Matthews set to make international debut as England Women’s team is announced to take on France

Posted on Nov 4, 2011 in England, English Rugby, Women's Rugby

Richmond flanker Alexandra Matthews is set to make her England debut this Saturday when England take on France at the Pierre de Coubertin Stadium in Chateaurenard, kick off 2pm GMT.

Matthews, 18, is one of nine changes, two positional, to the England starting line-up that was defeated 14-5 by France in Wednesday’s uncapped match in Marseille. And as Matthews collects her first cap tomorrow she will become the second member of the Matthews family to be capped for England. Older sister Francesca, who plays on the wing, is also a member of the England Elite Playing Squad and she has gone on to amass 18 caps for her country.

Saracens’ Hannah Gallagher, Lichfield’s Harriet Millar-Mills, Bristol’s Isobel Noel-Smith and Worcester’s Ceri Large could all be set to get their first cap for England too as they have been named on the bench. England also welcome back Emily Scarratt, Georgina Roberts and La Toya Mason to the starting line-up.

England Head Coach Gary Street said: “This is the strongest starting XV we can select from this squad and we will be expecting another tough and extremely physical test against a very motivated French team. We learnt some valuable lessons from Wednesday’s match and some of the players really excelled so they will have another opportunity to show what they can do on Saturday.

“Alex had an outstanding game on Wednesday and I am really excited about her ball carrying skills and defensive qualities that she brings to our game. We also have four uncapped players on the bench and they have brought energy into this squad. With this being our last game ahead of the three autumn international tests against world champions New Zealand this is a huge opportunity for all our players to step up and show what they can do.”

England

15 Kay Wilson (Bristol)

14 Katherine Merchant (Worcester)

13 Georgina Roberts (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks)

12 Emily Scarratt (Lichfield)

11 Michaela Staniford (Wasps)

10 Kimberley Oliver (Bristol)

9 La Toya Mason (Wasps)

1 Rochelle Clark (Worcester)

2 Victoria Fleetwood (Lichfield)

3 Laura Keates (Worcester)

4 Tamara Taylor(Darlington Mowden Park Sharks)

5 Rowena Burnfield (Richmond)

6 Alexandra Matthews (Richmond)

7 Marlie Packer (Bristol)

8 Sarah Hunter (Lichfield)

Replacements:

16 Amy Turner (Richmond)

17 Rosemarie Crowley (Lichfield)

18 Harriet Millar-Mills (Lichfield)

19 Hannah Gallagher (Saracens)

20 Isobel Noel-Smith (Bristol)

21 Natasha Hunt (Lichfield)

22 Ceri Large (Worcester)

England Autumn International Series

Nov 2nd France v England, Jean Bouin Stadium, Marseille, France 14 England 5

Nov 5th France v England, Pierre de Coubertin Stadium at Chateaurenard, KO 2pm GMT

Nov 26th England v New Zealand, Twickenham Stadium, KO 5pm

Nov 29th England v New Zealand, Esher RFC, KO 7pm

Dec 3rd England v New Zealand, Esher RFC, 2pm

Tickets for the game at Twickenham on November 26th are available from Ticketmaster.co.uk and group booking are available from the RFU by calling 0871 22 22 017, option 6. Prices range from £65 to £35. Junior tickets cost just £15.

Tickets for the international tests at Esher RFC on November 29th and December 3rd will be available on the gate and cost £10 for adults and £5 for juniors.

Referee Luke Pearce on fast track in HSBC Sevens World Series

Posted on Oct 21, 2011 in English Rugby, RFU

Young English referee Luke Pearce has been appointed to the IRB panel of officials taking charge of matches in this season’s HSBC Sevens World Series.

Pearce, 23, will work at six of the nine series tournaments, starting with the New Zealand International Sevens at Wellington on February 3-4 next year.

It continues the Devon referee’s rapid progress since his elevation into the Elite Referee Unit 12 months ago.

Pearce, from Exeter, made his first Aviva Premiership appearance at Kingsholm in charge of Gloucester Rugby v Worcester Warriors last month and his development has also seen him appointed to matches in France as part of the RFU/FFR exchange programme.

He will be joined on the sevens circuit by former Test official Steve Lander, who is the new IRB Sevens Referee Manager.

Pearce said: “I’m looking forward to taking part in the HSBC Sevens World Series, starting with Wellington and Las Vegas in February, then Hong Kong and Japan before the tournaments in Edinburgh and London.

