The News Review:
- Williams confirmed as new Ulster coach
- Rugby’s moments of magic and misery
- League loses kudos after Heineken coup
- Headingley is home to culture club
- A tough test for Gatland
- Dallaglio to call time on England… and the old warhorse definitely…
- Dowling facing a lengthy absence
Williams confirmed as new Ulster coach
RTE.ie – Dec 30, 2007
Williams is expected to arrive in Belfast for a short visit later this week when it is anticipated that he will meet some players, hold a press conference with local media and watch Ulster in action against Munster in the Magners League at Ravenhill on Friday night, before returning to Australia to tie up some of his affairs. Caretaker Coach Steve Williams will remain in charge of team affairs for Ulster’s next three matches – against Munster in the Magners League and the back-to-back Heineken Cup matches against Bourgoin and Gloucester – before Matt Williams arrives permanently in the province at the end of January. After the Heineken Cup match against Gloucester on 20 January, Ulster do not have another game until they entertain the Dragons at Ravenhill in mid-February, giving Williams an ideal opportunity to settle in. Williams began coaching at NSW Waratahs before arriving in Ireland to take charge of Leinster, where he claimed the Celtic League title and brought the province to a Heineken Cup quarter-final and semi-final. A controversial spell as Scotland coach followed from December 2003 until April 2005 where he won only three of 17 clashes before being sacked, and there was subsequently a bitter fall-out with both the SRU and Scottish press, with Williams claiming he had been driven out of the Scotland job unfairly. He then returned to Australia where he has been coaching West Harbour RFC in Sydney while keeping his profile high in the northern hemisphere with numerous appearances as a TV pundit.
Rugby’s moments of magic and misery
Telegraph.co.uk – Dec 30, 2007
Another example of the way passion and camaraderie can influence big rugby matches. Mind you, it did help that Argentina also possessed magicians in Gus Pichot, Felipe Contepomi and Juan Martin Hernandez plus a highly attritional pack of forwards. In domestic terms, Wasps against Clermont Auvergne in the Heineken Cup was pretty special too. Biggest disappointments: Ireland and Italy during the World Cup. Enough has been written and said about Ireland but Italy were equally bad. Two promising wins in the Six Nations against Wales and Scotland seemed to suggest that they were on the cusp of something special. Instead, their World Cup campaign merely exposed their limitations at half-back and elsewhere.
League loses kudos after Heineken coup
highbeam.com – Dec 30, 2007
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GORDON McKie must be pleased with himself. The Scottish RugbyUnion’s chief executive’s raison d’etre is fiscal prudence, andnothing dovetails better with that aim than ensuring that both ofthe remaining professional teams play in the Heineken Cup, as he didthis past week. It was nothing less than a major coup, and wasrightly presented as such. Thanks to that bon accord, both Edinburgh and Glasgow are nowguaranteed to feature in the northern hemisphere’s premier clubtournament each year, netting a combined figure of between GBP 2-4ma season, depending on which set of financial forecasts you believe. In either case, it’s a big slug of cash, and it’ll flow straightinto the SRU’s.
Headingley is home to culture club
Times Online – Dec 30, 2007
Captain Stuart Hooper, one of the verybest locks in the Premiership and coveted by several teams, sizeable andathletic and an England prospect then and now, looked around at his sixcolleagues. They were Tom Biggs, Rob Vickerman and Chris Jones in the backs,and Jon Dunbar, Rob Rawlinson and Michael Cusack with himself up front. “Wehad no time to sit around bursting into tears,” says Hooper. “There was nopoint in worrying about anything we could not control.
A tough test for Gatland
stuff.co.nz – Dec 30, 2007
Hook admitted he was apprehensive about turning up to training but would welcome with the 44-year-old. "It's going to be something new and there's going to be changes but I'm looking forward to seeing what he has to offer and take on board what he has to offer," Hook said. Hook has his work cut out to secure the No 10 jersey ahead of Stephen Jones and Gavin Henson, who has burst back on the scene after making an impression in the Heineken Cup for the Ospreys. "I want to settle down at 10 and it's a great opportunity for me with the new coach to stake that claim," he said. Wales, Grand Slam champions under Mike Ruddock in 2005, have a tough start to next year's campaign with England first-up at Twickenham on February 2. "England are going into that game with huge confidence having made the World Cup final but we have a new coach and the boys will want to make an impression on him early on," Hook said. "There is no better way to do that than at Twickenham in the Six Nations.
Dallaglio to call time on England… and the old warhorse definitely…
dailymail.co.uk – Dec 30, 2007
Dallaglio, who has led Wasps to four Premiership titles, twoHeineken Cup triumphs and two domestic cup wins, last nightrefusing to confirm what sources within both the England and Waspscamps were suggesting. He said: “I’m keeping my powder dry for bit longer. I’m notretired just yet. But it seems almost certain that the man who played every minuteof every game for England during their victorious 2003 World Cupcampaign in Australia will be calling it a day before head coachBrian Ashton names his 32-man squad for the Six Nations onWednesday week. The chances are that he would not have been named in the squadin any case, as Ashton looks forward.
Dowling facing a lengthy absence
BBC News – Dec 30, 2007
Dowling sustained the knee injury late in the second half of the Magners League contest at Musgrave Park and was stretchered off. The Kilkenny man will miss the upcoming Heineken Cup games against Clermont Auvergne and London Wasps. Dowling will also sit out the Magners League trip to Edinburgh.