The next round of the PEWC CUP is scheduled for 15th April.
(in reality this is due to commitments and illness for the coaches - we like to play the matches on the same night and lately this has proved impossible to do!
Thursday 3 April 2008
Wednesday 12 March 2008
STOP PRESS ...
As storms swept the country last night the howling wind played havoc with the scheduled games. Kicking was a nightmare but in the end:
Wasps thrashed Saracens by nearly 20 points - Saracens hardly got the ball in hand and when they did they seemed to give it away as well as the TMO again deciding against them. McTague was reported to have said he 'lost the will' in the second half and only a last minute try saved a whitewash. The Wasps seem to be on a real roll at the moment. The next game sees them playing Stad in what may be one of the games of the season!
Stad meanwhile were playing in a gruelling game with the Sharks. The wind played havoc with both sides although a drop goal from inside their own half for Sale owed more than a few metres to the wind! Mistakes were made at both ends and Sale's defence on the try line was awesome. Twice they stopped Stad from driving over from close, although with the TMO's help on one of the drives. A couple of mistakes resulting in obstruction cost Sale a chance of victory.
The reports we are getting back is that foul play was almost eradicated from both games as high tackles and professional fouls were clamped down on by the officials.
Roll on the next round!
Wasps thrashed Saracens by nearly 20 points - Saracens hardly got the ball in hand and when they did they seemed to give it away as well as the TMO again deciding against them. McTague was reported to have said he 'lost the will' in the second half and only a last minute try saved a whitewash. The Wasps seem to be on a real roll at the moment. The next game sees them playing Stad in what may be one of the games of the season!
Stad meanwhile were playing in a gruelling game with the Sharks. The wind played havoc with both sides although a drop goal from inside their own half for Sale owed more than a few metres to the wind! Mistakes were made at both ends and Sale's defence on the try line was awesome. Twice they stopped Stad from driving over from close, although with the TMO's help on one of the drives. A couple of mistakes resulting in obstruction cost Sale a chance of victory.
The reports we are getting back is that foul play was almost eradicated from both games as high tackles and professional fouls were clamped down on by the officials.
Roll on the next round!
Sunday 9 March 2008
Crunch games loom ...
Tuesday evening sees some crunch games in the PEWC CUP. After a couple of weeks mid season layoff the teams will be welcoming their players back from the Six Nations and eager to get into the action.
The games on Tuesday kick off off at 7:30pm:
Sale at home to Stad
Saracens at home to Wasps
The Saracens v. Wasps game is seen by many to be a 'grudge' match as tempers were high in their last affair between both coaches and players. Fase the Wasps coach will want to keep their momentum going after a near run thing with Stad and then their thrashing of Sale their confidence will be high. Saracens last match was the grind against Stad and they will feel they have enough power to beat Wasps.
Sale and Stad produced a good open match last time and the crowd will be hoping for much of the same this time around. The big question is, can Sale bounce back from the heavy defeat they took at Wasps last match?
The weather for both matches for Tuesday is looking bad ... hopefully the full storm winds and rains will have passed but we will have to wait and see.
The refs have been ordered to clamp down on dirty play in the Cup and players can expect not to get away with as much niggly play around the tackle area.
(In game terms any ref rolls will only be done on a 5 or less as a pass - rerolls will be on a 5 as well and only allowed for dirty play, technical infringements will not get a re roll)
The games on Tuesday kick off off at 7:30pm:
Sale at home to Stad
Saracens at home to Wasps
The Saracens v. Wasps game is seen by many to be a 'grudge' match as tempers were high in their last affair between both coaches and players. Fase the Wasps coach will want to keep their momentum going after a near run thing with Stad and then their thrashing of Sale their confidence will be high. Saracens last match was the grind against Stad and they will feel they have enough power to beat Wasps.
Sale and Stad produced a good open match last time and the crowd will be hoping for much of the same this time around. The big question is, can Sale bounce back from the heavy defeat they took at Wasps last match?
The weather for both matches for Tuesday is looking bad ... hopefully the full storm winds and rains will have passed but we will have to wait and see.
The refs have been ordered to clamp down on dirty play in the Cup and players can expect not to get away with as much niggly play around the tackle area.
(In game terms any ref rolls will only be done on a 5 or less as a pass - rerolls will be on a 5 as well and only allowed for dirty play, technical infringements will not get a re roll)
Thursday 14 February 2008
Wasps docked money over breach of contract ...
Horizon Sports have announced this afternoon that following the news that Wasps are now releasing articles to other media sources (namely the NLG) before HS and they see this as a severe breach of contract ...
They have therefore decided that the bonus money on offer for tries in this Valentines Special week has been withheld indefinately. They are also looking into other irregularities concerning the NLG, which has close links with the Neo Nazi organisations in the North London area, and the conduct of the Wasps coach on the internet where he is allegedly reported to have his 'tag' lines as:
"North London warriors womp the Frogs and Flat Caps!"
"Sod off Sarkozy, Horizon for the high jump!"
The European Union are looking into this crass national stereotyping and yet another damning report is emerging of Fase having models of Nazi soldiers in his personal possession and books with German Uniforms of World War II in them ... Horizon News is looking into this allegations as we speak.
They have therefore decided that the bonus money on offer for tries in this Valentines Special week has been withheld indefinately. They are also looking into other irregularities concerning the NLG, which has close links with the Neo Nazi organisations in the North London area, and the conduct of the Wasps coach on the internet where he is allegedly reported to have his 'tag' lines as:
"North London warriors womp the Frogs and Flat Caps!"
"Sod off Sarkozy, Horizon for the high jump!"
The European Union are looking into this crass national stereotyping and yet another damning report is emerging of Fase having models of Nazi soldiers in his personal possession and books with German Uniforms of World War II in them ... Horizon News is looking into this allegations as we speak.
Now they want to talk ...
It appears that Wasps are now talking to the press again ... at the offices of their proud new sponsor Fase gave a brief press conference:
“The boys really delivered on the form that they’ve been promising, I really couldn’t have been happier with that performance.”
“The whole team functioned as a cohesive unit with very few errors. The forwards fought aggressively at every breakdown giving the backs the opportunity to exploit the gaps that they created.”
“We had to defend hard against early Sale pressure but we dominated possession and shut them down and then out of the game comprehensively.”
