Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2024 i Rugby World

OH TO be a British & Irish Lion. Growing up, it was the one thing in rugby I really dreamed of doing. And not because it’s the pinnacle of achievement for British and Irish players, no. I wanted to represent the Lions for the gear! That’s right, I wanted the mounds of free stuff. The jerseys, jumpers, shorts and socks. I wanted it all. When I was a kid, I recall watching the 2005 tour from a hospital bed having had my tonsils removed. All I could think about was how much I wanted their warm-up jacket. The clobber was world class. Speaking to Lions legend Jason Robinson (page 48) for this issue, he told me he even got a free camcorder on the 2001 tour to Australia. You know…

“To keep the Lions viable we have to do things differently” THE THREE Lions tours that I was in a position to be selected for, it was Warren (Gatland, Wales coach) in charge. Not that we knew who the rest of the coaching staff were going to be, but the Lions coaches will pick on form. They know some players inside-and-out but to be selected you’ve got to be performing and at the top of your game. The Lions is all about the best of the best and it’s an honour to play. You very rarely see players picked on reputation, they’ve got to be on form in the autumn and the Six Nations leading into the tour, irrespective of the coaches’ familiarity with the players. During the Six Nations,…

IT WAS never going to be a tour with the potential to shake the foundations of the global game à la Ireland in South Africa or England in New Zealand, but Scotland’s trek around the Americas gave Huw Jones time to think. We spoke while he was on the train from Toronto to Ottawa. Later, he would move on to Washington, Santiago and Montevideo, but on that journey to Canada’s capital, Jones was in reflective form. This was a different man to the character who could hardly get his words out after losing to Ireland in Dublin to complete a disappointing Six Nations in March, and an altogether different soul to the husk of a man who struggled to contain his emotion after a pitiful exit from the World Cup…

THEY WERE supposed to be stumbling around the Highveld at the finish, gasping for air and pleading for mercy from a Bulls team for whom the stars seemed to have perfectly aligned. Instead, Kyle Steyn and his ecstatic Glasgow team-mates cavorted hither and thither on the Pretoria pitch showing precious few effects from having scaled a rugby Everest with one arm tied behind their backs. The Warriors’ URC title triumph, delivered by a deeply impressive 21-16 Grand Final win over Jake White’s team at Loftus Versfeld, was the ultimate in against-all-odds, backs-to-the-wall yet utterly deserved successes. With just about everything – and just about everyone – against them, Glasgow stood taller than any other Scottish side has managed in the professional era, reached out and grabbed the prize. Jack Dempsey,…

FOR THOSE of us who are unsteady on our feet at the best of times (before the beers) on the pitch, playing on a floating field does not sound particularly appealing. But when you factor in the 50 former rugby professionals in attendance and the chance to visit Toulouse and take a dip in the Garbonne during summer, as well as the fact it’s free for fans to enter, it becomes clear why WateRugby (pronounced Water Rugby) has become a resounding success in recent years. Bizarrely it was a trip to Thailand that brought this wonderful new form of the game to life, which is the brainchild of Yann Delaigue, the former Toulouse and France fly-half who won 20 caps for his country between 1994 and 2005. “In rugby there…

IT’S LESS than a year until the British & Irish Lions tour Australia. Will players already be thinking about it? Absolutely. I know I was. Heck, if you’re calculated like me, you’re thinking about it with two years to go. Ultimately, for players from Britain and Ireland, the Lions is the absolute Holy Grail, the pinnacle. There are players we have seen who can get 100 caps for their country and never make a Lions tour. It’s that one thing you want on your rugby CV when you finally hang up the boots and it’s the one thing that everyone strives to achieve. It’s the top of the game, so you would be lying if you said it wasn’t on the brain. From two years out, I remember it creeping…

