Sonny the boxing All Black

Is it any wonder that the All Blacks are a tough bunch to break down??  I never realised that one of their newest stars, Sonny Bill Williams is a boxer in the first place, let alone his decision to resume his boxing career - alongside playing for New Zealand!!  I was under the impression that modern professional players had too many games to play and as such their bodies needed a rest - not ole Sonny it seems!!

Now when it comes down to the crunch - who would you rather face up to in the centre.  Boxing Sonny or twinkle toes Gavin? 

Well, if your Wales legend Phil Bennett and you're playing in the Six Nations next year then you may very well be facing up to Gav due to the injury Stephen Jones' suffered at the weekend.  Now in his prime I agree, Henson is a good player - but at the moment he's not in his prime.  Yes dancing has probably helped keep him fit, but surely he's going to need more than a month's worth of playing time to get back up to game speed??  Surely Wales can find someone else who's got a little more game time under their belt in the last 18 months that can fill a hole which may not even be there come February?

Heineken Cup - Round 3

The Autumn Internationals are over, but before we embark on festive jolliness we've got the Heineken Cup double header, the third and fourth rounds of the group competition - the first games of the double headers were played this weekend, here are a few of my thoughts:

Pool One

Northampton put themselves in pole position for qualification with a win at home to Cardiff Blues.  Northampton are my "not so dark" horses for the competition, I think on their day they're capable of beating any team.  Beating Cardiff in Cardiff will be a very stern test, if the pack shows up like it did at the weekend then they stand a really good chance (though they'll need to sort their discipline at the breakdown).  Cardiff need to sort out their set piece plays - poor line outs and scrums ultimately cost them this game and I'm sure this weeks training will be dominated by training in those areas.

As for the other two in the group, if Castres can repeat their victory in Edinburgh it'll put some real pressure on the Saints.  Edinburgh are improving but they seem to switch off at key points in the game and let the opposition in, three losing bonus points from three games isn't good enough but their play suggests that they're still going to give anyone a good game.

Pool Two

With Saracens narrowly beaten at home to the millionaires of Racing Metro and Leinster losing away to Clermont, pool two is now a three way battle with Saracens left bringing up the rear.  I've been disappointed with Saracens showing in this competition after their good run in the domestic league - I expected better though of course they have suffered from being in a very tough group.  Maybe the off the field situation with Venter have finally started having an affect?  Well worth a look is his after match interview - with all the attention he's been getting for being so controversial, it's nice to see the guy has a sense of humour as well!

On to more serious matters, this is a really tough pool to call.  I have to favour Leinster though, they should beat Clermont at home, especially as it's at the Aviva where there should be a good crowd.  I also reckon they'll beat Sarries at home (though by then a certain Mr Henson should be at fly half for Sarries) and probably get at least a losing bonus point away to Racing.

Pool Three

Another disappointing performance from an English side, this time London Irish.  Again, they should be performing better than they are, but again it's a tough group (are there any "easy" groups in this competition though?).  Irish were punished by a clinical Wilkinson who is starting to show some of his old form again - I'd be suprised if he's not a strong contender to slip back into his number 10 shirt for England come February based on this performance. Toulon do look strong in other departments though, their big number eight, Joe van Niekerk had an especially good game.

Munster were once again too much for the Ospreys and I expect them to follow up their win with another when they visit Swansea.  For all their talent and big match stars in their team, Osprey's once again look like falling short.  Is it time to start thinking of a new game plan?  The groups there for Munster to take, I expect Toulon to be their main challengers and maybe even squeak through as best qualifiers.

Pool Four

Shock of the day in this group with Aironi defeating the beaten finalists from last year, Biarritz.  Biarritz remain top but the group is closing in around them.  I was pleased that the Italians finally got a win under their belt this year.  The first year in the Magners League is going to be tough for them and I hope that this can spur them on to more results.  It's important for the Italian national team that these clubs start getting results and learning how to win against quality opposition.

Yet again, England's representative in this group had a disappointing result, this time Bath away to Ulster.  I like the look of Ulster this year, they have a very strong pack and in Ruan Pienaar and Paddy Wallace they have some quality half backs.  Bath v Ulster at The Rec will be what this group is all about in terms of a best qualifier - I think Biarritz will probably qualify automatically.

Pool Five

Poor old Treviso!  Played three, lost three and one measly bonus point - oh well, it's an experience for them!  The rest of the group is incredibly tight though and this pool will surely come down to a few bonus points (which doesn't bode well for Treviso in the last match - away at Leicester!).

The remaining three teams in this group are very evenly matched, I think Leicester may just edge the group, reversing their loss to Perpignan when they go back to Welford Road will set them up.  Then it's between the Scarlets and Perpignan for what I think will be a second qualifier from this group.  On the basis that the last tie between the two of them is in Perpignan I'm going to opt for them!