“Reddan and Sackey once again showed their international quality but Danny Cipriani has to be MoTM. He was involved in all three try, scoring the first himself and converting well. A good performance considering the criticism he caught from last Saturday.”
“Plenty of respect to Sale, they played a good clean game but simply couldn’t make anything work for them. The exact opposite of when we last met them.”
“They didn’t make life easy for us but their errors gave us opportunities that we made the most of.”
“Commiserations to Dawe, but as he was so keen to point out it was boys against men out there.”
“As for the Stade, Sarries game, a dark day indeed. Both teams showed their true colours, that’s how they’ve been playing for the majority of the league.”
“The fact that they haven’t been docked points is an absolute travesty.”
“The entire incident simply shows the massive lack of respect that both teams have for the game, the teams and most worryingly of all the fans at large.”
“Once again, men and boys!”
It appears the teams are back into full on sledging mode ...
“The boys really delivered on the form that they’ve been promising, I really couldn’t have been happier with that performance.”
“The whole team functioned as a cohesive unit with very few errors. The forwards fought aggressively at every breakdown giving the backs the opportunity to exploit the gaps that they created.”
“We had to defend hard against early Sale pressure but we dominated possession and shut them down and then out of the game comprehensively.”
“Reddan and Sackey once again showed their international quality but Danny Cipriani has to be MoTM. He was involved in all three try, scoring the first himself and converting well. A good performance considering the criticism he caught from last Saturday.”
“Plenty of respect to Sale, they played a good clean game but simply couldn’t make anything work for them. The exact opposite of when we last met them.”
“They didn’t make life easy for us but their errors gave us opportunities that we made the most of.”
“Commiserations to Dawe, but as he was so keen to point out it was boys against men out there.”
“As for the Stade, Sarries game, a dark day indeed. Both teams showed their true colours, that’s how they’ve been playing for the majority of the league.”
“The fact that they haven’t been docked points is an absolute travesty.”
“The entire incident simply shows the massive lack of respect that both teams have for the game, the teams and most worryingly of all the fans at large.”
“Once again, men and boys!”
It appears the teams are back into full on sledging mode ...
Wednesday 13 February 2008
Yet another International Incident ...
This time it is the Saracens coach, McTague, who has enraged the French and Italian governments who are calling for him to lose his position ... he gave the following press conference infront of an international press core ...
"Hi guys, well that was an exiting game wasn't it....
A return to the 'glory days' of tough man to man action....
especially after the last 2 weeks of gradually pandering to the softer side of the game....
Yes, some banter was exchanged between the 2 dugouts, but i think the result was fair
the TMO decision righting pass wrongs.... not quite revenge, but certainly evened out
My MotM, well it has to be the Stad No 9 for getting away with upward of 8 forward knock ons in the breakdown without the ref seeing it
the ref was a joke... if he had called every infraction that score line would have been a very different sight, Stad had a nightmare out there, were it not for the 'inspired' actions going on it would have been a full on win for us... I guess it will be called 'carry on cheating' when they release the final highlights
Yes, tackles went in hard and fast, high and low, on both sides..... when you put a bounty on tries that will happen, combined with the French trying to compensate for 2 world wars.... its not surprising they had to bring the Italians in for some 'in-spine-ration', still we are used to these 'hand of god' moments in England
Penney is now out for the rest of the season and our other winger is out for the next match, its the nature of playing a hard game.. its why we have replacements that are on a par with these great 'heroes' that are targeted by lesser players.
cheers guys
see ya 2 weeks"
"Hi guys, well that was an exiting game wasn't it....
A return to the 'glory days' of tough man to man action....
especially after the last 2 weeks of gradually pandering to the softer side of the game....
Yes, some banter was exchanged between the 2 dugouts, but i think the result was fair
the TMO decision righting pass wrongs.... not quite revenge, but certainly evened out
My MotM, well it has to be the Stad No 9 for getting away with upward of 8 forward knock ons in the breakdown without the ref seeing it
the ref was a joke... if he had called every infraction that score line would have been a very different sight, Stad had a nightmare out there, were it not for the 'inspired' actions going on it would have been a full on win for us... I guess it will be called 'carry on cheating' when they release the final highlights
Yes, tackles went in hard and fast, high and low, on both sides..... when you put a bounty on tries that will happen, combined with the French trying to compensate for 2 world wars.... its not surprising they had to bring the Italians in for some 'in-spine-ration', still we are used to these 'hand of god' moments in England
Penney is now out for the rest of the season and our other winger is out for the next match, its the nature of playing a hard game.. its why we have replacements that are on a par with these great 'heroes' that are targeted by lesser players.
cheers guys
see ya 2 weeks"
Latest News ...
The Board have decided not to dock points off Stad Francais and Saracens. However in a statement issued earlier they reported that both coaches would be spoken to for their comments made before, during and after the game. They also revealed that Refs would be instructed to clamp down on any infringement of the types we saw last night in a more severe manner.
So as we enter the 2 week break from competition the table stands as:
Stad Francais played 4 won 3 points 14
Sale Sharks played 4 won 2 points 10
So as we enter the 2 week break from competition the table stands as:
Stad Francais played 4 won 3 points 14
Sale Sharks played 4 won 2 points 10
London Wasps played 4 won 1 points 7 (plus an extra 15000 try bonus)
Saracens played 4 won 0 points 5
A DARK SIDE TO THE GAME ...
Tonight North London was the scene for what could be the start of the Wasps comeback … the crowds flocked in to see the Wasps batter a lack lustre Sharks side by 3 tries to nil. The whole team looked tighter tonight and they seemed to have stemmed the run of basic mistakes which has cost them so dearly in the last few weeks. More from our ‘at the ground’ reporters tomorrow as our attention must turn to the fireworks seen in Paris …
A VALENTINE’S DAY MASSACRE …
Horizon Sports camera were witness to what can only be described as a blood bath tonight … the young French men who had taken their Valentines to see the ‘gentleman’s game’ must have rued their decision as the match, which finished scoreless, was the most vicious encounter we have seen since the infamous Lions tour matches of South Africa. It was obvious from the outset that Saracens had gone to Paris intent on ‘revenge’ and to win at ANY cost, after the first 3 minutes it was plain that Stad were not going to let their unbeaten streak come to an end at ANY cost. Pre match sledging by the Saracens coach was followed by reported anti-French comments directed at the Stad players throughout the game and ended with Saracens losing 3 key players through injury, some for the entire season.
