The exodus of English players to France seems to be growing daily with the announcement that the following players have signed for French teams:

• Iain Balshaw
• Jamie Noon
• Tom May
• Ayoola Erinle

  They join the 3 Wasps players who have already signed for French clubs.  From the strong rumours which have started to circulate in the newspapers, it seems that Jonny Wilkinson may well be joining a French team in the not to distant future.  I am of the view that when players are starting to wind down in their careers e.g. Tom May and Jamie Noon, I don’t blame them for heading towards sunnier climates but when they are really starting out in their careers e.g. James Haskell, I think that it’s not a good idea as the England management have said that they will not be travelling to France to see the English players. 

  So the lions have been selected and all the talk is about the people who didn’t make the squad rather than the ones who did.  I think that there were a few raised eyebrows when it was announced that Simon Shaw was going on the trip and that Paul O’Connell was going to be the captain rather than Brian O’Driscoll.  Whilst I like Paul O’Connell and I think that he’s a good player, he has gone missing when both Munster and Ireland have needed him to lead from the front – case in point: the semi final between Munster and Leinster.  I think that O’Driscoll should have been given the captaincy as he has always stepped up when it has been needed.

  The main talking point about the Lions was the omission of Tom Croft and the selection of Alan Quinlan.  It seems that whilst Tom’s ability to play both lock and flanker, his athletic ability (in the air rather than any where else) and his pace seems to be nothing compared to Alan Quinlan’s character.  It may be of some consolation that Croft is on the standby list in case of any injuries.  However, it does seem that his call –up to the Lions squad will be quicker than expected due to Quinlan being cited for gouging during the Heineken Cup semi against Leinster.

  It is a worrying time for the selectors between the squad being announced and the party leaving for South Africa as there is always time for someone to get a knock or pick up a nasty injury.  This is the case for the Irish scrum half Tomas O’Leary who was playing for Munster in the Magners League and fractured his ankle.  A replacement has yet to be announced.

  Anyway, the Lions make a good excuse to go to my parents and get looked after for the weekend!!
  
  (Right -Tom Croft with RFTG Natalie.)

   

  April 2009

  So a lot has happened since my last blog!!  We have had (bear with me!!):

  ·         People testing positive for drugs,

  ·         Wasps struggling for form,

  ·         Bristol being relegated,

  ·         England being a pain the backside with conceding too many penalties and having too many people being sent to the sin bin

  ·         Ireland winning the 6 Nations, Triple Crown and the Grand Slam (had to wait for 61 years)

  ·         First 6 Nations match on a Friday night

  ·         Players swanning off to France and one coming back

  With regards the positive drugs test, my best wishes are with Matt Stevens as he tries to overcome his addiction to a recreational drug, allegedly (and I stress allegedly) cocaine.  He tested positive to it in a random drugs test following Bath’s Heineken cup match against Glasgow.  He was subsequently banned from playing or training for a period of 2 years.  I do feel some sympathy for Matt as it must be a terrible situation to find yourself in.  However, he was always running the risk of being caught as drug testing happens at games and outside of the matches.  The only thing that worries me is that he has an addiction whilst having a full on training and playing schedule – what happens now he has a 2 year suspension and has quit Bath.

  Wasps seem to be still having the problem of how to replace Lawrence Dallaglio.  The person that they had to replace Lawrence as captain, Raphael Ibanez, has had to retire on medical grounds due to a series of concussive blows to the head.  Wasps have not yet managed to replace Lawrence’s character and personality.  They have now been hit with the news that one of their other senior men, Josh Lewsey is retiring at the end of this season.  I also believe that Simon Shaw will not be too far behind Josh as he has stated that if not selected for the Lions, he will not be going on the England tour of Argentina.  Simon has been a good servant to English rugby and has never shirked his responsibility.  I was a shame that he was around at the same time as a certain M Johnson.

  Wasps have also been hit by the news that three of their players have signed up to play in the French League next year.  Rikki Flutey, Tom Palmer and RFTG favourite James Haskell will be living the French life.  Although since that announcement, that if anyone who is in the current England squad and going to play in France, their chances of playing for England would be limited as none of the management would be flying out to see them play.  This has caused James to have a rethink about his plans for abroad.

  Now it seems that the tide has slightly shifted as a player is now returning from France to play in the Guinness premiership.  Yes, Benny Cohen is coming back to England after spending a couple of years in France.  He is now going to be playing for Sale (should get a nice welcome when he returns to Franklins Gardens!!)  and is trying to reclaim his England shirt.  Will he get it back?? Only time will tell.

  It is now official: Bristol have been relegated from the Guinness Premiership following their loss to London Irish last weekend.  It goes to prove how vital that game against Newcastle was a few weeks ago.  However, they shouldn’t have got themselves into that position in the first place.  I think that next season most pundits are expecting Newcastle to go down as it always seemed to be Newcastle and another team fighting it out against relegation.  Newcastle, so far, have always won but there are only so many times that you can pull it off.  Newcastle’s turn in fortune has largely been down to one player and it isn’t Jonny Wilkinson (Nat – don’t hurt me!!)  It has been down to Tom May who started life off as a winger and found that he has gradually move inwards and found himself in that famous 10 jersey.  It also helps that Tom is absolutely gorgeous!!

