Feeling patriotic this Spring!

This was a good weekend to be English and an even better one to be a rugby fan. I wasn’t fortunate enough to be at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon, and I am disappointed to have not witnessed live what was undisputedly a fantastic advert for the game.

I was trying to think back to the last time there were so many choruses of swing low at HQ, there certainly weren’t during the autumn, and although the 2011 Six Nations resulted in a victory for England, there was always the shadow of the World Cup and the underlying feeling that we didn’t have enough to go all the way in New Zealand.

Seeing Ian Ritchie sitting in the stands at Twickenham for some reason brought a real patriotic lump in the throat, similar to that moment in early July when the BBC coverage pans out to reveal thousands of waving spectators on Henman Hill (not Murray Mound). I would hope that the new CEO at the RFU would have had a similar reaction after his first official home game as top dog.

Perhaps the most positive part of the afternoon came after the final whistle where the exhausted England side applauded the home support, who rather than rushing off to the West Car Park, took to their feet, rested their pints down and showed their appreciation. Let’s hope that this will prove that rugby fans are more savvy and not as fickle as perhaps old regimes have given them credit for. The conversations I have had since the final whistle have been less about the TMO and more about the fantastic shift that the team put in.

It is not only the England Elite side that made me feel proud this weekend, as the Women’s side were disappointed with a 33-0 victory over Wales, feeling that they could have done more! The team are not only unbeaten but have only conceded 3 point in the 4 hours of rugby thus far. The U20’s are also yet to concede a try and have put on 99 points in their first two games.

Take all these positives alongside the number of quality performances being displayed weekly in the Aviva Premiership by some great young English players and the sour taste left in English mouths after RWC 2011 is starting to dissipate. A couple of good performances in Paris and South West London as we head into March will cleanse the palate completely.

Would you change anything for the game in Paris? Here is Jonny putting in that hit on Ntamack, if this doesn't whet your appetite and make you feel proud to be English, well nothing will...

Until next week,

Andy

Netball Down Under - a player's perspective

Netball is growing massively at our festivals - so much so that we have set up our new brand NetballRocks! We have been chatting to England Netball and West Coast Fever star Eboni Beckford-Chambers finding out about her life down under - here is her guest blog:


"It has been just over 5 weeks since I arrived in Perth and I can safely say that I have fully embraced the Aussie lifestyle! The time has really flown by since I left my family and friends standing at the airport to embark on an 18 hour flight to what I deemed the relatively unknown. I was filled with mixed emotions i.e. excitement at joining a new franchise and playing semi professional Netball in a league that harbours the best players in the world; apprehensive about moving a million miles away from my home/ familiarity; sad as I was leaving my mum, BF, family/ friends behind. However, in hindsight I had nothing to worry about!

Eboni in action for England

The girls and staff at the West Coast Fever have really looked after me and aided my transition into Perth life! I've had to adjust quickly to the heat as we have been through a 42 degree heatwave, embrace the Aussie patriotism on Australia Day, devour kangaroo, explore and surf the picturesque beaches, conduct the beep test with a gas mask and get used to the intense daily training regime.

Caitlin Bassett and Nikala Smith, the two girls that I am living with are fantastic. They have really welcomed me into their home which has really put me at ease. Caitlin even came to my rescue when I screwed the wrong parts of my IKEA bed together even though I was 'following the manual' which caused great bouts of laughter. So all in all I have learned that there are no deadly snakes, kangaroos or spiders in the immediate vicinity and that Perth is easy living, 'it'll get done when it gets done' ;-) (very similar attitude to that of the Jamaicans - so I think I'll fit in nicely!).

The 'buzz', confidence and pure enthusiasm within the team definitely makes me feel like that we are going to have a really competitive season! The training is very physical, mentally and emotionally enduring. The style of netball is much more intense than in England. There is a lot of focus on accuracy and precision of key basic skills accompanied by a mentality that nothing short of being the best is good enough. But I can feel myself getting quicker, faster and fitter each week. Our coach, Norma Plummer, for whom I was initially awestruck hasn't earned her the title of being 'The Best Coach in the World' by being a pushover :-).