It all seemed to start about 15 minutes into the half from a Hernandez cross kick which went astray leading to a break from the Saracen winger, who had in training been showing a great deal of skill (skill loaded). Corleto raced back to make the tackle, it is claimed that it was at this point the Saracen players heard Parrise shout to the fullback to ‘put him out the game’. Corleto hesitated on making the tackle but was spurred on by Parrise into making, what to many seemed like, a head high dangerous tackle, this left the winger on the deck and we believe out for quite a few games. While the Saracen players rushed in to let their opinions be known it seemed like the ref was unsighted, Stad gathered and hoofed a long long kick down field. (Parrise was now an ‘inspiring’ player and the ref roll for the tackle was passed on a reroll using his ability) McTague was livid on the touchline. The situation was tense and it seemed like the players were forever niggling each other, the dirty play was stifling the game but seemed to go unnoticed by the Irish Ref. It was from another Hernandez cross kick and gather that the game really went down hill. As the Stad center rose to catch the ball he was blatantly taken out by the Saracens prop which resulted in the only sin bin of the entire game. It was such a horrendous spearing that even McTague was reported to be amazed at how the player was not sent off! Hernandez kicked into the corner and Parisse seemed to be directing the French team and generally getting under the Saracen players skin. The last play of the half and De Villiers drove over from the lineout as the Saracen players were calling the throw not straight (another reroll due to Parisse) He carried 3 Saracen players over the line with him (hand off and crash tackle) and appeared to have grounded the ball easily. In an mirror image of the previous game the TMO ruled that the ball was held up and the players went into the changing rooms in uproar … McTague was at this point threatening to ‘chin’ Parisse himself!
It was at the start of the second half that the ref, who had shown no real authority so far, completely lost control of the game. In an obvious planned move the Stad kick off targeted the prop fresh from his sin bin, again with Parrise seeming to encourage them a high hit was put in which dislodged the ball. Mctague was fuming on the touchline again and from that point on we can honestly say there was not a phase of play which did not involve a number of high tackles, dangerous double spearings and over zealous use of the boot in the rucks. Both sides were equally at fault although many the other coaches would agree that Penney (who has been the target of many a complaint this season) got his payback. After being involved in a particularly nasty tackle to Hernandez he found himself pulled into the resulting ruck, severely worked over and apparently out for the rest of the season!
The referee was having a shocking day, perhaps there was too much to be keeping an eye on, and appeared to miss everything. There was not even a hint of a yellow card as players were being dropped all over the field on every play that seemed like it may produce a score. Stad came closest to scoring … in the very last second it seemed that Saubade was away, a kick through and gather from Hernandez had released him through the middle and it seemed that no one could catch him until the Saracen captain De Kock seemed to find sudden pace (break away) and shoulder charge him down. It appeared to all in the ground to be a blatant charge and not a tackle … but again the ref let play go on. From the resulting confusion a Stad player must have retaliated as the Ref gave Saracens a penalty which was quickly put into touch ending a very sordid game.
Horizon Sports hope that McTague is not going to do the silent treatment again as there are lots of questions to be answered about the game … we managed a quick word with Jones after the match who didn’t let us get a question in …
“What we saw out there tonight was a disgrace to what we call ‘God’s Game’ … I admit my side were not wholly innocent but it was not us that started it. The Saracen players are claiming that Parisse was urging dirty play, I think that they are mistranslating his rousing shouts, remember his mother tongue is Italian, his French is a bit ‘ropey’ as encouraging dirty play. Even if it was though it would still not be any excuse for the way Saracens played the game, I don’t think they made a ‘normal’ tackle the entire second half … how can you play against an attitude like that!
As for the Ref .. don’t get me started, players on both teams were getting away with almost literal murder out there … no one likes to see any one get hurt but saying that I think Penney got what was coming his way. I believe McTague had made some comment in the first half about our team being a bunch of ‘french tarts, little girls’. If that is the case then his mighty team just got ‘beaten up’ by a bunch of ‘girls’ as it is not us with a couple of players in hospital!
That TMO call … never seen anything like it, the ball was clearly down, but in rugby nowadays I think you have to roll with the punch there … win some and lose some. The actual score pales into insignificance to what we witnessed out there tonight … it was closer to ‘Rollerball’ then the PEWC CUP”
Breaking News … it seems like an emergency meeting of the PRB (Pewc Rugby Board) is going to recommend that both teams be docked 2 points for their failure to control their players in tonights game. A spokesman has said,
“We can not be seen as taking no action against clubs who act in such ways … as for the referee I think we can safely say Mr Stiles will not be refereeing another rugby match again … reports are he is going to concentrate on soccer from now on!”
Great television but a dark evening for the game – Horizon Sports will not be showing re runs of the game as we normally do for fear of it having a negative influence on our young budding players!
A VALENTINE’S DAY MASSACRE …
Horizon Sports camera were witness to what can only be described as a blood bath tonight … the young French men who had taken their Valentines to see the ‘gentleman’s game’ must have rued their decision as the match, which finished scoreless, was the most vicious encounter we have seen since the infamous Lions tour matches of South Africa. It was obvious from the outset that Saracens had gone to Paris intent on ‘revenge’ and to win at ANY cost, after the first 3 minutes it was plain that Stad were not going to let their unbeaten streak come to an end at ANY cost. Pre match sledging by the Saracens coach was followed by reported anti-French comments directed at the Stad players throughout the game and ended with Saracens losing 3 key players through injury, some for the entire season.
It all seemed to start about 15 minutes into the half from a Hernandez cross kick which went astray leading to a break from the Saracen winger, who had in training been showing a great deal of skill (skill loaded). Corleto raced back to make the tackle, it is claimed that it was at this point the Saracen players heard Parrise shout to the fullback to ‘put him out the game’. Corleto hesitated on making the tackle but was spurred on by Parrise into making, what to many seemed like, a head high dangerous tackle, this left the winger on the deck and we believe out for quite a few games. While the Saracen players rushed in to let their opinions be known it seemed like the ref was unsighted, Stad gathered and hoofed a long long kick down field. (Parrise was now an ‘inspiring’ player and the ref roll for the tackle was passed on a reroll using his ability) McTague was livid on the touchline. The situation was tense and it seemed like the players were forever niggling each other, the dirty play was stifling the game but seemed to go unnoticed by the Irish Ref. It was from another Hernandez cross kick and gather that the game really went down hill. As the Stad center rose to catch the ball he was blatantly taken out by the Saracens prop which resulted in the only sin bin of the entire game. It was such a horrendous spearing that even McTague was reported to be amazed at how the player was not sent off! Hernandez kicked into the corner and Parisse seemed to be directing the French team and generally getting under the Saracen players skin. The last play of the half and De Villiers drove over from the lineout as the Saracen players were calling the throw not straight (another reroll due to Parisse) He carried 3 Saracen players over the line with him (hand off and crash tackle) and appeared to have grounded the ball easily. In an mirror image of the previous game the TMO ruled that the ball was held up and the players went into the changing rooms in uproar … McTague was at this point threatening to ‘chin’ Parisse himself!