“It’s a step up in terms of international experience, performing in front of large crowds and in the insight it can give you into different technical areas – like the tackle – that you can take back into the 15-a-side game.”

Ed Morrison, the RFU’s Head of Elite Referee Development, said: “We’re very pleased for Luke and it’s an important part of his personal development.

“The intensity of the tournaments and the pace of the game, in front of massive crowds, will be essential in adding to his experience and being involved in that environment will play an important role in enhancing his ability to succeed in the demanding 15-a-side game.

“This season Luke has taken charge of two games in the Premiership and worked in France as well and he’s developing well. We’ve had very positive feedback about his performances.”

Morrison added: “We wish Steve Lander every success too and his experience and knowledge will be invaluable in developing these referees. I know he’s looking forward to the challenge of his new role and it’s an exciting time for sevens with the sports inclusion in the Olympics now less than five years away.”

All Blacks team for the Rugby World Cup final

Posted on Oct 21, 2011 in NZ, Rugby World Cup

All Blacks Coach Graham Henry and his Assistant Coaches Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith have today announced the All Blacks team for the 2011 Rugby World Cup Final against France at Eden Park, Auckland, on Sunday October 23, naming an unchanged starting XV from the side that beat Australia 20– 6 in last weekend’s Semi-final.

Starting XV:

1.         Tony Woodcock (82)

2.         Keven Mealamu (91)

3.         Owen Franks (30)

4.         Brad Thorn (58)

5.         Samuel Whitelock (24)

6.         Jerome Kaino (47)

7.         Richie McCaw – captain (102)

8.         Kieran Read (35)

9.         Piri Weepu (55)

10.       Aaron Cruden (8)

11.       Richard Kahui (16)

12.       Ma’a Nonu (65)

13.       Conrad Smith (54)

14.       Cory Jane (30)

15.       Israel Dagg (11)

Reserves:

16.       Andrew Hore (61)

17.       Ben Franks (15)

18.       Ali Williams (72)

19.       Adam Thomson (24)

20.       Andy Ellis (25)

21.       Stephen Donald (22)

22.       Sonny Bill Williams (13)

Number of Test caps in brackets

The All Blacks will again field a hugely experienced team, with 708 caps in the starting XV, with the side again captained by flanker Richie McCaw in his 103rd Test.  The only change on the bench sees Adam Thomson, who has recovered from his high ankle strain, replace Victor Vito.

Graham Henry said: “This is the biggest game of the players’ lives and there is obvious excitement and anticipation at what lies ahead. To be playing in the Final of the Rugby World Cup in front of our home crowd is going to be massive and a very special occasion for the team as well as our fans. The support the team has received from New Zealanders throughout the Tournament has been incredibly humbling and we know the country will be right behind us on Sunday night.”

Meanwhile, a number of milestones will be achieved by various All Blacks this weekend.

McCaw and fellow loose forwards Jerome Kaino and Kieran Read will become the most-capped loose forward trio in All Blacks history, playing their 21st Test together, one more than the trio of McCaw, Rodney So’oialo and Jerry Collins.

Keven Mealamu will play in his 92nd Test joining All Blacks great Sean Fitzpatrick as the most capped All Blacks hooker of all time and the joint third most capped All Black behind McCaw and Mils Muliaina.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, Aaron Cruden will be playing in his ninth Test for the All Blacks compared, interestingly, with Grant Fox who was playing in just his seventh Test match in the 1987 Rugby World Cup Final, while it was Andrew Mehrtens’ sixth Test match in the 1995 Final.

The All Blacks have played France 50 times since 1906, with 37 wins to the All Blacks, 12 to France and the one draw. The teams have played five times at the Rugby World Cup, with the 37- 17 Pool Play win to the All Blacks in this year’s Tournament the last match. The All Blacks beat France in the 1987 Final and in the 3rd /4th playoff match in 2003 with France scoring significant victories over the All Blacks in the 1999 Semi-final and 2007 Quarterfinal.

Wales starting line-up for semi-final against France

Posted on Oct 13, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

Wales have made one change to the starting line-up which triumphed over Ireland last weekend for the 2011 Rugby World Cup semi-final clash with France at Eden Park on Saturday (Kick-off 9pm).

Perpignan-bound James Hook replaces Scarlets fly-half Rhys Priestland.

Priestland injured his shoulder during Wales’ impressive 22-10 quarter-final victory over the Irish in Wellington last Saturday.  He was not considered for selection this week and will now continue his rehabilitation over the next few days with a view to returning next week.