  The 6 Nations have been hugely mixed with England finishing second whilst playing poorly(big shock), Wales finishing fourth whilst playing some great rugby.  Italy, well, least they tried although they did bungle it in the first game by picking a flanker …… at scrum-half, I don’t think that Nick Mallett has forgiven himself yet.  Scotland did the usual of beating the team who is poorer than them and promptly did nothing else.  France were infuriating, playing brilliantly one minute and then playing like they were scared of their own shadows (against England)  England were just horrendous.  They barely managed to win against Italy, it would have been a lot closer if Mallett hadn’t messed up the selection.  Then they struggled against Wales and Ireland, promptly had more players sin binned (I think that at the last count it was 10 sin binnings in 4 matches), and narrowly lost in both matches.  I definitely would not have wanted to be Danny Care at the end of the Ireland game.  They then managed to shock everyone (me included) with an amazing display against the French.  I think that it was more of a case to prove everyone that they could play well.  However, I don’t think that Andy Goode is the way to go at fly half especially with that hair cut!!

  January 2009

  So the season of goodwill has been and gone.  Although someone should tell Danny Cipriani this as he is gifting points away with charge downs.  One charge down is accidental; more than one and it is a problem.  He had 2 charge downs against Harlequins in their match on 4 January.  Also, in 7 test matches for England, he has had 3 charge downs against Italy, Pacific Islanders and Australia.  All of these have directly led to tries so therefore he has conceded 15 points on his own.  Not exactly the kind of stuff that you want from the “saviour” of English rugby.  No matter what problems people had with Jonny Wilkinson – “too slow”, he was never charged down once in an England shirt.  I also suppose that Jonny Wilkinson wasn’t and isn’t dating Kelly Brook and has no distractions off the pitch like being seen out and about in clubs and what have you.

   

  It seems that at the moment England cannot buy a fly-half who can run the game (or show if you prefer).  None of the up and coming fly halves have any experience of running a game at the international level.  Since England won the Rugby World Cup in 2003 until now, we have had in the fly half position:

   

  1. Charlie Hodgson

  2. Olly Barkley

  3. Henry Paul

  4. Toby Flood

  5. Shaun Geraghty

  6. Danny Cipriani

  7. Jonny Wilkinson

   

  So in 5 years, we have had 7 different fly halves.  Each have been paired with different scrum halves during their stints and people wonder why England are not moving forward.  Speaking of forwards, it’s both amazing and shocking how the forwards were absolutely dominated by their Australian counterparts in the Autumn Internationals as compared with the previous encounters, most notably the quarter final in the world cup in 2007.

  It seems that the players aren’t transferring what they are practising in training onto the pitch.  There could be any number of reasons for this:

  • The training moves are too complicated for the amount of time spent training

  • The players are, for some reason, not retaining the information

  • The coaching staff are not getting the information across in an easy format to understand.

  It also seems that the coaching staff are not exactly up to standard.  Since the coaching team was set up with Andy Robinson as Head Coach way back in November 2004 of Mike Ford, John Wells, Jon Callard.  This has seemed to be the core of the coaching squad since then with a few additional people throw into the mix such as Joe Lydon who was supposed to be the attack coach but if anything the attacking was sadly lacking.  Graham Rowntree has been added as scrummaging coach.  None of these coaches have had any previous international coaching experience and the old hands that were there at the change over between Clive Woodward and Andy Robinson such as Dave Alred, Jonny Wilkinson’s kicking coach, Dave “Otis” Redin – the fitness coach, have been phased out.  Dave Alred was not only the kicking coach but he was also the catching coach and having seen the amount of dropped balls lately, this is something that is needed. 

  I think that the following points may be useful:

  • It’s about time that the players were taught to think for themselves, a prime example would be if that a player saw some space to attack it and that the other players would react to that. 

  • Retain possession and stop giving silly penalties away especially when they are kickable ones. 

  • I would strongly advise that coaches are brought in who have some sort of proven international record as under the current management, England seem to be going backwards rather than forwards. 

  • Bring back the 2 Dave’s: Alred and Reddin

  • Appoint me as honesty coach – to tell the players exactly how its (well I can only dream!!).  Well since people who are filling Twickenham are spending about £70 of their hard earned on tickets to watch the England team not play very well something needs to be said!
    

  December 2008

  So Owen Joshua Lewsey has retired from International Rugby after 10 years and 55 caps.  His first cap was on the ill - fated "Tour of Hell" down under in 1998.  He was used as a prime example of what rugby players' physiques should be like by Clive Woodward and made to strip his shirt off in front of the other players.
  

  He was used as a bit part player by England by being selected for England against Canada in 2001.  He was also selected for the Commonwealth games in 2002.  He only became an integral part of Sir Clive Woodward's team after he was selected at full back for the 6 Nations game against Italy in 2003.  Not only did Josh manage to stay in the team but he managed to bump the first choice full back, Jason Robinson to the wing for the following game against Scotland.
      

  Josh was selected to go on the trip down under in 2003 before the World Cup.  Josh was remembered on this tour for his tackle on the Australian player, Matt Rogers.  The tackle left Rogers on the floor winded for about 5 minutes and left him with a popped rib cartlidge which means that Rogers can't lie flat on his surf board.
  

  Josh was selected in the 30 man squad to go to the World Cup in Australia in 2003.  He started 6 out of 7 games during the World Cup.  He missed the quarter - final against Wales after suffering a hamstring injury against Uruguay.  He matched the English record for tries scored in a game with 5. 
   

