Tuesday, 7 February 2017
Saturday, 21 January 2017
Matt Scott on Scotland 6 Nations recall: I've Billy Twelvetrees to thank
Matt Scott was on Wednesday named in Scotland's 6 Nations squad, having been overlooked by Vern Cotter for the Autumn Internationals. Just a week-and-a-half ahead of the recall, Scott told me he'd have Gloucester team-mate Billy Twelvetrees to thank if he got the call... Here's that piece, first published in The Rugby Paper:
Matt Scott couldn’t be doing much more to stake his claim for a Scotland recall ahead of the Six Nations – and he says he has an Englishman to thank.
Dropped from Vern Cotter’s squad for the Autumn Tests, Scott has been working with fellow Gloucester centre Billy Twelvetrees on refining his game.
And it has reaped some immediate dividends.
TEAM EFFORT: Matt Scott and Billy Twelvetrees bring down Leicester's Manu Tuilagi
Scott is tied for second with Bath winger Semesa Rokoduguni in the list of top Premiership finishers this season, with eight tries to his name. Only Wasps’ Christian Wade has dotted down more times in the league.
But it is in defence where Scott has been focusing most of his efforts since making the summer move from Edinburgh to Kingsholm, with Twelvetrees – himself overlooked by his country – proving an inspiration.
MATT SCOTT FACTFILE:
AGE: 26
POSITION: Centre
INTERNATIONAL CAPS: 36
INTERNATIONAL DEBUT: 10 March, 2012 versus Ireland
CLUBS: Edinburgh, Gloucester
"The feedback I got after I was dropped was about the defence – they felt there were a couple of other centres who were maybe more defensively sound than me,” said 26-year-old Scott, who scored twice in Gloucester’s seven-try thumping of Worcester last weekend. “They told me to keep working on it and that’s what I’ve been doing.
HEAD TO HEAD: Scott and Twelvetrees in action against one another in the 2013 Six Nations
“I have been working with Billy and I love the way he has this energy and passion for defending. I’ve not come across anything like it before.
“He is a class player – an England international and a British Lion – and it’s lovely to be able to learn off him and these other guys.”
Scott has 36 caps, with his last appearance for Scotland coming in June against Japan.
“I’m absolutely desperate to get back in the mix for the Six Nations,” he said.
“I was absolutely gutted to miss out in the autumn. But centre is such a competitive position now in the Scotland squad, whereas in the past it maybe wasn’t.
“I need to improve all aspects of my game to get in the squad and if I can get up there where the coaches can watch me then I can hopefully show them why I’m worthy of a place again.”
“Scoring tries gets your name in the headlines but it’s about the whole performance and there are other aspects of my performance that need working on. Sometimes scoring tries glosses over that.”
SCOTT EARNS RECALL - SOCIAL MEDIA:
SCOTT EARNS RECALL - SOCIAL MEDIA:
BREAKING | Here's YOUR @Scotlandteam squad for the forthcoming RBS @SixNationsRugby Championship! #OurDay pic.twitter.com/o0sOpjZXEL— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) January 18, 2017
Player News | @MattScott_10’s fine form in Cherry and White earns his a recall to the @Scotlandteam squad for #RBS6Nations pic.twitter.com/Ofu3nOxmGr— Gloucester Rugby (@gloucesterrugby) January 18, 2017
Tuesday, 13 September 2016
Monday, 5 September 2016
Jonny May: I've half an eye on Autumn International return for England
England flyer Jonny May is eyeing an international recall for the Autumn Internationals as he targets a speedy return from a serious knee injury.
After rupturing knee ligaments in December, Gloucester wing May was forced to play the role of frustrated bystander as England completed a Six Nations Grand Slam and whitewashed the Wallabies in Australia.
But now May has his sights set on a potential return against South Africa at Twickenham on November 12.
“Why not go for it?” he tells me. “But if the knee’s not right, I’ll be patient and sensible about it.
“I’ve got plenty of time. I’m only 26. I want to get a healthy knee and I’m confident my best days are ahead of me.”
May, who has 19 caps, was injured just a month after Eddie Jones arrived as new England boss, but a steady flow of messages from Jones has buoyed May’s confidence, as did his inclusion in Jones’s 45-man provisional squad for the Autumn Internationals.
“I got injured as soon as Eddie came in but he texted me as soon as he found out I’d got injured and has texted me every now and again to check up on me,” said May, whose club, Gloucester, are yet to record a win this season having lost against Leicester and drawn at Worcester.
