The inaugural London 10s Festival will take place on Sat 28th & Sun 29th August on Wimbledon Common and will comprise of a rugby 10s tournament, the TNT Touch World Cup, social and vets and plenty more besides.  It’s been organised by In2Touch who run the top touch rugby competitions in London and around the world and they are hoping that the event will build year on year to become a regular fixture in every rugby fan’s summer diary.

There will be food stalls, beer tents, music, rugby celebrities and DJs plus the option to pitch camp on the site, meaning no last dashes for the tube or disgruntled drivers dragging their friends away from the fun – all in all, a top two days.

Clubs and players alike are encouraged to contact the In2Touch office to add their interest to the festival.  The Rugby Blog’s very own podcaster Nick Heath will be down there running the PA system and he’d love to see as many of you down there as possible.  You can contact the office on info@london10s.com or 020 8542 0827.

Teams confirmed so far are England, Scotland, Wales, London Wasps, London Irish, Saracens, Harlequins, Newcastle Falcons, Leicester Tigers, Leeds Carnegie, the Army and Samurai, with invitational sides expected to be announced soon.

You can buy your tickets here…

Thomas Supports Abuse Fine

Ex-Union Welsh star Gareth Thomas gave his reaction to the news that Castleford Tigers were hit with a £40,000 fine for their fans hurling gay abuse from the stands towards him.  Thomas has commented that ’it has sent an amazing message to sport in general’.  Refreshingly, the nature of the fine is such that it will make a dent in Castleford’s pocket and ensure that the club and no doubt the fans, will do their best to curb this behaviour.  So often we hear of fines in football that are drops in the ocean compared to the money players are paid or that the clubs turn over.  This amount has been equated to a league player’s annual salary – a clear signal of intent that other sports could do well to follow.  Do you think it was a suitable punishment?  How much homophobia do you still think exists within our game?

Ban Scrums in School

Following a study of 190 rugby games, an expert has recommended that scrums should be banned in school rugby.  Professor Allyson Pollock registered 37 injuries with 20 going to A&E in the games played in five different schools.  The study, due to be published in the Journal of Public Health says that the sport is ‘not safe enough for schoolchildren and not enough is being done to protect the safety of children’.  Do you think enough is done to promote the safety aspects of the sport?  Is this typical modern ‘mollycoddling’?

Everitt Retires

And finally, Barry Everitt has announced his retirement from the game.  The leading points scorer in 2001/2 has spent the last three seasons with Northampton Saints and was previously with London Irish where he made 169 appearances, scoring 1762 points.  He is moving on to become Director of Sport at Cranmore Prep school for boys.  What did you think of him?  Did Ireland overlook his talents?

Following the announcement by Northampton Saints that Ford is due to be playing his rugby at Franklin’s Gardens from next season, Back seemed concerned that he might not be able to make the most of his increasing talent.  After coming through the ranks of the Leeds Carnegie academy, Ford burst into senior rugby with a man-of-the-match performance against Leicester in the LV= Cup last November.  He has continued to show further increased assurance most recently in Leeds’ win against Saracens.

Back confessed, “It is disappointing.  For Joe in particular, he’s broken into the first team squad, he’s challenging for the number ten shirt and he was getting the game time I believe he needs to develop his game.  One would question, is he going to get that at Northampton behind Myler and Geraghty?  Only time will tell.”

Leeds sit eleventh in the Guinness Premiership with two remaining away games and a home fixture against relegation rivals Worcester left to play.  Despite being confident that the club have what it takes to stay up, Back is realistic about the pull of the more successful teams.

“You can see the draw, good players want to play consistently in the Premiership.  Northampton are on the up, they’ve got a good coaching and management team, good squads and strength in depth. Undoubtedly he’ll learn but my concern is will he get the game time he needs at this point in his career?”

Leeds face London Irish at the Madesjki stadium this weekend and you can hear the full Neil Back interview and match previews exclusively on the Rugby Blog Podcast, published online and via iTunes this Thursday 15th April.

Here are my predictions for Round 13 of the Magners League:

Scarlets v Ulster: Scarlets by 5
Connacht Rugby v Glasgow Warriors: Glasgow Warriors by 7
Gwent Dragons v Munster: Munster by 5
Edinburgh v Ospreys: Ospreys by 5
Cardiff Blues v Leinster: Cardiff Blues by 6

Flannery conceded that his action should have warranted a red card and this was taken into account by the committee. He will be free to play again on Monday 29th March and has the right to appeal.

What are your thoughts? How will this affect Ireland’s hopes of Six Nations success? Are players’ cynical actions and the disciplinary procedures having too great an effect on this year’s tournament?

Powell has been charged with drink driving and Warren Gatland, a stickler for the rules, has suspended him for behaviour contrary to the squad’s code of conduct.

Apparently, Powell – allegedly not the brightest of players – stole a golf buggy from the team hotel and drove it down the M4 after celebrating the win over Scotland.

In a statement on the WRU website, team manager Alan Phillips said, “We take matters of player conduct extremely seriously and have been happy with the professionalism and discipline of this squad in general terms,”

“Andy knows he has misbehaved and is apologetic, but he also knows that he must take responsibility for his own actions and accept the repercussions.

“This kind of behaviour cannot be tolerated in a professional, elite sporting environment and we have acted quickly and incisively in order to leave no ambiguity over the dim view we take of this situation.

“The player has made his private apologies to the Welsh management team as well as apologising in a public statement and we have also asked him to apologise to the Vale Resort Hotel, before asking him to leave the squad.

“We will now leave the South Wales Police service to conclude the matter and we will be making no further public statements at this time.”

The team doctor explained, “Kearney injured his right knee during the first half of the game with France and was forced to leave the field. He had a scan on his knee on Sunday afternoon and it has confirmed a strain to his medial ligament.”

“Kearney will undergo rehabilitation, but is considered doubtful for the game against England in Twickenham.”

Brian O’Driscoll also took a blow to his knee, but the camp are “optimistic that he will be available for the England game.”