Wasps buzzing for new season

We spent the morning in West London at Wasps’ training ground on behalf of Prostate Cancer UK. The charity, that supports those affected by the most common cancer in men, have launched ‘the blue’ - a new mouthguard created to  raise funds and awareness for the charity. So we took a few snaps of some of the players supporting the cause, and got a feel for how they are feeling about the new season.

There have been a fair few personnel changes at the club and the players seemed in good spirits and ready to improve on last season. The shining lights from last year such as Joe Launchbury, Christian Wade and Marco Wentzel are still there and have been joined by more top names, including Welsh internationals Stephen Jones, Lee Thomas and Rhys Thomas. Wasps fans will also delight at the return of England internationals James Haskell and Tom Palmer for the new season.

Wasps kick off their Aviva Premiership campaign on 1st September as part of the London Double Header against last season’s champions Harlequins. Keep an eye out for premiership players from all clubs wearing ‘The Blue’ this season.

England Scrum Half - Joe Simpson

Welsh Hooker - Rhys Thomas

James Haskell - back at Wasps

Speed merchant - Tom Varndell

Openside Flanker - Jonathan Poff

Promising Hooker - Tom Lindsay

My RugbyRocks Summer in Photos

It has been a hectic few months traveling around the UK with the RugbyRocks tour, in one of the wettest summers on record we managed 5 sunny days out of 6 - with the hottest weekend of the summer falling on RugbyRocks London, some uneven sunshine in Yorkshire and a Scottish heatwave in Edinburgh!

It's been a bumpy ride at times, with the banks of the river running through the Yorkshire site close to bursting on the eve of the event a memorable low point, and seeing Zane Lowe smash the main stage in London will stick with me for a long time. I thought it would be nice to add some colour to the blog so here are a few photos (some of which are my own) that pretty much sum up my summer of work...

Taking on @Manutuilagi at the @rugbyrocks7s press launch in May

@embargo59 for the RugbyRocks pre party with @mishkymac

The @prostate_rfc team supporting @prostateUK @rugbyrocks7s

Presenting the trophies @rugbyrocks7s with @danmurphy2710

@benjiboko snaps the crowd @rugbyrocks7s

The @rugbyrocks7s mobile packed for the trip to @rugbyrocksyorks

@MoBroRic supporting @ProstateUK for @MovemberUK @rugbyrocksyorks

Backstage @rugbyrocksyorks for the @dubpistols set

Weather looks promising for @RugbyRocks_Edin at the weekend

Suns out @RugbyRocks_Edin @BoroughmuirRFC

The sun sets on a cracking @rugbyrocks7s summer with @PUMArugby

Some of the @rugbyrocks7s team in @foulfashion shirts

@OfficialWesty shanks it as @OfficialBeaky gets closest to pin for a free dinner @rugbyrocks7s Golf Day!

Who has won what?! London & Yorkshire

Been quiet on this blog over the last month as we have been travelling the country to sevens festivals and running the RugbyRocks events in London and in Yorkshire.

Now back in London and reflecting on the first two events, with Edinburgh and what I have seen along the way so thought I would update on all the sport that we have experienced at RugbyRocks.

LONDON

It was the sunny weekend of the year and over 150 teams came down to the Richmond Athletic Ground. In the Elite Sevens the British Army bulldozed their way through all teams including the Kirk Petro Physics Pyrenees in the final, with the Irish Lightning overcoming the Wooden Spoon to topple the charity side in their first ever loss at a RugbyRocks event. The Optimum Nutrition Open tournaments were won by Newitts Centurions and Saracens Women – who win a year’s supply of product.

The 40 team netball tournament took place on Saturday with Scrumalicious and Cumberland winning the Open and Social respectively. The Men’s Tens was won by the Bootleggers for the 2^nd year running, with the Vets Tens won by the Inglorious Berlin B*sterds.

The social sevens was a great tournament with the Thundercats Academy eventually overcoming the Old Tonbridge Sticky Bandits in the final, and the Misfits won the Social touch rugby.

YORKSHIRE

Our first venture up North was a great success as RugbyRocks landed in Yorkshire with a bang. The event ran at Bradford & Bingley RFC and the site looked picturesque. The crowds piled in and weren’t disappointed with the level of sport on offer.

