Innehållsförteckning för November 2023 från Rugby World

“Let’s see emerging sides far more often” WHEN FRANCE and New Zealand got the World Cup under way in Paris, it began our sport’s grandest feast. Main courses included England’s monster clash with Argentina and Scotland’s meeting with South Africa, the games almost as significant as the curtain raiser in the capital. But while such fixtures take the limelight, there are a myriad of other nations to enjoy. This year already, the so-called Tier Two nations have made an impact and shown increasing signs of progression. Perhaps the most prominent of those is Fiji. Coached by Simon Raiwalui, the side arrived in Bordeaux fresh from beating England at Twickenham. To say that the Pacific Islanders just went toe-to-toe with Wales would do them a disservice. Waisea Nayacalevu got a mesmeric…

THE MAIN pranksters in Italy’s squad are me and Luca Bigi, writes Seb Negri. There is always a war between us. For a long time now it has been hiding boots and things like that. The other week I found a pile of rubbish and empty boxes outside my room. For our last week in Rome before heading to France, I couldn’t resist leaving the cleaning trolley in Bigi’s room. The most annoying prank ever was at the last World Cup in Japan when Bigi and Tiziano Pasquali bought locks and padlocked mine and Jake Polledri’s bags shut – every single one. We had to find bolt cutters to open them. So for this camp I ordered some fart bombs. I thought it would be a good idea to prank…

“Playing in the World Cup is a dream I had many times. That it’s come true is unfathomable. To think I’m living the same dream as the class of 2007 is something else.” “Give me all the broncos and shuttles that you want, but to run 300m x 10 under 50 seconds, with just 15 seconds of rest in-between, makes any pre-season look like climbing Everest with your teeth.” “When things get hard, I remember a match I played for Direito. Raining to the point that I couldn’t see in front of me, I kicked a drop-goal to qualify us for the Portuguese Premiership semi-final. Nothing is impossible.” “The run that I did against Spain at home in 2021 still sends shivers down my spine. I didn’t even score the…

“I’VE BEEN at the Swedish Rugby Union as head of performance since last October, helping with the player development path from youth level up to seniors and assisting elite coaches. I also coach the women’s sevens team. “There has been steady improvement but we need more players, and we are fighting ice hockey, football and the weather. We play during the summer. “My wife is Swedish and we moved here in 2012 a year after I retired with Worcester. I met her during the 1999 World Cup when Spain were based in Edinburgh. My rugby career wasn’t well known but luckily I coached a Swedish side for five years and that helped my networking. I worked as an instructor at a performance centre for four years in Uppsala, but I…

EVERY SELF-RESPECTING sporting event that is played in pools always has a ‘Pool of Death’. If you are a follower of Romania, or especially a member of their squad at this Rugby World Cup, you will be in no doubt as to the unlucky team forced to exist in so forbidding an environment. Poor Romania. When the 2023 World Cup began, Pool B had lined up South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, Tonga and Romania, and you really did fear that the Eastern Europeans would suffer terrible damage with that kind of fixture list – their opening fixture against Ireland in Bordeaux ended 82-8 to the Irish. Yet perhaps younger readers of Rugby World might have no idea as to the celebrated history of Romanian rugby, and some of us are absolutely…

SPOTLIGHT ON Age 28 (4 Jun 1995) Born George, SA Position Wing Club Edinburgh Height 6ft 4in Weight 16st 10lb Scotland caps 32 (22T) Instagram handle @duhanvandermerwe IF YOU were judging solely by the manner in which he carries both himself and the ball, you’d struggle to identify the slightest trace of self-doubt in Duhan van der Merwe. This, after all, is a man whose default style is to go hard, straight and often. There are not many shades of grey, but the Edinburgh, Scotland and British & Irish Lions wing is brilliantly effective at what he does and has established himself as a massive presence in the national team set-up both on and off the pitch. It is, then, most illuminating to hear how he torments himself with “perfectionist” thoughts…

“The best way to stay connected as a back-line is to get set quickly. You might choose to set 1.5m from the defender next to you. If so, get in place early so you can get your spacing and then you can look up at the attack to see the pictures they’re showing you. Keep that consistent width across your back-line.” “No matter what pictures opponents present, you’re in a position to take charge. We do a lot of opposition analysis to break down what we’re likely to see from set-piece attack. For example, which forwards do the opposition drop out of the lineout and where do they put them? We have our own defensive identity and don’t just let ourselves be passive. Force the attack to do what you…