The support that I have had from my closest family, friends has been immense! In addition the media coverage that I have received has been really positive! The media is very much involved in the 'Netball World' in Australia and it is very much widespread from the newspapers, radio stations, local/ national news broadcasts, social media etc. The West Australian media in particular have really got behind the team and are generating further support and promoting the game as we move towards the ANZ Championship season. I have also received several messages on Facebook and Twitter (@EboniBChambers) from netball lovers who are really looking forward to seeing what this season holds especially for the Fever! I am loving every minute that I am in Perth and I am fully embracing what I consider to be an opportunity of a life time! With 6 weeks to go until the start of the ANZ competition I am hoping the experience will get even better!"


We will be following Eboni's progress with much interest over the next few month's and wish her all the best!

Until next week,

Andy

Who has the most ‘klout’ in Rugby?

Our @rugbyrocks7s account recently passed the 1,500 follower mark on Twitter, #humblebrag, which sparked a bit of debate in the office about who our favourite rugby Tweeters are and also who are the most influential.

So I had a look at ‘Klout’ - www.klout.com – a site which was founded to help "measure and leverage your influence" within social media channels and rates "your ability to drive action within social networks".

The score is out of 100, with the average score being 20. As it stands our @rugbyrocks7s account is sitting at 48, which isn't bad!

When it comes to 'Rugby' the top influencers are currently:

1. Jeremy Guscott - @JeremyGuscott
2. Lote Tuqiri - @LoteTuquiri
3. Tom Fordyce - @tomfordyce
4. Gareth Thomas - @GarethThomas14
5. Rugby World Cup - @rugbyworldcup
6. David Campese - @Davidcampese11
7. Brian O'Driscoll - @BrianODriscoll
8. Will Carling - @WillCarling
9. James Haskell - @Jameshaskell
10. Victor Matfield - @VictorMatfield

But as with any metrics, these do not necessarily tell the whole story as to who is influencing others in rugby, where is @andipeters for instance, he is always interacting with high profile rugby players every day through social media, or the @Official_RFU for that matter?

Other accounts that are always worth a follow in the rugby world include @UgoMonye and @DannyCare who tend to tweet at each other as much as at anyone else...#bromance. @Davidflatman provides light hearted views and some very interesting thoughts and @Lukenarraway's profile pics are always worth a view...

Who are your favourite rugby related tweeters? Who should all rugby fans be following during the Six Nations?

Until next time,

Andy

Six Nations Opening Weekend – My review -

France V Italy

The opening game of the six nations went pretty much as expected, with France looking relatively threatening and running in a few tries against a poor Italian side. The French passing was not slick enough to cause too much concern, although they did show the ability to score tries, which other teams seemed to struggle with. We are more likely to see how god they really are against Ireland at the weekend.

Italy will undoubtedly struggle to get any results in this year’s championship as they didn’t seem to have much direction. Their only real go forward was, just for a change, Parisse who showed his class.

Scotland V England

It doesn’t take a rugby guru to analyse this one. Scotland weren’t clinical and England’s discipline was fantastic – first penalty wasn’t until almost 20 minutes and that was for overpowering the Scots in the scrum.

It was extremely refreshing to watch the ball being turned over through errors rather than cynical offences. England sides of old would have killed the ball and given away 6 or 7 kickable penalties, dramatically changing the outlook of the tie.

The English defence was robust, Barritt and Farrell were impenetrable, and all players tackled looked to hit their men and put them down. I would have liked to have seen Dowson and Croft getting over the gain line more, and thought that Ben Morgan impressed albeit with a cameo role – be keen to see more of him against Italy.

With the ball in hand, the Saracens combinations looked the most threatening, with Barritt making some good hard yards running off Hodgson. Hopefully a few more weeks in camp will see the whole side gelling more and the back three being brought into the attack more as we saw in the Wales and Ireland backlines.

Scotland need to score tries and they will be a quality side. Denton and co. carried superbly and with some real pace and skill out wide, if they can just link up the play more in midfield they could well unlock less organised defences. I would like to see Ruardiah Jackson brought in for the tie at the Millenium Stadium.

Ireland V Wales

This game got me excited about the Lions tour in 2013, mainly because George North will be on our side! Also, I have always been a massive believer that scoring off first phase should not be so hard.