On the bench 102-times capped Scarlets fly-half Stephen Jones comes in for the promoted Hook, who himself brings 57 caps worth of experience to side.

“Time was against Rhys, but we are happy that we have the talent and ability elsewhere in the squad to cover him,”said Wales head coach Warren Gatland.

“Rhys has done everything we have asked of him and more during this World Cup, but, when we have players of the calibre and experience of James Hook and Stephen Jones coming into the squad and starting line-up, there is no sense that Rhys’s absence leaves us any weaker.

“We know that the people in Wales and the fans that have travelled here are excited about reaching the semi-finals of the world cup and we are too, but beating France on Saturday must be and will be our sole focus.

“The time to reflect and to celebrate will come if we win our next two matches, until that happens our focus on the task ahead must be absolute.”

WALES: Leigh Halfpenny;  George North, Jonathan Davies, Jamie Roberts, Shane Williams, James Hook, Mike Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Huw Bennett, Adam Jones, Luke Charteris, Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton (C), Toby Faletau

REPLACEMENTS: Lloyd Burns, Paul James, Bradley Davies, Ryan Jones, Lloyd Williams, Stephen Jones, Scott Williams.

WALES

15 Leigh HALFPENNY (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,060)
  DoB: 22.12.88. 5’10” / 1.77m. 13st 2lbs / 83kgs
  International record: 24 caps (W 12, L 12; 70 pts – 8T, 10PG)

  14 George NORTH (SCARLETS – Cap No 1,078)
  DoB: 13.04.92. 6’4” / 1.92m. 16st 5lbs / 104kgs
  International record: 13 caps (W 6, L 6, D 1; 45 pts – 9T)

  13 Jonathan DAVIES (SCARLETS – Cap No 1,066)
  DoB: 05.04.88. 6’1” / 1.86m. 16st 3lb / 103kgs
  International record: 19 caps (W 11, L 8; 25 pts – 5T)

  12 Jamie ROBERTS (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,057)
  DoB: 08.11.86.  6’4” / 1.93m. 17st 5lbs / 110kgs
  International record: 36 caps (W 18, L 18; 20 pts – 4T)

  11 Shane WILLIAMS (OSPREYS – Cap No 976)
  DoB: 26.02.77. 5’7” / 1.71m. 12st 1lb / 77kgs
  International record: 84 caps (W 41, L 41, D 2; 280 pts – 56T)

  10 James HOOK (PERPIGNAN – Cap No 1,047)
  DoB: 27.06.85. 6’0” / 1.83m. 14st 12lbs / 94kgs
  International record: 57 caps (W 25, L 30, D 2; 320 pts – 12T, 40C, 56PG, 4DG

  9 Mike PHILLIPS (BAYONNE – Cap No 1,022)
  DoB: 29.08.82. 6’3” / 1.91m. 15st 10lb / 101kgs
  International record: 58 caps (W 28, L 28, D 2; 35 pts – 7T)

  1 Gethin JENKINS (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,006)
  DoB: 17.11.80. 6’2” / 1.88m. 18st 9lbs / 118kgs
  International record: 80 caps (W 37, L 41, D 2; 20 pts – 4T)

  2 Huw BENNETT (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,017)
  DoB: 11.06.83. 6’0” / 1.83m. 16st 8lbs / 105kgs
  International record: 46 caps (W 23, L 22, D 1)

  3 Adam JONES (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,018)
  DoB: 08.03.81. 6’0” / 1.83m. 18st 12lb / 120kgs
  International record: 74 caps (W 35, L 36, D 3; 10 pts – 2T)

  4 Luke CHARTERIS (NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS – Cap No 1,030)
  DoB: 09.03.83. 6’9” / 2.06m. 19st 10lbs / 125kgs
  International record: 30 caps (W 16, L 14)

  5 Alun Wyn JONES (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,046)
  DoB: 19.09.85. 6’5” / 1.96m. 18st 10lbs / 119kgs
  International record: 57 caps (W 25, L 32; 35 pts – 7T)

  6 Dan LYDIATE (NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS – Cap No 1,071)
  DoB: 18.12.87. 1.93m / 6’4”. 17st 10lbs / 112kgs
  International record: 17 caps (W 8, L 8, D 1)

