren’t Number 1 in the World for nothing and once again, they turned the screw, dealt the killer blows and ended the day victorious.
  

The positive English tone that built throughout the opening forty was set by Jonny May who skinned Conrad Smith and Israel Dagg on the outside with just 4 minutes on the clock. There are few wingers that have done that in the world and even fewer that have made it look so effortless. Needless to say Twickenham rocked and as Swing Low boomed around the stands we all dared to wonder whether this was going to be the day? Thereafter England took New Zealand on in every single facet and in my eyes they did a grand job at it. George Kruis was thrown to the lions on 20 minutes and he stepped up like a 30 capper, totally un-phased by the fact that he had never played in white of England before and he had XV All Blacks against him. Indeed throughout the entire game the English pack fronted up and laid their marker down from Marler to Vunipola and all the way between, tanks were emptied and physicality imparted. This was one of the facts that we as fans and indeed Stuart and Graham Rowntree as coaches should take great heart from, for it was delivered without Alex Corbisiero, Dan Cole and Tom Youngs in the front three.

Turning points in matches creep up on you and once momentum swings it often requires super human effort to wrestle it back and today it was simply too much for England to do. Certainly there will be some questions asked regarding our kicking game, in particular the work of Care and Farrell in the second forty and perhaps we will see a different back line against the South Africans for England’s inability to gain the right territory was one of the swinging and ultimately deciding factors in this test match. New Zealand stepped it up when they needed to at the point when they were under the most pressure, down to 14 men, and that is what makes them so deadly. The All Black inner belief is outstanding and it is at a level that no other side has in the world. Today their 1,029 Test Caps showed their worth for when you have men that have been in those 'sticky' situations, more than once before and successfully navigated out of it then it makes the world of difference. Richie McCaw didn't end the day as the most popular man with the Twickenham crowd however he wasn't there to be liked he was there to win a Test match, and win it he did. McCaw may be in his mid thirties but he is fitter than ever and with a 90% win ratio as Captain he himself is a formidable force let alone when you put him with 14 other world class players. 

In the immediate aftermath of the final whistle I read online many reactions to the game and a lot of strong words being thrown out there regarding England’s ‘inability’ and England’s ‘awful game management' however personally I’m not going to lay into them quite so heavily. Obviously the second forty minutes were not how England want to play... yes they lacked territory, yes their shape went and yes they, unforgivably, didn’t take advantage of an extra man however as they have done in the past they will learn and improve from this. I like every single England fan at Twickenham and every single person watching at home wanted England to win and felt bitterly disappointed when they didn't however I am firmly in the camp with Stuart Lancaster who said this following the final whistle; 

“There are enough positives and enough cohesion to draw from that performance that we can improve for next week. Of course you want to win every game to stay firmly on track, but we are not going to deviate from the path that we are on because we believe in the players that we’ve got, the coaches and what we are building. We’ll keep our confidence and the direction in which we are going.”

At the end of the day it comes down to the words that Stuart followed that comments with; “in test rugby it doesn’t matter if it is the first minute or the eightieth minute it is taking all of your moments when you get them, and we didn’t quite manage that today”. 

A smarting South African side are next up, they are a side that will be hurting from their 15-29 loss in Dublin and one that just beat the All Blacks. However as we all know England never shy away from a challenge and I guarantee that there won’t be a minute of rugby that is played like the second half today. Stay with England, for 40 minutes of uncharacteristically slacking rugby does not make them a bad side that should start from scratch once again instead, after just one week together, the positives must be focused on and the reaction will be seen in just 7 days time.

Final Score England 21 New Zealand 24

See all the Out On The Full Photos from Twickenham here

Nick Evans - An All Blacks' Perspective

Before heading into tomorrow’s colossal match between England and New Zealand I thought that it was only good and proper to seek the opinion of someone from 'the other side' and someone that knows exactly what it is like to pull on that All Black jersey, enter stage left Harlequin, Nick Evans.

‘One of the most versatile backs in New Zealand’ those are the words that remain on AllBlacks.com to describe Nick and the description goes on to share that ‘Evans is deceptively quick and possesses a howitzer-like boot’, and I’ll admit now that yes I did need to Google exactly what a howitzer is. Whatever the words are to describe Nick the sentiment remains the same he is a bloody good player and a well loved All Black.