Without a doubt North was the best player on the pitch on Sunday. Mike Phillips took the man of the match award, but the impact that North had was as good as I have seen a winger have in a long time. He smashed through Fergus McFadden for the Jonathan Davies try as if he wasn’t there and scored his own try. Solid in defence and soft hands, if North stays on this kind of form and the Welsh pack can sort out their lineout, I think we will be seeing a Welsh Grand Slam come March 17^th.

The Irish pack played well, with Rory Best standing out for me. Without Brian O’Driscoll marshalling the backline, the Irish lacked the cutting edge in attack. Rob Kearney was their best back and was great as ever under the high ball, and looked good with ball in hand as well.

The unfortunate talking point is once again the ‘spear’ tackles… I will leave you to discuss those…

Predictions for this weekend:

Italy V England – England by 12

France V Ireland – France by 9

Wales V Scotland – Wales by 18

Enjoy another weekend of 6 nations rugby…

Andy

Rugby Boys - Business Brains

While professionalism of the game has meant that a number of the top players no longer need to think seriously about a career after rugby, it is great to see that there are still many who are keeping themselves busy whilst playing with various different business ventures. I have taken a look at a few that have stood out to me recently.

Olly Kohn - Sausage enthusiast

The Quins’ second rower has almost as much passion for rugby as he does for meat. The Jolly Hog and Sausage Company is run by Olly and his two brothers, Josh and Max and has been feeding rugby players and fans alike over the past few years. Catering for just about any occasion, the team at the Jolly Hog have an unrivalled passion for producing high quality meat, it genuinely is fantastic! Olly clearly realises the value of PR as well he worked got some great presence on Joe Marler’s head during the big game at Twickenham in December 2010. The sky is truly the limit for the Kohn’s who have recently produced their first ‘I love Sausage’ T shirts for the public... watch this space.www.jollyhogandsausage.co.uk

Subtle advertising from the Jolly Hog thanks to Joe Marler

Olly Barkley - New generation coaching

Olly is another player who has decided not to wait until his career is over before getting his commercial hat on. His company, Electrik 3, runs rugby coaching camps like no other. The focus being as much on developing the importance of nutrition and health in rugby as well as the skills of the game itself. With development and academy players being snapped up as young as 13 by some of the bigger clubs, getting budding rugby players to understand the value of a healthy lifestyle will help them develop and maintain this as they turn professional. Olly also calls upon a pool of professionals to coach at the camps to add even more credibility to the business model. www.elektrik3.com

Barkley teaching the youngsters about the need for a healthy diet

Unique tees from Kennedy & Co.

Former London Irish team mates and friends Nick Kennedy, Nils Mordt & Dom Shabbo decided to start up luxury t-shirt brand Alpha Kin in 2010 as they all had a passion for business. The range that went on sale in Harvey Nichols and Selfridges are developed by fusing art with fashion, taking depictions of worldwide icons, such as Abraham Lincoln and Elvis Pressley and putting them onto t shirts. The players have identified the intense competition in the fashion industry and have used their contacts gained through playing professional sport to get some important fashion icons earing Alpha Kin, including some of the JLS boys and Danny Cipriani. They also donate 5% of all profits to charity, which is a nice touch. www.aplhakin.com

One of the JLS fellas in Alpha Kin

With loads of other projects and business ventures being undertaken by both current and former players, it is an exciting time to be involved in the business of rugby!

What rugby related businesses are standing out to you at the moment?

Until next week,

Andy

Players to impress at home during the Six Nations

A lot of the focus in the next two months is going to be, understandably, on the Six Nations. With all eyes on the English response to a disappointing end to 2011 and the new look squad.

The other aspect of any international period is the players who aren’t representing their country but are still playing week in, week out for their clubs. We have all seen the success stories for players recently like Brad Barritt, Mike Brown and Callum Clark who all excelled on home soil during the World Cup, and have been rewarded with EPS call ups. Not to mention Chris Robshaw, whose omission at the World Cup may have inadvertently led to him captaining the side in their next campaign.

So, I have had a look through some of the hardest hit Aviva Premiership clubs and picked some players who could well make some headlines throughout February and March.