  Josh was picked for the semi - final against France and the final against Australia and was awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours List in 2004 for his part in the successful World Cup campaign.
  

  Josh was the only player to be constantly picked for the England side between 2004 - 2007 as other players retired or fell in and out of form (couldn't catch a cold let alone a rugby ball!!!)  This run only ended after he suffered an injury to the AC joint in his shoulder.
  

  His last game for England was in the semi - final win against France in which he scored a try in the first couple of  minutes.  He missed the final due to injury.
  

  Josh was not selected for any of the 6 Nations matches in 2008 and was not considered for the summer tour to New Zealand and the Autumn Internationals.  He was not considered to be an integral part of the side by Martin Johnson for the future, so Josh has decided to retire from International rugby.  His main aim is going to be playing  for Wasps for the rest of the season and making the Lions tour to South Africa in the summer of 2009.
  

  I hope that Josh has a successful season with Wasps and gets on the Lions Tour.  Thanks for all your efforts for England, Josh.  You have been brilliant and ever so sexy in either an England kit, Wasps kit or a suit
    

   May 2008                           

  
  

  So the season has now finished with Wasps finishing the season as champions.  Wasps are well - known for the late charge up the table in order to qualify for the play-offs.  With 07/08 season, it was no different but it was further out than usual when after the World Cup, Wasps found them selves in the unusual position of 10th.  The Premiership Final proved to be an emotional climax to the season as Lawrence Dallaglio and Fraser Waters both left Wasps, Lawrence retiring and Fraser going off to Italian side Treviso.  It was also emotional as Alistair Hignall retired from commentating for BBC radio 5 live due to his on-going battle with MS.  It was an amazing sight when Dallaglio came off the pitch as he received a standing ovation from both sets of supporters and credit where it is due to the Leicester supporters.  It was quite emotional when Dallaglio dedicated the Wasps win to Alistair which earned him even more brownie points for the future.  It should also be noted that when Dallaglio left the pitch only 2 Wasp players clapped him off and showed that Wasps would try and go on without Dallaglio.   Also, with regards looking to the future, RFTG favourite James Haskell has been appointed as Dallaglio's successor as captain.  Good luck to the bloke.
  

  
  Obviously you can't mention Wasps without sending best wishes and sympathies to Danny Cipriani after his horrendous injury which he suffered against Bath in the play - off semi - final.  When you see someone's foot pointing in a different direction at a 90 degree angle and hear them screaming in pain and needing oxygen you know that it's bad.  Hopefully, he will come back and play in the fashion that he had dome last season and be back playing for England  in a realistic time frame and hope that he doesn't rush his recovery and rehab.   Also, if you go and look on the Cosmo Website on the men tab and on the centrefolds and click through, you will see a side of Simon Shaw, Tom Rees, RFTG fave James Haskell and Danny Cipriani that you may have thought that you would never see.
     

  So all the home nations (England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) are looking forward to their summer tours.  England play a 2 match tour of New Zealand, Ireland play 1 match against New Zealand and 1 match against Auatralia, Scotland play a 2 match tour of Argentina and Wales play a 2 match tour of South Africa.
   

  Most of the England players going on the tour will want to try and play themselves into contention for the forthcoming Autumn Internationals and 6 Nations next year and  try force their way into Martin Johnson's thoughts when he officially takes charge on 1 July.  This is when the new agreement between the RFU and the players representatives come into force ending the 13 year row of club v country over the players.   This basically means that the players who are selected for England, are released for 2 weeks (I think) before the first 6 Nations match and for the period over the Autumn Internationals and the clubs are compensated accordingly.

  Hopefully when Johnson takes over his role as team manager that he doesn't become blinded by loyalty and pick his mates based on who they are rather than on  form as this happened to Clive Woodward and to Andy Robinson, one resigned and the other was let go by "mutual consent".  Hopefully when Johnson takes over and the new agreement starts, this may mean a steadier time ahead for English rugby.  Here's hoping!
  

  5th January
  

  So the worst kept secret has been confirmed that Brian Ashton has kept his job.  This was really no surprise as I think that no one else really wanted the job.  I think that Brian deserved to keep his job as he managed, within 9 – 10 months, to turn a team of no-hopers (“pub team” – Lawerence Dallaglio) to a team who potentially could have won the Rugby World Cup.  Although, Brian did admit that he would probably need some one to act as the “media face” of the team who would deal with the press.
  
  So we are now back with the premiership after a few weeks focusing on the European games.  All the talk of the premiership is dominated by one subject: will Jonny Wilkinson leave Newcastle??  This has been brought around by the fact that Jonny’s mentor and long – term fitness adviser, Steve Black, left the club under mysterious circumstances with immediate effect.  This has led to speculation that Jonny will be leaving to either Leicester or Wasps.  I think that Leicester have the slight advantage as Jonny’s former legal adviser Simon Cohen is at Leicester.  I think that it is all a bit strange how everything has come about.  The cynical side of me says that the chief executive and/ or the head coach up at Newcastle don’t want Wilkinson at the club so have gone about unsettling Wilkinson as much as possible.  I think that if Rob Andrew was still there, that none of this would ever have happened.  I also believe that Jonny may start looking elsewhere for a new start and trophies.
  
