Yesterday I almost felt like I was back in the middle of the rugby season again as my Twitter feed was on fire filled with rugby related tweets. Ahead of Thursday night's first JP Morgan 7s meeting at Kingsholm all of the teams involved announced their squads and dealt their cards for the first time this season. The team sheets aren’t filled with well-known names, far from it in fact, the ‘old boys’ are clearly resting and recuperating as the grueling pre-season sessions rack up and the young guns are given their chance to shine. For the first time the squads also have representatives from various parts of the world with Leicester fieldingBlaine Scully from the USA and Harlequins drawing on their international franchises with Jeremy Manning from Abu Dhabi Harlequins and Patrice Agunda from Kenya Harlequins.
Exeter, Gloucester, Worcester and Bath will kick off the 2013 7s at Kingsholm, after such a long time without rugby I’m sure that The Shed will be packed and all 4 teams’ supporters will be in fine voice to welcome rugby back with some Thursday Night Lights. It seems that the kit designers have been getting a little creative for a couple of these teams; Gloucester have recently unveiled a ‘Stade esque’, away kit… for those of you who aren’t familiar with Stade’s colour pallet it focuses around the extremely masculine colour that is pink! Exeter also have a rather delicious new kit complete with superhero background however sadly I don’t think that this lightning bolt background will follow them to match-days, which seems a great shame!
They mean business....!
Next stop is Franklin’s Gardens – Leicester Tigers, Northampton Saints, Newcastle Falcons and Sale Sharks will all grapple for a trip to The Rec. The squads are a mixture of internationals, Junior World Cup Winners and experienced 7s players however it is with great sadness that I report that none of Saints’ Lions are taking to the field… that great moment will be left for their first home game of the season on Saturday 7th September against Exeter Chiefs.
Harlequins, London Irish, Saracens and London Wasps will all enjoy their 7s on the artificial grass at Allianz Park, beautiful for speedy 7s not so fun for ‘astro like burns’… it’s a good job that rugby players are hard or so I’m told! London Irish field a team of youngsters, Wasps are led from the front by Tom Varndell and Quins will be looking to continue their 2013 7s success. Personally I think that it will be the home team who finish victorious and who will make the trip to The Rec following Saturday’s qualifying competition. Sarries are fielding a combination of youth and experience; Nils Mort captains a squad that includes the ever experienced, although sometimes unreliable, Mr Chris Ashton and Mr Michael Tagicakibau one of the extremely fast, extremely difficult to pin down Tagicakibau brothers.
This week’s 7s will be a chance to get the rugby juices flowing again, obviously we won’t be able to enjoy any front row beef, scrums or truly crunching hits however our Aviva Premiership Squads will all put on their new kits and provide us with a taster of what is to come when the full season starts on Saturday 7th September.
Allianz Park will be the venue for my 7s fix, experiencing the new purpose built stadium for the first time whilst enjoying the ‘juiciest’ of the 3 fixtures will be a great way to spend my Saturday night. All the news, pictures and highlights to follow! Follow on Twitter to not miss a post @RugbyClose
Pre-season is now well under way for all of our Aviva Premiership players, some have been beasting out horrific watt bike sessions for the past 3 or 4 weeks, whilst others are just returning after their summer holidays. Over the next few weeks the hard work is being put in before the first ‘official fixture’ of the season the JP Morgan 7s and the many bruising pre-season matches that follow it. This time is normally fairly quiet news wise, the players are putting themselves through a lot of pain and the rest of us are trying to find other things to fill their weekends with, however this season it has all been kicking off before a single match has even started! The rugby news has been coming in thick and fast, so I thought that now would be an appropriate time to review some of the punchier headlines to date…
Team Bonding at it's best...
Obviously we need to go straight to beautiful Bath and take note of the 'how to make friends and bond at your new club' lesson that Gavin Henson has taught everyone. Now personally I like Gavin Henson, yes you will all probably shoot me for saying that, but I do, he is an extremely talented rugby player... who just happens to not make great choices from time to time!!! A flooring from a team mate isn't really the ideal way to start his life at club number 8. Let's hope that things settle down, now that he and Carl have both been fined and the club have 'closed the issue'. I'm sure that Gavin will be knuckling down, no pun intended, to his actual pre-season training now and will plan to smash it up on the pitch in the first few games so that he won't be on the hunt for club number 9 come next Easter!
