As Ireland prepares to play the U.S. in June, there’s an interesting peek at rugby in New York City in Michael J. Malone’s new novel No Never No More. The book is centered around Declan Coulter, a first-generation Irishman raised in Alphabet City, and a flanker on the Village Vipers RFC--a ragtag club frequently on the losing end of matches with a hard band of Irish immigrants in the Bronx called the Bainbridge Barbarians.
The novel is also a peek at New York in 1999—post-grunge, pre-Sept. 11, full of dot-com buzz and increasingly anxious about a phantom menace called Y2K.
A member of the Village Lions RFC (villagelions.org) in New York for the past 20 years, Malone plays occasional old boys rugby now. His writing has appeared in the NY Times, Rugby Magazine (US), Rugby World (UK) and Playboy, and his favorite assignments include covering the ’99 World Cup in Dublin and a Guinness pub giveaway in Listowel.
After crunching some numbers, depending on results on Friday, this will be the seedings for next year's Heineken Cup.
On Friday, Leinster play Stade Francais in the Amlin Challenge Cup final. Leinster have already qualified for next year's Heineken Cup, but Stade haven't, and a victory for them earns their qualification. If Leinster win, a spot in next year's qualification goes to Connacht by virtue of them being the only team in their country not to have qualified so far.
On Saturday, Toulon play Clermont in an all French final. Both teams have already qualified, so there's one spot up for grabs.
Here's where things get slightly complicated. French and English clubs are capped at 7 for the Heineken Cup, i.e. both countries can only have 6 or 7. So, if Stade Francais win on Friday night, they will enter next season's Heineken Cup as the 7th French team. This means that the spot that would usually go to the first French team that haven't qualified because of their domestic position (Perpignan), would actually go to the highest ERC ranked team that hasn't qualified but is eligible. (Wasps)
Which means:
On Friday night:
A Leinster win - Connacht and Perpignan are through to the Heineken Cup
A Stade win - Stade and Wasps are through to the Heineken Cup.
i.e. Nothing depends on Saturday
Got it?
Therefore the seedings for next year's competition will be:
1st Seeds (1-6)
1. Leinster
2. Clermont /Toulon (The winners on Saturday will move to 2nd, but it has no realistic effect)
3. Toulouse
4. Toulon / Clermont
5. Munster
6. Ulster / Stade (If Stade win on Friday, they'll move to 6th, relegating Ulster to 2nd seeds)
2nd Seeds (7-12)
7. Ulster / Northampton
8. Northampton / Harlequins
9. Harlequins / Cardiff
10. Cardiff / Saracens
11. Saracens / Leicester
12. Leicester / Perpignan (If Leinster win, Perpignan sneak in here, which lifts Ulster up to 1st seeds, as Stade won't qualify)
From the famed Grey's College, Serfontein has been one of the better debutantes to Super Rugby this year, Jan Serfontein has followed on from winning last year's IRB Young Player of the Year to starting 4 games in a row for the Bulls, winning Man Of The Match against the Southern Kings in Round 10.
He's been called up to the Springbok squad, and is a live contender for the 12 jersey. He is a hard strong runner, and solid defensive player with 11 tackle busts and making 48 of 50 tackles over his first 3 starts for the Bulls.
Sydney Morning Herald rugby columnist Paul Cully wrote in a piece headlined “Bullocking Serfontein shows the way for Australian rookies”, that the “outstanding young midfielder - big, strong, fast but with skills and vision - has the ability to change the way the Bulls attack and be a Springbok for years to come”.
Even more impressive is that Serfontein has chance to retain his Young Player of the Year title when he helps the baby Boks defend their JWC title in France in a few weeks.
Handre Pollard (age 19) Fly-Half
Another off the Bulls production line, a lot has been mentioned of Handre Pollard in South Africa. He is a stereotypical South African out-half, standing at 6'2'' and weighing a hefty 95 kg, Pollard is big for a 19 year old.
