Guinness Premiership Report - 31st March 2008
Another weekend in the Guinness Premiership, another set of tense matches culminating in a tighter top table than at an incestuous wedding.
On Friday night Sale did wonders for their play-off aspirations by defeating Bath at home 22 – 6. A try by Oriol Ripol and 17 points from the boot of Charlie Hodgson resulted in Sale cementing fifth spot and Bath losing their grip on the number one slot.
On Saturday Wasps turned the tables on Leicester by avenging their cup loss, beating the Tigers at Welford Road 24 – 19. Wasps managed to recreate their defensive form of last season to frustrate the midlanders. A dominant forwards display coupled with excellent scores from Waters (2) and Cipriani sealed the victory which leaves Leicester in a precarious 4th and Wasps still with it all to do in 6th.
The biggest shock of the weekend was saved for Worcester who beat Gloucester for the first time in their history by 17 – 14 at Sixways. Worcester have beaten Sale, Leicester and Gloucester recently and look set to finish the season strongly, while Gloucester were lucky to return to the top of the table with their losing bonus point.
A try-less encounter at the Stoop was memorable for a ridiculous late charge by De Wet Barry on Mathew Tait that saw both men leave the field – Barry with a red card and Tait with injury. Harlequins ran out winners 14 – 9 thanks to four Jarvis penalties and a Care drop goal. Dean Richards is calling for Danny Care to tour to NZ this summer and on current form he is easily one of the top three scrum-halves in the country.
In one of the less meaningful matches of the weekend London Irish beat Bristol 28 – 8 with tries from Hewat, Mapusua and Mackie. Irish have their more important match next weekend against Perpignan in the Heineken Cup while Bristol are looking to build for next season.
Saracens thrashed Leeds 66 – 7, scoring ten tries and converting eight. There have been very few trouncings of this nature in the Premiership this season highlighting the competitive nature of the competition. Still, every now and again a bit of a multi-try demolition provides some good entertainment.
By Jon Hobbs
New Zealand claim victory in Hong Kong Sevens
New Zealand won their fifth sevens title in a row by beating South Africa by 26-12 - it is the first time they have won the Hong Kong event in 6 years.
The Kiwis were convincing throughout, and always looked like winning the tournament after their 34-0 victory over Fiji in the semis.
England lost in the quarter finals to Samoa, the same team they had beaten on the first day in the group stages, but the Pacific Islanders were narrowly beaten 12-10 by the Springboks.
Have a look at this video for some post-tournament reaction.
Hong Kong Sevens Day 1 results and reaction
As Day 2 gets underway, here are the results from Day 1 and clips of players’ reactions.
Day 1 results:
Match 1: Australia 24 Hong Kong 12
Match 2: Kenya 47 China 0
Match 3: Fiji 42 Korea 7
Match 4: South Africa 40 Japan 7
Match 5: Samoa 35 Sri Lanka 7
Match 6: New Zealand 50 Chinese Taipei 5
Match 7: Tonga 7 France 21
Match 8: Scotland 26 Portugal 10
Match 9: Wales 34 Zimbabwe 0
Match 10: Argentina 33 Russia 0
Match 11: England 24 Canada 12
Match 12: USA 26 Tunisia 21
Hong Kong Sevens gets underway
Today, the 34th running of the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens is upon us. The tournament is the jewel in the crown of the world sevens series because of its lively reputation and the history of top players who have graced its stage in the past.
Conceived as a promotional event for a tobacco company, the tournament has grown in stature since its inception in 1976 and is now held at the 40,000-seater Hong Kong Stadium.
Fiji have classically been the darlings of the tournament with 11 wins, 5 of which came in the ‘90s when a man by the name of Waisale Serevi dominated the competition.
Other stars to have graced the event include Jonah Lomu, Christian Cullen, George Gregan, Brent Russell and Mathew Tait.
England have the best record at the event in recent times, with all four of their tournament wins occurring since 2002.
Unfortunately for England, their form this season has been poor – they are seventh in this year’s standings with no tournament wins. Form dictates that New Zealand should walk it, as they have done for the first four tournaments of the eight-tournament series.
However Hong Kong’s atmosphere can do strange things to galvanise a team. With all the party-goers roaring in their fancy dress in the south stand a team can lose concentration and find themselves down a try or two in a minute.
Coverage of the sevens on prime time media is criminally lacking but however you manage to catch the matches, you will be treated to one of the greatest spectacles in world rugby.
Here on The Rugby Blog, we’ll bring you some clips of the action over the weekend, and for now, here is a preview video with some behind the scenes footage of the England side preparing for their first game.
England stars do have some skills after all…
Have a look at this video that proves that Jamie Noon does actually have some silky skills as well as his monstrous tackling!
