Nottingham pay tribute to “Captain Fantastic”

Posted on May 11, 2012 in Championship, Nottingham

Nottingham Rugby’s most decorated captain is leaving the club for the opportunity of a life-time in Hong Kong.

After a decade-long career with the Green and Whites, skippering the side a record 227 times, Craig Hammond has accepted a job as player-coach of Hong Kong Scottish.

Until the 33-year-old lock got a phone call out of the blue from the Oriental rugby hot-bed, he was considering a contract extension to stay with Nottingham and was busy planning his testimonial year with the RFU Championship club.

But when invited to tour the facilities of the Premiership club in the City-State last week, Hammond simply couldn’t resists taking the bold step into management and penned a two-year deal with the outfit.

Having recently guided Midlands One East club Ilkeston to Derbyshire Cup glory, the New Zealander clearly indicated that he was thinking hard about life after playing.

“It’s been an emotional decision to come to, leaving a club, a city and people that have been so good to me for so long for an exciting chance to further my career in an amazing place like Hong Kong,” said Hammond, who will be relocating with his wife and three children in June.

“Sure, I could see myself playing at Nottingham for a few more seasons, but this opportunity is just too good to knock back.

“I’ll be mentored in coaching at a high level, working with both the Hong Kong Rugby Union and an ambitious side like Scottish.

I’ve just turned 33 so it’s a perfect time to transition from playing to coaching, which is what I’ve always wanted.”

(more…)

Former Scotland 7s captain to coach Scotland Women 7s

Posted on Apr 19, 2012 in Scotland, Scotland Women, Scottish Rugby, Sevens, smb

Scottish Rugby today announced the first Scotland Women 7s squad, to be coached by former Scotland 7s captain and Glasgow Warriors back row forward, Scott Forrest.

Trials for the squad have been taking place in Scotland and London (exiles) over the last four weeks, led by Forrest, with aim of qualification for the 2013 Women’s Sevens Rugby World Cup.

This is Forrest’s first foray into coaching, after long-term injury forced him to hang up his boots following the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and his subsequent appointment as rugby development officer in Inverclyde.

Forrest said: "Going into sevens coaching just made sense because I’ve been involved in the game for so long. This opportunity came up and I was really excited. It’s the first time I’ve worked with a women’s squad – although in my job as DO I do development work with girls’ teams – and they’ve been great.

"Although they haven’t played a lot of sevens, the girls are very open and love to ask questions, which is great for a coach. The difference between males and females playing the game, at the moment, is the pace and skill level but, in terms of the game, the structure is exactly the same."

The squad will play in a number of tournaments prior to competing in a FIRA-AER tournament in Belgium (9 & 10 June) from which they must finish in first or second position to proceed to the WRWC 2013 qualifier final in Moscow (30 June & 1July). Despite it being a very short programme for the girls, Forrest has every faith in his players.

He said: "I’ve played sevens for quite a long time and one thing I’ve learnt is that on any one day, any team can beat any other team. I’ve found that out the hard way, sometimes, but other times we’ve beaten teams that we were never expected to. If you do a good job and do the preparation right, then you really can beat anyone. That’s the beauty of sevens – you do get upsets!"

With the imminent arrival of the Emirates Airline Glasgow 7s to the west of Scotland, Scott is a great supporter of the event’s move to a new location.

"I think it needed that, to freshen it up a bit and obviously the new facilities at Scotstoun will be great – with 15,000 people each day the atmosphere will be outstanding which, as players, is brilliant, especially when Scotland play and the crowd really get behind you. That number of supporters filling Scotstoun will be fantastic."

The Scotland Women 7s squad announced today is below; the remaining two places will be announced following the Great Britain Student 7s trials on 28 April in London (Scott is also assistant coach of the GB Student Women 7s team).