Strong in defense, as would be expected of someone of his size, he is in the Morne Steyn ilk of out-halves, with a strong kicking game, good placekicking, and an emphasis on game management and work ethic.
Just the type of fly-half Heineke Meyer loves. Another to be seen in the JWC this summer.
Planet Rugby did a report on him during last year's JWC:
"Who is he? When South Africa's U20 coach Dawie Theron was asked to name a few players in his squad who would be worth keeping an eye on, it was Pollard who he spoke most animatedly about.
A large part of that was down to the fly-half's age - Pollard only recently turned 18 and is the only member of the Baby Boks squad who is still at school.
He attends the well-known Paarl Gym, which has produced Springboks such as Schalk Burger and Jean de Villiers, and will captain Western Province at the 2012 Craven Week in July.
According to his SARU player profile, he likes steak and Afrikaans music.
Attributes:
Physique: One of Theron's big points about Pollard was his size, and he's certainly tall for an 18 year old. At 6ft 2in he doesn't look out of place among players two years older than him, although he's not the beefiest guy in the backline.
Well-built and athletic, tall and upright, there's more pedigree than mongrel about him. He's not about to drive an opposing player back in the tackle, but he won't grant him any ground either.
Handling: South Africa's game against England was a good one to judge Pollard's passing, because the hosts needed four tries to make the semi-finals and were going to play running rugby.
As a result Pollard passed three times more than he kicked or ran, and the good snappy ball that he gave in the second half helped those outside him work their magic. It was more functional than spectacular though; fluid but not that inventive.
Kicking: On Tuesday night his goal-kicking was flawless, although three of his four conversions were straightforward affairs and his distance was never tested because South Africa were not interested in notching up penalties from range.
His kicking out of hand was mixed - while he made some serious yardage with a couple of booming clearances, he failed to find touch on a couple of occasions, and criminally one of those was with a penalty.
England were well organised when it came to covering the long kicks, and so twice Pollard kicked aimlessly down someone's throat.
But his up and unders were excellent, allowing his wings plenty of time to get underneath them and trouble the English defence.
Defence: Such was Pollard's solidity that it was a surprise when he committed his only defensive error of the evening. England had a scrum ten yards from their own line and ran what was meant to be a crash ball to set up the clearance kick. Instead the English runner found himself sliding unchallenged through Pollard's channel - seemingly because the fly-half thought one of his back-rowers was covering - and running 40 yards upfield.
Pollard did his best to atone for the error though, throwing himself onto England's huge number 14 to prevent any further damage. Six other tackles on the night showed he's not one to shirk a challenge, and that such blemishes are rare.
They said "We're waiting in excitement to see this guy at this level because we believe that he's got what it takes. He's definitely the guy that in three or four years' time from now, I believe he could be on everyone's lips," said Baby Boks coach Dawie Theron.
"If we look at him, at the moment he's 97kg and 190m tall, so that is serious size. There are some Super Rugby fly-halves who don't get close to that. He can kick the ball, he has a good feeling for the game and his distribution is very good, but then another one of his strong points is his defence."
Conclusion: It was a serious vote of confidence when Theron turned to Pollard for South Africa's clash with Italy. The hosts had suffered a surprise defeat to Ireland, and although the coach had always planned to give the youngest member of his squad some game time, Pollard showed enough to earn two starts ahead of Tony Jantjies, who is expected to match or better the abilities of his older brother Elton.
Pollard looked calm and composed on Tuesday night in front of a crowd that grew to around 12,000 at Cape Town Stadium. He wasn't the star of the show (if anyone, that was outside centre William Small-Smith, who has a great step and tremendous pace), but he looked far from overawed about making such a big step up.
In the first half South Africa were often on the back foot as they fluffed their line-outs, got turned over and struggled to match England at the scrum. It was difficult to judge any fly-half behind that sort of problem in the forwards, but there was no evidence of panic in Pollard's play.