I caught up with Nick today on the eve of the big game, in what has been an extremely hectic build up as he explained;

“It’s been a full on media week this week, I’ve an All Blacks Adidas event this evening and worked with QBE on a number of other things. It’s been busy, my mother’s just arrived and I feel a bit bad because I haven’t had time to spend with her or my little one!!! That said, it’s a great week, it is always is when the All Blacks are in town because they create such a buzz around London and around the rugby community. Even more so this year due to the fact that this autumn is obviously their last visit before the World Cup.”

Naturally I was keen to ask Nick about the current All Blacks’ stock at fly half for at the moment the words ‘strength in depth’ are certainly appropriate with Aaron Cruden, Beauden Barrett and Dan Carter all vying for that covered 10 shirt. This weekend Nick believes that Steve Hanson has it spot on;

“Do you know what? I think that it is a really good call from Steven Hanson, Dan’s had his injury problems and although he looked class when he came on against the USA, Aaron [Cruden] is match fit, match hardened and ready to go. Actually I feel slightly sorry for Beauden Barritt for he has done nothing wrong and yet he has been struggling to really get a strong look in. I think you need to give Dan a couple of starts against Scotland and Wales, a good Super Rugby season and he’ll be back to the unquestionable Number 1 in the country by the World Cup, for sure. “

Across the board in the All Blacks side there are men that you can’t take your eyes off; Ben Smith, Israel Dagg, Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, I could continue but I won’t... however there is one other name that springs to mind. He is a man that some of the current England side don’t have too much experience with and that, along with his un-rivalled talent makes him dangerous;

“Sonny Bill, oh Sonny Bill Williams, well you just never know what he is going to do do you!? He just comes out with the most ridiculous things; like a new offload that he just invented, it’s superb. He defends well and I’m sure that he’ll be attacking all day long down Eastmond’s channel.”

I questioned Nick regarding the aura surrounding the All Blacks in particular about where it is comes from and how it is created;

“You talk about aura, and really it is only something that teams have when they have been together for a long time, you just can’t have it in one or two years. The All Blacks aura has been developing for a long time... way back since the 2007 World Cup, Dan has over 100 caps, Richie has 134, Conrad Smith has 83, Kieran’s played in the odd test (!) and they’ve all been together for a long time and at the top of their game. That creates aura.

Honestly this World Cup coming may be one World Cup too early for England to have that, in 2019 the majority of this England group will still be there, bar a handful and then they are likely to be in the position the All Blacks are now.”

Certainly an interesting thought that England’s potential could be greater in 2019 than now however personally I hope that on this point alone Nick is a little ‘All Black’ biased!

Something I’ve been forever intrigued about and I’m sure that many of you are too is just what it is like to be part of that squad, that side that is so dominant the All Blacks and Nick shared with me this;

“It is so difficult to put it into words without actually being there and having the honour yourselfof making the All Blacks. What I will say is that as players the culture is very much about the fact that it is not your jersey, it is the country’s jersey and you are just a custodian of it. There is so much All Black history and the legends of the game are still very much involved in the team, they make sure that you know that you are representing them as much as you are your current team mates and your country.”

The final and of course most difficult question I posed to Nick was to ask his score prediction for tomorrow’s game... after proclaiming that it was tough and highlighting his slight ‘torn loyalties’ he settled on the All Blacks by 20. For England’s sake I hope it is much closer than that or that it even swings the other way... truthfully none of us know what is going to happen and the unpredictability of professional sport is why we love it so much.

Nick Evans was speaking on behalf of QBE, business insurance specialist and title sponsor of the QBE Internationals. Visit www.QBEeurope.com

The Ultimate Test - England vs. New Zealand

When you start to read the team sheets for this weekend’s QBE International the first names that you see at 15 are Mike Brown and Israel Dagg, next Semesa Rokoduguni and Ben Smith. As the list goes on through the half backs onto the forwards and across replacements I’m sure that you find, like I do, that the heart starts beating that little bit faster and the emotions start to build for you realise it is that time again. It is the time of the year when the giant of the Northern Hemisphere meets the giant of the Southern Hemisphere at Twickenham Stadium. Welcome to England versus New Zealand... 