It was at the start of the second half that the ref, who had shown no real authority so far, completely lost control of the game. In an obvious planned move the Stad kick off targeted the prop fresh from his sin bin, again with Parrise seeming to encourage them a high hit was put in which dislodged the ball. Mctague was fuming on the touchline again and from that point on we can honestly say there was not a phase of play which did not involve a number of high tackles, dangerous double spearings and over zealous use of the boot in the rucks. Both sides were equally at fault although many the other coaches would agree that Penney (who has been the target of many a complaint this season) got his payback. After being involved in a particularly nasty tackle to Hernandez he found himself pulled into the resulting ruck, severely worked over and apparently out for the rest of the season!
The referee was having a shocking day, perhaps there was too much to be keeping an eye on, and appeared to miss everything. There was not even a hint of a yellow card as players were being dropped all over the field on every play that seemed like it may produce a score. Stad came closest to scoring … in the very last second it seemed that Saubade was away, a kick through and gather from Hernandez had released him through the middle and it seemed that no one could catch him until the Saracen captain De Kock seemed to find sudden pace (break away) and shoulder charge him down. It appeared to all in the ground to be a blatant charge and not a tackle … but again the ref let play go on. From the resulting confusion a Stad player must have retaliated as the Ref gave Saracens a penalty which was quickly put into touch ending a very sordid game.
Horizon Sports hope that McTague is not going to do the silent treatment again as there are lots of questions to be answered about the game … we managed a quick word with Jones after the match who didn’t let us get a question in …
“What we saw out there tonight was a disgrace to what we call ‘God’s Game’ … I admit my side were not wholly innocent but it was not us that started it. The Saracen players are claiming that Parisse was urging dirty play, I think that they are mistranslating his rousing shouts, remember his mother tongue is Italian, his French is a bit ‘ropey’ as encouraging dirty play. Even if it was though it would still not be any excuse for the way Saracens played the game, I don’t think they made a ‘normal’ tackle the entire second half … how can you play against an attitude like that!
As for the Ref .. don’t get me started, players on both teams were getting away with almost literal murder out there … no one likes to see any one get hurt but saying that I think Penney got what was coming his way. I believe McTague had made some comment in the first half about our team being a bunch of ‘french tarts, little girls’. If that is the case then his mighty team just got ‘beaten up’ by a bunch of ‘girls’ as it is not us with a couple of players in hospital!
That TMO call … never seen anything like it, the ball was clearly down, but in rugby nowadays I think you have to roll with the punch there … win some and lose some. The actual score pales into insignificance to what we witnessed out there tonight … it was closer to ‘Rollerball’ then the PEWC CUP”
Breaking News … it seems like an emergency meeting of the PRB (Pewc Rugby Board) is going to recommend that both teams be docked 2 points for their failure to control their players in tonights game. A spokesman has said,
“We can not be seen as taking no action against clubs who act in such ways … as for the referee I think we can safely say Mr Stiles will not be refereeing another rugby match again … reports are he is going to concentrate on soccer from now on!”
Great television but a dark evening for the game – Horizon Sports will not be showing re runs of the game as we normally do for fear of it having a negative influence on our young budding players!
Monday 11 February 2008
THE BIG INCENTIVE ...
Horizon Sports today announced record earnings from the first three rounds of matches in the PEWC CUP. A spokesman announced that the competition had far exceeded their projected viewing figures, mainly they felt because of the controversy that has surrounded the matches. They have already contacted the clubs to extend the competition to 8 matches and have given each club a very healthy 60000 credit bonus to enhance their existing squads.
So the next round of matches have been rescheduled and will see:
Stad Francais v. Saracens – will Saracens be able to perform as well in Paris?London Wasps v. Sale – another grudge match is in store, can Wasps sting?
So the next round of matches have been rescheduled and will see:
Stad Francais v. Saracens – will Saracens be able to perform as well in Paris?London Wasps v. Sale – another grudge match is in store, can Wasps sting?
Thursday 7 February 2008
McTague breaks his silence ...
Earlier today we heard the Saracens owner had words with their coach McTague about his lack of press conferences lately … this resulted in the coach calling a press conference this afternoon, no doubt happy he wasn’t in Fase’s shoes!
When asked why he had maintained his press silence over the last couple of weeks he had this to say …
“to an some extent I was very disappointed with the Stad game, which should have been ours, that TMO decision being a particularly low point for the team and me, that following the first games accusations of thuggery... it seems that most coaches can only pump them selves up by 'bullyin' the managers of the teams that just aren’t performing on the night.... we have spent the off weeks reflecting on lessons learnt and taking into account press reactions, and went out the other night against Sale with a much more positive attitude, despite other managers feelings we played a good, hard clean game and left with nothing in the bank, yet again.”
When asked why his team seemed so lack lustre in the Sale match he responded …
“Sale came out and scored from the off, followed by a try, by half time we had drawn back to within 3, the second half was just there game, you can only score if you get the ball, we managed to get the ball once, and scored, unfortunately they had already got the ball twice by then.”
Penney has been having Anger Management counselling for some borderline play in the first 2 games, but now I think it is time we swap his councillor for a boxing ring and then just let him do his thing, the refs seem to like what he does and it does generate more chances for us to exploit, IF he had taken the 2 try scorers in the second half instead of holding back and effectively signalling his tackle that score line would reflect what happened out there much more.”
So not a lot but considering the furore caused by Mr Fase I am sure not many people higher up in the rugby world will mind!