   Has to be said that the most entertaining game of the weekend was the Saracens – Newcastle match.  I think that most people (me included) had thought that this match would be the usual middle of the road match and not that exciting.  How wrong I was!!!  Most people would draw attention to the fact that Jonny missed 3 kicks at goal, however I don’t think that the game would have been as entertaining.  Also, I was amazed to learn that for that game, it was the largest crowd attendance that Saracens had for 3 seasons and that it was the Falcons first win away from home for 13 months.
  
  Also, I found a couple of names which could be contenders for amusing names – Topsy Ojoe and a London Irish player – Tragicakibau.  I could not make them up even if I tried.
  
  I hope that everyone had a very merry Christmas ( I did even though I didn’t find a nice good looking rugby player in my stocking L)  and that you all have a great 2008!!

  10th December
  

  So an era has finally ended with the retirement of Jason Robinson.  He was a legend in both codes of rugby, had the driest sense of humour (he had stated that life after retirement was going to be spent “living like the Waltons, riding round on horseback and eating cheese sandwiches”) and according to Will Greenwood was the chocolate smuggler king of the 2003 World Cup Squad by doling out chocolate to the people who needed their fix.  He also had the best sidestep in the game by being able to running at full speed and then being able to suddenly move 5 metres sideways and being able to keep balanced.  He was immensely popular with fans and fellow professionals.  Any England fan wanted Jason to get the ball so that he could work his magic.  You only had to see the interaction between Jason and Justin Harrison when Jason came off the pitch, (big man, small man).  Has to be said that I was surprised that Stuart Barnes didn’t give Jason the man of the match award as Stuart did give the award to Jason Leonard way back when the “fun bus” retired.

   

  Anyway, thanks Jason for the memories and the tries you’ve scored over the years (2003 World Cup final against Australia – should have been an Aussie Rules player - whack!!! he absolutely nailed it)

   

  Anyway, all eyes are now back onto the Heineken Cup this weekend.  It doesn’t have the mouth-watering clashes that the first weekend had but Leicester – Toulouse looks pretty interesting.

   

  Talking of European (well French), the one and only Mr Ben Cohen has signed for Brive and joined up with his Northampton and England team mate Steve Thompson.  I think that he tried to throw everyone off the scent by saying that he isn’t moving house, just buying one, eh Ben??  I think that he would want to join Leicester but due to Ben’s testimonial earnings, it would have pushed Leicester over the salary cap.  I think that I heard he had signed an 18 month contract so that means he could probably join Leicester after his contract runs out.  Anyway, we have the extremely gorgeous Jonny Wilkinson (must stop drooling) in the premiership, so not all things are bad.

  16th November
  

  It feels like an age since the world cup final especially now we are into the early stages of the Heineken European Cup.  All the talk after the final was about Brian Ashton’s reign as coach and whether it was over before it began.  This was brought to the fore front by the serialisations of Lawrence Dallalgio and Mike Catt’s autobiographies.  In these, they complained about the lack of certain management skills that they felt Brian had.  I am all for honesty but I think that the players went about it in the wrong way.  They should have taken their problems to either Brian himself or Rob Andrew and go about it that way, rather than waiting until after the world cup and looking bitter.  The RFU are now talking about introducing a “cooling off” period where the players and management are not to talk about the World cup until an internal assessment is done.  I prefer this method than the RFU enforcing the “what happens on tour stays on tour” mentality.  If they had enforced this, then people, who met the players, either after a match or at a testimonial, can’t hear all the great stories that happen.
  
  Anyway, enough of that.  The Heineken Cup has started and that means not only do we get all the totty from the English premiership, we get all the good looking players from the Magniers League and the French premiership.  I can’t really say that I find any of the players from the other premier leagues attractive (takes off tin hat and flak jacket)  I mean why would anyone look elsewhere when we have got some of the most attractive players here in the premiership?!?!? 
  
  From Leicester, we have Danny Hipkiss; Harry Ellis and esp for Jill: Lewis Moody!
  
  From Wasps, we have Tom Rees (divine); Josh Lewsey; James Haskell and Lawrence Dallalgio
  
  I could go on but I let your imaginations take over.
  
  Anyway, must dash.  Take care!!
  
  TTFN xxx

  27th October
  So unfortunately England was not able to have the dream ending that so many had hoped for.  It was not a classic by any stretch of the imagination; I mean how could it live up to the hype by the press and fans especially with so many remembering the final in 2003.  At times, it seemed to be a case of: “I can kick further than you” competition and very scrappy.  The one bright spot was Matthew Tait’s break to set up the “try” for Mark Cueto; this wasn’t given by the TV match official Stuart Dickinson.  It could be said that he didn’t give a try because he is an Australian and that it was “pay-back” for the quarter-final defeat.  It’s as simple as that he thought it wasn’t a try and that we should get on with life really.
  
  It was disappointing but ultimately, the best team won on the day.  We should be proud of the boys and what they have achieved in the past 6 weeks or so.  It has taken a lot of heart, courage and determination by the players and coaches to pick them selves up from the 36-0 drubbing by South Africa in the pool stages.
  