Some of South Africa's more respected columnists have lamented a reliance on route one rugby. One of them cited Theron's gushing description of Pollard's size as evidence that this trend shows no sign of abating.
Having watched the 18-year-old in action there is some merit to these concerns, because if we were to compare him to a current fly-half it would probably be Morne Steyn. Pollard seems to have been set in the South African mould - he looks solid but lacking in flair.
Temperament is often the most important part of a player's make-up though, and so it would be no surprise to see Pollard develop into a first-choice Springbok fly-half in years to come. South Africans might just hope that he can add a few more strings to his bow. "
Arno Botha (age 21) Back row
Arno Botha has broken onto the scene this year at no.8 for the Bulls. So impressive his form has been that he has earned a call up to the recent South African training camp.
Arno Botha impressed in the Currie Cup last year and has excelled at the higher standard of Super Rugby.
Lionel Mapoe (age 24) Outside Centre / Winger (On Loan from Lions)
Morne Mellett (age 23) Prop
Louis Fouche (age 24) Fly-Half
Francois Venter (age 21) Inside Centre
Willie Le Roux has been in awesome form this season.If their was a ready made replacement for Isa Nacewa in the world of rugby, Willie le Roux is that man. A playmaking winger, who runs great support lines, has great pace and a brilliant rugby mind, le Roux rarely stays on his wing. He is one of the reasons why the Cheetahs are doing so well, and why they are so entertaining to watch.
Raymond Rhule (age 20) Winger
With 5 tries, Rhule just shades his follow Cheetahs wing le Roux by one for the current campaign. The 20 year old with some serious gas has been part of this Cheetahs side that has lit up Super Rugby, and has been rewarded with a call up to the South African national side.
Lappies(Pieter) Labuschagne (age 24) Flanker
One of the best compliments I can give Labuschagne is that the Cheetahs have barely missed their go to man from last season, Ashley Johnson. Labuschagne is 3rd highest tackles made in Super Rugby this year, making 172 missing just 10, also contributing a not to shabby 5 turnovers/pilfers, 3 offloads, 5 linbreaks, 11 tackle busts.
Labuschagne has burst onto this scene this year, in his second year at this level.
And that's without mentioning future Bok superstar Johan Goosen.
Trevor Nyakane (age 23) Loosehead Prop
Coenie Oosthuizen (age 23) Loosehead Prop
Lood de Jager (age 20) Second Row
Philip van der Walt (age 23) No. 8 / Flanker
Johann Sadie (age 24) Outside Centre
Kings Sergeal Peterson (age 18) Winger
Scoring the first try in the history of the Southern Kings Super Rugby campaign was a good was to introduce Sergeal Peterson. That he went on to score both tries in that game to win is something else.
Another graduate of Grey's College, Peterson was still a schoolboy there last year.
Wimpie van der Walt (age 24) Flanker
Wimpie van der Walt is the competition's leading tackler, missing only 9 of 185. Wimpie is one of the reason's why the Kings haven't been demolished more than twice, as would have been expected. He has been one of the most impressive performers of the Kings, and seems to be at the heart of all their work in attack, and to the fore in defense.
After a sensational breakout season last year, Marcel Coetzee was called up the Bok squad and won 12 caps. He's now a fixture in the Bok lineup, and at 22, will be a cornerstone to the Bok backrow for years to come.
"When Marcell Coetzee was four-years-old and watching his older brother playing rugby, he quickly offered to take the place of an injured player so he could make a few tackles.
And not much has changed for the big Sharks flanker, who has racked up an impressive 232 tackles this season, putting him at the top of this stats list, while also holding more than his own at third on the list for making the most runs (158).
Coetzee, who has been outstanding in this year’s Super Rugby, and will no doubt make some big hits in today’s game against the Reds in Brisbane, grew up making many a tackle on his older brother, Armand, in the garden, often in the mud and rain at the family’s South Coast farm.
His mother, Delia, said her son had been passionate about rugby since he was a toddler.
