TEENKICKS by Ben Mcintosh

A new blog written by teenage Rugby World reader Ben Mcintosh

☺ Autumn Internationals – My Dream Team
☺ New Rugby Game?
☺ Joke of the week!
☺ Junior tip of the week!
☺ Coming up in next month’s edition – Exclusive interview with Leicester Tigers prop “Julian White”!
☺ A little something for Christmas!

Autumn Internationals – My Dream Team
The autumn internationals mostly went the way of the southern hemisphere countries as usual. Although only New Zealand were unbeaten at the end of the tour. Their most amazing offloading out of the tackle and their immense lines of running made them superior in this autumn series. I also think that many English players stood out as well.
My Dream Team of the Autumn would be:-
1. Tendai Mtawarira – Power and scrummaging
2. Dylan Hartley – Decision making at the break down
3. Adam Jones – Great maul work
4. Courtney Lawes – Awesome tackling
5. Victor Matfield – Amazing lineouts
6. Stephen Ferris – Superb attacking running
7. Richie Mccaw – All round leadership
8. Kieran Read – Power Machine
9. Ben Youngs – Quick thinking ability
10. Dan Carter – Brilliant kicking
11. Hosea Gear – Speed and strength
12. Sonny Bill Williams – Speedy offloading
13. Mike Tindall – Solid
14. Chris Ashton – The whole package
15. Mils Muliaina – Counter running

New Rugby Game?
The last rugby game was unveiled in 2008 but will there be another? There has been talk of a World Cup 2011 game, but will it happen? I personally love the Rugby 08 game as it has great graphics and is easy to use. I hope there will be another one in the coming years. Would you like to see another rugby Game?

Joke Of The Week
“Waiter, waiter, why are there ears in my soup”?
“It’s ok sir, they’re cauliflower ears”!

Junior Tip Of The Week!
Support the ball carrier!

A little something for Christmas!
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/wSzldYrMkpA4svA88iN5

Super 14 – super stuff

By Rugby World reader, Steve Heath

You join me this week in a very sad mood as one of my best friends is in a coma. I did warn him that a full 80 minutes of watching England “play” international rugby would most likely lead to this outcome. “Take frequent breaks” I told him, I admit that I was only joking when I said the length of these breaks should be for 40 minutes just after kick off in each half, but who’s sorry now?

This week I decided to take a break from the tedium of under strength northern hemisphere club rugby and gave Super 14 a go. I appreciate that it gets criticised as being powder puff and not what us chaps like in our rugby but I have always enjoyed it. The Super 14 is based in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand – who are better than us, played in better conditions usually, and from what I have seen matches seem to be played with a far more attacking intent. What’s not to like?

LIONS 65 CHIEFS 72.

Admittedly I dropped lucky with the match I watched. The attacking intent was refreshing to see – players were actually trying to go past each other. Why do the England team insist on running into players? Seriously, Carwyn James once said the spirit of rugby was 14 players busting a gut to give the 15th half a yard on his opposite number, take your man on!!!!! This was a feast of attacking rugby and it was a shame when the half time whistle went as you knew this would be the longest period without a try.

Other news this week – Danny Cipriani is off to Australia, another indication that England would rather persist with bashers than let flair players have a go. Good luck Mr Cipriani, I genuinely hope you are one of the players of Super 15 next year while the England management team scratch their heads and mutter “oops”.

The Six Nations resumes next week. Your favourite blogist is off to the Millenium Stadium for Wales v France.

Predictions: The Welsh weekend to be over before it starts – France by 17. Ireland will be smarting from defeat against France and unless they fall asleep watching England “attack” I can see Ireland winning by 12 points. Italy will take heart from their performance against England and will beat a depleted Scotland by four points.

There you go, I suggest you go to the bookies and place your hard earned cash on Wales, England and Scotland.

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?