  The memories from France 2007?  Fiji stunning Wales in the final pool match to progress to the quarter- finals and to send Wales home and get their manager sacked.  The American winger sprinting past Habbana in the South Africa – USA match and to score a great try.  Obviously, Argentina beating France in the opening game and in the 3^rd/4^th place play off and scoring the try of the tournament in that game.  Ireland not qualifying for the quarter finals was a shock, especially with their back line, with the likes of Brian O’Driscoll and Ronan O’Gara.  The France – All Blacks game was a really entertaining match especially as a neutral and will be the only match in which I’ll support the French.  (Never say never, we may need their help at some point.)  Also, the fact that Jonny Wilkinson admitted that he got drunk and had a hangover on Sunday, who would have thought it?  He has finally turned to drink!!!
  
  So let’s look to the future and let’s be honest, it’s looking a lot brighter than it did a few weeks ago.  What we need to happen is for the youngsters, like Matthew Tait, Danny Hipkiss and Tom Rees, to gain experience and to develop at the international level with the “old-hands” of people like Jonny Wilkinson to guide them through.
  
  While we do that, we should look back at the past and say thanks to the following players who are either retired or will probably be announcing their retirement from the international scene in the not too distant future:

  • Jason Robinson
  • Mike Catt
  • Simon Shaw
  • Mark Regan
  • Lawrence Dallaglio
  • Josh Lewsey 
    
     I have to say is thanks guys, you all have been amazing for club and country.  All together now,

  “You got to know when to hold ‘em;

  Know when to fold ‘em;

  Know when to walk away and knowing when to run

  You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table

  You count your money when the dealing’s done”
  
  (P.S. if you have access to Itunes, you can buy Matt Stevens’ version of “The Gambler” for 79p – bargain!!!)

  18th October
  

  So who would have thought it, eh? England in the Rugby World Cup final after being beaten 36 – 0 by South Africa in the pool stages and having the worst run of results for a reigning Rugby World Cup champion ever.  I remember back to just before the 2003 world cup and Mike Catt was named in the squad.  Apparently he acquired a new nickname “Lazarus” for having more comebacks than his nickname buddy.  I think that if this team were to acquire a new nickname, I think we can safely say that it is Lazarus. 
  
  I don’t think I have ever been so nervous for a rugby game or games as I was for the quarter and semi finals against Australia and France.  It has to be said I was a little bit calmer for the game against the Aussies as I had the house to myself as mum and dad were safely packed off to watch the musical version of midsummer’s night dream in Newcastle and brother was in Madrid.  I did do a victory lap round the back garden after the final whistle went.  (Luckily neither of the neighbours were in to witness it!!)
  
  So on to the semi-final.  As I have mentioned it before, my dad gets way too involved and I get slightly deaf in one ear.  I have never been so nervous, so luckily I had a book of su dokus to do so I had something to take my mind off it.  My mum got so nervous she had to leave the room for the last 10 minutes (wuss, like it was ever in doubt!!)  I had to enjoy the drop goal as it was vintage Wilkinson.  I did enjoy the will green wood summing up at the end.  “Michael platini, your boys took one hell of a beating!!”
  
  So onwards to the final.  Me, nervous?  Never!! Even the gorilla in the dairy chocolate milk advert is supporting the boys, so what could go wrong?

  *******************************************************************************************************************

  So ok I was wrong about England not qualifying for the quarter – final stages.  Let’s be honest though, how many people actually saw Argentina and Fiji in the quarter – finals??  Not many, I would imagine.
  
  The England team has been announced for the quarter – final against the Aussies:
  

  Jason Robinson; Paul Sackey, Mathew Tait, Andy Farrell, Josh Lewsey; Jonny Wilkinson, Andy Gomarsall; Andrew Sheridan, Mark Regan, Phil Vickery (captain), Simon Shaw, Ben Kay, Martin Corry, Lewis Moody, Nick Easter.
  Replacements: George Chuter, Matt Stevens, Lawrence Dallaglio, Joe Worsley, Peter Richards, Olly Barkley, Dan Hipkiss.
  
  It’s great to see Jason Robinson back in the squad especially after the way he pulled up in the South Africa game.  The one thing that I don’t really understand is why are the England management keep picking Andy Farrell?? Also, why haven’t they picked Tom Rees?  I suppose that’s why I’m not involved in the selection of the side and the management are.
  
  The thing that really amuses me is that the 2^nd quarter final on Saturday between New Zealand and France is to be played in Cardiff.  I never knew that Cardiff was a part of France and to think that Edinburgh is also to be considered to be part of France; maybe I need to brush up on my geography skills.  Could it also possibly be the fact that both Scotland and Wales helped France to get the World Cup and that is why they have gotten games, or am I being cynical?
  
  I think that I might be able to enjoy the game on Saturday (maybe not the final score) as my Dad is not going to be at home watching the game.  My Dad has this tendency to get too involved in the matches and start shouting at the TV, even though he knows that the referee and the players can’t hear him.  So all that happens is that he gets frustrated and moody and I end up slightly deaf in one ear.  I said that I get slightly…. Oh never mind.
  
  

  September 16th

  At the moment of writing this, the England rugby team are currently trying to gather themselves and pick up their pride from the floor after the drubbing by South Africa.
  
  It all looked so well before the tournament started.  One of their sponsorship duties was their send-off dinner at the O2 arena in London.  I went along to the event with Debbie as the “representatives” for Rugby for the Girls and had a fabulous night.  I mean, how could you not?  Not only where the players there as well as a few retired players (Matt Dawson and Will Greenwood), there was also Ben Shepherd (GMTV presenter if you are not up that early in the morning) and Mr Nick Knowles (DIY SOS).
  
