2009 – What a year!

By Stephen Thomas, Rugby World reader

So 2009; what a year! There have been many ups and downs; many tales to tell. I’m going to be here every month reviewing everything which happens and giving out my unofficial awards. Now I’m going to look at 2009.
First of all is the Player of the Year. The IRB Player of the Year went to Richie McCaw and though that is a great choice, I personally believe it should have been Brian O Driscoll. He was superb both for club, country and for Lions. He still has the touch of class about him and when he touches the ball you just expect something to happen.
Team of the year is next. My winner is Sale Sharks! Only joking; they are a work in progress so perhaps next year! I’m going to give it to the British and Irish Lions. For a team who only got together for a short amount of time beforehand; to have the camaraderie they did and to come within a whisker of the winning the series is a credit to all of them especially the coaching staff which leads me to Coach of the Year.
There is only one choice for me. Sir Ian McGeechan. I never really realised how much the Lions meant to him until I saw the DVD of the tour and after a team talk before a game, there he was crying. Hands up this made me emotional and made me realise that it means that much to him.
Special recognition due to Declan Kidney who took his Munster form to Ireland and getting a Grand Slam for the first time in 66 years so well done to him. Also to Richard Cockerill for Leicester who deserves credit as he took over mid season and winning the Premiership and getting in the final of the Heineken Cup deserves huge credit.
My final award is the Moment of the Year and there are joint winners for that. Ireland and winning the Grand Slam for the first time in 66 years; what a great moment to watch and they fully deserved it with the talent of players they have in their squad.
My other recipient is Tom Williams in Bloodgate. Now I thought the events of this summer were awful and Dean Richards got what he deserved really but the thing that made me laugh the moment was the footage of how he got the capsule to open! Surely he could have made it less obvious!
Until next month…

Rugby World Player and Team of the Decade

By Paul Morgan, editor of Rugby World Magazine

The new edition of Rugby World goes on sale today with our Player and Team of the Decade announced.
But what do you think? Would you have selected a different player or different members of the team.
Does a side with 4 Kiwis, 3 Englishmen, 2 Welshmen and 2 South Africans reflect the Noughties?

HE STARTED the decade with a hat-trick in his first Six Nations Championship and finished it as one of the key reasons why Ireland went the whole of 2009 without suffering a defeat. So in the eyes of Rugby World there’s only one man who should be named Player of the Decade: Brian O’Driscoll.
The man from Blackrock College will earn his 100th Ireland cap in the coming Six Nations and more than any other has written his name large and bold across the decade that will be known as the Noughties.
Whether as captain of Ireland, Leinster or the Lions, O’Driscoll has shown exemplary form over a sustained period – form that wins him our accolade above and beyond a host of players who have left an indelible mark on our great game.
O’Driscoll may be our Player of the Decade, but he doesn’t captain our Team of the Decade. That honour falls to the captain without peer, England’s Martin Johnson.
The decade produced two World Cup winners, in England and South Africa, so naturally those teams had a number of players on our shortlist. But it isn’t all about World Cups as New Zealand managed to earn four representatives in our starting XV without even making a final.
Similarly, the rise of Argentina in this decade and Wales’ two Grand Slams had the judges scratching their heads
and working out how we could keep our team down to 15 players. A number of big names missed out, such as Lawrence Dallaglio and Neil Back, as we looked for balance in our side and the recognition of players like Sergio Parisse, who may never win a Six Nations or World Cup but should nevertheless always figure when we’re looking for legends of our game.
Full team

Mils Muliaina – New Zealand
Jason Robinson – England
Brian O’Driscoll – Ireland
Matt Giteau – Australia
Shane Williams – Wales
Dan Carter – New Zealand
Agustin Pichot – Argentina
Gethin Jenkins – Wales
John Smit – South Africa
Carl Hayman – New Zealand
Martin Johnson (c) – England
Victor Matfield – South Africa
Richard Hill – England
Richie McCaw – New Zealand
Sergio Parisse – Italy

Subs: Rodrigo Roncero, Mario Ledesma, Sylvian Marconnet, Juan-Martín Fernández Lobbe, Fourie Du Preez, Jonny Wilkinson, Yannick Jauzion, Juan Martín Hernández.

By what do you think? Name your Team and Player of the Decade and tell us why you have made your choices.

Also if you’d like to get 32% off a subscription to Rugby World Magazine go to our websites at http://www.rugbyworld.com, where we have a new offer available!

Tales from the ‘Heath – Part 4

By Sam Perkins, Blackheath player and Rugby World reader

I was once told a rugby player is fitter, stronger, harder and prettier than any footballer could be. I like to look at myself and see a typical piece of evidence to this suggestion. Rugby players are up there with the fittest of athletes. Alongside boxers, swimmers and decathlon participants, rugby demands testing dedication and fitness. I saw this in my recent viewing of the ‘Lion’s Tour of South Africa.’ I was disappointed to have missed the spectacular excursion our boys did in the summer, however, thanks to a certain ‘Centre’ teammate of mine, I was leant the DVD and on my way to witnessing (and on some level undergoing with them) the battle and union they went through.

In many blogs to come I shall refer to the ‘Tour’ on my subjects, starting with our current topic of fitness. I thought props were meant to be fat?! Sheridan, Vickery and Jones don’t have an ounce on them. Sheridan is a man mountain, shoulders wider than my bed posts and a grudge to go with it. Phil Vickery; now there’s a man who gets pumped up for a game. Respect goes fully to these legends. Which brings me to my prop fitness…I’m lacking! Looks like I need to get a lot fitter, have a bit more vigour, and gain some general ability if I’m going to start playing like the English front row. Last Saturday I got a chance to play at flanker. There I am thinking, “My chance to not run around so much, props have to do a lot more running than these fellows, right? Nope.” Probably more in fact. There’s no getting out of it, I’m going to have to start running in games, and maybe lose the dinosaur movement that has been dubbed to my jogging technique.