When asked why he had maintained his press silence over the last couple of weeks he had this to say …
“to an some extent I was very disappointed with the Stad game, which should have been ours, that TMO decision being a particularly low point for the team and me, that following the first games accusations of thuggery... it seems that most coaches can only pump them selves up by 'bullyin' the managers of the teams that just aren’t performing on the night.... we have spent the off weeks reflecting on lessons learnt and taking into account press reactions, and went out the other night against Sale with a much more positive attitude, despite other managers feelings we played a good, hard clean game and left with nothing in the bank, yet again.”
When asked why his team seemed so lack lustre in the Sale match he responded …
“Sale came out and scored from the off, followed by a try, by half time we had drawn back to within 3, the second half was just there game, you can only score if you get the ball, we managed to get the ball once, and scored, unfortunately they had already got the ball twice by then.”
Penney has been having Anger Management counselling for some borderline play in the first 2 games, but now I think it is time we swap his councillor for a boxing ring and then just let him do his thing, the refs seem to like what he does and it does generate more chances for us to exploit, IF he had taken the 2 try scorers in the second half instead of holding back and effectively signalling his tackle that score line would reflect what happened out there much more.”
So not a lot but considering the furore caused by Mr Fase I am sure not many people higher up in the rugby world will mind!
Breaking News ...
Fase triggers an international incident …
Although not talking to Horizon media it appears that Fase (the Wasps coach) has been talking quite liberally to the North London Gazette. In his unprecedented outburst he has sparked an international incident, he is quoted in the NLG as calling the French team Stad Francais;
“ … a team of snail grubbers and surrender monkeys!”
Nicolas Sarkozy the French President contacted Gordon Brown to relay his disgust with the comment which he says disrespects the great French cuisine! Sarkozy has labelled the Wasps Coach as a racist and it seems clear that this issue is not going away … Wasps can expect a hot reception when they visit Paris for the return match!
But he didn’t appear to stop there as he is also quoted as saying about the Horizon studio pundits;
“Personally, I’m not interested in the biased opinions of those who can’t hack it anymore.”
The Stad coach was also labelled as a whinger and the officials came in for abuse throughout the short article. All in all we suspect someone from the IRB will be contacting Mr Fase fairly shortly!
In less controversial mood Fase mused on the rest of the season …
“At Wasps, there’s plenty to play for throughout the remainder of the season. Next week’s return for Saracens is obviously a crunch match and I’m sure that both teams will be well motivated.”
Let’s hope he still has a job when he visits Stad Paris … our pundits will be there to greet him!
Although not talking to Horizon media it appears that Fase (the Wasps coach) has been talking quite liberally to the North London Gazette. In his unprecedented outburst he has sparked an international incident, he is quoted in the NLG as calling the French team Stad Francais;
“ … a team of snail grubbers and surrender monkeys!”
Nicolas Sarkozy the French President contacted Gordon Brown to relay his disgust with the comment which he says disrespects the great French cuisine! Sarkozy has labelled the Wasps Coach as a racist and it seems clear that this issue is not going away … Wasps can expect a hot reception when they visit Paris for the return match!
But he didn’t appear to stop there as he is also quoted as saying about the Horizon studio pundits;
“Personally, I’m not interested in the biased opinions of those who can’t hack it anymore.”
The Stad coach was also labelled as a whinger and the officials came in for abuse throughout the short article. All in all we suspect someone from the IRB will be contacting Mr Fase fairly shortly!
In less controversial mood Fase mused on the rest of the season …
“At Wasps, there’s plenty to play for throughout the remainder of the season. Next week’s return for Saracens is obviously a crunch match and I’m sure that both teams will be well motivated.”
Let’s hope he still has a job when he visits Stad Paris … our pundits will be there to greet him!
Wednesday 6 February 2008
The war of ... well no words!
The dust is just beginning to settle on last nights events ... it is becoming increasingly clear who the top teams are, the solid reliability and bite of the Sharks and the surf boy flair of Stad Francais. Saracens and Wasps are beginning to turn into shadows of the great teams we tend to associate with their names. We will hear from the Sharks and Stad's coaches in a minute. But firstly we are saddened to report that in a move more akin to 'spoilt boy' football coaches McTague, and seemingly Fase to, are refusing to talk to the media in general and Horizon Sports in particular. McTague is even reported to have been heard saying he blames the TV station for providing the images that allowed the TMO in the Stad/Saracen match to make the correct decision and call the Saracen try as 'not grounded'. After last nights match both the Wasps and the Saracens coaches seemed to want to blame anyone but their team - sad days indeed if 'God's Game' is to go down the same road as soccer ...
Jones, the Stad coach, was willing to take a minutes break from signing Stad Francais shirts in a children's hospice to talk to our reporter Rachael Wood so long as he could get back to helping bring a little joy to the children's lives as soon as possible:
Coach, what did you make of tonights game?
Frankly Rachael I was very disappointed in the team, we should have put the nail in Wasps coffin within the first 20 minutes. We missed at least 4 golden try scoring opportunites in the first half alone. Not only was it in attack that we played well below par, our defence was terrible. We made more errors in the second half than in the other two games put together. Let's face it their only score came from our mistake and all their other chances were as a direct result of our bad play. If it hadn't been for a few decent hits from a couple of players, and I have spoken to the officials after the match who assured me they saw nothing but clean fair tackles, whatever Fase may try and say, we could have been in real trouble. We really should have come out of last nights match with 6 points and I am very upset that we didn't. Training in the next couple of weeks is going to be very hard believe me!!
The match between the top two should be one worth waiting for ... the match between the Wasps and Saracens is going to be a close, possibly bloody affair - if we are allowed to cover it!!
Jones, the Stad coach, was willing to take a minutes break from signing Stad Francais shirts in a children's hospice to talk to our reporter Rachael Wood so long as he could get back to helping bring a little joy to the children's lives as soon as possible:
Coach, what did you make of tonights game?
Frankly Rachael I was very disappointed in the team, we should have put the nail in Wasps coffin within the first 20 minutes. We missed at least 4 golden try scoring opportunites in the first half alone. Not only was it in attack that we played well below par, our defence was terrible. We made more errors in the second half than in the other two games put together. Let's face it their only score came from our mistake and all their other chances were as a direct result of our bad play. If it hadn't been for a few decent hits from a couple of players, and I have spoken to the officials after the match who assured me they saw nothing but clean fair tackles, whatever Fase may try and say, we could have been in real trouble. We really should have come out of last nights match with 6 points and I am very upset that we didn't. Training in the next couple of weeks is going to be very hard believe me!!