“He couldn’t wait to get into Grade 3 so he could play rugby at school.
“When he was four, we were watching Armand play a match and someone was injured – the next minute Marcell jumped up, saying: ‘I’ll play, I’ll play.’
“Living on the farm, all the other farm kids would come over and they would play rugby. Marcell always loved tackling,” she said, adding that Sunlight soap played a large part in her life with all the mud-soaked clothes.
And, according to Delia, when Coetzee was not outside playing rugby, he could happily play on his own for hours.
“When he was growing up, he was quite introverted. But he also has a huge sense of humour and is such an affectionate person.
“He is also a committed Christian and is very principled. If he makes a stand, no one will make him change,” she said.
When he was in primary school, his principal remarked to his parents that if Coetzee continued to play as he was, their son could one day be a Springbok. His role model was Pierre Spies, whom he now plays alongside.
Fast forward a couple of years and Coetzee entered Grade 8 at Port Natal School behind his brother, who was already playing for the school, and coach Jan van Straaten immediately realised he had another Coetzee star in the making.
Now director of sport for the school, Van Straaten described Marcell Coetzee, who became the school’s first team captain, as “very charismatic and a natural leader”.
“In Grade 11, he was made a prefect for the boarding establishment which was very unusual as the boarding prefects are normally only chosen from the matric year. He just stood out and, as captain of the first XV in matric, he was very good at leading the whole team,” said Van Straaten.
Under Coetzee’s captaincy, the Port Natal rugby team enjoyed a sensational season, winning 23 consecutive matches.
“He also did well academically. It was a pleasure working with him,” he said.
Coetzee did not make Craven Week or Academy Week, and never played for KZN, but his coaches urged him to not let selectors decide his fate.
Deciding not to let his dream slip through his fingers, Marcell trained for six months under ex-Blue Bulls player Jannie Brooks in his gym garage in Pretoria and then entered the Sharks Academy.
It was during the Currie Cup last year that people sat up and took notice of this thundering player; and this year he joined Heyneke Meyer’s Springbok team for the Test series against the English.
“Singing the anthem and playing my first cap as a Springbok was the proudest moment in my life,” he said from Brisbane this week.
And Delia was right behind him: “When he came out in that Springbok jersey, we were all in tears, it was just so huge.”
And Marcell is very much a Durban ‘boykie’, saying his favourite places in the city are the beach and uShaka. He enjoys relaxing at the farm or going to Pretoria to visit his girlfriend, Chanelle – sorry, girls, he’s taken.
But it’s not only his mom who’s his biggest fan, as rugby in the Coetzee household is definitely a family affair. Both his grandfather, Dirk, and father, Dries, are former rugby players. His younger sister, Andrea, excelled at hockey and Delia loved netball.
As a family friend said, “when the Coetzees are not watching a live rugby game, they are watching a previous game and going through it. The television only ever has rugby on in that house”.
Although Armand and Andrea are away from home, the family will travel to wherever Marcell may be playing.
“Then we go home, have a braai and watch the match all over again,” Delia laughed.
And this week’s match in Australia is the first time the family won’t be cheering from the sidelines. But they will be there in spirit and Delia will make her son’s favourite steak and chips when he gets home.
No doubt it will be a big one."
Paul Jordaan (age 21) Outside Centre
Cobus Reinach (age 23) Scrum-half
Sean Robinson (age 19) Winger / Fullback Stormers
Siya Kolisi (age 21) Flanker
It's a crime that Siya Kolisi doesn't have a Springbok cap already. In a debut season where he along with Coetzee were the two standout backrowers in the competition, Kolisi was strangely overlooked.
He is a typical Bok backrower, fearless in the tackle, and carries a lot. His second season hasn't been as good, but he's been one of the better performing players in a difficult season for the Stormers. Definitely one to watch. If he doesn't get a Bok cap soon, he'll be heading to Europe.