RUGBY WAS in the early throes of professionalism in 1996 and our October issue that year reported on the inaugural Tri-Nations Series, writes Alan Pearey. The All Blacks won their four games to win the title. In a fractured match of 37 penalties, Andrew Mehrtens’s five goals edged out South Africa 15-11 in Christchurch before Frank Bunce’s late try beat Australia 32-25 in Sydney. Sean Fitzpatrick won his 80th cap to become the most-capped Test forward, eclipsing Willie John McBride, and soon after he celebrated an historic 2-1 series win over the Boks. It was to be 16 years before Argentina turned the Tri-Nations into the Rugby Championship. Our cover stars were Jon Callard and Andy Farrell, fresh from the Bath-Wigan Clash of Codes. Farrell appeared in his boxer shorts…

WHAT’S THE funniest thing you’ve seen or heard on the pitch? The funniest thing was Martin Johnson, when he was England coach, telling me and Dave Flatman to try and not be as s*** as last time before running onto the pitch to play the (New Zealand) Maoris. That’s up there with the worst thing I’ve heard as well as being the funniest. Do you have any phobias? Spiders. What really annoys you? I’m easy-going but rude people. I like people to smile. If your house was on fire, what one item would you save? Either my wife or my dog but my wife can run. The dog has small legs, so I’ll have to carry him. What’s the best thing you’ve ever bought? I’ll say the dog to please the…

FIRST THINGS first, yes, we are an awfully long way away from the 2027 Rugby World Cup. Both in time and matches to be played. However, Jamaica’s Caribbean Cup fixture away against The Bahamas is technically a Rugby World Cup qualifier. Or at least nobody has convinced me otherwise. But then, you don’t come to the Caribbean for its administrative prowess, trust me. More on that later. Regular readers will know about my first time representing Jamaica UK against England Deaf in 2023. But for those of you new here, courtesy of my maternal grandmother being born in and living on the island on and off for nearly 20 years – she represented the national women’s hockey side too – I am proudly Jamiaca-qualified, albeit having been born in the…

WHEN JOHANN Van Graan referenced family values and belief as key reasons behind Bath’s recent revival, my mind turned to the legendary Jack Rowell, Bath’s head coach during our years of supremacy in the English game. These were at the core of our success – the Bath family, as Gareth Chilcott would say. Stuart Barnes and I went to visit Jack in his last days. We reminisced on many of the great stories of the Eighties and Jack was all smiles – “Amazing days,” he was able to say. So they were. As a coach, Rowell played mind games with all of us. He challenged us in a way that he thought would bring out the right response. As a London-based Harlequin from Oxford University, I was greeted with suspicion…

“Clubs are exercising power in a deeply unequal way” EVERY NOW and again, there is a stoush of some kind over international player release. Normally it involves a player employed by a club (usually in France or England) being refused permission to play for their country in an International that falls “outside of the release window”. In nearly every case over the years I’ve backed the clubs. As the international game expands, they must draw the line somewhere and the release window is one way to do it. However, late in June we saw a less savoury example of the phenomenon. The Barbarians are the most famous invitational team in the world, comprised of international players from various countries. They were scheduled to play the Flying Fijians national team at…

LISA THOMSON, hybrid rugby shapeshifter, is light on her feet when dealing with the question of whether she prefers sevens or 15s. “Whichever is next,” she answers with a broad grin. As a key figure in the Scotland back-line and the only Scot in the British Olympic sevens squad, Thomson enjoys the best of both rugby worlds. Balancing their respective demands is not an easy trick to pull off, though. She admits it became a struggle during this year’s Six Nations, when she was spinning so many plates there was a danger of a Greek wedding scenario. Thomson lined up against France in the Six Nations and came off the bench at half-time against England a fortnight later having jetted to Hong Kong in-between to play in the sevens. Then, after…

