Tuesday, 19 July 2016

Rugby Sevens and the Rio Olympics

It used to be the game that you'd play after the real toil was done.

After six months of slogging it out in the 15-man code, you'd have your end-of-season club dinner and then field a groggy-headed motley crew for a weekend of Sevens.

But as Matt Cleary writes in this excellent piece in The Guardian, Sevens is now an altogether more serious business. And with the Rio Olympics just around the corner, the game is set to go up a further notch or too - both in terms of its general popularity and the regard in which it's held within rugby circles.

Even if this chap doesn't make an appearance:



As Cleary's article makes clear, Sevens isn't a game that a rock star of the 15-man code can now simply drop into, no matter how stratospheric his play-making skills may be. It is a craft in and of itself, demanding a particular skillset.

To see those skills on show in Rio will not only take rugby to new audiences but also further inflate Sevens' credibility as a serious sport. And that will be to the benefit of all fans of the oval ball.
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Friday, 1 April 2016

Can Billy Vunipola be stopped? Bath v Saracens

Billy Vunipola leaves a trail of Exeter defenders in his wake in last week's win over Exeter Chiefs. Will Bath be able to contain the Saracens wrecking ball in tonight's Aviva Premiership match at The Rec? Check out Saturday's Times and Sunday's The Rugby Paper for my reports and analysis.

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Monday, 15 February 2016

Saracens' defensive 'wolfpack' defanged by Wasps - Mark McCall reaction

Nevermind France beating Ireland in Paris, the shock result of the weekend was closer to home: Wasps' eight-try walloping of Premiership leaders Saracens at Saracens.

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall gives his reaction to the 64-23 loss.



If we didn't know it already, Sunday's game confirmed that loose forward Nathan Hughes is one heck of a piece of kit



You certainly won't want to watch this if you're a Sarries fan, but if you're a Wasps supporter then make it your desktop:

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Sunday, 3 January 2016

Jonny Arr: No more under-achieving by Worcester Warriors

Jonny Arr says he is ready to shoulder greater responsibility at Worcester and ensure the Warriors shake off their tag of under-achievers.

And scrum-half Arr, who signed a new two-year deal with the club in December and is its longest-serving current player, is dissatisfied with the newly-promoted club’s record of two wins from their opening batch of Premiership matches.

“We’re sitting on the verge here, but for us it’s not enough to be almost there – we’re fed up of that now,” said Arr, whose Warriors side has yo-yoed between the Premiership and the Championship since he made his first-team debut in 2007.

“We know we’re good enough to get results and move forwards, not backwards.

“My goal is to see this club change and change for the better.”

Wins over Northampton and Newcastle might be thought to represent a decent beginning to the Warriors’ return to the top-flight, but Arr is setting the bar higher.

“Whilst we’ve started pretty well, we expect more,” the former England U20s half-back told me. “We want more from the effort we’re putting in and the positions we’re putting ourselves in.

“We are gutted not to have picked up a couple more wins. We’re not content with losing by the narrowest of margins here. We feel like we’re good enough to be getting more results.”

Arr, who has been at the club since he was 10, views his seniority and new contract as bringing new leadership duties.

“I think I have to regard it as having a bit more responsibility. My time here has flown by and all of a sudden I’m 27 not 18 and I’m sitting on quite a few appearances.

“My role has to chance given what I’ve done. I’ll look to give input where I can and add a bit of value to the side.

“Whether I’m playing or not playing, I just want to see this team get better.”

Dean Ryan jettisoned a number of established Worcester players when he took control of the club two years ago, but Arr has remained a pivotal figure in the director of rugby’s plans. And Arr believes there is still much to come from Ryan’s transformation.

“Dean has worked extremely hard to bring his vision,” he said. “We took a bit of a hit when he first arrived with relegation but it gave us a year to really start from scratch.

“It might take a year or two but the plans we have in place are good enough for us to bring that change.”
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Wednesday, 18 November 2015

The Times: Barbarians v Gloucester

Read my thoughts for The Times on the Barbarians' performance against Gloucester at Kingsholm, where Australia boss Michael Cheika was in charge of rugby's most famous invitational side.





































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Sunday, 15 November 2015

Ten reasons why Stuart Lancaster and England flopped at the Rugby World Cup

In the wake of Stuart Lancaster's departure, here's my post-mortem piece into what went wrong for the England head coach and his side at the Rugby World Cup.


And while Sam Burgess certainly gets a mention or two, he was - I argue - just one factor among many.


Xtra Time.
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Sunday, 18 October 2015

Greig Laidlaw and Vern Cotter react to Scotland's Rugby World Cup exit - while referee Craig Joubert gets a panning on Twitter

The disappointment in Greig Laidlaw's voice following Scotland's 35-34 loss to Australia is almost tangible. But what an effort by Scotland.


Meanwhile, Craig Joubert gets a pasting on Twitter after hot-footing it off the field following his controversial late decision against the Scots at Twickenham. Well, it wouldn't be a World Cup without at least one ref getting a total panning, would it? That said, I agree his post-match actions smack of cowardice and disrespect.



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