  The main highlight for me was getting Jonny Wilkinson’s autograph (personalised) and not making myself look like a right wally in front of him.  It has to be said though, I did feel really sorry for him as everyone wanted his autograph and photograph.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get my photo with Mr Wilkinson as I thought that the flash on my camera was to bright and didn’t want to blind the poor lad ( I can imagine the scenario:
  

  Doctor: “So, Mr Wilkinson, how did you become blind?”

  Jonny: “This mad northern woman from Middlesbrough wanted a photo taken with me so I duly obliged.  I’m amazed that people in Australia didn’t see it”
  
  At the moment, I’m bit depressed as Jonny and Olly are injured; Phil Vickery is suspended; Jamie Noon and Jason Robinson are both injured and they may both miss the rest of the World Cup.  Let’s be honest, the way it’s going the other players won’t be too far behind them.
  
  But hey ho, let’s whisper it quietly, the footballers are looking quite decent at the moment.
  
  Right, I’m off to drown my sorrows.
  
  TTFNxxxx

  August 16th
  

  So the England Rugby World Cup squad has been announced with spaces for Andy Farrell, Lawrence Dallaglio and Peter Richards.  Unfortunately there are no spaces for RFTG favourite: James Haskell and Toby Flood.  The squad is as follows:
  
  Backs: M Cueto (Sale Sharks), P Sackey (Wasps), J Lewsey (Wasps), J Robinson (unattached), M Tait (Newcastle), D Hipkiss (Leicester), J Noon (Newcastle), M Catt (London Irish), A Farrell (Saracens), O Barkley (Bath), J Wilkinson (Newcastle), S Perry (Bristol), A Gomarsall (Harlequins), P Richards (London Irish).
  
  Forwards: A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), P Freshwater (Perpignan), P Vickery (Wasps,capt), M Stevens (Bath), M Regan (Bath), G Chuter (Leicester), L Mears (Bath), S Shaw (Wasps), S Borthwick (Bath), B Kay (Leicester), M Corry (Leicester), L Moody (Leicester), J Worsley (Wasps), T Rees (Wasps), N Easter (Harlequins), L Dallaglio (Wasps)
  
  The reasoning about leaving Toby Flood at home was that Andy Farrell has more experience than Flood and that he is the captain of defence.  My question about that is how are younger players like Flood supposed to get the experience if they are not allowed to play in the big games and learn on how to close them out.  Also taking only one back up fly-half looks a bit silly to me as Jonny could go off injured (again) early on in the match and that means that we are without cover for the rest of the match.
  
  So over the past couple of weeks, we have played the Welsh and the French at Twickenham.  It was quite enjoyable watching our forwards doing what they do best and that is being aggressive.  Unfortunately this meant that the backs didn’t get the lime-light that they are used to.  But I did like the last try where Jonny chipped over the top of the welsh defence went running after it and realised that his younger (and faster) team mate Matthew Tait was running after it so Jonny was like “right, I’m knackered I’ll let him chase after it”
  
  The French game whilst there was some positives, there were still some things that need improving.  It did seem a bit strange that Brian Ashton sent Jonny on for the last 3 minutes of the match.  I didn’t hear anything about Mike Catt being injured so it was a bit strange as anything could have happened and knowing Jonny’s luck over the years with regards injuries he could well have been injured.
  
  So I am now looking forward to the French game in Marseilles and then onward to the World Cup.  Can we win it?  My head says yes we can but only if we have a large slice of luck.  My heart says: well what do you think?

  August 3rd
  The sun is shining and it has stopped raining (for now), it looks like summer might actually start this week (fingers crossed, touch wood and all the clichés you can imagine) and it’s just over a month until the rugby world cup starts in September.
  
  This means that the rugby world takes part in friendly international matches as warm up before the world cup.  Can I ask? Who here has ever heard of a “friendly” rugby match?? Exactly, no-one has ever heard of a friendly rugby match as I thought.  England v. France and England v. Wales, do these sound like friendly games to you?
  
  In my last blog, I hinted at my pet hate in rugby.  I’ll try not to bore everyone senseless so I will try to keep it brief and to the point.  It seems to me that there is a certain degree of one-eyed ness (I know bad English but hey no one is perfect.) towards the English from the southern hemisphere teams.
  
  Remember back in the heady days of 2003, the England team were described as “white orcs on steroids” and “dad’s army”; these all came from the southern hemisphere teams, predominately the Australians and Kiwis.  At this point, the kiwis are perennial underachievers by peaking in between the world cups rather than during them and haven’t actually won the competition since the inaugural world cup back in 1987.  The Australians were a good team but they weren’t the best.
  
  One situation that points out the one-eyed ness is the fact that Josh Lewsey had stud marks on his head, after the All Black match in 2003, Ali Williams decided that was a good place to put his boot.  Ali was duly cited and was let off with a mild slap of the wrist.  However, if this was the other way round, all hell would have kicked off.
  
  Of course, how could I leave out the biggest one eyed situation, the Brian O’Driscoll incident on the Lions tour in 2005?  For those of you who don’t know what I am talking about, I’ll give a brief outline of what happened.  If you do know, glaze over now for this next paragraph.
  