BULLS 16 21 WARRIORS Saturday 22 June. Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria. Attendance: 50,388 WE THOUGHT Munster’s win at the Stormers last year might not be topped but we were wrong. Glasgow entered the bullring of Loftus Versfeld and stared down their vaunted opponents. Their second league title was their finest hour, eclipsing the class of 2015, and saw the Warriors players bouncing in celebration while 50,000 home supporters poured out of the famous Pretorian cathedral in stunned disbelief. All the stats suggested Glasgow would close out the match if it was tight. That didn’t look likely as Johan Goosen kicked two early goals and Marco van Staden went over for a try. Rory Darge saved Glasgow on another occasion by holding up Wilko Louw on the line. Then Scott Cummings struck…

WILL JORDAN stands on the verge of locking down the All Blacks full-back jersey for many years to come. Jordan is a well-known attacking weapon, having scored 31 tries in as many Tests in the last four years. Such a phenomenal strike-rate places him among the world’s elite finishers. Those tries, the breakouts and head-turning exploits, have almost exclusively come from the wing, though. Jordan has started 26 of his 31 Tests on the right edge, with four appearances off the bench and only one in his favoured full-back position. Jordan’s role is, however, about to change thanks to a regime overhaul – the most significant management shift for the All Blacks in two decades. Scott Robertson’s elevation to lead the All Blacks this year will accompany Jordan assuming the starting…

THE SOUTH African stand-off was a bright spot in a mediocre season for Cardiff, winning two awards. We caught up with the former Bulls, Griquas and Pumas man… There aren’t many South Africans playing in Wales. How did the Cardiff opportunity come about? I was in Nelspruit and considering whether to extend my Pumas contract when my agent called to say Cardiff had contacted him. It was like a headhunt as they had already watched my video clips. Cardiff were in Pretoria at the time, so we met Dai Young and Rhodri Manning (then head coach and head of performance analysis). They asked if I’d be keen to play for Cardiff and I said yes. I saw it as a golden opportunity to play overseas and experience something new with…

1 USA Premier Rugby Sevens is launching PR7s Rise, an initiative designed to cultivate the next generation of American talent. It will debut in Kansas City on 23-25 July – sign up at pr7srise.com. New York Locals, one of eight PR7s franchises, will launch its own academy team this autumn. “PR7s Rise will help young athletes advance from local participants to national competitors,” said Premier Rugby Sevens’ Mike Tolkin. 2 Scotland Scotland smashed the U20 Trophy points record when crushing Samoa 123-15 at Edinburgh’s Hive Stadium. Finlay Doyle and Fergus Watson scored hat-tricks, while hooker Jerry Blyth-Lafferty (above) bagged a brace, as the Scots racked up 19 of the game’s 21 tries. It was the biggest win in an U20 Trophy game and eclipsed the previous best for points scored, set…

PLAYER BEST Pieter-Steph du Toit was a keystone in the forward pack. He has a commendable and exceptional work-rate with good lineout prowess. WORST I would say JJ Engelbrecht due to his very limited and pretty inconsistent play and flow in games. MOMENT B Manie Libbok’s scintillating run in the 2023 match against Connacht. Some exceptional creativity that brightened my smile and made me admire him. W When we lost the Super 14 final 25-17 to the Bulls in 2010. Devastating. SEASON B 2017, when we won ten out of 15 games in the old Super Rugby regular season. We then got eliminated by the Chiefs in the quarter-finals. But we were consistent and successful before then. W 2018. We ‘managed’ to finish 11th with only six wins out of…

PROF BILL RIBBANS “INEVITABLY, INTERNATIONAL sports and rugby union are not run by people interested in welfare. They’re interested in performance, results and replenishing the coffers of their boards. The players cannot just be expendable when they are finished and put on the scrapheap. “There’s an argument about how much rugby elite players should play and 25 games is better from a welfare point of view. You either enter into the agreement and keep it or pay lip service to it. “The latter half of my career has been trying to get coaching staff and chief executives to think a bit more about the stars. We all remember the great Lions tours and I read all the books about how they were away for six months, but the game is…