2013 Test (22-30 All Blacks)

If we review the statistics it doesn’t take too much insight to come to the conclusion that there is one on paper favourite and they will be wearing all black; Steve Hanson’s side are ranked No1 in the World since 2009, they have only lost 2 matches under him and they house some of the most precocious talents in the history of the modern game. ‘The most precocious talents’ is a big statement however it one that I believe that few could disagree with if you pop the names Read and McCaw into that category. The All Blacks’ depth is particularly impressive, when you cannot find a place in your match day 23 for Dan Carter, even if he is returning from injury, then you are in a fortunate position. The adjective ‘impressive’ seems almost a little too fluffy to describe the side; Israel Dagg does things others can only dream out, Ben Smith is a pure delight, Sonny Bill Williams an enigma and as for Julian Savea... well I simply say all hail Savea. Up front Crockett, Coles and Franks can more than hold their own, the Retallick and Whitelock pairing is growing by the day and Kaino, McCaw and Read certainly know a thing or two about rugby!

Now you may be wondering why I haven’t yet mentioned Stuart Lancaster’s England, or the fact that the game will be played on home soil, well in all honestly I simply wished to contextualise the match we are about to witness based on the quality of opponents. I believe in England, I believe in Stuart Lancaster, his coaching team and their vision and path to the Rugby World Cup 2015 however I also believe that this weekend will be tough. Tough due to the fact that the All Blacks are that good, both individually and collectively and the recent Rugby Championship showed that in spades. Here comes the but.... but it is not impossible to beat them on Saturday afternoon or at any point in time. England showed that on that memorable day in December 2012 and during the course of the three tests in the Summer at Eden Park and at Dunedin in particular. England conquered the might through quietening Crockett and co up front and using that might as a huge platform. It created the platform to play off and they played with the ball in hand without fear or worry and this is what they must do again on Saturday. Marler, Hartley and Wilson will lead the charge, Lawes and Attwood must dominate the line out and in the loose boy do we need to be in the money. Backs... well it is time to show that Northern Hemisphere teams have some flair too and a lot of that responsibility will lie with Roko, Brown and Care.

Reading again down the team sheets do I feel we are weaker than the All Blacks in every single position? Hand on heart I do not, but do I think we have some question marks and areas that we as fans don’t know how are going to pan out. The clearest example is in the centres with the Kyle Eastmond and Brad Barritt combination; Kyle’s been outstanding for Bath and will be chomping at the bit to right his ‘wrongs’ of the summer and Brad is in the form of his life, however we haven’t seen them blend together or know definitively how they’ll cope against the Sonny Bill Williams and Conrad Smith machine. Is Jonny May defensively strong enough to pacify Julian Savea? What impact will our bench have versus the experienced Kiwi bench? These are all question marks and question marks that will go one way or the other. Crucially Chris Robshaw and has men always have a resilience and heart that exceeds any on paper statistic; in my eyes under Stuart Lancaster exceeding expectations is England's forte and whilst injuries have played a part already this year if this match day 23 exceed all of our expectations then they are capable of something remarkable.

England have been building for a number of years now, this side has already experienced many highs and many lows and this will be another experience in the bank. Never, in the time that Stuart Lancaster has been in charge, have England ever taken a step backwards and this first QBE International will be absolutely no different. England must believe that the All Blacks and their aura can be broken over the course of 80 minutes in South West London, even if the statistics and form book point against it. In the words of Andy Farrell it is time for 'the ultimate test'.  

England: 15 Mike Brown 14 Semesa Rokoduguni 13 Brad Barritt 12 Kyle Eastmond 11 Jonny May 10 Owen Farrell 9 Danny Care 1 Joe Marler 2 Dylan Hartley 3 David Wilson 4 David Attwood 5 Courtney Lawes 6 Tom Wood 7 Chris Robshaw (C) 8 Billy Vunipola Replacements: 16 Rob Webber 17 Matt Mullan 18 Kieran Brookes 19 George Kruis 20 Ben Morgan 21 Ben Youngs 22 George Ford 23 Anthony Watson