Pool Six

And finally, Pool Six where there was another English win.  I think Newport had a real chance to put something over on Wasps in this game and they'll be kicking themselves that they haven't.  Tony Hanks will be  looking for significant improvements from his Wasps team when they return home next week.

Like the Dragons, Glasgow had a chance against Toulouse, probably not as much of a chance though.  I wouldn't bet on Toulouse giving them the same opportunity next week, though you never know with the French!  This group will all come down to the Round 6 match between Wasps and Toulouse, even though they're at home I think Toulouse's class and experience in the competition should see them through, just.

And finally, the Quins recorded a good win at home to Connacht in the Amlin Cup!

Barbarians

In my humble opinion this weekend see's the return of one rugby's greatest traditions with the Barbarian's match against South Africa at Twickenham.  I rank the Baba's up there with the Lion's in terms traditions that make rugby such a great game, the matches are always great spectacles and a really fun day out as well as actually being affordable (£35 ish for a cheap ticket versus £70 ish for a cheap six nations ticket for England v Italy!).

And this year's Baba's team is not short on talent and excitement:

15. James O'Connor (Aus)
14. Joe Rokocoko (NZ)
13. Adam Ashley-Cooper (Aus)
12. Ma'a Nonu (NZ)
11. Drew Michell (Aus)
10. Matt Giteau (Aus) (Capt)
9. Will Genia (Aus)
1. Salvatore Perugini (Ita)
2. Stephen Moore (Aus)
3. Neemia Tialata (NZ)
4. Anton Van Zyl (SA)
5. Chris Jack (NZ)
6. Rodney So'oialo (NZ)
7. Martyn Williams (Wal)
8. Colin Bourke (NZ)

Replacements:
Kevin Mealamu (NZ)
John Yapp (Wal)
Quintin Geldenhuys (Ita)
Daniel Braid (NZ)
Andrew Ellis (NZ)
Stephen Donald (NZ)
Seru Rabeni (Fiji)

The backs look superb for the Baba's and should give South Africa some real food for thought.  The front five I think could be in for a bit of a struggle against a powerful South African scrum, especially the tight five.  I would have liked to have seen a couple more European's in the team - however I'd presume this is down to player release rather than them not being picked!

My prediction is for a South African win - but I think it'll be a fairly close scoreline!  If you get a chance to get to HQ to see it then it's well worth the investment.  I went last year to the NZ game as part of my stag do, awesome day out and we got to see a few classic Habana trys!

Only picking home based players

Well, I did say this would be an area for me to occasionally let rip on a little rant every so often so here goes!

The RFU have just announced that from 2011, England will only be picking home based players.  I can understand logic in this given the issues involving player release but really, do they have to go to this extent?!  Until the RFU extends the salary cap so English clubs can financially compete with their French equivalents then we're going to see an increasing amount of experienced players leaving for foreign (mainly French) fields.  It's great that there have been a number of young, very talented players starting for England - but they still need the steady hand of the experienced campaigners around them.

And who can blame the players for going somewhere where they can earn a bit more cash?  The popularity of rugby is every growing and with growth will come extra investment from a number of sources such as advertising.  Like all sportsman, rugby players have a very limited time in which they'll be paid for playing and they need to ensure they make the most out of it.  They'll probably never be paid as much as footballers but then in my humble opinion footballers are overpaid anyway (maybe they need all that money to buy scarves, hats and gloves to wear on a Saturday afternoon!).

Lastly - I can't see whats wrong with players going abroad and experiencing a different culture in terms of the way the games played.  Providing he keeps his head down and plays a lot, I can see Danny Cipriani coming back from Australia a much better player.  Players will learn different techniques, other ways of doing things and be able to bring that back into the English game.

And lets not forget - even Martin Johnson spent some time playing in New Zealand.

Autumn's over

Well the snow, frost and arctic winds have made themselves at home now and along with the end of the latest internationals that must mean winter is here!  So how did it go for everyone?  Well below is my view, starting with the English:

England
Mixed bag here but certainly continuing on the path of improvement.  The second half display against NZ was good (though one cant help thinking that NZ eased off) and the win against Australia was undoubtedly the highlight.  Samoa and South Africa were both brutal games - they competed well with Samoa but the brute force of SA was simply too much.

For me the best thing to see was England playing some "heads up rugby", as all the commentators love to say.  The back three for England played brilliantly together and look capable of supplying some great moments come February.  Moody led by example in the pack and I was particularly pleased with Lawes' performance - especially against the Springboks.  He's a superb athlete and his capability of playing in the second row or in the back row makes him a good prospect for the future.

There are genuine reasons to be excited about 2011 for England, though I think Johnson should be aiming more for 2015.  Saying all that though, they won't win anything until they cut out the silly penalties.