New Season, New Home...
The ‘transfer market’ has been an extremely busy one for the past few months with comings and goings all over the place, there are far too many to cover every single one however below are a few highlights...
Harlequins have benefited from a last minute signing; Nick Kennedy arrives back from Toulon fully charged with England and World Cup ambitions. He is ready to raise his profile and he has certainly chosen the right place to do this. Nick has just 9 England Caps... far too few in my opinion, having watched him play at London Irish for the past 7 years I can assure you that he is a superb player. Hearts broke all over Sunbury when Danny Care announced on Twitter, that Nick's signing was completed...
@dannycare thanks Chico. Good of you to announce it!?
Needless to say Mr O'Shea has bagged himself an absolute legend and I cannot wait to sit and watch Nick run out at the Stoop every week... it's a good job that I've got a great seat!!
One other club that hasn't done too badly in securing some fresh blood is Northampton. George North and Alex Corbisero will arrive back from their well deserved holidays ready to devastate the Aviva Premiership. I'm sure that Jim Mallinder will be excited to let them loose at Franklins Gardens to help wipe away the memories of Twickeham in May. I've no doubt that George North will be at the heart of everything good at Saints this season and as long as Dylan Hartley can keep his temper in check then Saints look like they will be marching straight back to Twickenham for the Aviva Prem Final come May.
Sent to the Naughty Step...
Cockers is banned for 9 matches for 'using obscene, inappropriate and/or unprofessional language and behaviour towards fourth official Stuart Terheege' at the Aviva Premiership Final. We all know that he is a fiery character and after his written warning last season for his conduct it is not surprising that he has been punished yet again. Leicester of course are fuming and may still appeal but for the moment he will not be allowed to have any contact at all with the team on match days and will have to sit in the stands and watch like every one else. Clearly it will be up to his coaching team to steer the ship for the first few months of the season... welcome to the coaching staff Geordan Murphy it's time to get stuck in!!!
Finally Schalk Brits will miss the first 3 Aviva Premiership games due to his behaviour in Hong Kong, I'm pretty sure that he will think twice before launching one on a team mate again! Personally I would have loved to be a fly on the wall after that game because that punch certainly looked like it had some feeling behind it...
Pre-Season; how long left...!?
Sadly we still have a quite a while left to go until Round 1 of the Aviva Premiership so fingers crossed that the headlines will keep coming in because otherwise the lack of rugby in my life will start to become a real problem... at least until the JP Morgan 7s and the Pre Season Fixtures arrive!!
It is no surprise that the majority of the headlines today read;
"The Wilkinson Masterclass", "The One Man Points Machine",
"Jonny Wilkinson, the Master". These are all valid and true
headlines... and I will come onto the majestic man in a moment but first what
must be said is that the rest of the Toulon squad cannot be forgotten. Jonny is
without a doubt the best Fly Half in Europe, Warren I hope you are reading this
(!), however even he needs to have a solid platform to be brilliant from which
his fellow team mates provided on Sunday afternoon.
Whilst enjoying a pre-game lunch and glass or two of champagne in
the Marriott I overhead many Saracens fans reading through their
programmes muttering... “Past it”, “Over the hill”, “Isn't he like a million
years old?” I firmly believe that this was just their way of coping with the team
sheet that they were facing, a who's who of rugby including Giteau, Shaw, Sheridan,
Fernández Lobbe and Botha... to name but a few.
Anticipation and expectation built and built, especially after the
rousing encounter in Montpellier the day before where Munster came so close to
upsetting the Clermont party. When Alain Rolland blew his whistle for the first
time at 3pm we were all set for tries galore, big hits and a nail biter. Instead
we heard more of Alain Rolland’s whistle than anything else in the first half…
in fact I rephrase that we heard more of Alain Rolland’s whistle than we would like throughout!