1     Susie Brown (Richmond)
2     Louise Dalgliesh (RHC Cougars)
3     Sarah Dixon (Stirling County)
4     Tess Forsberg (Richmond)
5     Megan Gaffney (Murrayfield Wanderers)
6     Katy Green (Murrayfield Wanderers)
7     Steph Johnstone (RHC Cougars)
8     Sarah Law (Murrayfield Wanderers)
9     Lisa Martin (Murrayfield Wanderers)
10   Annabel Sergeant (Murrayfield Wanderers)
11   Sarah Sexton (Murrayfield Wanderers)
12   Ruth Slaven (Murrayfield Wanderers)
13   Laura Steven (Murrayfield Wanderers)
14   Hazel Tod (Cartha QPR)
15   tbc       
16   tbc

The FIRA-AER WRWC qualifier first round tournament takes place in Ghent, Belgium on 9 and 10 June 2012. Scotland have been pooled with Finland, Czech Republic, Belgium, Norway, Malta, Poland, Israel, Georgia and Serbia and must finish first or second in their group to proceed to the WRWC 2013 qualifier final in Moscow on 30 June and 1 July. The 2013 Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens take place in Moscow.

Ospreys team to face Saracens

Posted on Dec 9, 2011 in Ospreys, Welsh Rugby

The Ospreys team to play Saracens on Saturday 10th December 2011 at Wembley Stadium, kick off at 6.00pm, will be as follows:

15 Richard Fussell

14 Tommy Bowe

13 Andrew Bishop

12 Ashley Beck

11 Shane Williams

10 Dan Biggar

9 Rhys Webb

1 Duncan Jones

2 Richard Hibbard

3 Adam Jones

4 Ryan Jones

5 Jonathan Thomas

6 Tom Smith (Capt)

7 Justin Tipuric

8 Joe Bearman

Replacements:

16 Huw Bennett

17 Ryan Bevington

18 Aaron Jarvis

19 Ian Gough

20 George Stowers

21 Tom Isaacs

22 Matthew Morgan

23 Sonny Parker

The following players were unavailable because of international duty:

Tom Habberfield, Will Price and Tom Prydie are with Wales Sevens

The following players were not considered because of injury:

James Goode – Back

Kahn Fotuali’i – Rib

Ben John – Groin

Alun Wyn Jones – Foot

Gareth Owen – ACL

Nikki Walker – ACL

Paul James – Thumb

Ospreys Director of Coaching, Scott Johnson, commented:

“This stage of the tournament is always a crucial time, with the double headers pivotal to how the pool works out. We’ve got two tough games back to back against the English champions, but we’ve got our fate in our own hands. How far we go in terms of reaching the knockout stages is down to us, nobody else.

“Saracens are a big, strong team with a dominant pack so we know where it’s going to be won or lost. Selection has been tough given the form of the guys who played in the last two league games, but we think we’ve gone with a 23 that will be up for the job. Make no mistake about it, everyone of them will have a big part to play.

"Tom continues as captain because we feel he’s earned the right over the last few weeks. He’s led by example, he’s performed well, and with Justin having been away with Wales he’s really taken the opportunity and impressed as a captain. We’ve got a number of experienced leaders and captains in the squad but Tom has the armband on merit.

“It’s going to be tough, it’s going to be a real battle, and we know what we’ve got to do there. We want to bring something back to the Liberty from this game, so that we’ve got everything to play for when they come to ours next Friday. We’ve got a proud home record and with our fans here to really get behind us like they did in the Munster match, it promises to be a big night for Ospreys Rugby.”

Forthcoming fixtures

Fri 16 Dec – Ospreys v Saracens – Liberty Stadium – Heineken Cup – 8.00pm

Mon 26 Dec – Scarlets v Ospreys – Parc Y Scarlets – RaboDirect PRO12 – 2.05pm

Sun 1 Jan – Ospreys v Cardiff Blues – Liberty Stadium – RaboDirect PRO12 – 6.30pm

Fri 6 Jan – Newport Gwent Dragons v Ospreys – Rodney Parade – RaboDirect PRO12 – 7.05pm

England name captain for HSBC Sevens World Series

Posted on Nov 22, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

Greg Barden will lead England in this season’s HSBC Sevens World Series after being named as the side’s new captain today.

The former Royal Marine from Poole takes charge for the first time when England kick off the campaign in the Gold Coast Sevens on Friday.

Barden will be supported by vice captain Rob Vickerman, who joined England Sevens from Newcastle Falcons this summer, with senior player Chris Cracknell next in line when Barden and Vickerman are not on the field.

Head coach Ben Ryan said: “We’ve got a good group of senior players who’ve led the squad well, three of them being Greg Barden, Rob Vickerman and Chris Cracknell.

“Greg has enormous respect from everyone. He’s quiet but when he does speak everyone listens and he leads by example.