New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg 14 Ben Smith 13 Conrad Smith 12 Sonny Bill Williams 11 Julian Savea 10 Aaron Cruden 9 Aaron Smith 1 Wyatt Crockett 2 Dane Coles 3 Owen Franks 4 Brodie Retallick 5 Sam Whitelock 6 Jerome Kaino 7 Richie McCaw (C) 8 Kieran Read Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu 17 Ben Franks 18 Charlie Faumuina 19 Patrick Tuiipulotu 20 Liam Messam 21 Thomas Perenara 22 Beauden Barrett 23 Ryan Crotty 

Allianz Rugby Speaker of the Year

Professional rugby players, be that current or retired, are usually never short of a word or two and by nature are extremely competitive. Later on this week these two factors will come together in order to make a fantastic event; the Allianz Rugby Speaker of the Year. Over a spot of lunch I'm expecting that the stories will flow as Austin Healey, Ben Kay and Doddie Weir all compete to be crowned the 2014 Allianz Rugby Speaker of the Year.

Martin Bayfield has been given the honour of keeping the three competitors in order, something that he is more than capable of and used to, working with Ben and Austin on a daily basis at BT Sport. Martin was crowned the winner of the event last year and that means that he can enjoy the luxurious position of sitting back and steering the ship as opposed to trying to impress the audience. The lunch will take place at The Brewery in the heart of Central London and I must say that it is quite the venue. It is impossible to predict the stories that will be shared over the course of the event however I expect big things from each 'competitor'. Voting will be interactive and we all know that Austin in particular hates to lose at anything, so it should make for an interesting time!! 

If you work in the City and fancy the ultimate lunch then it is time to act sharpish and book a table! Trust me when I say you’ll be a popular member of the office if you deliver this gem for you team. Also in attendance will be a very well known All Black Sean Fitzpatrick, who I'm sure will be prepared for a little friendly banter and a lot of discussion regarding the QBE International, just twenty four hours after, the recent Rugby Championship and forthcoming Rugby World Cup. 

All the important details to nab the last tickets are here; www.mbnpromotions.co.uk or for a good old fashioned phone call because as BT say ‘It’s Good to Talk’ - 0845 543 8277

Allianz Insurance, official title sponsors of Saracens and Allianz Park, is one of the largest general insurers in the UK and part of the Allianz SE Group.

LV=Cup - Round 1

This weekend the LV=Cup started with a bang as our 12 Aviva Premiership sides scored 309 points and played some outstanding rugby. In 5 days time the Welsh regions will join the party as Round 2 is ignited with the added spice of Anglo-Welsh rivalry. 

The live televised game of the weekend was at Allianz Park where Saracens hosted Harlequins in a good old London Derby! Saracens dominated the opening forty and were led throughout by 20 year old Maro Itoje. Now we have all been around the rugby block long enough to see many people be tipped as the next big thing and more often than we'd like they pail into insignificance after a season however I believe that Maro sits firmly in the 'real deal' category. Today Maro not only delivered positionally, at blindside flanker, but he also led his charges like a man ten years older and that was something coach Joe Shaw praised following the game; 

"He leads by example on the pitch and he is  a very calm influence for people that are actually older than him and more experienced. This was a step in the right direction for him leading the LV team today and he showed that he is pushing on very quickly." Let's not forget Maro is extremely young and every department at Saracens is thrilled by him as Joe shared; "The S&C coaches are very excited by him, he is growing everyday and his 'man strength' is getting better every day."

Saracens performance was strong and pushed every man in the side to deliver, not just Maro, and with Scott Spurling, Ben Ransom and Ben Spencer three others that enjoyed stand out days they are in a great position to push on in this LV=Cup competition. 

Turning the spotlight onto Harlequins, they found themselves lacking a spot of cohesion during the first forty minutes, their set piece was a little shaky and they couldn't regularly find their way through the gain line. That said, old timer (he’ll hate me for calling him that) Jordan Turner-Hall ran some superb lines and looked sharp and captain Karl Dickson was as dependable and solid as ever. Half time came and went and in the second forty O'Shea's side produced one hell of a comeback. They believed in themselves and showed a huge amount of resilience, something Conor was immensely proud of following the game; "I’m happy with the mental toughness of the players to not chuck in the towel, because they easily could have. Saracens got away from us in the first half through our own inaccuracies, we gave them the manadatory charge down which seems our way at the moment (!) but in the second boys started to win their collisions and played really well." Now, Harlequins have a 5 day turn around before they welcome the Newport Gwent Dragons to The Stoop on Friday evening and although they'll be some battered bodies Conor shared that he is looking to field a similar side to today's in order to continue the development of his young men. 