Still no try, don’t worry it’ll come soon.

Rugby union: Lions 2009, the third Test verdict

From Paul Morgan, editor of Rugby World Magazine

THE MAIN emotion was relief, tinged with pride when the final whistle blew at Ellis Park on Saturday, and the British and Irish Lions had won the third Test.

They still lost the series, of course, but the pride, passion and emotion the whole squad and management showed in gaining that final victory is a credit to rugby and of course the legend of the Lions.

Shane Williams will get the headlines – quite rightly – after joining a select band of players to score two tries in a Lions Test, but as with all rugby victories it started with an immense performance from the pack.

Up front Andrew Sheridan had a whale of a game and during the game and the days running up to it everyone found out exactly what they needed to know about Paul O’Connell. His development on this tour will be Munster and Ireland’s gain and I hope they can thank the Lions for that.

Jamie Heaslip also came of age and it was wonderful to see Alun Wyn Jones come on in the 67^th minute, and play his best rugby of the tour.

Martyn Williams was the link man extraordinaire for so many of the Lions moves and Joe Worsley put in one of the greatest defensive performances of the season.

There were rugby heroes across the whole team and I could have gone through each and every one of those who took the field.

And let’s not forget to tip our hats to John Smit and his Springboks, who showed in the first two Tests exactly why they are world champions.

The victory could have further ramifications, as I believe it will make the Lions stronger in their negotiations with the clubs and unions next time around.

It was an insult to the Lions to play the Heineken Cup final seven days before the first match of their tour this time. In 2013 the Lions must have a minimum of two weeks preparation time, when the whole squad can be together.

Having been privileged to follow the Lions around South Africa this time around I can confirm this team is too precious to be hamstrung when they come to take on the best in the world.

Only the World Cup comes within a million miles of a Lions tour and all I would ask is that the 2013 side is given a fair chance of beating Australia.

I hope the tour becomes a template for the home unions. In rugby union we often stand accused of taking life a little too seriously for projecting a poe-faced attitude. The Lions played with a smile on their faces on and off the field – other nations could learn from that.

They battled incredible odds to just be competitive against the world champions in their own backyard, and to even lose 2-1 is a testament to coaching abilities of Ian McGeechan.

Geech set the tempo from day one and he is going to be an awfully difficult person to replace.

I have said before the RFU or one of the other unions should offer him a job immediately, before someone else does, as he has a lot still to offer rugby union and a wealth of expertise I don’t want to see leave our great game.

On Saturday the Springboks made the ill-advised decision to wear white armbands saying ‘Justice for Bakkies’ – a show of solidarity for Bakkies Botha after he was banned for an illegal charge, committed in the second Test, which led to Lions prop Adam Jones dislocating his shoulder.

Most observes, Lions coach Warren Gatland included, believe the two-week ban was harsh on Botha, but the Springboks were wrong to protest in this way.

In the world we currently live in there are many, many injustices to protest against – the two-week suspension of a rugby player isn’t one of them.

Sportspeople can often lose perspective of what’s important in life, when they move into the squad ‘bubble’ and I believe this protest was one of them. I hope the International Rugby Board act swiftly and apply sanctions to the Springboks to ensure this is the last, and not the first of such protests.

We may not agree on the protest, but what everyone agrees is that this Lions tour has been a sensational event, both on and off the field.

Long live the Lions!

Lions tour: Verdict from Lions v Western Province

From Paul Morgan, editor of Rugby World Magazine

At the start of the Lions tour if you had offered Ian McGeechan five wins from the first five matches on the tour he would have bitten you hand off. So, even though the victory over Western Province was another less than convincing performance it puts the Lions in a far better position than anyone could have imagined.

The conditions also shouldn’t be underestimated with a swirling wind and driving rain the Lions (and Western Province) went for the sort of kicking dual that drives me crazy, and sends me to sleep.

But crucially there is quality across this Lions squad and in the final quarter they were able to bring on Scotland tighthead Euan Murray and the talented Welshman James Hook.

And in the final moments Murray won two penalties at the scrum, while Hook kicked a 50-yard penalty to win the game. That’s what you get from the Lions.

The quality came from Tommy Bowe, who is quickly becoming the man of the tour. His finishing for the first try was world-class, while his run to set up Ugo Monye’s try was equally impressive.

In terms of players who will play in the Test matches this side probably had the least and it may be that only or five of the starting fifteen against Western Province will still be around next Saturday when the serious stuff starts in Durban.

The spirit in the squad is certainly a big factor and as Phil Vickery says he has never known such spirit in any team he has been involved with – McGeechan, Gatland, Edwards and Howley should take the praise for that as they have set the tone.

One factor the Springboks may not have considered closely is that although they are at home it looks unlikely that they will have more than half of the crowd on their side. The magnificent Lions fans made themselves know at Newlands against Western Province and like in Australia in 2001 could be the difference between winning and losing the first Test.

For me those who helped their Test match cause against Western Province were:

 

Euan Murray – Is now certain of at least a place on the bench as he is so destructive at the scrum.

Martyn Williams – Did enough to ensure the battle between him and David Wallace for the No 7 shirt will be one of Geech’s hardest decisions. I make Williams a point ahead.

Tommy Bowe – First name on the team sheet

Ugo Monye – Another close one with Luke Fitzgerald. Nothing between them

James Hook – He may be edging past O’Gara for a place on the bench next Saturday.

 

But what do you think about the game and selection for next Saturday? Who do you think should start at 7?