Will Greenwood on the JP Morgan Sevens

Posted on Mar 25, 2013 in Sevens

By Paul Smith, Sportsbeat – There has never been a more exciting time to prove your worth as a sevens rugby player according to England World Cup winner Will Greenwood.

Speaking at the launch of this year’s J.P. Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s tournament, for which he is an ambassador, Greenwood claimed those involved may have a realistic chance of choosing between a push for England’s 2015 World Cup squad or alternatively the Rio Olympic Games a year later.

Sevens rugby will be part of Rio 2016, adding to the excitement at this year’s J.P. Morgan 7s, and Greenwood believes it is the ideal chance for young professionals at Aviva Premiership clubs to show what they can do.

"In 2010 when Saracens won the first tournament it was a bit of a toe in the water and since then it has grown year-on-year," said Greenwood. "You get a glimpse of the future in seeing a lot of the academy lads coming through.

"It’s a real opportunity for the coaches. You never know what you are going to get in terms of the players that will be there – either the next generation of England players or England players returning to form – but what you are absolutely guaranteed is pace, athleticism and fun.

"It is good for the academy lads who are pushing to try and get into their senior sides to showcase their talent before the season starts.

"If you are 18, 19 or 20 now and you have got bags of pace and commitment you have got wonderful choice – do I focus on my XVs and try and win a World Cup with England at Twickenham? Or do I switch and give Ben Ryan a call and try and play 7s and win an Olympic gold medal in Rio? Nice decisions to have."

The J.P. Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s kicks off on 1st August at Kingsholm with rounds at Franklin’s Gardens and Allianz Park and the final at The Recreation Ground. For tickets and more information visit: www.jpmorgan7s.com or follow @jpmorganrugby7

Five of seven internationals return for Zebre

Posted on Mar 21, 2013 in Zebre

After two weeks of stop action due to the 6 Nations final rounds, the RaboDirect PRO12 is back in action in Parma where Zebre will try once more to find its first ever win in the competition.

Tomorrow night at 7pm local time the welsh side Scarlets trying to avoid defeat and obtain crucial points for the playoff battle. Zebre technical staff decided to maintain the same back line of last appearance in Galway where the white & black striped boys were so close to a win.

International centre Garcia is not selected and leaves his place to the other international Venditti who returns for the Parma based outfit after scoring the only try of last Saturday’s historical win for Italy against Ireland. The speedy duo Sinoti-Sarto is confirmed in the back three, along with the fullback Benettin. In the halves Chillon and Buso are paired together.

In the front row the Irish prop Ryan is drafted in along with Aguero while the hooker will be Festuccia with his 13th appearance in the RaboDirect PRO12. In the second row Zebre Rugby’s ambassador Marco Bortolami is ruled out of the game with a light injury after gaining 4 competitive starts. His number 5 shirt is taken by Sole who switches from the back row. He will pair with Italian international Geldenhuys. The Italian pack is completed by the South African Van Schalkwyk at number 8 while either side of him will be flankers Caffini and Bergamasco, skipper of the Zebre tomorrow night for the third time.

Bergamasco, 93 caps with Italy, spoke this morning about the tomorrow game with the Italian press :”We surely put on the field our best to face this hard challenge. We need our best ever performance to obtain our goal : the first victory of the season that we miss by inches in the last appearances. We will maintain the same spirit and competitive approach we had before the international games’ stop. The Scarlets have a great roster and a very intelligent way of play, absolutely effective with their backs. We must take the maximum possession not to give the welsh side clean opportunity to counter attack us in the open space with turn-overs. Less mistakes and more possession, this is our target”.

