Home Will Greenwood

Prop Corbisiero key to England’s chances

Written by Guest Author on July 14th, 2011. Posted in International Rugby, Rugby Union News, Rugby World Cup

With all the distraction going on at present off the pitch with the English Rugby Union, at times it is easy to forget that the national side are deep in preparation for the World Cup. So far Martin Johnson has whittled his players down to a provisional 45-man squad ahead of the global tournament, but one man being tipped to almost certainly make the final cut of thirty will be London Irish’s loosehead prop, Alex Corbisiero.

Aged just 22, Corbisiero has risen up through the ranks of the English set-up to the point now where he found himself…

Richie McCaw Wins IRB Player of the Year. Total Rugby Video

Written by Mike on December 3rd, 2010. Posted in International Rugby, Rugby Union News, Rugby Videos

Rugby Union - Unveiling Of The Hillary Shield For The Upcoming England v New Zealand Test Match - Twickenham Stadium - 27/11/08..New Zealand captain Richie McCaw during the unveiling of the the Hillary Shield Photo via Newscom

Already the only player to win the award twice, Richie McCaw has now won the IRB Player of the Year award three times, including in two consecutive years. It comes a few weeks after McCaw became the most capped All Black of all time along side Mils Muliana, and in a year where he also took the record for most All Black captaincies.

His fellow All Black record holder Mils Muliaina along with South Africa’s Victor Matfield, France’s Imanol Harinordoquy and Australians David Pocock and Kurtley Beale were also nominated. Former international rugby stars…

Ma’a Nonu gets 50 Test Caps for the All Blacks, finally.

Written by Mike on August 8th, 2010. Posted in International Rugby, Rugby Blog, Rugby Union News

Ma'a Nonu (R) celebrates his try with Dan Carter Photo via Newscom

Last night in Christchurch Ma’a Nonu became the 35th player to play 50 tests for the All Blacks. It’s an amazing achievement for a player with such a chequered history with the black jersey.

It’s taken him seven years to make 50 test caps. That’s a long time in the modern game. To put it in perspective, Brad Thorn debuted a week after Nonu and has now played 44 tests, but he didn’t play for the All Blacks at all for four years, from the end of 2003 till 2008. Ma’a Nonu, on the…

Peter Duckworth

February 3, 2012 | #

I agree entirely, I would even go so far as to say that, based on form & dubious refereeing through the competition the French didn’t deserve to be in the final in the first place. All credit to them that they did so well in the final but at the end of the day the All Blacks did better & fully deserved the win.
Mike

February 1, 2012 | #

Thanks for your comment Jock. Yes, Parks does seem like a player limited to one type of gameplan (which I thought he did quite well?) but that must be frustrating considering some of the talent available on the outsides.
Jock Mitchell

February 1, 2012 | #

As long as Parks is part of Scottish set-up we can forget about playing attacking rugby. It is so sad to see backs that have potential being wasted because the stand off does not know how to carry ball and attack opposition. iT IS LAUGHABLE TO KNOW THE OPPOSITION ARE REALLY PLAYING WITH AN EXTRA PLAYER AND THEY KNOW THEY DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT STAND-OFF.
We need to move on and change our style of playing. Henry critisized England and had no comment about Scotland. A small country like N.Z. can loose Carter and tthen have no shortage of top class reserves.We must encourage young players and give them hope.I have no idea how Townsend can't see a problem.
They want to take players into academies later when they see their real potential in club rugby.(I could make comments about players selected for academies but I will resist)
elsmido

January 31, 2012 | #

Which Irish fans are these? I think we will cope just fine without him and are probably second favourites for the championship. It’s always tough losing a player of his calibre but there is plenty of young talent coming through. Our provinces are riding high in the Heineken Cup. The only question now is whether Declan Kidney and his staff can fashion victories out of that.

Careful with your generalisations.
Elmer

December 29, 2011 | #

I’m from South Africa and have lived in the UK for 10 years now. Since I arrived here I have watched quite a lot of UK rugby league on TV and the NRL stuff too. It’s a completely different game to me and at first I thought it was a joke with those scrums, no lineouts etc…I used to laugh. It all seemed very one dimensional with very direct running and some offloading occasionally with a predictable grubber after the 5th tackle. I’ve changed my mind now and accepted it for what it is. It’s a different sport and a good tough one. I really enjoy the big games and the internationals and really enjoy watching the Sam Tomkins of this world play. Rugby Union is a far more technical game and tactical game and caters still for just about every shape. I can see why rugby league fans say Union is boring, because some games particularly a couple of years ago were dominated by kicking which was and is dire. At its best, Union should be a combination of kicking, scrum and forward phases and clever running by the backs.

Obviously RU is a more popular global game and is my favourite with Cricket second. Rugby league has its own place in sport though. It’s a good tough and entertaining sport and is certainly a better code than the round ball with all its cheating, diving and crowd violence/behaviour. I look forward to watching more rugby league!