THE TOP 14 final looked absolutely class. Antoine Dupont and his Toulouse boys ripping it to shreds. Coast-to-coast rugby, length-of-the-pitch tries. A spectacle. Or at least that’s what I gathered following along on X. I didn’t watch it live because, ultimately, I couldn’t afford to. You see, broadcast rights for the Top 14 in England are owned by Premier Sports, an Irish sports channel. They also have the rights for the URC too. To watch Premier Sports will cost me a minimum of £10.99 per month on a fixed 12-month term. That’s the cheapest option and works on the basis of me having an existing television package with Sky. If I don’t, it’s £15.99 per month. Having a Sky package is handy as it has this summer’s Internationals as well…

RUGBY WORLD Cup 2025 is revving up a notch, Alan Pearey writes. RW recently attended a breakfast briefing at which Sarah Massey, the tournament’s managing director, and Paul Lemon, World Rugby’s director of ticketing, laid out their plans. Accessibility is at the heart of the England-based competition, both geographically and economically. The eight host stadiums are spread far and wide, with 95% of the population living within two hours of a venue. The Red Roses will play in Sunderland, Northampton and Brighton during the pool phase and then, assuming they progress, play knockout matches at Bristol’s Ashton Gate before advancing to Twickenham. Bristol will share the quarter-finals with Exeter and stage both semis, with Twickenham used only on the final day when a double header will reveal the champions and…

THE CAMERA stays on Sir Ian McGeechan as he finishes his final pre-match speech, watches the players one by one file out of the room and is left alone with his thoughts. With an unrivalled career as head coach of the Lions drawing to a close, McGeechan has just implored the best of Britain and Ireland to continue the legacy of rugby’s greatest touring team. “Some of you might be there to pick up the jersey in four years’ time, some of us won’t be,” he says, battling his emotions. “Please, please give them something to play for and something to understand.” He picks up his bag, slings it over his shoulder and walks slowly towards the back of the meeting room in the hotel that the 2009 Lions are staying…

GLOUCESTER 36 24 BRISTOL Saturday 22 June. Sandy Park, Exeter. Attendance: 6,934 ZOE ALDCROFT spoke about creating a legacy – and Gloucester-Hartpury are certainly making an imprint on the game after a stunning turnaround secured them the PWR title at Sandy Park. It was their second in succession and a mere three defeats in two seasons underlines their dominance of the domestic scene. Yet they were forced to dig deep after a brilliant first half by Bristol that peaked with Courtney Keight’s opening try after 21 phases. England front-rows Lark Atkin-Davies and Hannah Botterman – who were joined by returning Red Roses prop Sarah Bern after long-term injury – crossed too as the Bears made a mockery of their underdogs tag. Their 17-7 half-time lead didn’t do them justice. But…

A NEW CHALLENGER enters the World Series, and it is China. After a spectacular season on the women’s side of the 2024 Challenger Series, the Chinese outclassed their opposition to finally rise to the main stage of the sevens universe. What seemed improbable four years ago became a reality in 2024. And it seems that China isn’t the only Asian nation looking to make the jump, as Kazakhstan are also sharpening their claws. Steve Noble, who has been working with Asian rugby for the past five years, explains how the recent growth of some of these nations started. “It’s mainly due to the Olympic Sevens rugby dream and the way the funding is structured for the region through their respective NOCs (National Olympic Committees). “Since 2016, the sport has been prioritised and…

WITH A subtle bossa nova echoing in the background, and a scintillating sundown that embraces the vast, lively and loudly streets, São Paulo dives into the night, and with it the Confederação Brasileira de Rugby. Like a metaphor for the last six years, Brazilian rugby fell into a deep slumber, waiting for something to shake its sleep. After the quick rise and fall of their men’s senior side, the pandemic struck with full force and severely damaged their structure. However, sometimes chaos can be the best thing to define a new course of action, settling a more solid structure, making way for fresh ideas to come in. As Victor Ramalho, CBRU’s communications manager and former co-owner of one of the main rugby outlets in South America, explains: “We didn’t crash…