The match between the top two should be one worth waiting for ... the match between the Wasps and Saracens is going to be a close, possibly bloody affair - if we are allowed to cover it!!
Jones and his French team nearly meet their 'Waterloo' ...
A Near Run Thing ….
The French Champions took a quick Eurostar journey from Paris and arrived in London the day before the match. Reports were they were so relaxed that they spent the day shopping before heading off to North London for the evening kick-off. They nearly paid the price for being too confident and relaxed. Jones rested Hernandez, placing him on the bench. The crowd in North London was poor, reflective perhaps of the lack of confidence hanging over Wasps as they prop the table up.
It looked as if the French side were going to cruise to a good victory as a long kick off was chased by the Stad wingers and Waps were pinned on their own line. A snaffled ruck saw De Villiers crash over the line, Corleto converted with ease. Possibly Stad then went to sleep as the kick off wasn’t dealt with efficiently and suddenly Sackey was streaking down the unprotected flank to score. The only good thing for Stad was that he was so wide the conversion was missed. Jones decided at this point to bring Hernandez on as the kicking was going to prove important.
The next ten minutes or so saw the game played in the middle of the park. A big break by Saubade was just checked by Flutey but it was only a simple pick up which stood between the supporting backs and the try line. In their rush to get the ball they handled the ball in what the referee considered to be a ruck … the resulting penalty was hoofed up field by Wasps, worse still Saubade had to go off for a blood injury. Wasps broke from the lineout and only a very high tackle by Parrisse stopped the North London side from going in at half time with a shock lead! Parrisse found himself in the sin bin, many feeling he was lucky not to get a red.
The start of the second half saw Stad in trouble from a long kick again. Corleto caught the kick well, but then did a howler of a kick which skidded towards the advancing Wasps pack. Dalalgio picked the ball up and charged forward, then he dummied a pass which caught his own players out more than the Stad defence … Shaw ran infront of him and the ref had no option but to call him for obstruction as he stopped at least 4 Stad defenders from getting to Dalalgio. Hernandez showed his quality and put an extremely long kick (pressure kick, torpedo kicker plus massive kick) into the corner, from the resulting line out Parisse (returning from the sin bin) broke on the blind side of a maul, flip passing it in the tackle for Dominici to stroll into the corner, the retreating Wasp players deciding not to tackle him in an offside position believing they would catch him before he could make the line (two break away cards). It was at this point that our reporters swear they saw Fase storm from the touchlines and into the changing rooms!
Wasps dropped their heads, they know they had messed up some golden opportunities and knew equally well that opportunities against Stad (even when they are playing badly) were few and far between. 14-5 to Stad at half time …
The second half started with a nightmare for Wasps as their kick was sliced so badly by Cipriani it went behind the half way line. From the resulting scrum Saubade linked up with Parisse to cut through the Wasp defence again … like before however the normal Stad cool play let them down. They failed to gather from a ruck 9m from the Wasps try line, and then from the resulting line out they lost their own ball and Wasps were breaking down the wing. Desperate cover defence saw Corleto putting in a huge hit on Blin that, yet again saw Fase screaming foul play, the ref saw it as a fair hard tackle and the French quarter of the crowd were suggesting that Fase should take to coaching netball as contact in that sport is not allowed – the studio panel tend to agree. With time running Stad took a massive risk, running it out of their 22m area. Corleto misjudged a kick into space and the ball bobbled down field into the hands of the waiting Wasp backs. As the hooter went they saw the chance for a point as they could narrow the victory to less than 7 points … they had Stad on the back foot and seemed certain to score when again the Wasp backs went offside at a maul en-mass. Hernandez was tempted by the quick tap but regained his sense and slotted the ball out … Jones narrowly escaped his ‘Waterloo’ Fase will rue missed chances and no doubt the ref will come in for some of the blame!
The French Champions took a quick Eurostar journey from Paris and arrived in London the day before the match. Reports were they were so relaxed that they spent the day shopping before heading off to North London for the evening kick-off. They nearly paid the price for being too confident and relaxed. Jones rested Hernandez, placing him on the bench. The crowd in North London was poor, reflective perhaps of the lack of confidence hanging over Wasps as they prop the table up.
It looked as if the French side were going to cruise to a good victory as a long kick off was chased by the Stad wingers and Waps were pinned on their own line. A snaffled ruck saw De Villiers crash over the line, Corleto converted with ease. Possibly Stad then went to sleep as the kick off wasn’t dealt with efficiently and suddenly Sackey was streaking down the unprotected flank to score. The only good thing for Stad was that he was so wide the conversion was missed. Jones decided at this point to bring Hernandez on as the kicking was going to prove important.
The next ten minutes or so saw the game played in the middle of the park. A big break by Saubade was just checked by Flutey but it was only a simple pick up which stood between the supporting backs and the try line. In their rush to get the ball they handled the ball in what the referee considered to be a ruck … the resulting penalty was hoofed up field by Wasps, worse still Saubade had to go off for a blood injury. Wasps broke from the lineout and only a very high tackle by Parrisse stopped the North London side from going in at half time with a shock lead! Parrisse found himself in the sin bin, many feeling he was lucky not to get a red.
The start of the second half saw Stad in trouble from a long kick again. Corleto caught the kick well, but then did a howler of a kick which skidded towards the advancing Wasps pack. Dalalgio picked the ball up and charged forward, then he dummied a pass which caught his own players out more than the Stad defence … Shaw ran infront of him and the ref had no option but to call him for obstruction as he stopped at least 4 Stad defenders from getting to Dalalgio. Hernandez showed his quality and put an extremely long kick (pressure kick, torpedo kicker plus massive kick) into the corner, from the resulting line out Parisse (returning from the sin bin) broke on the blind side of a maul, flip passing it in the tackle for Dominici to stroll into the corner, the retreating Wasp players deciding not to tackle him in an offside position believing they would catch him before he could make the line (two break away cards). It was at this point that our reporters swear they saw Fase storm from the touchlines and into the changing rooms!
