Sexton wins Bank of Ireland November/December Player of the Month

Posted on Jan 16, 2012 in Irish Rugby, Leinster

Jonathan Sexton has been voted Bank of Ireland Leinster Rugby Player of the Month for November / December. Thank you to everyone who voted.

Jonathan featured in 6 games during this period, including all 4 Heineken Cup games, that the team has played so far, and an interprovincial clash with Munster. Jonathan amassed an impressive three Man of the Match performances over that period.

Against defending League champions Munster and in front of a crowd of 48,000 Sexton steered over 7 penalties to ensure Leinster won a captivating tie back in November. There were other memorable kicking feats during this time with perhaps the highlight being the injury-time penalty against Montpellier, salvaging a draw away from home.

Sexton would score all of Leinster’s points in his Man of the Match performance at the Recreation Grounds against Bath in December. In the return fixture in the Aviva Stadium Sexton again proved key running the line with efficiency and purpose, scoring a try, six conversions and one drop goal.

Commenting on the award, Jonathan Sexton said: “We had a lot of tough games over the period and what’s been great about it, is obviously the results, also the amount of players we’ve used over that amount of games. Anyone that has got a chance to play has done really well and its given Joe (Schmidt) plenty of options going forward.
“The first two (Heineken Cup) games put us in a decent position, saving the draw away to Montpellier, was I suppose crucial; it meant that winning at home against Glasgow put us in a good position. Bath away wasn’t our best performance…we created a lot of chances and for whatever reason we just didn’t take them. But we fixed that at training during the week and we were much more clinical in the home game. It’s a different story if you take a couple of early chances, it forces the other team to chase the game a little bit and it creates even more opportunities for ourselves.
“Ian (Madigan) has come in and improved no end from last year. I suppose with the signing of Mat Berquist in the summer it would have been very easy for him to go into his shell, but he reacted totally the opposite to that and really upped his performance, his work rate in training, everything. He’s been a great role model to the other younger lads with his attitude and work-rate. So we’ve got a lot of young lads coming through and it’s important that they just keep trying to improve. I think that’s key for them and you know if they can do that Leinster Rugby will benefit in the long term.
“We all have really fond memories of the RDS and its definitely our home. Even though we’ve played a lot of big games at the Aviva, we definitely regard the RDS as our home and we want to keep our record there really strong and hopefully against Montpellier at the weekend we can do that.

“I would like to thank Bank of Ireland for their sponsorship of this award, but most of all to the Leinster supporters who voted for me, I am hugely honoured by their backing.”

Winning the monthly award puts Jonathan in contention for the Bank of Ireland Player of the Year award which is announced at the Annual Leinster Awards Ball. Thank you to everyone who voted this time and congratulations to Jonathan.

Leinster supporters can now vote for the January Bank of Ireland Leinster Rugby Player of the Month.

Drewett and Greening leave Plymouth Albion

Posted on Jan 3, 2012 in Championship, English Rugby, Plymouth Albion

Plymouth Albion have announced the departure of Pete Drewett and Phil Greening from the club following the loss of a financial backer who was underwriting their salaries.

The club made the announcement in a statement: “It is with much regret that we announce the departure of Pete Drewett and Phil Greening from Plymouth Albion RFC.

The Club has lost the support of a financial backer who was underwriting their salaries and in all the circumstances Pete Drewett did not feel able to stay with the Club. We tried our best to keep the coaching team in place for a further period whilst we resolve the issues but for understandable personal reasons this was not possible. We will maintain contact to explore options.

The Board is raising additional funds and is meeting with shareholders of the Club in early January to resolve the situation. A further announcement will be made later.

In the short term Nat Saumi and John Roberts will take responsibility for coaching and James Owen will continue in the fitness and conditioning role.

It is a stressful time for all involved and in particular for Pete who joined Albion for an exciting career change opportunity and in the brief time with us has made a positive impact.”

Bester: "Bedford will serve as a barometer."

Posted on Dec 9, 2011 in Championship, English Rugby, Rotherham Titans

Rotherham Titans make four changes to the side that beat a stubborn Plymouth Albion last time out, as they prepare for one of the Championship’s toughest away fixtures of the campaign at Bedford Blues this Saturday, kick off 3pm.

Titans coach Andre Bester has made three changes in the pack; club captain Sam Dickinson returns at lock for Barney Maddison. In the front row Bester continues his rotation policy as Shane Cahill comes in for Jamie Kilbane at loose head prop and Dan Baines replaces Ted Stagg at hooker.

The only change along the back line sees Jimmy Williams given the number nine shirt ahead of Matt Rhodes.

There is a long history between Rotherham and Bedford and the majority of encounters have always been tight, close, competitive affairs. One of Titans greatest days in their history was beating Bedford over a two-legged play-off back in 2000 which propelled the Clifton Lane men into the top tier of English rugby.

However the overall league head to head, including play-off games, sees Bedford holding a narrow 14-13 advantage. Furthermore, Titans have not beaten Bedford at Goldington Road for over five years, the last time being back in November 2006 when a late Gareth Steenson penalty sealed a 34-32 victory.

Andre Bester anticipates a stern challenge this weekend as his pre-match remarks testify, “Bedford are a very strong side and their intensity is very high right now and their consistency over the last few weeks has been very good. Of all the top sides I think London Welsh and Bedford have shown the most consistency over recent weeks.”