The game itself will not win records for the most exciting game of
rugby Twickenham has ever witnessed... some may say that it would actually win
an award for the dullest. 2 line breaks a piece in the whole game and all of
the points from the boot; Farrell 4 penalities, Wilkinson 7 penalties and one
drop goal. It doesn't make great reading… however what you have to remember is
this was knock out rugby, a Heineken Cup Semi Final... therefore winning is all
that counts no matter how you do it.
For Saracens it wasn't all about Farrell despite the pre and post-game
media focus on him there were 14 others on the pitch, sadly it appeared all 14
were riddled with nerves and unable to front up to the Toulongalaticos. The
game was full of nervy handling errors, easy penalties and things just not
quite coming off for Saracens. I'd say that some of the better chances were from
Sarries... but unless you can finish these off the final result will never go
your way. Ashton looked on better form but certainly not Lions esque... whether
he is Argentina bound only time will tell. Kelly Brown showed his determination
and was a work horse putting in a big shift and leading from the front. Brad
Barritt limped off, hopefully not with anything serious and Alex Goode was
uncharacteristically jittery at the back.
Toulon put their heart and soul into the match desperate to prove
that they are not mercenaries and money grabbing old boys. The collective years
of experience and the hunger for future glory was tangible and with a place now secured in the Heineken
Cup Final surely some of this mocking has to cease?
So in a 'dull' game there must have been a defining moment/s…
coming through a 10 minute sin bin 3-3 was huge for Toulon but the ultimate
defining moment was one drop goal from the master himself 6 minutes from
time... this was the killer blow taking Toulon more than one score clear.
The drop goal itself wasn’t a jaw dropping 45m strike from a
horrendous angle… it was a quick one aimed to break Saracens hold on the game. More
mesmerizing than the strike was the reaction of both Jonny and Owen Farrell. Farrell
launched himself at Wilko taking him down to the floor where they both remained
to watch the ball fly through the posts and Saracens fate be sealed. Some
players at this point may have chosen to have a little dig or comment to their
opposing player but not Mr Wilkinson. Instead he patted Owen on the back in sympathy,
it was a truly touching gesture and one that showed just how great that man
Jonny Wilkinson is.
After that moment the rest of the game was a formality for Toulon
to close out... Sarries made a few meters here and there however the Toulon 15 were
never going to give up something that clearly means so much to them. Some of
the squad may be old, some may have been around the block once or twice but one
thing is for sure, every single one has a desire and hunger to play out of
their skin for their team-mates and win together.
I can’t sign off without giving my perspective on the question of
the day… “Will Jonny Wilkinson be a Lion?” Warren Gatland has been quite
outspoken throughout his tenure to date as Lions Coach regarding the eligibility
of French players, he has been clear that if the French players are unavailable
to make his camp then they cannot be in contention for a place on his tour.
Reading that without the detail you could say fair enough, rules cannot be wavered
for some of the squad and not others that doesn’t send out the right message
does it? However then you look at the facts, the best fly half in Europe by a
country mile is Jonny Wilkinson, he is the ultimate professional, a player who
gives his heart and soul and then some more every single moment he is playing
or preparing to play rugby however he happens to play for Toulon. 10 years on
from that day in the Telstra Dome he remains the one player that the Australian’s
fear… he is fit, he is healthy and he is still in the form of his life… so why
an earth wouldn’t you pick him!? From where I am sitting the decision is simple…
winning the Lions tour is the objective therefore you have to take your
strongest 38 men regardless of ‘availability issues’… he would be the first
name on my team sheet. In less than 24
hours we will find out Mr Gatland’s perspective on this, and like everyone else
in the rugby world I cannot wait to know what he will say!
The Heineken Cup, the competition with the longest standing name out of
all of the sponsored competitions and leagues, or so it feels that way. We have
been graced with the Powergen Cup, the EDF Energy Cup, the LV Cup, the Amlin
Challenge Cup, the Guinness Premiership, the Aviva Premiership and many more. Semanticsaside the Heineken Cup is the one everyone wants to
win, to hear that final whistle blow and confirm to the whole world that you
are the best team in the whole of Europe… by god that has to be a great feeling.