Elsewhere in the country we had some absolute thrillers; there was one point in it at Sandy Park between Exeter and Gloucester and anyone that was there classed it as a corker. However the win was tainted by the extremely sad news than a Chiefs' fan passed away at the ground during the game and of course all of our thoughts and prayers are with their family at this difficult time. At the Madjeski a single point also separated London Irish and the Leicester Tigers and Sale and Wasps were involved in a belter at the AJ Bell Stadium. Finally both Northampton and  Bath recorded more comfortable victories over Falcons and Welsh respectively. 

All of the highlights are on ITV tonight at 11.25pm and I can't wait to see them/record them and watch them tomorrow for I have work in the morning!!! Next weekend the Welsh Regions join the party and boy will they want to get stuck in against their English counterparts! So that is the LV=Cup Round 1 in a very small nutshell, personally I would have liked to have seen many more of the games on TV for in my eyes it is a cracking competition. 

Nick Cummins - The Honey Badger

The Honey Badger was on great form following the Barbarians match against Australia at Twickenham Stadium

listen to ‘Nick Cummins - The Honey Badger’ on audioBoom

The View From Twickenham - Barbarians vs. Australia

Lung busting, enthralling and simply delightful to watch, that is my short and sweet assessment of the Barbarians taking on Australia at Twickenham Stadium and if the noise in the stadium was anything to go by the 53,568 strong crowd agreed!

Going into the game the two opponents started in very different places and head spaces; the Barbarians full of positivity and excitement whilst the Wallabies have been through the mill and back recently. In spite of this both sides had a job to do and boy did we all enjoy watching them do it!! 

Prior to the game Australia’s new Head Coach Michael Cheika outlined that his immediate focus is on clarifying a few things, first regarding the manner in which the Australian National side plays rugby, second, regarding how they wish their opponents to perceive them and finally nailing exactly what their identity is. Today at Twickenham his team started to do that, they weren’t perfect but the intent and focus was there. Tevita Kuridrani’s lines were a thing of rugby beauty and when combined with his physicality he really turned heads. The Cooper and Genia partnership that we all expected so much from started to sing again, Quade Cooper in particular hasn’t had a lot of game time this season and with the amount of talent they have between them the partnership will only go from strength to strength once more. However in my eyes there was one man in the Gold of Australia that really shone and that was Sean McMahon who had a absolute stormer. After coming on for Scott Higginbotham he worked his socks off, he was everywhere in defence and his lines were ones that Kuridrani would be proud of. 

The Barbarians’ Head Coach Sir John Kirwan was a happy man following the game and rightly so. He hit the nail on the head in the post match press conference when he said; “It was really important for us as a group of young players and as Barbarians to deliver today. We are very conscious that we need to try and protect the BaaBaas as a historical team and the only way we can do that is by performing like we did today. It was an outstanding game of rugby and when a Twickenham crowd sings Swing Low for a team like the Barbarians it is a special moment."

From minute one his side’s intentions were clear their opening exchanges showcased that they were here to play rugby, to entertain and to do the shirt proud. Colin Slade had an outstanding day at the office, he steered the men in black and white into all of the right places and whilst we all know that he has been dropped due to some world class All Blacks talents; Dan Carter, Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett, it is difficult to see such a superb player left out in the cold. Across the board from one to twenty three the Barbarian spirit shone through, in spades. In previous fixtures we have seen Barbarians sides 'implode' mid way through the second half and today it looked as if it was about to happen at 40-22 down however instead they dug deep and closed the widening gap on the score board through sheer guts and determination. Captain Al Kellock was masterful and indeed every member of the Barbarians squad that came and spoke to the press after the game couldn’t sing his praises enough.