  About 30 seconds into the 1^st test between the All Blacks and the British and Irish Lions, Brian O’Driscoll was standing on the correct side of the ruck minding his own business.  Next thing you know, Tana Umaga, the Kiwi centre and captain and Keven Mealamu, the Kiwi hooker, grabbed Brian’s legs and drove him into the ground.  The result of which was a severely dislocated shoulder, which according to reports, took 30 minutes to pop back in and then he missed half the next season.  The citing commissioner said that neither player, Umaga and Mealamu had any case to answer.  However, this episode took place after the ball had left the ruck and you can quite clearly hear the touch judge state ‘leave him alone, the ball has gone’ before they did this.  Now, if Brian O’Driscoll did this to Tana Umaga, all hell would have been let loose and Brian O’ Driscoll would have been punished and rightly so.  It was quite funny that in the 2005 tri-nations an Australian player did something similar to a Kiwi player and the New Zealand prime minister got involved.  Funny how they kept quiet during the O’Driscoll affair isn’t it?
  
  I like the Kiwis and Australians; I don’t have a problem with them.
  
  So rant over and now will try to find an ice cream on my way home from work.

  July 25th
  It seems to me that at the moment, the sports world isn’t really looking to the world cup at the moment.  All eyes are currently focused on the Golf open at Carnoustie and at Lord’s down in London for the England cricket test match against India.
  
  At the moment we are about 6 weeks out from the opening game of the world cup.  So the England team have had the first cull and have let 6 players go and have a holiday.  Also, Julian White has also pulled out of the world cup because he has a young family and the fact that he runs a livestock farm.
  
  There are a couple of things that I am not so sure about.   Firstly, I’m sure that his family could have flown out to the world cup so that he could see them and spend some quality time with them like what happened in the world cup in 2003 where the players were encouraged to spend some “off time” with their families away from the training and the matches.  Now, I’m not saying that family isn’t important but he would probably spend the same amount of time away from his family during the day when he’s playing and training for Leicester as he does when he is playing for England.
  
   I know that you could say that Ben Cohen is staying behind but I have a theory.  According to a reputable source (my mother), first pregnancies can be quite difficult as you don’t really know what to expect even though there are plenty of books out.  Also, first pregnancies often don’t go the full 9 months according to my mum.  You have also got to remember that they are expecting twins.  This can mean that they have to be extra cautious as it is their first pregnancy so this means that there are more ways for things to go wrong. (I’m not saying that they will but you can’t prepare for everything unfortunately).
  
  With regarding the farm, I’m sure that there is someone who he trusts to run it surely??  Enough about babies and farms I think. (What would I know about either??).
  
  Of course we have had the last match in the tri nations with Australia and New Zealand battling it out for the title.  As the heavens decided to open up for the match, I think that most people knew that this wasn’t going to be one of the best matches of all time and they were correct as it was a penalty fest and one try being scored.  How the southern hemisphere can have a go at the northern hemisphere (especially England) for playing boring rugby after that match I will never know.
  
  I will probably get back around to talking about my pet hate in rugby in my next blog.
  
  So you have been warned.
  
  Bye for now xxx

  July 8th 2006
  

  Once upon a time (about 4 years ago, give or take a few months) in a far away land (ok Australia, but it is on the other side of the world), England became rugby world cup winners.  This was made possible by a handsome young man (no not Martin Johnson but if he floats your boat, fair dos) striking the ball in the last minute of extra time and making his then club coach scream like a girl!! (Sniggers inappropriately) Hang on. That wasn’t a dream, it was real!! Wasn’t it?? Maybe I should stop with the drinking?
  
  I think that at the moment rugby fans, whilst they know that England are the reigning world champions, think that with the current form of the team think that this was a dream.  It has to be said that the England rugby team are more likely to win the world cup than their football counterparts.
  
  At work, when we were having slow work days (I know this is very bad, but we had literally nothing to do) we started talking about which sport we preferred and why?  Most of the people (all of these were blokes) said football as you don’t need many people to play and what have you and that it’s the game of the people.  They were surprised at the fact that I said that I preferred rugby over football.  I’m not saying that I hate football and that if there is a match on I’ll watch it (preferably in the nice and warm environment of my own home).  With regards the choice of rugby, I made the following points:

  (1)     The rugby players don’t fake injury to get people sent off so that when they do go down with an injury, you know that there is a genuine injury.  Whereas in football, it seems it’s a case of right, I’ll do 3 forward summersaults with pike and a bit of boohoo my leg hurts, get the guy sent off and then after being restored by the magic sponge I’ll get up fit and well. ( do we know where they get the magic sponges from because I want one)

  (2)     Footballers seem to go out of their way to be arrogant.  At least I have never heard of a decent footballer being nice to the Joe public.

  (3)     It seems to me that at least with rugby players you know that they are ordinary blokes who like a pint down the local (cough Jason Leonard and Mike Tindall cough) and like the rest of us have mortgages and what not to pay off.