In the Men’s Open, the early pacesetters were the Prostate Cancer Charity, a scratch side made up of players from around Yorkshire. In the other half of the draw, it was Esher who were making waves. However both sides were undone in the semi-finals when the home side Bees pulled together to sneak a win against Esher and Newitts who have looked immense on the circuit this summer overpowered a young Prostate Cancer Charity team. The sun came out and the DJ marquee was jumping for the final, and a half time there was nothing to choose between the sides. However, in their first ever sevens tournament the Bees couldn’t hold out against Newitts who went on to lift their second Optimum Nutrition Men’s Open of the summer.

In the netball, sides from as far north as Durham and as far south as London came together to compete for the right to be crowned NetballRocks champions of Yorkshire. After a hard day’s play the university of Northumbria side overcame local rivals the Durham Dodgers to lift the trophy.

The social sevens saw the culmination of a top weekend with a number of club sides from Yorkshire and several hungover teams from Saturday battle it out. The Yorkshire legends featuring Henry & Robbie Paul, as well as a number of former premiership players from the county put in some big scores and some bigger hits on their way to the final. They were surprised in the final however by the Puma Social team who were representing RugbyRocks senior partner. The young guns ran in a few late tries to clinch the trophy.

See you all in Edinburgh, can’t wait…

Andy

Mano y Manu - I take on Tuilagi... at Pool

We were down at Puma HQ yesterday for the press launch of RugbyRocks so I grabbed Manu Tuilagi for a quick game of pool and a chat about all things music and sevens. As is the case with most professional sportsmen he is clearly a keen social sportsman as well and his pool skills are soon on show as he pots three balls off the break, thankfully for me one of them is mine. We get chatting about the events, and in particular music which he clearly has a keen passion for. Ed Sheeran features heavily on his iPod at the moment. He plays a bit of acoustic guitar himself and performed ‘The A-Team’ as his initiation song after his first England cap - no singing normally though – he quickly adds with a stern look at me. I ask him about players with musical talents in the England set up and am unsurprised to hear that Shontayne Hape (DJ Sh4pe) and part time rapper Alex Corbisiero are the most recognised musicians.

We move onto the subject of music in the changing rooms, apparently the Tigers don’t have music pre match, Manu reckons that’s how they stay so focused. It’s very different in the England warm ups where the conditioning coach Bobby takes control of the playlist, and ‘pumping’ music plays a massive part in their psyche up which clearly Manu is a massive fan of. Who has the worst music taste in the England squad? Chris Ashton and Ben Foden according to Manu, although I’d take this with a pinch of salt as the Northampton duo are often the fall guys.

Fearing that we are getting a little too close to the ‘who is the longest in the shower?’ question I move swiftly onto sevens. Manu played a lot in the Tigers Academy and was called up to the England squad for the last leg of the IRB Sevens Series three years ago at the age of 17 before being recalled by Leicester as his fifteen’s talent became very apparent. He clearly still has a fondness for sevens, but is quick to point out the difference in fitness that is required for the code. He doesn’t look in bad shape to me, but he says he will stick to the full format of the game for now as doesn’t fancy the constant running that sevens brings.

He pockets 3 reds in a row as I ask him about his gym tips. He looks me up and down before replying “Start with the small weights, and lots of them”. He tries to repair my bruised ego by adding “that’s what I did”. I thank him for the tips and for not adding “you’re four years older than me and half my size mate, don’t waste your time in the gym”.

He shakes my hand after sinking the black and thanks me for the game to which I jest that I let him win; pointing at the table he says “you’ve got four balls left mate”. He’s right – he has taken me to the cleaners – oh well rather pool than an arm wrestle.

Until next week,

Andy

Money Matters

This weekend Jersey RFC have sealed promotion to the Championship, taking one step closer to their search for Premiership rugby. It’s been no secret that their rise to the second tier in English rugby has coincided with huge investment in the club, paying huge wages to players even when they were in National League 3 South. They are not the only example of money making the difference within the sport this season.

