The News Review:
- Players and RFU to scrum down over England performance pay
- Old romantic hoping for a happy ending
- Ospreys move no shock – Cockbain
- Mike Brown could fix England backline dilemma
- Peter Bills: Humphreys deserved more of Ireland’s call
- JIM KAYES – The Dominion Post | Saturday, 17 May 2008
Players and RFU to scrum down over England performance pay
Guardian – May 17, 2008
Wasps, who reported a £2. 3m loss last year, stand to lose more than £400,000 next season. The Ospreys last night parted company with Lyn Jones, the Welsh region’s head coach since its formation in 2003, despite winning the EDF Energy Cup and reaching the knockout stage of the Heineken Cup for the first time. Although the departure was said to be by mutual consent, Jones’ future was put in doubt last month when the Ospreys announced they would be conducting a review of the Heineken Cup quarter-final defeat to Saracens. The Ospreys said they would be undertaking a worldwide search for Jones’ successor, led by their elite performance director, the New Zealander Andrew Hore. The former Wales coach Steve Hansen, who is a member of the All Blacks’ management team, was linked with the region earlier in the season. “The Ospreys are now one of the leading sides in European rugby and I think it is a good time for a new hand to come in and move the region to the next level of development,” said Jones.
Old romantic hoping for a happy ending
Times Online – May 17, 2008
From the minute I came here it was the rightplace to be. ”And as Wasps have moved home, from Sudbury to Loftus Road and High Wycombe,Dallaglio has moved with them, the street-smart boy from Shepherds Bush whobecame central – in a way that only the most singular of players do – to hisclub’s fortunes. Ask him about his favourite match and it will not be one of his 85 Englandgames, nor a moment from his three Lions tours; it is the 2004 Heineken Cupsemi-final at Lansdowne Road in which Wasps beat Munster. Whether his activecareer ends against Bath or in the Premiership final, the chain will not bebroken; Dallaglio has been appointed as associate director of the club by aboard comprising many who joined because he was there – just as his presenceplayed a role in attracting Ian McGeechan to become director of rugby. “Lawrence doesn’t accept second best from anyone,” McGeechan, who firstcoached Dallaglio on the 1997 Lions tour to South Africa, said. “He was oneof the core leaders in that team, along with Martin Johnson, and went on tobecome part of the best back row in the world. He took over the mantle ofcaptaincy at the age of 23 and has driven the club forward ever since.
Ospreys move no shock – Cockbain
BBC News – May 17, 2008
Despite lifting the EDF Energy Cup this season by beating Leicester, avenging last year’s defeat at Twickenham by the same opponents, the Ospreys have been regarded as under-achievers. The Magners League campaign, where they finished seventh, saw the Ospreys victims of their own success as they provided the bulk of Wales’ Grand Slam-winning side. But the big-spenders were at full strength for the Heineken Cup and installed as one of the favourites. The Ospreys should have topped their pool and secured home advantage but let slip their early dominance in a crucial game at Kingsholm, losing to Gloucester and handing the Cherry and Whites top spot. Even then the Ospreys should have claimed a place in the semi-finals, needing to win at Saracens – a team they had soundly beaten two weeks before in the EDF semis – but being out-foxed at Vicarage Road in the quarters. “Most people agree that if it was soccer then the manager would have been sacked long before this,” Cockbain added. “But he’s a very good technical coach, it’s very difficult being a coach because you’ve always got to try and manage people.
Mike Brown could fix England backline dilemma
Telegraph.co.uk – May 17, 2008
It is the back three where tough decisions have to be made. Paul Sackey should be paired with Topsy Ojo. David Strettle and Ojo are neck and neck offensively, but the London Irish winger’s performance in the Heineken Cup against Toulouse, and his defensive displays in recent weeks, give him the edge. We then come to full-back, a position where England seem to lack clarity at present. England’s probable backline was made for someone of Iain Balshaw’s attacking ability, but unfortunately he has mistimed the middle of his season and he is not in the mix. Others must step up and do what is required. Neither Mathew Tait nor Mike Brown will start the Tests but both will be on the bench, their ability to cover the backline invaluable.
Peter Bills: Humphreys deserved more of Ireland’s call
Belfast Telegraph – May 17, 2008
Meanwhile, David Knox, who has coached the Leinster backs for the last three seasons, offered his candid views on Irish rugby this week. He suggested Ireland needed an overseas coach, not Declan Kidney, to replace Eddie O’Sullivan. He noted Munster’s proud Heineken Cup record (and tipped them to win the trophy next weekend) but dismissed their 10-man style of rugby. He said he thought Irish rugby was still much too conservative. And he revealed a feud within the Leinster coaching camp. Yet all Knox did was give his own opinions. Honestly and openly.
JIM KAYES – The Dominion Post | Saturday, 17 May 2008
Dominion Post – The Dominion Post – May 17, 2008
For every idea there is a problem. Sitting like a giant wart in the middle of any plans to lengthen the Super competition is the date May 31. It's the day last year's summit at Woking agreed the Heineken Cup would end, creating a clear June window for tests in the southern hemisphere. To get a 20-week Super competition in before that date it would have had to have started on January 11 this year and that's untenable. Had it started on February 15, as this year's Super 14 did, the 20-week tournament would end on the last weekend of June. Again, not practical. You could start later, and simply play through the June tests as Australia's NRL league competition does when tests and the State of Origin are on, but it's not ideal.