Wasps dropped their heads, they know they had messed up some golden opportunities and knew equally well that opportunities against Stad (even when they are playing badly) were few and far between. 14-5 to Stad at half time …
The second half started with a nightmare for Wasps as their kick was sliced so badly by Cipriani it went behind the half way line. From the resulting scrum Saubade linked up with Parisse to cut through the Wasp defence again … like before however the normal Stad cool play let them down. They failed to gather from a ruck 9m from the Wasps try line, and then from the resulting line out they lost their own ball and Wasps were breaking down the wing. Desperate cover defence saw Corleto putting in a huge hit on Blin that, yet again saw Fase screaming foul play, the ref saw it as a fair hard tackle and the French quarter of the crowd were suggesting that Fase should take to coaching netball as contact in that sport is not allowed – the studio panel tend to agree. With time running Stad took a massive risk, running it out of their 22m area. Corleto misjudged a kick into space and the ball bobbled down field into the hands of the waiting Wasp backs. As the hooter went they saw the chance for a point as they could narrow the victory to less than 7 points … they had Stad on the back foot and seemed certain to score when again the Wasp backs went offside at a maul en-mass. Hernandez was tempted by the quick tap but regained his sense and slotted the ball out … Jones narrowly escaped his ‘Waterloo’ Fase will rue missed chances and no doubt the ref will come in for some of the blame!
Saracens feel the bite ...
Steve Thomas our man on the touchline has sent in this report on last nights match …
Sale received the kick off which went back to the second row forwards , White caught the ball and moved out wide handing off a Saracens tackle and then passed out to Lamont (who recovered from his knock at the weekend very quickly) who in typical fashion burst through the defence and was away, a stout back row defence from Saracens saw a mass ruck in the Sarries 30 yard area. Saracens came out with the ball and ground forward, unfortunately a couple of solid Shark tackles saw a knock on and possession went to the Sharks , penalty kick gave Sharks position on the line out, which they won and then a quick pass from Wigglesworth saw Charlie Hodgson drop kick from the Saracens’ 10 metre line for three points.
From the restart things didn’t get better for Saracens as Wigglesworth gathered the ball and rushed forward to then pass to Ripol who moved forward down the right side again, as the defence gathered Ripol flipped a pass out and Lamont drove home to the right of the posts. Hodgson converted and the Sharks were cruising for an evening feed. However from the restart Saracens exploited a gap and against the run of play managed to drive over for a try.
The second half saw much of the same with the Sharks knocking on the door for most of the half. Eventually they drove down to the line where Lamont drove in under the posts . A slice dconversion by Hodgson missed the extra points, but the gap was growing wider. Again from the kick off Sharks drove forward yet again with Ripol who broke through the line, tackles were missed and then another try was scored. By now the Sharks were trying for the extra point and pushed for the fourth try, Saracens had to try and prevent this and hopefully get back within 7 points … but this never really looked possible. A late surge from Saracens as they latched onto a miskick saw them getting over the line as the hooter sounded … the score made it sound like a closer victory than it was, 22-14 does not reflect the dominance shown by the Sharks!
Sale received the kick off which went back to the second row forwards , White caught the ball and moved out wide handing off a Saracens tackle and then passed out to Lamont (who recovered from his knock at the weekend very quickly) who in typical fashion burst through the defence and was away, a stout back row defence from Saracens saw a mass ruck in the Sarries 30 yard area. Saracens came out with the ball and ground forward, unfortunately a couple of solid Shark tackles saw a knock on and possession went to the Sharks , penalty kick gave Sharks position on the line out, which they won and then a quick pass from Wigglesworth saw Charlie Hodgson drop kick from the Saracens’ 10 metre line for three points.
From the restart things didn’t get better for Saracens as Wigglesworth gathered the ball and rushed forward to then pass to Ripol who moved forward down the right side again, as the defence gathered Ripol flipped a pass out and Lamont drove home to the right of the posts. Hodgson converted and the Sharks were cruising for an evening feed. However from the restart Saracens exploited a gap and against the run of play managed to drive over for a try.
The second half saw much of the same with the Sharks knocking on the door for most of the half. Eventually they drove down to the line where Lamont drove in under the posts . A slice dconversion by Hodgson missed the extra points, but the gap was growing wider. Again from the kick off Sharks drove forward yet again with Ripol who broke through the line, tackles were missed and then another try was scored. By now the Sharks were trying for the extra point and pushed for the fourth try, Saracens had to try and prevent this and hopefully get back within 7 points … but this never really looked possible. A late surge from Saracens as they latched onto a miskick saw them getting over the line as the hooter sounded … the score made it sound like a closer victory than it was, 22-14 does not reflect the dominance shown by the Sharks!
Tuesday 5 February 2008
Two tight games ...
Horizon Sports were at both games tonight and our reporters will bring in-depth coverage tomorrow. The Sale Sharks home game to Saracens was promising to be a hard close fought affair. It was hard fought but the Sharks were pressing Saracens throughout the game, although only going in at the break 10-7 up. In the second half a seemingly subdued Saracens defence just let too many tackles slip … the Sharks ran out 22-14 winners, Saracens just missing out on their bonus point.
Meanwhile in North London a very meagre home crowd saw their home team Wasps promise to cause a major upset. Stad Francais were forced into bringing on their star players early in the game as the score was static at 7-5. The French side looked uncharacteristically shakey throughout the game and Wasps twice were their own enemy being caught offside at the breakdown as well as being at the receiving end of a few high tackles. At one point there are reports that Fase stormed out the dug out in disgust. The French side eventually settled down and although they squandered 2 certain try scoring opportunities managed to stop Wasps from gaining the bonus points as the Paris ‘surf boys’ ran out 14-5 winners.
The group table as it stands is
Stad Francais played 3 won 3 points 12
Sale Sharks played 3 won 2 points 10
Saracens played 3 won 0 points 3
London Wasps played 3 won 0 points 2
The final group games will see:
Stad Francais v. Sale Sharks to see who gets the first place in the final.
Saracens v. Wasps to see who plays the loser of the above game in the playoff for the final.
Meanwhile in North London a very meagre home crowd saw their home team Wasps promise to cause a major upset. Stad Francais were forced into bringing on their star players early in the game as the score was static at 7-5. The French side looked uncharacteristically shakey throughout the game and Wasps twice were their own enemy being caught offside at the breakdown as well as being at the receiving end of a few high tackles. At one point there are reports that Fase stormed out the dug out in disgust. The French side eventually settled down and although they squandered 2 certain try scoring opportunities managed to stop Wasps from gaining the bonus points as the Paris ‘surf boys’ ran out 14-5 winners.