Jaco Taute (age 21) Full-back / Outside Centre (On loan from the Lions)
Steven Kitchoff (age 21) Loosehead Prop
Frans Malherbe (age 22) Tighthead Prop
Rynhardt Elstadt (age 23) Flanker/ Second Row
Elton Jantjies (age 22) Fly-half
Gary van Aswegen (age 23) Out-half
Gerhard van den Heever (age 23) Winger / Full back
The Chiefs are making a habit of just getting over the line. And the Force are improving despite the sacking of their top try scorer. It was a much changed Chiefs team, with Anscombe due to start at outhalf, but pulled out for Aaron Cruden, disrupting many player's teams.
DTOTW: Lelia Masaga (44)
DTOTY: Gareth Anscombe (315), Pek Cowan (291)
Reds 32-17 Sharks
Queensland Reds produced one of the best displays in the first half of this game. As is the norm though, they took their foot off the gas for the second half, and allowed the Sharks to get some credibility on the scoreboard. Quade Cooper ran the game with Will Genia, and Robbie Deans will regret not having him in the team to face the Lions.
Watch out for Rod Davies finishing off a Reds 100m try.
DTOTW: Saia Fainga'a (51), Quade Cooper (38)
DTOTY: James Slipper (341)
Cheetahs 34-39 Hurricanes
This was back to the Cheetahs of old. Some poor defending, falling behind, before coming back with spirit and a missed kick costs them a chance to fully go for the win, and coming up short.
The Rebels were in the news the last week for all the wrong reasons, with Kurtley Beale now taking another indefinite leave from rugby. The Blues continued their impressive season with another win, keeping out a spirited Rebels side that earned two bonus points.
DTOTW: Frank Halai (66), Mitch Inman (60), Francis Saili (57), Scott Higginbotham (48), Rene Ranger (44)
DTOTY: Ged Robinson (430), Steven Luatua (330), Hugh Pyle (308), Charles Piutau (307), James O'Connor (305),
Waratahs 21-15 Stormers
This was an important win for the Waratahs to prove that last weeks hammering of the Kings wasn't a once off.
Israel Folau is getting better with each week. If Robbie Deans was smart, we should be scared. Gatland will have to prepare for him at some stage.
DTOTW: Andries Bekker (33)
DTOTY: Israel Folau (382), Bernard Foley (302)
Southern Kings 34- 27 Highlanders
This was an important win for the Kings to prove that last weeks hammering to the Tahs was a once off.
I really don't know how to comment on the Highlanders, this was a terrible performance. At one stage, after being behind for a while, they got two quickfire tries showing that they are still a good team, before going back into their shells and conceding, and ultimately losing.
DTOTW: Cornell de Preez (63), Luke Watson (58), Brad Thorn (49), Shaun Venter (40), Schalk Ferreira (36)
DTOTY: Cornell du Preez (324)
Fantasy
Player of the Round was Murray Kinsella with another score over 400 points. His 413 lifts him up and away from Peter Corley, and within touching distance of Simon Farrell.
When you are 15 - 3 up with 20/30 minutes to go you, don't expect to be hanging on in the end. The Stormers dominated the first half and would have been upset to have gone in behind. Missed tackles cost the Blues and let Jean de Villiers bring the Stormers to within a point. Elton Jantjies was given a hospital ball after numerous phases at the end to try and land the drop goal to win
Rebels 33 - 39 Chiefs
The Chiefs are making a habit of seemingly putting games to bed before switching off and letting opposition back into the game. Margins of 24 -5, and 29 -12, made the Chiefs feel like they were home and dry, before the Rebels fought back and were camped on the Chiefs line at full time trying to sneak an unlikely win.