1 TIAAN DE KLERK Age 22 (12 June 2001) Born Namibia Position Second-row Club Mogliano, Italy Country Namibia When and where did you start playing rugby? I started in the U7 team at Laerskool Walvis Bay in the west of Namibia. Who got you into the game? My brother introduced me to the game. He is four years older than me and I always watched him play as a youngster. What first attracted you to rugby? I loved the team spirit and always meeting new friends. Did you play other sports growing up? Yes, tennis and athletics. I used to compete and was quite successful in high jump (he stands at a very tall 6ft 8in). What positions have you played? Loose forward, centre, fly-half. I’ve had a go at…

“He is a leader that will speak with a look, with an action” URUGUAY HAVE achieved a first as never before have two brothers led their country in the Rugby World Cup. Second-row Santiago Vilaseca was captain for England 2015 while his younger brother Andrés, a centre, led Los Teros against Australia at Japan 2019, when the tournament captain was Juan Gaminara. Andrés, who plays for Vannes in France’s ProD2, handles his leadership role with great commitment in a squad that has many positive leaders. “It is a pleasure seeing him as captain of Los Teros,” says Gaminara, who hails from the same British Schools Old Boys Club in Montevideo. “He leads with example and works hard to ensure everybody is united and working together.” Nicknamed Fatiga (Lazy) because of…

ENGLAND ARE not going to win the Rugby World Cup. That is my contender for State the Bleeding Obvious. It was obvious during the last year of the increasingly awful Eddie Jones tenure and it became even more obvious as his replacement, Steve Borthwick, and his information-obsessed processes, forgot about ‘feel’ in the quest for the ultimate game plan. It’s been killing England for a long time. Not just the team but any players who could once have laid claim to being described as ‘world class’. How I hate that description. Two tries for Bristol in the local derby game against Bath and the scorer might easily be called that. What is world class? It’s indefinable. It’s whatever you want it to be. If you’re a Bristol fan it might…

SPOTLIGHT ON Age 27 (8 Feb 1996) Born Tbilisi, Georgia Club Pau Position No 8 Height 6ft 2in Weight 17st 5lb Test caps 41 (11T) Instagram handle @bekagorgadze SPEND JUST a minute in the company of Beka Gorgadzeand you would never guess the issue that plagued him following the last Rugby World Cup in 2019. The Pau back-rower is an immediately likeable character and quick to crack a joke when we sit down together in Tbilisi ahead of this year’s showpiece. Gorgadze is now a Top 14 captain and bona fide Georgian legend, but it was in Japan four years ago when the then 23-year-old nailed down his spot as the country’s first-choice No 8. And although his performances did not give it away, he admits by the time the…

IF “ALL the world’s a stage” then the 2023 World Cup has rave reviews already. And the players – and fans – have really put on a show. Some of the biggest names in our sport have shone in the opening exchanges, but more than that the people of France have embraced this moment. What’s been your highlight? Maybe one of these is it. Check out these sensational snaps from the tournament so far……

EVENTS IN France may occupy the eyes of many this October, but away from the men’s World Cup the women’s game is set to break new ground. Say hello to WXV, the bright new competition that World Rugby hopes will continue the transformation of the women’s 15-a-side game. Hot on the heels of last year’s World Cup in New Zealand, WXV launches this autumn to provide an annual tournament for the world’s top 18 teams and a potentially vital springboard as the sport continues to professionalise. “WXV is the flagship of the competitions pillar of our Accelerating the Global Development of Women in Rugby strategy,” said Sally Horrox, director of women’s rugby for the game’s governing body, earlier this year. “It’s more than a world-class competition, it’s a statement of intent,…

PEOPLE ARE enthralled by Fiji, who have taken the rugby world by storm this year. That was certainly the case when they played Wales in Bordeaux, where their athleticism and attacking intent brought them within a whisker of a famous victory. The Islanders can no longer be viewed as just sevens specialists. Under their superb head coach Simon Raiwalui, they have developed significantly in the set-piece, defence and fitness. The exposure their players are getting to higher-quality competitions is helping, with the Fijian Drua Super Rugby team this year notching wins over the Crusaders, Hurricanes, Reds and Rebels. Ahead of France 2023, Fiji beat Tonga, Samoa and Japan, ran France close and won at Twickenham. The current players are becoming household names: two good hookers in Tevita Ikanivere and Sam…