  7 Sam WARBURTON (CARDIFF BLUES, CAPTAIN – Cap No 1,070)
  DoB: 05.10.88. 1.88m / 6’2”. 16st 4lbs / 103kgs
  International record: 22 caps (W 12, L 10; 10 pts – 2T)

  8 Toby FALETAU (NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS – Cap No 1,082)
  DoB: 12.11.90. 1.88m / 6’2”. 17st 5lbs / 110kgs
  International record: 8 caps (W 5, L 3; 10 pts – 2T)

  REPLACEMENTS

  16 Lloyd BURNS (NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS – Cap No 1,085)
  DoB: 09.12.84. 6’0” / 1.83m. 17st 0lbs / 108kgs
  International record: 6 caps (W 4, L 2; 5 pts – 1T)

17 Paul JAMES (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,021)
  DoB: 13.05.82. 6’1” / 1.86m. 18st 2lbs / 115kgs
  International record: 29 caps (W 12, L 16, D 1)

  18 Bradley DAVIES (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,065)
  DoB: 09.01.87.  6’6” / 1.98m. 19st 1lbs / 121kgs
  International record: 29 caps (W 13, L 14, D 1)

  19 Ryan JONES (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,029)
  DoB: 13.03.81. 6’5” / 1.96m. 17st 5lbs / 110kgs
  International record: 55 caps (W 28, L 25, D 2; 5 pts – 1T)

  20 Lloyd WILLIAMS (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,087)
  DoB: 30.11.89. 6’0” / 1.83m. 13st 9lbs / 87kgs
  International record: 3 caps (W 3; 10 pts – 2T)

21 Stephen JONES (SCARLETS– Cap No 966)
  DoB: 08.12.77.  6’1” / 1.86m.  14st 7lbs / 92kgs
  International record: 102 caps (W 42, L 56, D 3; 912 pts – 7T, 152C, 185PG, 6DG)

  22 Scott WILLIAMS (SCARLETS – Cap No 1,084)
  DoB: 10.10.90. 6’0” / 1.83m. 15st 3lbs / 97kgs
  International record: 6 caps (W 4, L 2; 20 pts – 4T)

Four changes to All Blacks team to play France

Posted on Sep 22, 2011 in NZ, Rugby News, Rugby World Cup

All Blacks team named for RWC Test against France

All Blacks Coach Graham Henry and his Assistant Coaches Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith have today announced the All Blacks team for their third match of the 2011 Rugby World Cup against France at Eden Park, Auckland, on Saturday September 24.

Starting XV:

1.         Tony Woodcock (78)

2.         Keven Mealamu (87)

3.         Owen Franks (26)

4.         Brad Thorn (54)

5.         Sam Whitelock (20)

6.         Jerome Kaino (43)

7.         Richie McCaw – captain (99)

8.         Adam Thomson (23)

9.         Piri Weepu (51)

10.       Daniel Carter (84)

11.       Richard Kahui (14)

12.       Ma’a Nonu (62)

13.       Conrad Smith (50)

14.       Cory Jane (28)

15.       Israel Dagg (8)

Reserves:

16.       Andrew Hore (57)

17.       Ben Franks (12)

18.       Ali Williams (68)

19.       Anthony Boric (22)

20.       Andy Ellis (22)

21.       Colin Slade (7)

22.       Sonny Bill Williams (9)

Number of Test caps in brackets

The starting XV features four changes to the team which beat Japan 83 – 7 in Hamilton last week: Richie McCaw returns to captain the side in his 100th Test after a minor calf strain forced him to miss the Japan Test; Israel Dagg has recovered from his abdominal strain and been named at fullback; Piri Weepu is at halfback with Andy Ellis on the bench; and playmaker Daniel Carter has also recovered from his stiff back to take his place in the familiar number 10 jersey.

All Blacks Coach Graham Henry said: “While there is obviously intense interest in this game because of past Rugby World Cups, the focus for the team is simple. We will have to match the physicality of the French, execute our key roles well and deal with anything unexpected which the French may throw at us.” 

Henry added: “The French are a very good side and they often play their very best rugby against the All Blacks.  They play with huge passion, lift themselves emotionally and, as always, they can never be underestimated.”

Saturday’s match will be the 50th Test between the two countries, with the All Blacks winning 36 matches, France 12, with one draw. The All Blacks and France have played each other four times at the Rugby World Cup (for two wins apiece) but this is the first time they have met in Pool Play.  The All Blacks beat France in the 1987 Final and in the 3rd /4th playoff match in 2003 with France scoring victories in 1999 and 2007.