Here he is, along with Richard Wigglesworth and Mathew Tait having a kickabout and trying out the crossbar challenge.
And 4 hours later, they actually hit it.
For more clips, go to www.youtube.com/gillettetrickstars
Easter Weekend Guinness Premiership Review
With the EDF Anglo-Welsh Cup taking the attention of three English sides, there was a reduced fixture list in the Premiership this weekend. This allowed Bath and Harlequins the chance to steal a march on their top of the table rivals and they took the opportunity gladly.
On Friday night teams at the lower end of the table were in action as Leeds took on Newcastle at Headingley. Leeds kept a flicker of the hope of survival alive by beating Newcastle 16-15, with Lee Blackett scoring the fastest try in Premiership history after 8.2 seconds. Leeds are now 10 points behind Worcester so will still need to win at least two or three more matches from their last five to have any chance of staying up but while it’s still mathematically possible they will carry on fighting. Newcastle’s season is going from bad to worse - after the dismissal of John Fletcher they have lost two from two matches.
On Saturday while Leicester and the Ospreys were sealing their final berths in the EDF cup, Bath took on London Irish at the Recreation Ground. Bath ran out winners by 19 -16 and claimed the top spot in the Premiership in the process. After a mid-season run of form, Irish are now struggling to make a play-off spot.
On Sunday, Harlequins put in another strong performance to see off Bristol with a bonus point away victory 28 – 15. Quins are now right in the play-off mix in fourth place, only 5 points away form the leaders Bath. Bristol have cemented their reputation as a strong premiership club and are gaining experience every time they play but they need to bolster their squad again if they are to challenge for Heineken Cup rugby next season.
Looking forward to the coming weekend there are a couple of excellent fixtures that catch the eye. On Friday night, Sale play Bath at home and on Saturday there is the Leicester v Wasps rematch which the Londoners will be desperate to win after falling short to the Tigers in the cup last weekend. There are now seven realistic contenders for the four play-off places and every match is a must-win for the challengers.
By Jon Hobbs
Stand by for further RFU inaction
Rob Andrew will present his Six Nations review to the RFU blazers today, presumably with recommendations on how to proceed and take England Rugby forward.
There has been speculation that Brian Ashton could be removed, with Martin Johnson taking control and appointing his own coaching team that he’d be happy to work with.
However, I have a suspicion that Andrew will conclude that second place in the Six Nations is the best result since 2003, several players won their first cap demonstrating progress from 2007, and that he sees no reason to remove Ashton before the end of the year.
The worst case scenario would be somewhere in the middle, whereby immediate action is called for but they only sack the chef or the kit man and thus not really changing anything.
What are your thoughts? What would be the best result from the latest RFU review?
Fantasy Rugby - Countries XV
Diplomacy has been put aside by Alex Cook for this XV. Packs don’t come much mightier than this, although finding a suitable language for line-out calls may prove difficult. Perhaps not the most politically correct XV but where’s the harm in a bit of stereotyping?
Countries XV
1. Russia - big, mean & cold
2. Holland - low centre of gravity & a hotbed of talented hookers
3. USA - super-sized, imposing powerhouse with a short fuse
4. Tibet - a dominant force in the lineout, composure and temperament to balance out 2nd row partner
5. North Korea - big guns & won’t take any shit
6. Kenya - wild & will run all day
7. Australia - a thieving nation by origin & will do anything to win
8. Brazil - large but skillful, good footwork
9. Germany - organised & efficient service, but don’t expect a smile
10. Cuba - the general, Latino flair and a master at deceiving and avoiding much larger opposition
11. France - adds a certain I don’t know what
12. China - ambitious, growing in strength with potential to conquer all before him
13. England - organised in defense, and good foil out wide for a powerful pack
14. Greece - a slippery customer
15. Afghanistan - resilient under attack & stealthy penetration behind the opposition line
Interesting that Wales and New Zealand both don’t make the cut…as ever, suggestions are welcome.
Enough compromise, Johnson must be offered complete control of the England squad
The news that Rob Andrew has approached Martin Johnson to offer him a role as manager of the England rugby team should be greeted with a healthy degree of circumspection. Andrew’s record of taking decisive and forthright action in his current role is not exactly impressive and I for one will be reserving judgement until the exact terms of the offer are made public.
Until now, Andrew appears to have utterly failed to grasp the key point of management in top level sport. This is that one man must be put in sole charge, must pick his own lieutenants, have full licence to select his own team and must have the first and last word in all matters relating to the squad. Clive Woodward has often stated that he would have rejected the England job had these terms not been granted to him. Eddie O’Sullivan, Warren Gatland, Graham Henry and almost all other successful international coaches have been all-powerful in their domains.