Email your letters to rugbyworldletters@futurenet.com or write to our editorial address STAR LETTER My new rugby pal My name is Eli and I am ten years old. I subscribe to Rugby World magazine and love reading all about the players and clubs all over the world. I love rugby and wanted to tell you how amazing our game is. At the start of the summer holidays I went to a rugby camp in Cardiff where I live and I met Gabriel. He was on holiday from Spain. The camp was only three days and I was sad I might not see him again, so I asked my mum and dad if he could join in pre-season training at my club, St Peters. Gabriel came to three sessions while he was…

11th Ahead of the World Cup quarter-finals, MBN Events are gathering the pinnacle of rugby royalty for a once-in-a-lifetime event in London. World Cup-winning captains, including John Smit (below), will gather at The Brewery where individual seats cost £350 +VAT. 12th This Thursday at 8.30pm at Cheltenham Literature Festival, Danny Cipriani (left) is in conversation at The Times and Sunday Times forum to discuss his headline-grabbing autobiography Who Am I? Tickets cost £14 and can be bought via a link on Cipriani’s Instagram page. 21st Try Tag Rugby’s London Autumn tournament will be at King’s House Sports Ground in Merton. A full day of tag rugby will be followed by the final official tournament after party until spring 2024. A popular event for teams formed over summer, capacity is at…

THE OPENING weekend of the World Cup highlighted one of the real issues in officiating: consistency. Whether officials are good, bad or ugly, consistency is the one thing players, coaches and spectators want. And it’s one thing they didn’t get because head-to-head tackle contacts by Tom Curry, Martin Sìgren, Jesse Kriel and Dan Biggar were dealt with in totally different ways, from a red card to yellow to not even taking a look at a replay. Matt Carley, in charge of Wales v Fiji, also incurred criticism for his lenient approach to a series of Welsh offences, whilst coming down hard on Fiji. Consistency requires coherence among officials so that matches are refereed in the same way. Whether it’s the Premiership, European competitions or the World Cup, all stakeholders want…

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ENGLAND FOLLOWERS had seen this play before. With his side struggling badly, Eddie Jones hooks a player after 30 minutes to send a message. It’s bold, it’s brave and it’s ruthless. Think Luther Burrell and Danny Care. While Jones may have swapped sides from England to the Wallabies, it looked like he’d struck again when debutant flanker Tom Hooper trudged off after half an hour against the Springboks. He’d missed several tackles in the build-up to Kurt-Lee Arendse’s try and then failed to get hold of Manie Libbok. When he exited Loftus Versfeld, you could have been forgiven for thinking we wouldn’t see young Tom again. Luckily, it transpired the young buck had a shoulder injury. Nonetheless, it was not the debut he’d dreamt of, but it sure wasn’t going…

SPOTLIGHT ON Age 24 (24 Mar 1999) Born Mendoza Position Wing/Centre Club Mendoza Height 6ft 1in Weight 14st 11lb Test caps Two (1T) Instagram handle @rodrigoisgro THE 2024 Olympics in Paris, nine months after the World Cup in France concludes, has become the lure of the best rugby player today. Antoine Dupont will take time out from his 15s career to pursue an Olympic dream in sevens. Will the French scrum-half start a trend? Well, Rodrigo Isgro has been there and done that and if he crosses paths with Dupont at France 2023, he might tell him of his vast experience with Argentina Sevens and his dream of adding a second tattoo to the Olympic rings he already has on his right arm. Argentina has for many years used sevens…

1 MOVE HOW DO you contend with some of the most powerful sides in the international game? For Namibia and their coaches at the Rugby World Cup, it’s an important question. And according to Sergio de la Harpe, Namibia’s strength & conditioning coach out in France, it’s one they’ve been planning for months to tackle. “From an S&C perspective, gym programmes also have individual prehab programmes for the players,” the former Namibia wing tells Rugby World. “This ensures they do maintenance work prior to the main session for injury prevention. “We have a holistic approach with integrated corrective and strengthening exercises within the gym programmes. Not only does it improve performance on the pitch, it also gives the players confidence in contact situations. For example, doing neck strengthening exercises and…