Of course winning the Rabo, the Aviva Premiership or the Top 14 is a big deal
but nothing says dominance like winning the Heineken Cup.
This weekend marks the semi-final stage with 4 teams all hoping that they will be the ones travelling to Dublin on the 18th
May ready for one final battle to win that ultimate prize. Clermont Auvergne,
Munster, Saracens and Toulon an almost even split across the nations but
between them many more than 4 countries are being represented. Warren Gatland
may be announcing his Lions squad this coming week but you can bet your bottom
dollar that he will be scrutinising all the players eligible for
selection… whether that means the Toulon players only time will tell. I doubt
this weekend will massively change his selection choices however I’m sure the
odd curveball could provide him with a sleepless night or two!
Munster will look to O’Connell to put in another
huge shift and they will be thankful that they are not turning up to the Parc des Sports
Marcel Michelin where Clermont haven’t lost in 59 games… instead the Stade de
la Mosson in Montpellier will host this epic encounter! With a capacity of
32,000 you have to wonder just how many Munster fans will be there… 15,000, 25,000, 30,000?
Of the two fixtures of course I’ll keep my eye on
the result however Sunday’s game is the focus for me! Jonny Wilkinson, Alex Goode, Nick Kennedy all
on one pitch… heaven! Taking off my girly hat and putting my serious rugby hat
on Twickenham is set to host an epic encounter. Two huge packs going at each
other, two back lines ready to rumble and a huge (although not quite sell out)
crowd means that it is set to be a great day of rugby in TW1.
Saracens
The
Saracens squad has had an eventful few weeks… a club bonding trip to Verbier complete
with tobogganing, paragliding and skiing was just the start. Then crocodiles,
tarantulas and wolves in training, whatever will be next!? These unorthodox
methods may cause some snide comments and raised eyebrows from some members of
the rugby community however I believe that keeping things fresh at such an intense period of the season is one of reasons why this squad is
playing so well! This weekend’s game will be a test and a test that is much
greater than any of their recent Premiership games… even the Gloucester game last weekend.
On paper the Toulon line up is terrifying to read… however I’m sure every
Sarries player will not see it like that instead they will see it as a huge
opportunity to show what they are made of! So who will be starting for Sarries;
15.Alex Goode; a
clear winner of the battle at 15 for me! Delon eat your heart out, Alex wears the shirt very, very well!
14. Chris
Ashton; aiming to show Stuart he should be on the plane to Argentina… needs a big, big game!
13. Joel Tomkins;
the former Rugby League player spent half of the last HC Campaign on the
periphery… this time he’s an integral part of the team!
12. Brad
Barritt; winner of the best Tweet award quite apt before this weekend’s game
too: "Three things you cannot
recover in life: the WORD after it’s said, the MOMENT after it’s missed and the
TIME after it’s gone."
11.David
Strettle; hoping to emulate his three try hat-trick against Worcester… the only
challenge is that the competition is slightly stronger!! No offense Worcester!
10. Owen
Farrell; “The Apprentice” as he has been named by the UK media… although I
swear that last week Toby Flood was the apprentice… so I’m a little confused! Regardless
of the name situation Owen Farrell will take the Twickers turf hoping to not
only win the game but to prove to Warren Gatland that he’s Lions material!
Personally I’ve no doubt he’ll do the latter... the former I'm not so sure!
9. Richard
Wigglesworth; sited as one of the Premiership players who doesn’t get the
recognition they deserve and winner of the cutest kids in the world award.
1.Mako
Vunipola; 20 st 7 lb and yet still cries at Mufasa's death, everyone loves a
rugby player with a sensitive side!
2.Schalk
Brits;loves to provide an insight into post game recovery on Twitter...enjoy ladies!
3.Matt
Stevens;highlighted as Sarries kicking coach in a recent interview… hopefully
that is just a typo!!