Highlanders 25-22 Chiefs
At the start of this game, Brad Thorn was a Super Rugby winner, a Tri-Nations winner, a State of Origin winner, a NRL winner, a Rugby World Cup winner and a Heineken Cup winner. But he still had to taste victory with the Highlanders. That has changed now, thanks to the try of the season, finished off by Colin Slade:
Western Force 11 - 11 Reds
The Force are the Reds' bogey team, and this showed again this weekend. Digby Ioane showed that he will be missed when he leaves at the end of the season with 17 runs and 12 tackle busts.
Southern Kings 10 - 72 Waratahs
What we were expected from the Kings, next week is important for both teams, for the Kings to prove that was a once off, and for the Tahs to prove it wasn't. As for the performance, After 3 minutes Israel Folau had 5 tackle busts and 30+ points. He finished with a try, two try assists, 16 runs, 16 tackle busts, 7 offloads, 2 linebreaks and 3 linebreaks created for a haul of 92 points. If you have an hour of your life (14 minutes), watch the highlights
Bulls 48 - 14 Hurricanes
The Bulls spanked the Canes in a game that showed even the most experienced can make a bad tackle that knocks them out. Best wishes to Conrad Smith on a speedy recovery. Just like with the previous game, I'll let the highlights do the talking.
Brumbies 23- 30 Crusaders
Crusaders and Dan Carter ruined George Smith's record breaking night with a fine performance, as Israel Dagg responded well to being benched.
So What does this mean for the Fantasy League?
It's not often I'm upset with 396 points, mostly because it's not often that I get that high.
Super Irish this week featured all 9 players getting above 300, 8 of which were above 370, with 5 above 400. With the average throughout the competition and a huge 379, you know it was a high scoring week, mostly down to one Israel Folau.
The Dream team of the week had a monsterous 850 points between them, with 9 getting above 50 points. A number of these players rocket into the Overall Dream Team.
Things are getting tight again in Super Irish, with 130 points separating 1st and 4th, with Simon Farrell, Peter Corley and Murray Kinsella coming up behind. The battle to avoid last place has been reduced to 33 points.
Twit vs Tweeter Results
(8(-)) Average 379 - 396 Ball Handling Hooker (2(up 1))
(7(down 2)) Les Mecs 372 - 447 The Westhies (4(up2)) -featuring an extremely lucky Connacht Man, who thanks to Rod Davies not playing, meant that Israel Folau and his 90 points were subbed in.
In all the hoopla about the Lions, a major story nearly passed us by, Joe Schmidt will lead Ireland to the World Cup in 2015
But what does this mean for Ireland?
This for one:
Schmidt's teams are known for impressive backline tries, but it's the use of ball handling forwards that are the fulcrum to the success.
Each member of the team is comfortable with the ball, and while they have devastating moves, they play heads up rugby, are patient and take their opportunities.
Heaslip's first try here shows the level of support that the ball carriers have, the intention to keep the ball alive when it's on, and not to do something courageous when it's not.
This is what Rob Penney has been trying to do with Munster, and possibly with a mix of Ulster, Leinster and Connacht players, Ireland can achieve ball playing forwards, driven by Jonny Sexton, Ian Madigan, Paddy Jackson, Ronan O'Gara and Ian Keatley to ensure that the right options are taken.
Schmidt makes great use of his bench, and isn't afraid to pick players to suit certain games. The use of Isaac Boss in more attritional games over Reddan, with Reddan coming on is most seen here.
Against Toulouse in the Heineken Cup semi final, Cian Healy went on a great run which swung momentum in Leinster's favour at a key moment in the match. Healy was subsequently taken off, and Heinke van der Merwe delivered a massive scrum which firmly put Leinster in the driving seat. Schmidt trusts his players to make key moments in game like that, which bodes well for those stuck on the bench in the last 6 Nations like Dave Kilcoyne and Sean Cronin.
Jordi Murphy, Brendan Macken and Eoin O'Malley are three youngsters that Schmidt wasn't afraid to use at high levels of the Heineken Cup. Schmidt will be prepared to use young performers like Ian Madigan, Tommy O'Donnell, Robbie Henshaw, Kieran Marmion or Iain Henderson.