If you haven’t seen the game yet, please do watch it, for it is an outstanding advert for the game with two top teams going at each other with every bit of energy that they have. The match provided a solid platform for the Wallabies to push on from as they head to Cardiff to take on Warren Gatland's Wales and it reminded us all that just how special the tradition of Barbarians rugby is. Sir John Kirwan and his side now have three days to collect their thoughts, re-fuel and head to Welford Road where the Leicester Tigers will be waiting for them. 

listen to ‘Nick Cummins - The Honey Badger’ on audioBoom

LV=Cup - Let the Games Begin!

This year marks the 10th year that there has been an Anglo-Welsh tournament as part of our competitive rugby structure. Over the past decade the competition has had a number of different names however today it is lovingly known as the LV=Cup. Over the course of 6 weekends between now and March twelve Aviva Premiership Clubs and the four Welsh Regions will battle it out to follow in the footsteps of the Exeter Chiefs and be crowned the 2015 LV=Cup Champions. 

     

Over the past couple of years LV=Cup has firmly established its place in the professional structure, it is the springboard for young emerging players and allows them to showcase their talents to the wider rugby world. Alongside that purpose it also provides important game time to those, more senior players, that are coming back from injury or that on the fringes of their first team squads. 

Before I highlight a few key men to watch out for in this year's tournament let’s delve into a spot of house-keeping regarding the competition structure itself. Each team in the LV=Cup is guaranteed two home fixtures and two away fixtures and all of the fixtures played are inter-pool meaning that the teams in Pool 1 will play teams in Pool 4 and the teams in Pool 2 will play the teams in Pool 3. Following 4 weekends of Pool fixtures the winner of each Pool will progress through to the Semi Final knockouts and then the Final will held at Northampton Saints’ home Franklin’s Gardens.

This year Saracens sit in Pool 1 alongside Gloucester Rugby, Newport Gwent Dragons and Bath Rugby and as mentioned will play against the sides in Pool 4, the Exeter Chiefs, Harlequins, London Welsh and Ospreys. Facing off on the other side of the draw Pool 2 contains the Cardiff Blues, London Irish, the Northampton Saints and Sale Sharks and Pool 3 the Leicester Tigers, Newcastle Falcons, the Scarlets and Wasps. Yesterday was team announcement day for Round 1 and what was great was the split between the fresh faces and the elder statesmen.

Saracens' house a hugely exciting man within their squad, one that if you saw the Junior World Cup earlier in the year you will know all about; Maro Itoje. The 20 year old is reading a politics degree as well as making huge waves in the world of rugby; powerful, physical and sharp as anything Itoje will Captain an exciting Saracens side against Harlequins at Allianz Park on Sunday afternoon. The Northampton Saints is another side that makes the rugby excitement levels rise. Personally I love their back line with Tom Collins, Jamie Elliott, Tom Stephenson, Dom Waldock, Howard Packman and Will Hooley it certain has great blend of pace and power. Phil Dowson will Captain the side, his experience is second to none and will greatly assist Ethan Waller and Mike Haywood up front. 

A man that I believe will standout for Wasps is Alex Lozowski, this season Alex re-joined Wasps after completing his degree and has impressed everyone at the club with his natural ability and work ethic. As we all know fly half is a pressured position and one that can expose individuals, however seeing Alex run out for Wasps First XV in pre-season and for Wasps A more recently like all of the best players he makes rugby look effortless and seems to  have huge amount of time on the ball. Alex will be working with Ben Jacobs in the centre and has two prolific wingers outside of him Will Helu and Josh Bassett, all in all expect Wasps to fly

Bath Rugby are another side that have caught my eye for their XV is rammed with talent; a Gavin Henson and Chris Cook half back combination is LV Gold and up front Nick Auterac, Ross Batty and Kane Palma-Newport wouldn't look out of place in the Premiership. Charlie Ewels, after being thrown in at the deep again against Toulouse, will continue his rise to rugby fame. He is immensely strong and with his head totally screwed on this teenager is doing all the right things to go very, very far in the world of rugby. 

This is by no means an extensive list of ones to watch, there are many more but for all of our sakes I will pause there!! In closing I want to wish every player running out for our Premiership sides this weekend well. Over the course of 4 rounds of pool matches, the Semi Finals and the Final we will be treated to some outstanding rugby, for in this competition individuals and indeed teams will play with flair and without fear as they aim to showcase what they are made of. So, without any further introduction let the 2014/15 LV=Cup begin... 