New Zealand
Whoa.  They look good don't they?  It's difficult to find a weakness - only their ability to choke at the key moment, and even that doesn't look likely this time around!  Surely next year HAS to be their year, surely! I think most of the scorelines of this series flattered their opponents, I couldn't help think that as soon as they needed to they would just turn up the gas and score a couple of tries.  The rest of the time they seemed to just coast through games.  Carter (or Dan "fucking" Carter as some of my Irish friends refer to him) especially is just looking so relaxed.  His penalty kicking was a bit off - especially against Wales, but apart from that he's pretty much sublime.

Will the team be as relaxed with all the pressure of a home world cup on their shoulders?  Only time will tell

Ireland
I've had many chats with various people about the current state of Irish rugby.  On the whole people seem to be a little worried.  I think they're on the verge of a "transitional" period as many regulars look to be on the way out.  They've got some great young players coming through (Earls, Healy and Sexton for instance) and it's just a case of them filling the big boys shoes.  They don't seem to be as clinical as they once were and the Irish forwards don't seem to be able to do the same job that they do in Munster to try and shut out a game.  I think the next world cup will be the last for a number of players - I hope that their transitional period doesn't last as long as England's had (seemingly seven years and counting!)

South Africa
They suffered across the autumn with series of injuries to key senior personel.  They're still a world class outfit though and whoever they put out you know that you're going to be in for a battle.  That said, behind the scrum, aside from power and break-away tries I cant see much else going on.  If England had the cutting edge that they displayed against Australia then I think the score would have been a lot different.  Matfield and Botha ensure that South Africa are going to win a majority of set pieces and the back row are truely immense.  Apart from that, I think they're beatable (witness the Scotland game) and I was disppointed that England didn't do the job.

There's going to be a lot of pressure on the coaching team when they get back to SA, I think they'll stick with it until the World Cup but after that there's going to be a few hard conversations as really, they've gone backwards since Jake White left the post

Wales
Tradition dictates that Wales will always have world class half backs and its not letting them down so far - so much so that one of the better one's is playing everywhere but at 10.  James Hook is an immense talent, he's good at 12 but I think he could be so much better and 10.  Stephen Jones is reliable but for me he hasnt ignited the backs enough this autumn.  I've not seen enough of Biggar at International level to properly comment.  Wales are missing the spark that Shane Williams gives them, there's some good young wings coming through and Lee Byrne is as solid as a rock (apart from his mistake at the weekend!), but they're just lacking a certain something.

As for the forwards - they're as solid as always but I feel Gatland needs to decide on a set of eight and give them some consistent game time together - especially behind the front three.  They also need to decide who's going to captain the team and stick with him.  If Ryan Jones isn't good enough to get into the first 15 then he shouldn't be captain.  Wales have gone back a little bet compared to the last few years - but they could come back with a bang.

Australia
A great win against NZ on their way to Europe and a solid win against Wales when they got here.  Then they had to face England on a day when England decided they'd start playing 80 minutes of rugby we've not seen since 2003!  The Australian backs pose a massive risk to any side but in defence I think they lack discpline.  But it's the age old story about Australian forwards - they're still not good enough.  Outside of Elsom I don't believe you'd consider any Aussie forwards for a potential world XV.  Having good backs is one thing, but if they don't have the possession and service from a solid front eight then they're easily beatable.

Scotland
And finally our friends from north of the border.  Smashed by NZ one week, they then turn it round to record one of their best wins against the world champions.  The Scottish forwards now are a match for most teams out there - but would you expect any less from Andy Robinson?  The firepower behind the scrum is lacking though.  Like the Aussie pack, there's not one Scottish back that would even get close to a shortlist for a world XV at the moment.

So thats it then.  I think the northern hemisphere teams proved that they're a match for the southern teams.  New Zealand though are still a class apart for me.  I only hope that come autumn next year they reach for the chocker again!!!

Kick off!

Hi All

I'm new to this game so bare with my whilst I find my feet!  One game I'm not new to is rugby which I've been following with a passion for some time now.  With some time spent living in Ireland just after the 2003 World Cup my passion was only intensified, and rugby became even more important to me (the first game England played when I was living in Dublin was also the first game they lost following their triumph in Australia - and yes, that was against the Irish, at "Fortress Twickenham"!).  After marrying a lovely Irish girl who follows O'Driscoll and co as avidly as I follow Johnson and co (at our wedding in 2010 we had France v Ireland showing on a big screen before dinner!) it became a little competitive in my house during February and March!  Throw in some equally passionate friends and social gatherings become an intense session of banter and friendly ridicule!

So why have I started blogging about rugby?  Well I'm by no means an expert in the game but I often have my own views and I figured this would be the best place to vent them and hopefully inspire some discussion - on the off chance that anyone reads this!  I'll probably be fairly biased - as that is my way, but whilst Quins and England would be my teams of choice I'll no doubt talk about all teams - especially in the run up to the 2011 World Cup.

So feel free to comment - one of the best parts of the game is the banter and discussion it inspires in the bars and pubs once the final whistle has gone.  Lets see if we can get a virtual version of that on here (though you'll have to supply your own beer!)!!