Here’s Zebre Rugby line-up for Friday night game at the Stadio XXV Aprile in Parma facing the Scarlets in the 18th Round of the RaboDirect PRO12 :

15 Alberto BENETTIN*

14 Leonardo SARTO*

13 Matteo PRATICHETTI

12 Giovanbattista VENDITTI

11 Sinoti SINOTI

10 Paolo BUSO

9 Alberto CHILLON*

8 Andries VAN SCHALKWYK

7 Mauro BERGAMASCO

6 Emiliano CAFFINI*

5 Josh SOLE

4 Quintin GELDENHUYS

3 David RYAN

2 Carlo FESTUCCIA

1 Matias AGUERO

Replacements :

16 Andrea MANICI*

17 Andrea DE MARCHI

18 Luciano LEIBSON

19 Michael VAN VUREN

20 Filippo CRISTIANO

21 Tito TEBALDI

22 Luciano ORQUERA

23 Roberto QUARTAROLI*

Coach. Christian GAJAN

* Former member of the Italian Rugby Union academy "Ivan Francescato" of Tirrenia.

Not available for selection through injury : Marco BORTOLAMI, Nicola CATTINA, Filippo CAZZOLA*, Carlo FAZZARI*, Daniel HALANGAHU, Luca REDOLFINI.

Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (IRFU, 45th competition game) 2nd with Zebre after the Parma game of Heineken Cup Vs Biarritz

Assistant Referees: Stefano Pennè, Stefano Roscini (both FIR)

Citing Commissioner: Alberto Recaldini (FIR)

TMO: Carlo Damasco (FIR)

RFU Championship Round 19 preview

Posted on Mar 21, 2013 in Championship

For the second round in a row, albeit with a week’s grace in between, Championship leaders Newcastle are pitted against their nearest rivals in the league table. Dean Richards’ men will certainly be hoping for an easier ride than the one they encountered against Bedford on March 8th, when they take on second-placed Nottingham at Meadow Lane this Friday evening. The Blues were within a whisker of becoming the first team to beat the Falcons until Noah Cato went over for a last-gasp converted try to ruin their evening.

Nottingham leapfrogged Bedford into second place after winning at Bristol the same evening; a position they cemented with a hard-fought victory at Jersey on Saturday. As well as earning his side four more precious points, skipper Brent Wilson’s brace took him to the top of the division’s try-scoring charts on 12 alongside Matt Evans of Cornish Pirates and Leeds’ Dave Doherty.

Three second-half tries saw Newcastle beat Nottingham 29-9 in the first fixture at Kingston Park. A bonus-point win for Nottingham would guarantee them a play-off spot with three rounds to go.

Saturday is one for the traditionalists with all the remaining games in Round 19 scheduled for a 3.00pm kick off.

The game between Bedford and Doncaster at Goldington Road has a lot riding on it for both teams. The Blues need a win to secure their place in the play-off zone, while bottom-of-the-table Doncaster cannot afford to come away from the Midlands with anything less than four points. Encouragingly for the Knights they held the Blues to an 18-all draw in last season’s corresponding fixture. The Blues secured the narrowest of victories at Castle Park back in November – by 22 points to 21, when winger Josh Bassett went over for a converted try 13 minutes into stoppage time.

Jersey go into their game against Bristol six points clear of the Knights thanks to the losing bonus point they gained last time out against Nottingham at St Peter. Bristol, who won the first-ever clash between these sides (39-16), need a win to keep in the hunt for a place in the top four. Last weekend’s defeat away to Moseley saw them slip three points off the pace.

A win of any sorts at the Athletic Ground against London Scottish would secure Plymouth Albion’s place in the Championship should Doncaster fail to beat Bedford. Albion kept up the recent trend of four-point winning margins in fixtures between the sides when they won the Brickfields clash in Round 9, 24-20. Both the home teams won by an identical margin in 2011/12.

Moseley, too, could retain their Championship status for another year if they beat Leeds at Billesley Common and other results go their way. Last weekend the Birmingham-based club produced a marvellous comeback to down Bristol and complete the league double over the men from the West Country. Moseley are currently 11 points clear of danger. Play-off hopefuls Leeds won 43-32 on their last visit to Billesley Common.