If Jordan Turner-Hall manages to work his way into inside centre for England, a position which is there for the taking at the moment, Tom Casson may get his chance to shine at Quins. From what i have seen of him he looks like a quality player. There is the chance for an exciting partnership with Casson and Matt Hopper in the absence of Turner Hall and the injured George Lowe. Casson is a very direct player but has the ability to create from 12, which will be vital for Quins as they look to hold their season together and push for a home semi-final.

Saracens have been employing a squad rotation system on the wing this year, and as a result James Short hasn’t been able to get as much game time as he would like. But with David Strettle back in the England picture, I am expecting to see Short running in tries left right and centre for Sarries in the next couple of months. In my opinion the best player on the pitch at the Premiership final last May has lots to offer. Short will hope that he gets the kind of ball that his side have been enjoying all season, but without Hodgson, Barritt and Farrell will Saracens' backs operate as smoothly as we have come to expect?

The hardest hit pack in the Premiership is likely to be Northampton, who will struggle without Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes as well as an entire back row. However, it has set up a great opportunity for Ben Nutley, who is not yet 20. The young Saint could well have a huge role to play in coming months. Nutley has impressed internationally at U20 level and has all the makings of a quality player. Without Tom Wood, Callum Clark and Phil Dowson, the Saints will be looking for some big performances from the young flanker, and his ability to win the ball and disrupt others from getting quick ball could prove vital for Northampton.

London Wasps have got enough worries on their plate without thinking about losing players throughout the international period. But there are some very promising signs to suggest that Wasps can start looking up the table. The emergence of Nic Berry as a real talent has added some healthy competition to the Wasps' scrum half debate. Joe Simpson would start at 9 for most clubs, but the England international is being kept out by the 27 year old Aussie who has impressed even with a poor platform to work with. Berry’s battle with Ben Spencer is one to look forward to when Wasps meet Saracens in a few weeks.

Finally, with Toby Flood and Billy Twelvetrees occupied for a large part of February, and with other players called up to play in the Six Nations, it is a real chance for George Ford to show why he is currently the holder of the IRB young player of the year. The young fly half is undoubtedly a huge prospect, but I for one am keen to see him given some game time – remember Jonny Wilkinson had already played for England when he was Ford’s age... but then again he is Jonny.

Who is going to make a name for themselves in the next couple of months?

Until next week,

Andy

Music in Rugby - What are you listening to?

As we start the New Year at RugbyRocks HQ we have been announcing our first acts for the 2012 events, with Goldierocks and Benji Boko signed up to perform DJ sets at RugbyRocks London. It has got me thinking about the role of music in rugby so I have done a bit of asking around to see what is being listened to in the changing rooms and during warm ups around the UK.

Our first selection represents our Edinburgh event, taking place in July this summer – these are some of the favourites of the Scotland Sevens squad as they tour the world as part of the HSBC Sevens World Series (Clearly the Scotland lads have a penchant for Olly Murs…)

Scotland Sevens Playlist

Tinie Tempah and Swedish House Mafia - Miami 2 Ibiza

Olly Murs - Heart skips a beat 

Olly Murs - Dance with me tonight

Rihanna - Who’s that chick?

The Exponents - Why does love do this to me?
Enrique Iglesias - Tonight I’m ……. You

For the first time this year, we will be running a RugbyRocks event in Yorkshire – so I spoke with the guys at Bradford and Bingley RFC, where RugbyRocks Yorkshire will take place in June, and asked what they played in the changing room on match day. Good to see some Warren G making it into a rugby psyche up…

Bradford & Bingley Bees Playlist

Eminem - Lose yourself/Till I collapse
Deadmau5 - Strobe
Fatboy Slim - Right here right now

Chemical Brothers - Block rockin beats
50 Cent - Many Men
Swedish House Mafia - One
David Guetta - Memories
Chase & Status - Blind Faith
Warren G - Regulate

Our London playlist comes from London Irish, who have amongst their ranks accomplished DJ Shontayne Hape – this is what the Exiles are listening to this season – Quite an eclectic mix to say the least:

London Irish Playlist

Cali Swag District - Teach me how to dougie

Olly Murs - This one for the girls

Inna - Hot

Fort Minor - Remember the name

Tiesto vs Diplo ft. Busta Rhymes – C’Mon

AC/DC - Highway to Hell

What do you think of the selections? What are you listening to this year? What is the ultimate psyche up song?

Andy