Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2024 i Rugby World

“I RUN a beef farming business in Taranaki, near New Plymouth in New “ Zealand, where we breed Dexter cattle and have a distribution company, Meat At Yours. “I’ve done some chicken farming, and goats, but I’ve always had a love for beef and rearing it. Some investors I was involved with in some commercial property in Wellington introduced me to my now business partner, who I gave a taste of Dexter beef to. He liked it, so we set up an abattoir here and it has grown in the last couple of years. “I played more than 100 games for Taranaki. We won the Ranfurly Shield in 1996, when the whole town came out to see us arrive back at the airport, and we went up against the British &…

“I love a hobby. I get passionate about one hobby for a few months, get obsessed with it and then drop it. At the moment I’m enjoying video games and movies. Getting home after a long day of training and decompressing in front of the television, not thinking about rugby, helps me perform better.” “I’ve discovered a thing for sunglasses. The big ones. I’ve got a few Oakleys and Pit Vipers. The more ‘in your face’, the better.” “A transition to strongman is on the cards when I hang up the rugby boots. Not like a full announcement that I’m becoming the next Eddie Hall but I do love to weight-train and it would be a great focus for me. Or I could be a Gladiator on BBC One.” “I…

ALLAN ‘CHUNK’ JACOBSEN’S story might have been over long before it really got started. The life and times of one of Scotland’s most beloved rugby players might have had an abrupt ending had it not been for Todd Blackadder fishing him out of the drink on Manly Beach that day. Chunk – named after a character in the comedy film The Goonies – went on to have a storied career for Edinburgh and Scotland, an old-school prop in the professional age, a player with a heart the size of a house, a scrummager who could shift, a warm character who everybody identified with. Without trying, Chunk was a human magnet. He was funny and loveable and people wanted to be around him. When he got the ball in his hands…

Ground Sandy Park, Sandy Park Way, Exeter EX2 7NN Phone 01392 890890 Website exeterchiefs.co.uk DISCUSSION POINTS Exeter Chiefs know how to attract international talent and this summer’s signings have proved no different. Susie Appleby must wonder if it’s the appeal of Sandy Park or sandy toes that gets her so many signatures down in Devon, but the team is once again leading the way with talent acquisition from overseas. One of our bolder predictions for the next 12 months is that Canada will make it to the Rugby World Cup final, due in part to how many Canadians have come to play in the PWR this season. The returning Lori Cramer and Charli Jacoby, who have both recently played for Queensland Reds, are also part of the influx. KEY PLAYER…

Ground Mattioli Woods Welford Road, Aylestone Road, Leicester LE2 7TR Phone 0116 319 8888 Website leicestertigers.com DISCUSSION POINTS Leicester recorded only two wins last season, the lowest number in the league, and struggled to keep up towards the end, losing six straight games to close their debut campaign. Joining the PWR was no mean feat for the Tigers, who will now be looking to build on the experience that last season gave them. Red Roses Meg Jones (centre/fly-half) and Amy Cokayne (hooker) provide key experience and leadership to the team, which this season will again feature a number of players making the step up from the Championship. KEY PLAYER The PWR Player of the Season, Olympian Meg Jones is the most impressive playmaker in the league. An excellent footballer with…

Ground StoneX Stadium, Greenlands Lane, London NW4 1RL Phone 0203 870 3303 Website saracens.com DISCUSSION POINTS As the PWR has become more competitive in recent years, Saracens have had to settle for third and second in the last two seasons, losing to Exeter Chiefs in the 2023 semi-final and Bristol at the same stage last term. Under head coach Alex Austerberry, they’ve retained their key players for this season and boast stars such as England’s Marlie Packer, Jess Breach and Poppy Cleall, and Welsh powerhouses Georgia Evans and Donna Rose. The peerless Sophie de Goede is a long-term injury absentee. They lifted the Allianz Cup last season, but their eyes will be on bringing the league silverware back to their trophy cabinet. KEY PLAYER Marlie Packer, the Red Roses captain,…