A Night With London Welsh Amateurs & Nigel Owens

Since starting Out On The Full I have had the pleasure of featuring and attending many events off the field and it is something that I love doing for it gives me an opportunity to meet some fantastic people and gain an insight into the different rugby communities across the country. A few weeks ago I was asked if I would like to attend evening event at Old Deer Park in aid of the London Welsh Amateurs, naturally I jumped at the chance and hot footed it across to Richmond after work. 

This year’s event followed the format of the inaugural 2013 evening ‘An Audience With’... 12 months ago Wayne Barnes and London Welsh's Club Captain Tom May featured and last Thursday it was the turn of Mr Nigel Owens. As we all know Nigel is a legend in the world of refereeing and after spending an evening in his company and hearing him speak it is easy to see why for he captivated us all with his wit and charm. From the first minute he had the whole audience in stitches and also has a superb singing voice, something that none of us expected find out!!!

Nigel & the London Welsh Womens Team

The purpose of the evening was to raise funds for the Amateur section of London Welsh RFC, it is a part of the Club that is absolutely thriving with 1200 members and teams across all age groups from Minis upwards. This year the Women’s side is celebrating its 30th year and on the night Nigel made a genuine promise to referee one of their games during the course of the season. This pledge wasn’t a hollow one said because it was the right thing to say, it was genuine and I believe that plans are in place to realise it over the coming months.

During the evening Nigel gave us an insight into how he started refereeing, he was given the opportunity by a teacher at his school to get out of detention and from that small window of opportunity grew the world’s best referee. It is same at every rugby club throughout the country, excluding the detention part, in that the amateur side of our game is providing the opportunity for individuals to try our great game and maybe one day develop into next Tom May or Emily Scarrett.   

Thursday evening brought together individuals from all areas of London Welsh from first team players, to supporters, to parents of the Minis and what struck me throughout the night was how close the community is at Old Deer Park. Yes, things might not be going according to plan results wise at the top however it doesn’t stop the club being as close as ever. It was an evening in the company of genuinely lovely people and once again highlighted to me the strength of the rugby community at all levels of the game. 

Everything4Rugby & London Media RFC

In the heart of London lies London Media RFC, the club was formed approximately 20 years ago by a group of friends that all worked in the Media industry and currently they play their rugby in Surrey 3 and Surrey Conference 4. On Wednesday evenings, in the middle of Clapham Common, the club gather together to put in the hard yards before their weekend games and this Wednesday I had the pleasure of visiting them with Everything4Rugby’s Tom May. 

The purpose of Tom’s visit was to deliver a £200 cheque to the side for they were the winners of E4R’s recent social competition. After greatly receiving their prize I spoke to club member Vincent Walker to find out a little bit more his side and just how such a donation will help them;  

“We run two squads and are pretty hopeful for the season ahead; both have won two, lost one so far. From a financial perspective we rely on members’ subs and we try and keep those low because it means that more people can play so having a cheque like this is really handy. £200 may not seem a lot to some but it is almost as much as we’ve spent on our kit for the whole season, we'll certainly be having a full squad meeting to decide on how to use the funds.”

Everything4Rugby’s aim is to bring together and provide support for grass roots and club rugby in the UK and Ireland and it was clear from speaking with Vince that this goal is being realised on the ground;

“As we are an amateur club, we are always looking for sites that provide a lot of information and information that that you can’t get otherwise. We don’t have a nutritionalist; we don’t have physiotherapists or PTs so it generates a lot of interest when you get something that is a one stop shop with information on these areas. It is a massive resource, I’ve been on there a lot over the last couple of weeks and have been pushing ideas to other people in the club. For example there are even position specific materials for half backs, second rows, front rows; all of that sort of stuff is really great and so helpful to us as amateurs.”

Seeing London Media RFC train, on a dark night under the borrowed floodlights of Clapham South Tennis Courts and hearing how much they value the site that he and his colleagues have created was great for Tom;

“I’ve never really heard anyone that isn’t in the detail of Everything4Rugby talk about the site so to hear Vince talk to you about how much value he is getting from E4R was brilliant. This is what we want to be doing, we want to be providing guys like this who love the game as much as we do as professionals with all the information that we can.”