  (4)     You never see rugby players chase after the referee after he has made a decision that goes against them.  The captain will query it and the referee will then tell them the whys and wherefores and then the captain backs off because he knows that if he argues, his team gets marched back an extra 10 yards.  I love the way that the players call the referee “sir”.  (I always remember Martin Johnson or Lawrence having a go at the referee about how he shouldn’t have made a particular decision then saying “sir” at the end.  I would be on the floor laughing)
  
  Is it just me or is this cheating thing that goes on in football a modern thing?  I was watching a DVD of the 1966 world cup the other night and there didn’t seem to be any cheating.  I am not naïve enough to say that cheating has never gone on in football or rugby but there seems to be more happening now than ever.  I reckon that they should introduce some if the tactics that they use in rugby into football.  For example:

   

  (1)     Yellow card = 10 minutes in the sin bin (that would shut them up)

  (2)     Only the captain of each team allowed to talk to the referee unless the referee calls a particular player other than the captain for a chat.  If the players start chasing the referee around the pitch then they will all get a yellow card

   

  Anyway off I go now to watch the tennis (if I can get my dad to stop watching the tri nations)

  
  
  July 2nd 2007

  World cup and all that
  
  So at the moment the England Rugby team are in Portugal having finished their 4 day training with the Royal Marines.
  
  A lot has been made of the fact that Lawrence Dallaglio being selected for the training squad.  The main argument is that he is too old, his body isn’t up for the battering that he will take and that he can’t last the full match.  However, I disagree.  With the inexperience of the squad and lack of people with the leadership qualities and skills needed, we need all the leaders we can get our hands on.
  
  The thing I don’t understand about the training squad is this: Charlie Hodgson (knee); Mike Tindall (broken leg); Dan Ward-Smith (dislocated knee-cap) and Andrew Sheridan (knee) have all had long term injuries and were selected.  However, Iain Balshaw and James Simpson – Daniel didn’t make the training camp.  Although both have been unlucky with injuries (I think that Simpson-Daniel was the unluckiest man with regards injuries until Jonny Wilkinson had his run) Charlie Hodgson has had 2 serious knee injuries and could as likely injury it again while they are in France.  I just find it a bit strange, don’t you???  But hey, I’m not the England head coach & Brian Ashton is, so what would I know?
  
  Since I’ve started this blog, it has been announced that Charlie Hodgson didn’t make the training camp due to a virus.  He wasn’t dropped but they didn’t want the other players to get infected like they did in South Africa.  With regards that tour, the cynical side of me thinks that the players went down with food poisoning.  Controversial I know but does anyone else think that it was a 24 hour bug?   24 hour bugs, as a general rule, don’t make you vomit for 18 hours and make you end up in a high dependency ward on a drip to re-hydrate you (in the case of David Strettle) or make you so ill that you can’t fly home (in the case of James Simpson- Daniel) for a few days.  (I’m not a betting person but I’m thinking that Ben Cohen is glad he didn’t go on that tour!!)
  
  In little over 2 months, the rugby world cup starts.  England’s first game is against the USA on 08/09/07 kick off time at 5pm (the kick off time is subject to change).  In time honoured fashion, using school child logic, I have figured out who England will play at each stage of the competition and if they win and the other pools and matches go to form.  This means the quarter – finals; semi – finals and the final with regards where they end up in pool A.
  
  If England top pool A:

  Quarter finals:

  (1)     Australia v. South Africa

  (2)     New Zealand v. Ireland

  (3)     England v. Wales

  (4)     France v. Scotland

   Semi – finals:

  (1)     Australia v New Zealand

  (2)     England v France

  Final:

  England v Australia

  So if England are winners, we could have the exact re-run of the 2003 world cup.  Unfortunately we don’t have Mr Johnson at the helm but who knows.  As the old cliché goes “fortune favours the brave”

  21st June 2007

  It has to be said that at the moment I am suffering withdrawal symptoms from rugby. I know that the tri-nations has started but I can’t seem to get excited about 3 teams on the other side of the world.  (one eyed and slightly biased I know but hey isn’t everyone??)  There’s just something at the start of the domestic English season that gets the heartbeat racing (and no, it’s not just the thought of Jonny Wilkinson.  Unfortunately no Mr Cohen but hey I think Mr Wilkinson is a worthy deputy)
  
  

  The one thing that really annoyed me through my rugby supporting ‘career’ is this.  When I first meet people and introduce myself, I say that I like watching rugby.  Some assumptions are made by some people (although not all), the 2 most common:

  (1)     that I’m a lesbian; (untrue) or

  (2)     I only watch it for the fit men. (partially true)

  It has to be said though that it does gain me some serious brownie points with the lads when I can have an arguments about whose the better fly-half and looks don’t come into it.
  
  Yes the good looking men (e.g Ben Cohen and Jonny Wilkinson) do help raise the profile  of rugby with women and yes I like looking at them too but I watch it primarily for the entertainment value and sportsmanship (unlike the football players).
  
  I’ve been a fan of rugby ever since my older brother joined a rugby playing school and enjoyed it so much that he decided to join a rugby club at under 10’s.  It has to be said that at first I didn’t enjoy it as I was dragged from my bed on more than one occasion and was told in no certain terms that I had to go even though it was blowing a gale outside and that there was torrential downpours.  I swear down I was at a rugby match on a Sunday where there was all 4 seasons in the space of 80 minutes.  Not fun I can tell you. 
  
  Hey ho rant over I promise. Only another couple of months before the season starts and then in September the World Cup.  Of course this raises many questions, which I’ll answer next time people.

  Ciao for now

  Lucy

  TTFN