“I wasn’t expecting that but I was really pleased he did because it gave me a bit of motivation and showed I was still in his thoughts."
“I’m aware I’ve a long way to go and I’ve a lot to get right but I hope that I’ve still got some of my best days ahead of me. I definitely want to play for England again.”
May, who faces a battle with Exeter Chiefs’ Jack Nowell, Harlequins’ Marland Yarde and Bath’s Semesa Rokoduguni for the England wing berths, is scheduled to return to full fitness in the first week of October.
* This is a shortened version of an article that first appeared in The Rugby Paper. For detailed coverage of rugby in the UK at every level, see The Rugby Paper every Sunday.
Sunday, 14 August 2016
Phil Dowson: Too early to assess impact of Dean Ryan departure on Worcester Warriors
The true impact of Dean Ryan’s departure from Worcester won’t be known until the club’s season is under way in earnest, admits Warriors flanker Phil Dowson.
But Dowson says a core of senior players at Worcester are helping to fill the gap created by the director of rugby’s sudden departure at the end of June.
GUIDING HAND: Phil Dowson acknowledges he has an important leadership role to fulfil at Sixways this coming season
Thirty-four-year-old Dowson says he, Chris Pennell, Donncha O’Callaghan and club captain GJ van Velze – who will skipper the side again for the 2016-17 campaign – held talks after Ryan’s exit to help ensure the transition to a post-Ryan regime was as smooth as possible for the wider squad.
“It’s sad to see Dean go and a lot of the players feel the same way in terms of his expertise and what he brought to the club but at the same time with the group of coaches we’ve got and the group of senior players it hasn’t actually been massively disruptive,” Dowson said.
“A lot of it has to be driven by the senior players – the decisions on the pitch and the culture.
“Dean leaving is a big loss and we won’t necessarily know how much of a loss until the games start.
“We get on well enough within the senior group to have been able to talk about the implications of Dean leaving and how best to cope with it.
“The rest of the boys have taken it all in their stride and it’s not really upset the apple cart.
“If something like this is going to happen then the best time for it to happen is probably during the off-season when the guys have time to get over the idea and have a whole run up to get used to somebody else.”
Head coach Carl Hogg and high performance director Nick Johnston now form the Warriors’ senior management team, with Sam Vesty and Mefin Davies working with the first-team backs and forwards respectively.
“Whoever is sitting in that head office, my job as a flanker doesn’t change and the same goes for the scrum-half, the fly-half, for everyone,” said Dowson.
“The structure of the week might change a bit but fundamentally our jobs remain the same. The guys have dealt with it pretty well.”
But Dowson says a core of senior players at Worcester are helping to fill the gap created by the director of rugby’s sudden departure at the end of June.
GUIDING HAND: Phil Dowson acknowledges he has an important leadership role to fulfil at Sixways this coming season
Thirty-four-year-old Dowson says he, Chris Pennell, Donncha O’Callaghan and club captain GJ van Velze – who will skipper the side again for the 2016-17 campaign – held talks after Ryan’s exit to help ensure the transition to a post-Ryan regime was as smooth as possible for the wider squad.
“It’s sad to see Dean go and a lot of the players feel the same way in terms of his expertise and what he brought to the club but at the same time with the group of coaches we’ve got and the group of senior players it hasn’t actually been massively disruptive,” Dowson said.
“A lot of it has to be driven by the senior players – the decisions on the pitch and the culture.
“Dean leaving is a big loss and we won’t necessarily know how much of a loss until the games start.
“We get on well enough within the senior group to have been able to talk about the implications of Dean leaving and how best to cope with it.
“The rest of the boys have taken it all in their stride and it’s not really upset the apple cart.
“If something like this is going to happen then the best time for it to happen is probably during the off-season when the guys have time to get over the idea and have a whole run up to get used to somebody else.”
Head coach Carl Hogg and high performance director Nick Johnston now form the Warriors’ senior management team, with Sam Vesty and Mefin Davies working with the first-team backs and forwards respectively.
“Whoever is sitting in that head office, my job as a flanker doesn’t change and the same goes for the scrum-half, the fly-half, for everyone,” said Dowson.
“The structure of the week might change a bit but fundamentally our jobs remain the same. The guys have dealt with it pretty well.”
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.
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)