Cornish Pirates need to extend their winning run over Rotherham to eight matches if they are to maintain any hope of reaching the end-of-season play-offs.  The Pirates won twice at Clifton Lane last season: 19-14 in the regular season and 17-14 in the play-offs. A hat-trick of tries from Phil Burgess helped Pirates record a 53-21 when the sides met earlier this season.

Friday March 20
Nottingham v Newcastle Falcons, KO 19.45

Saturday March 21
Bedford Blues v Doncaster Knights, KO 15:00
Jersey v Bristol Rugby, KO 15:00
London Scottish v Plymouth Albion, KO 15:00
Moseley v Leeds Carnegie, KO 15:00
Rotherham Titans v Cornish Pirates, KO 15:00

Jason Robinson talks about England disappointment

Posted on Mar 19, 2013 in England

By Paul Smith, Sportsbeat: World Cup winner Jason Robinson has warned Stuart Lancaster he must make his beaten England side a stronger attacking force.

Robinson, who scored in the victorious 2003 World Cup Final and was also part of the last England team to claim a Six Nations Grand Slam in the same year, was left bitterly disappointed by his country’s defeat to Wales in Saturday’s championship decider in Cardiff.

Wales were 30-3 victors, as Alex Cuthbert scored two tries while England could respond only through a solitary Owen Farrell penalty.

As well as losing the Six Nations title and missing out on a Grand Slam, Lancaster’s men have been criticised for scoring just one try in the last four games of the championship, and Robinson insists improvements are needed.

“It’s a horrible statistic to have only scored one try in the last four games,” said the man nicknamed ‘Billy Whizz’ who scored 30 tries for England. “The days of just turning up and relying upon a good set-piece and penalties to get you goals are long gone.

“If you want to win the big prizes you have got to have a team that can create something.

“Failure is part of success and sometimes you have to go through these things to make you stronger.

“England and Stuart Lancaster made a massive turnaround but in order to really kick on we need to get this attacking side to our game right.

“As an ex-player who loved to take people on, that is what I want to see more from the England team.”

Rugby World Cup winner and British & Irish Lions legend Jason Robinson is an HSBC ambassador. Jason was attending Rosslyn Park HSBC National Schools Sevens tournament running special coaching clinics for participating schools courtesy of HSBC. For more information visit www.rpns7.co.uk

Andrew and Hayes commit to Warriors

Posted on Mar 19, 2013 in Worcester Warriors

Worcester Warriors have announced that exciting young front row duo Paul Andrew and Ollie Hayes have signed deals for next season.

Prop Andrew will make the move to Sixways from RFU Championship side Cornish Pirates.

The 23-year-old, born in Truro, made his league debut for Pirates at the age of 19 and has represented Cornwall, Cornwall U20 and England Conference U18.

Hooker Hayes, who moved to Warriors from Bristol Rugby in 2011, has also pledged his future by putting pen to paper on a new contract.

The 22-year-old has made a total of 14 appearances for Worcester, including four in the Aviva Premiership this season. He also scored a memorable first league try for the club as Warriors secured a try bonus point against Northampton Saints at Franklins Gardens in September.

Head Coach Richard Hill was delighted to continue his squad build for next season by agreeing deals with the young front row pair.

“Paul Andrew is a player we’ve been aware of for some time," he said. "We keep a track on the best players in each position and have seen Paul’s progress in the RFU Championship.

“He is similar to George Porter in that he has massive potential and will only get better. Paul is another excellent product of Cornish Pirates, where he has been well coached and developed, and his attitude is excellent. He will add depth to our first team squad and we are excited that he will join us.

“In the front row you have got to do your apprenticeship and next year is undoubtedly a big season for Ollie,” added Hill.

“We feel he can make the step up to play first team rugby in the Aviva Premiership and that’s why we’ve re-signed him.

“He is a very dedicated individual and a very good all-round player who can carry and has excellent hands.

“Now is the time for him to make the step up. This is not a decision we have taken lightly, but Ollie really is the modern day hooker and we have put our faith in him.”