I quizzed Tom regarding whether or not this was a one off donation or something that will be continued by Everything4Rugby in the future;

“We are going to have a lot more competitions and whilst the first one happens to be in London I could be sending this cheque to somewhere in Wales, Scotland or Ireland. Everything4Rugby is not an English only website it is for every amateur rugby club in the UK.”

It was clear that Vince and all the guys at London Media RFC are already gaining a huge benefit from Everything4Rugby and I must stress that their gratefulness to E4R was genuine; it wasn’t staged or made up just because Tom was there, it was real. They say that the proof is in pudding so if you are part of an amateur club allow me to suggest taking London Media’s lead and finding out exactly what Everything4Rugby can bring to your side.  

Enjoy it all at http://everything4rugby.com/

Back Line Blend, Consistency & Standing Out - England's EPS

The England Rugby EPS squad announcement day is always a big day, after weeks of anticipation and players sticking their hands up for selection the 4 men at the helm of our elite game make their choices and announce them to the world’s media. Yesterday Stuart announced the 33 man squad for the QBE Internationals at QBE’s Head Office and following the live broadcast he spoke openly to the press regarding the decisions that he and his team had made giving us a true insight into their decision making. 

“We select the side on objective data so the effectiveness at the breakdown, the skill execution, your tackles that you make, your clearout effectiveness so they are all objectively measured. But then there is a subjective analysis that we do every week, we all sit down and we and we have criteria for every position and we score every player.  It's a big guide to how we select the team.”

The word consistency was mentioned a lot throughout the announcement, it is clearly a huge focus and rightly so for our Elite Coaching Staff;

“Some players have had standout games. It's then backing that up a standout game with another standout game and then another. Not a standout game then one that is 7 out of 10. To be the best it's not about the flash stuff, it's actually about skill execution and everything done at a very high level. And if we take Jonny Wilkinson as the benchmark, he didn't get everything right all the time and it wasn't always flash, but he was incredibly consistent in everything he did.”

There was also a fair amount of discussion regarding the wing men, with an abundance of riches on our Aviva Premiership wings there were always going to be players that missed out. Stuart assured the players and indeed confirmed to us all that those that weren’t initially selected aren’t left out in the cold;

"It's not a long way back for him [Chris Ashton] at all. Neither is it for Christian Wade, David Strettle or Anthony Watson. They are the other four we had a good debate about. The message to those [wings] not selected is consistency, it is all the little things you look for. Our players have to be very, very good at everything and have two stand-out qualities as well.  It could be a Christian Wade pace, a Watson step, a Roko power through the line, Nowell’s ability to get through first defender, or Jonny May’s out-and-out gas.  The other piece of the jigsaw is the ability to be good at everything else. Ruck effectiveness, ability under the high ball, defensive alignment, kicking game, everything.”

There are 7 Bath players in the 33 man squad the potential of picking a ‘club unit’ was  highlighted and put to Stuart;

“We have never selected that way in the past. We have never felt that because Toby Flood plays at 10 we had to pick Ben Young at 9. We back ourselves and the players to adapt to different players. We have been together in development now for two and a half years so I would be disappointed if we had to go to that.”

With so much natural talent housed in the squad it was interesting to hear the team share their position on a question regarding a pure focus on precision and execution versus playing with flair and instinct which naturally brings a lower level of precision; 

“When we first started a couple of years ago, we always went on execution, just so they understood that continuity and not turning the ball over is an important part of the game. Once they understand that now we are talking about decision-making, so we want them to be able to express themselves but we want them to be able to make the right decision first. The decision is therefore judged more so now, because they expect the execution to be right themselves. They will self-police that. The decision of why a pass or a kick is made is vitally important because we want to do the right thing, that might be to be running the ball from our 5m line and scoring a 95m try, that’s how you judge your players and get the performance you want.”

The overall message from the England team was clear, consistency is king and it is evident for us all to see from their selection decisions and justifications that they are demanding a lot from our country’s elite players. Now, in 2014 to be in with a shot of playing for your country you have to truly be world class, on all fronts, week in and week out and deliver more than ever before due to the competition around you. After one final European hoorah it is time for the coaching team to get their hands on their players and that is something they can’t wait to do before the colossal task of hosting the best of the Southern Hemisphere at home in just over 2 weeks time.