Jersey will play in The Championship next year

The all French Amlin Cup semi-finalists drill home the progression that these clubs have made without a salary cap. The strength in depth created as a result of French sides being able to bring in big names has been apparent, as English sides have fallen by the wayside in European competition at the end of a tough season. Saracens, a club that we consider wealthy and often wonder how they are staying below the £4million wage mark, were swept aside by Clermont almost as easily as Quins were by Toulon the night before.

I am all for the academy structure put in place, and first implemented by Stuart Lancaster at Leeds Tykes 10 years ago, and as a fan it is great to see young players coming through and making their mark. But it is hard to see how Premiership clubs will compete in Europe in years to come against RaboDirect Pro12 clubs with 10 international players playing week in week out together and French clubs with seemingly unlimited budgets.

Money has been on the agenda at Wasps as well, and excitingly for the neutrals it has come down to an end of season showdown at Adams Park with Newcastle. Wasps are still favourites but if the Falcons defy the odds it could signal the end for the Wasps and not only for their 25 year run in the top division.

It will be interesting to follow the Aviva Premiership through the next couple of years in the build-up to the Rugby World Cup in 2015, as sides have to look at ways of keeping their top players away from potential suitors as well as bringing in new big names to keep fans and sponsors alike interested.

Have Jersey proved all of our mothers wrong and show fans that money really does bring happiness?

Until next week,

Andy

Henson & Co left in the dark ages

Gavin Henson has been released, again, and is the latest in a growing list of players who are doing nothing to help their causes and are simply making it easy to be dropped and soon forgotten.

Gavin Henson has been sacked by Cardiff Blues, his fourth club in a year.

The lads on tour philosophy which has hovered over the game for some time is being phased out to a point where those that do not embrace the fact that rugby is a fully professional game at the top level will be left behind.

Enough has been said about Danny Care’s incidents over the last few months, and he will have to work on rebuilding his image if he is to be considered seriously again in the international frame.

It’s not just the post-match antics that need to catch up, I also find it hard to fathom the behaviour of some players on the pitch, and the apparent lack of awareness that they will not get away with illegal play anymore. It’s a cliché but the only people that they are hurting are themselves.

Dylan Hartley is a prime example of a player who seems to keep his head low enough off the pitch but can’t stay out of trouble on it. He has missed the opportunity to be the first choice hooker at two world cups, once through selection and once through his own transgressions. He will now have to sit and hope that his Saints side get 4^th place in the league, and win an away semi-final without their skipper if he is to get another game this season. Saints’ chances will be made slimmer as Callum Clark is also banned, and may well have blown his chance at becoming England’s next Openside. With players like Andy Saull and Luke Wallace waiting in the ranks and Clark being banned for the tour to South Africa – he may well slip down the pecking order somewhat, despite being initially given the opportunity by Stuart Lancaster.

I understand that players make mistakes, and I wouldn’t like the game of rugby without the occasional late hit or 30 man brawl, but getting a long ban for deliberately illegal play doesn’t make any sense to me.

I speak to friends who seem to think that these players are being hard done by and that rugby is becoming soft. It’s just not the case, the players are given opportunities because of their ability and if they are going to act out of line, like in any job, they have to accept the consequences. To be fair to all of the aforementioned players they have accepted their fate, they are only human and I am not trying to have a rant. It is just a big shame to see talent going to waste. The fact of the matter is that there are more and more players willing to jump on the opportunities that are given to them, and that can only be a good thing for the game.  

The days of players releasing books filled with stories of drunken nights out on southern hemisphere tours is surely over. A couple of years back I was given a copy of “Dallaglio's Rugby Tales: Legendary Stories of Blood, Sweat and Beers”, and one of my favourite rugby related videos is “Pitbull’s punch-ups” – essentially a video where Brian Moore sat in a pub with a pint narrating his favourite rugby punch ups – most of which he featured in. These reflected the stage that rugby was at during these player’s careers. But rugby has completely changed, with all players having come through rigorous structured academy programs and earning salaries which warrant them taking their careers more seriously.

The profile of the game is developing at a rate at which the players need to keep up or they will be left behind.

The ironic thing for Henson is that Jamie Roberts is out for 6 months; leaving a gaping hole in the Welsh midfield… somehow I don’t think Henson will be the answer now.

Until next week,

Andy