Seven rugby predictions for 2015

1. Sam Burgess makes his debut for England against Italy in the Six Nations – at scrum-half. England boss Stuart Lancaster explains: “Bath and England couldn’t decide whether we wanted to play him at 6 or 12 so we met each other half way.”
2. Gloucester win at home.
3. After seeing attendances rise three-fold since moving from High Wycombe to Coventry, Wasps decide to relocate again – to Darlington. “As we head further north we seem to be attracting bigger and bigger crowds,” says chief executive Nick Eastwood. “If things go well in Darlington we’re thinking to heading to Reykjavik."
4. Leicester boss Richard Cockerill announces he has had enough of rugby and is taking monastic vows; he will head to Italy to join an order of Trappist monks high up in the Appenines. He will brew ale and tend to the bees. He invites former Leicester prop, Toulon potty-mouth and hairstyle icon Martin Castrogiovanni to join him. “Castro and I can have it out over that beer that I mentioned,” he says in a final interview with the Leicester Mercury. “But we won’t be able to say anything to one another because of the vows – which is probably a good job.
5. Castrogiovanni is furious. “Cockers cannot leave it alone,” he tells the press in a fruity post-match monologue. “Look at these locks. They are things of beauty. Do you think I’d have them cut off just so I could join him in holy orders? He is what you call in English an **** ******* ***."
6. Dan Carter, Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett all go down with mysterious stomach gripes on the eve of the final of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. A call goes out to Stephen Donald, who is out fishing for rare shrimp in the Japanese Sea, nailing a few bevvies. Donald gets on the next flight to Heathrow and slots the decisive drop goal against England – overhead.
7. Dylan Hartley announces his conversion to Buddhism and a lifetime’s commitment to passive resistance.

Gloucester, Wasps and monkeys off backs

No festive slacking for me - Gloucester v Wasps on Sunday for the Daily Express and The Rugby Paper. You can read my thoughts in the Express here.

In the Boks seat

Over the past week or so, it's been good to get back involved with South Africa-based rugby365.com. With the Springboks over in Europe for the end-of-year internationals, I've chipped in with a few exclusives on IRB World Player of the Year nominee Duane Vermeulen and his fellow loose forward Francois Louw. If you admire the Boks and want to know whether more are on their way to England, then these pieces should hopefully be of interest.

Believe the hype - Semesa Rokoduguni could tank the opposition in the Autumn Internationals

For some, he is the “wildcard” in Stuart Lancaster’s squad for the Autumn Internationals.

For others, he “may just be the most destructive wide runner to emerge in English union in years”.

The subject of this speculation? Of course you know already: Semesa Rokoduguni.

The Bath winger seems to be everywhere at the moment – and not just in the sense of him covering every blade of grass whenever he takes to the pitch and gets those fearsome thighs pumping.

The Fijian-born British Army tank driver is rivaling Jose Mourinho for column inches at the moment (well, almost), and the wider media are close to manoeuvering him into position as this Autumn’s poster boy of English rugby.

Which is all fine, except for the fact that Rojkoduguni hasn’t yet played a single minute of rugby for England.

As I write this, there are three different photos of Rokoduguni on the BBC’s Rugby Union homepage. On top of that, pretty much every sports website and newspaper in the land has carried a profile on the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards lance corporal, and Jeremy Guscott has been calling for him to start against the All Blacks a week on Saturday.

So, there is plenty of anticipation about Roko – and no little expectation.

Will he be able to handle it? As I see it, the pressure of playing for England and the media circus that goes with it won’t be an issue. Rokoduguni has taken every aspect of his rapid elevation from Army 7s player to England squad member in his stride.

The question for me is whether Rokoduguni is able to adapt to England’s defensive structure in time. Given the way the England backline was dismantled by New Zealand in the final Test last summer, will Lancaster be brave enough to pitch an EPS squad novice straight in against the All Blacks?

In such circumstances, it might be something of a gamble to start Rokoduguni a week on Saturday. But it might be a greater gamble not to start him.

Rokoduguni got the nod in Lancaster’s squad ahead of Chris Ashton and Christian Wade because of the brutal - but legal - nature of his defensive work. Ashton’s recent try-scoring record is superb and Wade has just as much x-factor in attack as Rokoduguni, but neither can rival the Bath man’s defensive work.

And with Manu Tuilagi missing due to a groin problem, England’s backline could be lacking a certain physical presence without Rokoduguni.

The stage is set for his debut. And while it would be a baptism of All Black fire, Rokoduguni has the composure – and muscle – to handle it.

"Possibility of injury is a constant shadow" says England hooker Rob Webber

England hooker Rob Webber has expressed his sympathy for injured rival Tom Youngs and declared: “The threat of injury is a shadow we all walk in.”

Youngs will miss the Autumn Internationals at Twickenham due to surgery on a shoulder injury picked up against Bath last month, and Webber knows better than most the frustrations that Youngs is going through.

Webber’s own international career has been blighted by injury, first by a serious shoulder problem and then by an ankle problem.

The Bath hooker is competing with Northampton’s Dylan Hartley for the starting berth during the Autumn Tests, with England head coach Stuart Lancaster opting to have just two hookers in the enlarged 41-strong squad confirmed this evening.

Webber, who has been capped eight times since making his debut in 2012, told me: “I feel for Tom. I’ve had my injuries and I’ve been there myself.

“The possibility of injury is a constant shadow that follows a player around.

“Staying fit is a critical part of professional rugby. Hopefully I’ve not jinxed it by saying that and hopefully I can have a good run."

Chris Pennell has smashed through England's Championship 'glass ceiling', says Sam Smith

Sam Smith says Worcester team-mate Chris Pennell has shattered the ‘glass ceiling’ that blocked Championship players from being selected for England.

And now the winger believes his England ambitions will be helped rather than hindered by playing in the Championship for Worcester.

Smith, 24, left Harlequins for Sixways in order to get more starts, and says Pennell’s debut for England in the summer proves that Championship players can dream big.

Sam Smith takes the fight to Worcester last season.

“Chris has pushed through that ceiling and I think that’s good for the game,” he tells me. “It means there’s going to be a lot more competition in this league.

“There are a lot of young talented English players in the Championship and Chris’s success is only going to be a good thing for the game.”

Smith believes Sixways is the place that will enable him to hone his skills and follow in the footsteps of dad Simon, who won nine caps for England in the 1980s.

“Every English player wants to play for England one day. I played with lots of internationals at Quins and have seen how good they are and I’ve got a way to go to improve, but that’s something I can achieve playing for Worcester.”

* A version of this article originally appeared in The Rugby Paper

Stuart Hooper looks to his legacy at Bath Rugby

Bath skipper Stuart Hooper tells me that lifting silverware this season will mean little if he doesn’t eventually leave an enduring legacy of leadership at the club.

The lock forward, who is captaining Bath for a fourth successive season, turns 33 in November and admits to thinking about the kind of place he wants The Rec to be once he decides to hang up his boots.

“If I’ve left nothing behind it’s pointless,” says Hooper, who signed a one-year contract extension last season. “When I’ve gone, what’s left afterwards will be the true measure as to what I’ve done as captain.

“I want to leave players who are the next leaders.

“Four consecutive years is a huge honour and I’m hugely chuffed, but for me it’s about how good we can get this squad.

“A massive role for me is developing the leaders for now and for the future."