CLOSE YOUR eyes and transport yourself back to 1991 when Manu Samoa shook up the world. An unheralded team in its first Rugby World Cup was in cattle class on the flight to the UK, while the All Blacks, who didn’t cover themselves in glory on or off the field, were in business class. Most fans in New Zealand knew how good this Samoa team was on paper, having seen many of the players perform in the NPC. Charismatic captain Peter Fatialofa led from the front. Brian Lima was a tearaway teenage wing. Stories emerged of the team, with the union strapped for cash, taking a wheelbarrow around the Samoan islands of Savai’i and Upolu to raise funds. Keneti Sio told Frank Bunce to take his heart if his heart…

“Pre-scrum, I want my feet in the same position every time and a tight bind with the hooker. I don’t want my feet to move when into that bind phase as I tend to kick my hips out if my feet are moving. Once engaged, depending on what the ref wants, I want a long bind and to put pressure on the loosehead’s elbow as that’s where they tend to get penalised.” “I’ve got a business called Crouch, Bind, Gain and most of the work we do is about the technicalities. Often it starts with building a solid base. I’ll get someone to start in that bear crawl position and use cones or a ball on their back to promote a strong core. Players have a tendency to bring their…

1 STEFFAN EMANUEL Age 18 (1 July 2006) Born Llantrisant Position Centre Club Cardiff Country Wales When did you first play rugby? I went up the field with my dad and my older brother, Ioan, who is at Bath. I joined the local team at U6 and started doing all the tag tournaments and round robins.  What attracted you to the sport? Just playing with the boys – I just loved being part of the culture in a team sport. If you can be part of something, you know you’ve always got someone there backing you. I’d say 80% of my mates are from rugby. If I didn’t have it, I’d be lost. Did you play other sports? I played football until 16, when I went to Millfield. It’s a…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH LET ME start by saying if you think, as The Guardian wrote in 2008, that this jersey is the worst kit ever, that it is garish and jarring and an abomination, you are unequivocally wrong, writes Joe Robinson. It’s a design classic. A faux denim and technicoloured kit inspired by the artwork of Andy Warhol that depicts the face of Blanche de Castile, the wife of Louis VIII. It’s as Parisian as a cigarette and glass of red outside a Montmartre bistro. Haute couture in the form of a humble rugby shirt. There was a plethora of jerseys that could have been selected from this period in the club’s history, but this particular number is the perfect representation of Max Guazzini’s Stade Français. The flamboyant French millionaire…

OLD SCHOOL? Now there is a concept for discussion. It seems most of us regard old-school rugby as something that suddenly stopped some years ago, and was succeeded by new-image rugby. A friend who played before the modern torrent of quasi-scientific rugby boots made by colossal multinational companies, those with the stripes and swooshes, insists that he played in Clark’s Attackers. As a forward I’d play in the Adidas Cap, when I could afford them. They encased your foot all the way above your ankle and were so heavy you could get stuck fast on muddy pitches. About ten years ago I handled what was then a modern-day boot, owned by Tom Voyce of Wasps. It felt like a ballet shoe. It was feather-light. I’m not sure why generations have…

Grounds Kingsholm & Hartpury University Stadium, Gloucester Phone 01452 872250 Website gloucesterrugby.co.uk DISCUSSION POINTS Having won the title two years in a row, Gloucester-Hartpury have their sights on an unprecedented hat-trick. The aim will be to finish unbeaten, a feat they came strikingly close to last season when they lost only one game, by two points, to Saracens. Sean Lynn has been the most impressive coach in the league in recent seasons, giving his talent-packed side licence to play with a freedom and flair that has ignited the league. While he’s fiercely committed to the Cherry-and-Whites, he’s surely the next in line for the Wales Women head coach role. KEY PLAYER Talismanic scrum-half Mo Hunt is equally dynamic in attack and defence. She scored five tries for her team last…

Ground cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton Phone 01604 751543 Web northamptonsaints.co.uk/womens-rugby DISCUSSION POINTS Lightning finished fifth last season, just short of the coveted top four. The goal this year will be to finish in a play-off position in the second year of Nathan Smith’s reign as head coach. Off the pitch, it’s the club’s second full season playing every league game at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, and they are growing a strong fanbase as part of their partnership with Northampton Saints, attracting a crowd of 1,701 to play Leicester Tigers last season. KEY PLAYER A stalwart of English rugby who boasts the Red Roses’ scoring record, Emily Scarratt could be entering her final season. Next year’s home World Cup could be the ideal end to a stellar career.…