“His last appearance for us was in the Hong Kong final when he was absolutely outstanding. He really does epitomise wanting to give everything you possibly can when wearing an England shirt.”

Barden, 30, has appeared in 11 World Series tournaments for England and joined the squad as a full-time player this year after leaving the military. He previously played for Bristol Rugby and Newbury as well as the Royal Navy.

He said: “The captaincy is a huge honour. It’s a big ask from Ben [Ryan] to take on that responsibility but hopefully it’s something I’ll thrive on and enjoy immensely throughout the season.

“Throughout the squad there’s a huge amount of experience that we can draw upon. Rob Vickerman’s been with the sevens before and in the Aviva Premiership with Newcastle and Leeds so his experience is second to none. Chris Cracknell has been in the fold for quite a few years now, James Rodwell’s got 25 tournaments under his belt, the list goes on.”

England trained twice today, first at Surfers Paradise RFC and then at The Southport School – alma mater to Wallabies Tom Lawton, Mat Rogers  and Nathan Sharpe – where they played conditioned games against Japan and Fiji.

They face Scotland (03.19 GMT), Tonga (06.25) and Wales (10.52) in Pool D on the tournament’s opening day. The top two sides in the pool are likely to face either New Zealand or Fiji in the quarter finals.

Harley to captain rejigged Warriors side at Sale

Posted on Aug 25, 2011 in Glasgow, Scottish Rugby

With the opening night of the RaboDirect PRO12 season now just over a week away, Glasgow Warriors head coach Sean Lineen has given another batch of players the chance to nail a spot in his starting line-up by naming a remodelled team to face Sale Sharks at Edgeley Park tomorrow night (kick-off 7.45pm).

It’s the Warriors last warm-up match before the competitive action begins with a trip to face Ulster at Ravenhill on Friday 2 September (kick-off 7.05pm, live on BBC ALBA), and Lineen’s side shows just six survivors from the 17-7 win over Newcastle Falcons at Firhill a fortnight ago.

In the backs, Troy Nathan and Henry Pyrgos retain their places at inside centre and scrum-half respectively, while, up front, hooker Pat MacArthur, locks Tom Ryder and Nick Campbell, and openside flanker Chris Fusaro also stay in the team.

Coming into the backline are full-back Stuart Hogg, who stepped off the bench to score a cracking try against the Falcons, wingers Federico Aramburu and Dave McCall, outside centre Peter Horne and stand-off Duncan Weir.

In the pack, meanwhile, former Doncaster Knights tight-head prop Mike Cusack makes a first Warriors appearance and Rory Pitman a first start since joining on loan from Ospreys.

There are also starting berths for Ryan Grant and Rob Harley, who both featured in the Falcons triumph and this week returned to the Warriors fold after being part of the wider Scotland Rugby World Cup squad this summer.

Harley, who excelled in his first season as a professional last year, is to captain the side at Edgeley Park.

Lineen told www.glasgowwarriors.org that the accolade was well deserved. He said: “Rob’s a fantastic talent and character who we’re delighted to have back with us.

“It’s a sign of his ambition and desire to progress in the game that he’s disappointed not to be going to the Rugby World Cup, but he’s hungry to do well for the Warriors and I’ve every confidence he’ll hit the ground running.

“It’s also great to have Ryan Grant back in the team, and with a big scrummaging unit like Mike Cusack on the other side, I like the look of our front row.

“It was always our intention to give as many guys as possible a chance to impress between the Newcastle and Sale games, and that’s exactly what we’re doing by making a few changes for tomorrow.

“We showed excellent fitness and resilience to push on in the Falcons match and ultimately win it, and I’m looking forward to seeing us build on that at Edgeley Park.

“It’s going to be another very worthwhile runout ahead of the RaboDirect PRO12 beginning at Ulster next Friday. There will be no margin for error that night, so we’re looking for a slick performance tomorrow to set us up for Belfast.”

Harley told www.glasgowwarriors.org: “It’s a massive honour to have the chance to captain the side tomorrow night.

“I love playing for Glasgow and take a great pride in pulling on that jersey. The extra responsibility of being captain is something I’ll relish, and it’s great to be able to call on the support of the core of experienced players that we have at the club even with a good number of guys away with Scotland.

“I’ve learned a lot from being part of the wider Scotland squad all summer, and I’m looking forward to putting that into practice with Glasgow over the coming weeks and months.”