Whether through pressure from the RFU, or through his own reluctance to put his head on the block, Andrew has thus far produced only fudge and compromise. It was very clear during Andy Robinson’s tenure that the problem lay as much in the structure of the coaching set-up as his own individual limitations. When Woodward jumped ship, the RFU did not seek a replacement but grafted the role of manager on to one of the coaches. This represented a failure to realise the truths that lay at the heart of England’s 2003 World Cup success – that one man was in complete charge and built a coherent team with a clear chain of accountability, with all members buying into and sharing his vision. The move was akin to removing the Chief Executive of a large business and not replacing him.
Andrew has had multiple opportunities to right this wrong and has taken none of them. When Robinson’s position became untenable, he was replaced by another individual who was pulled from the ranks and given a ‘compromise’ role. Another coach who’s strengths lay on the training field was asked to deal with the management side as well. The fact that it was presented as a short-term solution to get through to the World Cup yielded the hope that Andrew knew what needed to be done but judged, correctly, that now was not the time to do it. His actions after the World Cup have blasted those hopes out of the water in no uncertain terms.
This time, there must be no compromise. If Martin Johnson, or anyone else for that matter, is to be offered the job, it must be on their terms and they must be given licence to do whatever they see fit. The positive is that Johnson, unlike Ashton and Robinson, will not accept the job unless his demands are granted. The negative is that the noises coming from Andrew, and indeed Ashton, are not all that encouraging.
Ashton has requested the installation of a manager, but with the caveat that they have no say in rugby affairs. This shows that he does not appreciate the root of the predicament in which he, and England rugby finds himself. It also betrays the fact that he merely wants someone else to face up to the questions of a frustrated media.
The concern is that Andrew will accede to his demands. First of all, the introduction of a nominal manager would further cloud the accountability at the top of England rugby, already muddied by the lack of an overall team supremo and the presence of Andrew in his apparent non-entity of a job. Secondly, no decent, ambitious, top-level manager - Johnson, White, Gatland etc - would even consider agreeing to such a role as they are fully aware that it is unworkable.
There is no room for sentiment or compromise this time. Andrew and the RFU cannot hide behind bare and overly-flattering statistics for they are deceptive. In years to come a casual observer may look back at the 2007-08 season, see that England finished second in the World Cup and the Six Nations and assume that it had been a fairly successful period. Those of us who sat through the debacles against South Africa, Wales and Scotland and the stuttering win over Italy will remember otherwise. In 20 years of watching England, the only other time I have watched 4 such grisly performances in quick succession was on the Tour to Hell in 1998. Yet that was the 3rd/4th team being thrown to the lions on an ill-advised and ultimately meaningless tour. On this occasion it has been the 1st team, with all possible resources at their disposal, playing at the sharp end of international rugby and producing a quite staggering level of inconsistency. That inconsistency is symptomatic of a squad receiving mixed messages and who are unclear on what is being demanded of them on any given day.
Reports suggest that we need not worry that the status quo will prevail as certain members of the RFU have informed Andrew that the retention of the coaching team in its present form is not an option. This puts even larger question marks over Andrew’s role. He has been asked to make a recommendation to the Board but has been told that certain options are unacceptable. That the RFU feel the need to tell him this does not reflect a huge amount of confidence that their man will come up with the right answer. If they think they know the solution, and are not convinced Andrew will find it, why not cut out the middle man?
For all his lack of experience in managing rugby teams at any sort of level, Martin Johnson knows what it takes to succeed in elite sport. He was a central figure in one of the most successful and innovative elite sporting organisations of modern times and will bring that experience with him. It remains for us to hope that Andrew and his men are brave enough to dispense with sentimentality and compromise and realise what it takes to achieve success. If they really believe Johnson is their man, then they must give him undiluted power; not just a job on the estate, but the keys to the mansion. Evolution has failed, revolution and a full clear-out is required. It is not just one of many options, it is the only way forward
by Stuart Peel
Six Nations Betting League - Winners Announced
‘brandon145’ has claimed the top prize in the Six Nations Betting League, brushing aside the other competitors to lead for most of the competition and ultimately win comfortably - he wins £250.
‘wobbard’ takes second place (£200) after rising steadily over the past few weeks, pushing ‘kelvinlittle’ into third (£150) by just £2.
‘Hutchisonrob’ wins 4 weekend passes to the Bournemouth Sevens for coming in fourth, ‘KemloLongstaff’ wins the framed rugby print from DevotedToSport, whilst our resident writer Stu Peel wins a Front Up T-shirt.
‘richardbourne20’, ‘Lofty2008’, ‘tvandort’, ‘leeroycal’ all win a T-shirt from the MOTD Rugby campaign.
The winner of the prize draw is ‘Irishreg’ who will receive 2 tickets to the England v Barbarians match.
We will contact winners individually with regards to delivering their prize.
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