4.Steve
Borthwick; Matt Stevens describes him as a miserable bastard but finishes the
sentence with ‘but we love him for it’ and also highlights that he is the best
captain he has ever played for.
5.Alistair
Hargreaves; South African lock and founder of the charity http://wethegoodpeople.org/ aka all round
decent man!
6.Jackson
Wray;the baby of the back row born in 1990… pretty sure he doesn’t remember
the cassette or VHS!
7.Kelly Brown;an absolute Scottish legend…
8.Ernst
Joubert; winner of the most horrific broken nose in game, it’s so good even
Mike Tindall would be proud!
Replacements:
John
Smit, Rhys Gill, Carlos Nieto, Mouritz Botha, George Kruis, Neil de Kock,
Charlie Hodgson, Chris Wyles,
Toulon
Mourad Boudjellal’s galacticos… with £18.5m
at his disposal it is no wonder the team sheet reads like a who’s who of rugby!
Sadly the development of this dream team means that his men are labelled by
many as mercenaries and money grabbers as opposed to what they actually are
which is great players!! Players who work hard for each other, who eat, drink and sleep
rugby in the sunny South of France and enjoy the odd spot of bonding themselves,
it’s not Verbier but it is a pretty epic Harlem Shake:
Leaving Steffon Armitage and Frederic
Michalak on the bench clearly shows just
the strength in depth! With Mr Toulon running the show at 10… Bastareaud
powering through at 13 and a huge front row I imagine that despite all of the
positive thinking in the world a few Sarries players will be shaking in their
boots slightly!
15.Delon Armitage; fewer yellows,
fewer bans… yet the same line breaks and speed around the park!
14.Rudi Wulf;
All Black Utility Back… started young and continues to dominate the wing in
France!
13.Mathieu
Bastareaud; 18st 2lbs squeezed into a 6ft 1in frame…thank god I’m not in his
way! 1 hit and I’d never survive!
12.Matt
Giteau; initiator of the “#getmelonabird”
campaign… aka get Gethin Jenkins a lady!!
11.Alexis Palisson;
try scoring winger who caused controversy with his topless pictures in Têtu!!
10.Jonny
Wilkinson; England’s all time record points scorer, the provider of some of the
BEST moments in English rugby ever! He reached legend status a very long time
ago and continues to be at the very top of his game. He ran the show against
Leicester and will continue to run shows this season and beyond!
9.Sébastien Tillous-Borde; cheeky scrum half with his own website, quick to the breakdown,
quick hands opens up the Wilkinson Glory!
1.Andrew
Sheridan; revitalized in the sunshine, injury free, 30 matches this season and it’s
all put down to the sunshine and red wine! The one and only problem is that his
English rose skin still burns too easily and therefore vest shaped sun-burn is
a regular occurrence and photographic evidence is posted on Twitter!
2.Sebastien
Bruno; 38 years old and he has just signed a new contract with Toulon. Proof
again that the South of France is the perfect place to continue your career
beyond all expectations…sometimes even your own!
3.Carl Hayman;
resident Kiwi with 45 caps….shunning the All Blacks for the sunshine! A regular
theme I believe!
4.Bakkies
Botha; not in Richard Cockerill’s good books at the moment due to his interesting
tackle which Cockers deems to include ‘excessive use of the knee’. I’m sure he
won’t lose any sleep over this!!
5.Nick
Kennedy; Toulon vs. Sunbury… sunshine vs. rain! No wonder he’s
playing better than ever! Looking forward to seeing him back in action on UK soil!
6.Danie
Rossouw; quickly got over the broken toe that meant he missed the Tigers clash.
Pent up frustration will be released onto the Sarries 15!
7.Juan
Fernandez Lobbe; arguably one of the best Argentina players ever! Enough said!!
8.Chris Masoe;
Award winner… 2011-12 Top 14 Player of the Year!
Replacements:
Jean-Charles
Orioli, Gethin Jenkins, Davit Kubriashvili, Joe van Niekerk, Steffon Armitage,
Maxime Mermoz, Frederic Michalak, Jocelino Suta.