Ground Trailfinders Sports Ground, Vallis Way, West Ealing, London W13 0DD Phone 0208 998 7928 Web ealingtrailfinders.com DISCUSSION POINTS Trailfinders were rocked in late August by the departure of director of rugby Giselle Mather, one of the most qualified and respected female coaches on the planet. Her sudden exit, by mutual consent, followed a “difference in philosophy” with Trailfinders MD Ben Ward. It remains to be seen how the West London club will fare under new leadership, with Barney Maddison now head coach. Certainly they were good to watch in their debut PWR season, finishing sixth and playing with a real spark. They boast plenty of Test talent and, on their current trajectory, will compete for play-off places in the next couple of years. KEY PLAYER The league’s top try-scorer…

01 How did former England prop Mako Vunipola make history against Toulouse in September? 02 Who is set to replace Toby Booth as Ospreys head coach at the end of the season? 03 The Black Ferns went ‘viral’ for breaking convention on a recent trip to the UK. What did they do? 04 Dan Carter is the leading scorer in Rugby Championship history with how many points – 454, 554 or 654? 05 Which English club from the RFU Championship plays their home games at The Bay? 06 Charlie Woodman has signed for Gloucester-Hartpury this season. Who is her famous dad? 07 Which stadium will host the 2025 Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals? 08 Can you name the four title sponsors of the English Premiership since 2000? 09 New Scottish Rugby…

STAR LETTER Lions against Pumas The British & Irish Lions Test against Argentina in Dublin next June should – and probably will – be taken seriously by the Pumas. Having just beaten the All Blacks and Australia in the Rugby Championship, Argentina should arguably be auditioning for a future place as a permanent fixture in the Lions tour programme. Whilst players fortunate to be selected for consecutive tours may not complete a 16-year cycle in their rugby careers, fans are wishing for growth and more meaningful games. Adding a competitive international side such as Argentina is only going to make rugby union more attractive and more appealing for audiences worldwide. Therefore, in order to incorporate Argentina into the cycle, Lions tours could be completed every three years on a 12-year…

1 WXV is an annual 15-a-side tournament designed to grow women’s rugby and serve as a World Cup qualifying tool. Each team plays three matches 2 It comprises three tiers of six teams (18). Cape Town (WXV2) and Dubai (WXV3) are hosting for a second successive year, while Canada this year follow New Zealand in staging WXV1 3 It launched last year with England, Scotland and Ireland winning the three divisions. WXV 2024 takes place from 27 September to 13 October and all 27 games will be shown on RugbyPass TV 4 In March, the Netherlands beat Colombia 33-11 in Amsterdam to book their first appearance in WXV. Madagascar and Hong Kong will also be making their WXV debuts this year 5 Those three countries, along with Spain and Samoa,…

WHAT’S THE club called? Clevedon RFC, but you can call them ‘the Seasiders’. I guess that’s because they’re on the coast? Correct. Home is the Coleridge Vale Playing Fields in Clevedon, North Somerset, a 20-minute walk from the beach. When and how did the club start? A solicitor, local businessman, blacksmith and engine driver walked into a bar. No, quite literally. In 1921, they got together and started the club on Salthouse Fields, having their post-match baths in the basement of the Royal Pier hotel. The pitch would always flood, so in 1959 they relocated to Coleridge Vale having bought the pavilion from Hales Cakes. What teams does the club have? Two men’s teams – the 1st XV and Saxons 2nd XV – and an U18s side that plays in the Somerset…

PROF BILL RIBBANS “WE CAN’T turn back the tide of time, and the population generally has grown, but we need to keep players safer and make sure once they have finished they can enjoy exercise and a normal life. “Size has been going up for a long, long time. Between 1955 and 2015, the average British international player increased their bulk by 24 per cent. The England pack in the 2021 Six Nations averaged 119kg, which is 18st 10lb. “In 2020, I wrote that rugby union was always a potentially dangerous sport but it was kept in check, in the amateur era, by the fact players had to go to work on a Monday morning. The minute they were told they could go to the gym every day, World Rugby…