Bester continued his appraisal, “We know we have a tough task ahead of us and we know they are capable of playing the complete game. They play a very entertaining game and they play with a very quick tempo with quick hands. Mike Rayer has a deserved reputation of developing players and playing a style of rugby which is pleasing on the eye.

“They have a stronger scrum this year than they’ve had in previous years; the scrum has become a strength of theirs. They’ve always had a strong, solid line out, but it’s their ability to move the ball quickly that has always been their strength.”

Bester finishes his summary as he explains what he looking for from the game, “There’s no doubt about it, Bedford are a very dangerous side and the game will serve as a barometer for us and it will enable us to see exactly where we are and what we need to do come play-off time. For me that is what the Bedford match is all about and we’ll have a good idea on Saturday of where we are in the big picture!”

Rotherham Titans: 15 Tom Foden, 14 Ed Tellwright, 13 Dave McCall, 12 Pale Nonu, 11 Shane Monahan, 10 Garry Law, 9 Jimmy Williams, 1 Shane Cahill, 2 Dan Baines, 3 Rob O’Donnell, 4 Sam Dickinson (Capt.), 5 Adrian Griffiths, 6 Robin Copeland, 7 Sean Dougall, 8 Semisi Taulava.

Replacements from: 16 Ted Stagg, 17 Jamie Kilbane, 18 Ben Hooper, 19 Barney Maddison, 20 Carl Kirwan, 21 Matt Rhodes, 22 Cliffie Hodgson, 23 Stephen Hamilton, 24 Elliot Brierley.

England unchanged for third leg of HSBC Sevens World Series

Posted on Dec 8, 2011 in England, English Rugby, Sevens

England have named the same squad that lifted the Dubai Sevens title last weekend for the Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens in Port Elizabeth that kicks off tomorrow.

Head coach Ben Ryan keeps faith with the 12-man group with forward Chris Brightwell the 13th man who can be called on if England suffer any injuries during the tournament.

Half-back John Brake is still side-lined by the broken finger sustained on the eve of the Gold Coast Sevens in Australia a fortnight ago.

England, second in the HSBC Sevens World Series rankings, face the USA (10.21 GMT), Samoa (13.27) and Argentina (17.54) in three tough Pool A encounters on the opening day.

Ryan is pleased with the commitment he’s seen in training with his players all fighting for places in the starting line-up.

"We’re in a good situation because of the competition within the squad," he said.

"We used the same starting side in all six games in Dubai. They’ve been playing against our reserves and there’s been a real cutting edge in training.

"No-one thinks they’re God’s gift and everyone wants to start. We all know it’s one last tournament and we’ll give it everything and then have our rest over Christmas.

"The group we’re in will take any chance of complacency away. Samoa, Argentina and the USA are all sides who have beaten us in the past three years.

"Everybody will want to have a crack at us now but we think we’re on an upward curve. We need to be consistent and that means performing well at lots of tournaments."

This is the first time three tournaments have been played back-to-back in the World Series and when England return home on December 12 they will have travelled more than 33,000 miles on 10 separate flights across a dozen time zones in less than four weeks.

Ryan said: "The boys were pretty fatigued after the [Dubai] tournament, then by travelling for 17 hours to Port Elizabeth, so lots have been stretched on the treatment table and massaged but all in all they’ve handled it pretty well and I’m sure we’ll be at full throttle on Friday."

England Sevens XII: Greg Barden (captain), Chris Cracknell, Isoa Damudamu (British Army), Simon Hunt, Christian Lewis-Pratt, Dan Norton, Tom Powell, James Rodwell, Nick Royle, Mathew Turner, Rob Vickerman, Marcus Watson (Saracens)

Tinds back in the EPS

Posted on Nov 29, 2011 in England, English Rugby

Mike Tindall’s fine for breaches of the England Elite Player Squad Agreement during the 2011 Rugby World Cup has been reduced from £25,000 to £15,000 and he has been reinstated into the England Elite Player Squad.

Regarding Mike Tindall, Martyn Thomas, Acting Chief Executive Officer who heard the appeal, said, “We accept that there were mitigating factors which do not appear to have been taken into account to the extent that they might otherwise have been. These include;

i. Mike did not intentionally mislead the RFU team management when he stated that he could not remember where he was on the night of September 11, and that he was relying on other people’s versions of events which were relayed to him

ii. That there was no evidence of any suggestion of sexual impropriety of any nature with the woman in question and we accept the fact that she is a family friend who he has known for a long time

iii. That Mike expressed deep regret during the appeal meeting about his behaviour and that he had apologised to Martin Johnson and the team for the events which unfolded as a consequence

iv. That there was no evidence that Mike had been involved in any incidences in the past which could contribute as aggravating factors.

“Taking all these factors into account we have decided to reduce the fine to £15,000 and reverse the decision to remove Mike from the England Elite Player Squad. It is however important to stress that we believe Mike’s behaviour fell way below that to be expected of somebody of his calibre and experience. He exposed himself to a very compromising position and exposed the rest of the team to damaging publicity.”

“We are aware that the EPS Squad will be reviewed on January 1, 2012 and wish to make it clear that this decision does not prevent those deciding the composition of the EPS Squad from taking into account this incident when making that decision.”