HIS YEAR has been quite something for Jamie George. The enormous high of being named England captain came on the very same January day as the gut-wrenching news that his mum Jane had lung cancer. And just ten days after she tragically passed in the middle of the Six Nations, he became a dad after welcoming a daughter with wife Katie. “It was a lot at once,” George tells RW. “My mum passing away and then having our first baby all while being England captain in the Six Nations. It was very challenging as you can imagine. It was difficult. I’ve taken a lot of time in this off-season to try and process it all.” Saracens boss Mark McCall constantly praises George’s emotional intelligence and after taking a life-changing few…

FEW PLAYERS wear their heart on their sleeve like Dan Biggar, the Welsh stand-off approaching the end of his career at Toulon. Part of a golden generation that won multiple honours under Warren Gatland, he’s had his detractors but has never wavered in his belief. At 16 years old, he negotiated a better contract with Ospreys boss Mike Cuddy and at 18 he landed a drop-goal from his own half on his first start for the region. Biggar doesn’t fit the romantic image of a Welsh No 10 – “Where Barry John would paint you a picture, I’d draw you a diagram,” he says – but he reached the heights time and again for his country. Only three men exceed his Wales caps tally and he twice toured with the…

Ground Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol BS3 2EJ Phone 0117 963 0600 Website bristolbearsrugby.com DISCUSSION POINTS Bears made their first PWR final last season, leading 17-7 at the break but falling short in the end to Gloucester-Hartpury, and all eyes are on them to see if they can go one step further this time. After their striking signings last year, notably Holly Aitchison and Hannah Botterman from Saracens, there are significant back-line arrivals. GB Sevens star Jasmine Joyce-Butchers rejoins following the Paris Olympics and 21-year-old Scotland centre Emma Orr has moved south. “Emma is an exceptional talent who has shone on the Test stage over the last two years. She is someone we’ve admired for a while,” says coach Dave Ward. From the formidable scrum and maul to the delicious passing…

Ground Twickenham Stoop, Langhorn Drive, Twickenham TW2 7SX Phone 0208 410 6000 Website quins.co.uk DISCUSSION POINTS Having won the league in 2021, and reached the semis in 2022, Quins have been on the slide. They are now in a rebuilding phase under new head coach Ross Chisholm. The team have done some great business over the summer, with some exciting signings including Alex Callender, the fiery forward who was the best Welsh player in the 2024 Six Nations. Canada back-row Sara Svoboda, Spain tighthead Laura Delgado and Sweden utility forward Maja Meuller are other arrivals who add to the multinational make-up of the Harlequins squad. KEY PLAYER Ellie Kildunne had a standout Six Nations this year, winning the Player of the Championship award. This summer she represented Team GB in…

Ground CorpAcq Stadium, Heywood Road, Sale, Manchester M33 3WB Phone 0161 786 1570 Website salesharks.com DISCUSSION POINTS Despite propping up the table last season, winning only three matches, Sale provided one of the most dramatic moments of the campaign when defeating Bristol Bears, the eventual finalists, in the final round of the regular season. It showed both their intent and potential, but it was too little too late for the league’s most northern club. Among the club’s key signings is Italy scrum-half Sofia Stefan, who will compete for the nine shirt with USA’s Olivia Ortiz. Robyn Wilkins, the 70-capped Wales fly-half, also bolsters the back-line. Expect a better season for the Sharks – but we still see them finishing bottom of the pile. KEY PLAYER Beatrice Rigoni is Italy’s playmaker…

NOT SINCE Tony Woodcock’s try in the 2011 World Cup final has a lineout trick play had such acclaim as Siya Kolisi’s effort for South Africa in the first round of the Rugby Championship in Brisbane. Rassie Erasmus is never far from the headlines and this time it was for all the right reasons as the Springboks showed a hand that has rarely been seen on a rugby field. It was a bold call and one that occurred only ten minutes into the game. This is an important factor as so early in the game, Australia would have been expecting the usual South African muscle and maul to be coming their way. The Wallabies would have been pumped up by head coach Joe Schmidt to stop this part of the…