The group table as it stands is
Stad Francais played 3 won 3 points 12
Sale Sharks played 3 won 2 points 10
Saracens played 3 won 0 points 3
London Wasps played 3 won 0 points 2
The final group games will see:
Stad Francais v. Sale Sharks to see who gets the first place in the final.
Saracens v. Wasps to see who plays the loser of the above game in the playoff for the final.
Sunday 3 February 2008
French shock? ... not to all
The new look French side decimated a lack lustre Scotland today ... many people had written the French side of youngsters off, we caught up with the Stad Coach to see what, as an Englishman, he thought of the weekend:
'Well I am still hurting from the debacle of the Welsh game, I personally thought Ashton should have 'gone' after the World Cup - again his side seemed to lack direction, but this time there were not any of the 'bullish' old veterans to take over on the field, basically we imploded!
Ireland seemed to just carry on from where they left off in the World Cup and were lucky I thought that Italy didn't pull off an upset. The French game ... well I wasn't surprised, we play against these guys week on week and I know their skill and resolve, they will be hard to beat even though the names might be new.'
We asked Jones about his team for Tuesday and he sprung a surprise ...
'Well I'm going to start our star players on the bench ... I think we have the measure of Wasps even without them and to be honest I'd rather make sure they are fit for the far tougher games we are in for in the next month. They'll be on the bench and if Wasps actually manage to make a game of it, they will be on for the second half.'
This may well give Wasps a hope ... we'll wait and see ...
'Well I am still hurting from the debacle of the Welsh game, I personally thought Ashton should have 'gone' after the World Cup - again his side seemed to lack direction, but this time there were not any of the 'bullish' old veterans to take over on the field, basically we imploded!
Ireland seemed to just carry on from where they left off in the World Cup and were lucky I thought that Italy didn't pull off an upset. The French game ... well I wasn't surprised, we play against these guys week on week and I know their skill and resolve, they will be hard to beat even though the names might be new.'
We asked Jones about his team for Tuesday and he sprung a surprise ...
'Well I'm going to start our star players on the bench ... I think we have the measure of Wasps even without them and to be honest I'd rather make sure they are fit for the far tougher games we are in for in the next month. They'll be on the bench and if Wasps actually manage to make a game of it, they will be on for the second half.'
This may well give Wasps a hope ... we'll wait and see ...
Sharks bite back (again) ...
The office recieved this communication from the Sale Coach this evening ... Dawe had a terse reply to Fase's earlier comments and below is a transcript of the parts of the conversation we could put on a public forum:
'It’s a shame that his team can’t seem to put as much effort into playing as he does into his comments/complaints/excuses (you decide which!!!) if they did they would be top of the table now not bottom. As for one bad result doesn't make a season he is right, but no-one would question one bad result and a lucky draw might be classed as a trend! I don’t know really , I like the guy but it’s about time he stopped bitching about everyone else and got his team to do what he is paid for - play rugby!'
'It’s a shame that his team can’t seem to put as much effort into playing as he does into his comments/complaints/excuses (you decide which!!!) if they did they would be top of the table now not bottom. As for one bad result doesn't make a season he is right, but no-one would question one bad result and a lucky draw might be classed as a trend! I don’t know really , I like the guy but it’s about time he stopped bitching about everyone else and got his team to do what he is paid for - play rugby!'
Saturday 2 February 2008
England bottle it ...
Pundits in the studio were asking if the Wasps' Coach Fase had taken over the England team as they threw away a 19-6 lead to see Wales win ... there was a spate of injuries which ended with England playing a lock in the back row but that is no excuse for the lack of ambition and bad kicking shown in the second half ... even a Tongan born, Kiwi rugby league 'volcano' couldn't help, especially as the England back line seemed to be conspiring to keep the ball away from him.
Let's hope Tuesday's games give us something to cheer about ....
Let's hope Tuesday's games give us something to cheer about ....
Italy come close ...
A number of Stad Francais players were involved with the very close game between Italy and Ireland this afternoon. Parrise in particular had an excellent game, his first as Captain, scoring a drive over try that really piled the pressure onto the Irish side. Jones, the Stad coach is hoping a few ice baths will get the players fit for Tuesday ...
Friday 1 February 2008
Not the promised snow ... but still some sledging!
Black and Yellow – is it pride or from the bruises?
Horizon sports caught up with London Wasps’ Head Coach outside the training ground today, Fase had these brief words to say,
“I just wanted to take this opportunity before this opening six nations weekend to demonstrate the pride and confidence that I have in our entire playing staff here at Wasps. With several of our players featuring over the weekend the rest of us will be taking some time off together to enjoy what should be a thrilling spectacle.”
When asked about how training had been going he reported:
“The boys have trained hard this week to bring themselves back up to their own high standard.”
Was he worried about the visit from Stad this coming week?
“We’re all looking forward to Stad visiting on Tuesday. They’re obviously being put up as favourites, maybe understandably, by the media, but I don’t think that’s fair on the basis of one bad game. We don’t pay any attention to anyone’s expectations except our own!”
Fase seemed to be looking forward to the clash of the two teams that have been involved in much of the ‘sledging’ of Wasps in these last few weeks …
“The Sarries, Sale game should be very interesting. My head says that Sale’s methodical style should do better than it did against Stad but I don’t think that Saracens will allow that without a fight, probably knowing Mctague and his ‘boys’, literally.”
“As much as one bad game shouldn’t see a side written off, one fortuitous result doesn’t prove anything either. Men and boys indeed!”
“To my mind Saracens haven’t played a “good, honest” game to date in this competition so it’s probably time for both teams to deliver!”
So fighting words from Wasps but time will tell if they can live up to the promise they showed when they joined the competition.
Roll on Tuesday :
Weather wise we are looking at a cold crisp night at both venues with maybe a hint of a shower, but nothing to bother the boys on the field.
Horizon sports caught up with London Wasps’ Head Coach outside the training ground today, Fase had these brief words to say,
“I just wanted to take this opportunity before this opening six nations weekend to demonstrate the pride and confidence that I have in our entire playing staff here at Wasps. With several of our players featuring over the weekend the rest of us will be taking some time off together to enjoy what should be a thrilling spectacle.”
When asked about how training had been going he reported:
“The boys have trained hard this week to bring themselves back up to their own high standard.”
Was he worried about the visit from Stad this coming week?
“We’re all looking forward to Stad visiting on Tuesday. They’re obviously being put up as favourites, maybe understandably, by the media, but I don’t think that’s fair on the basis of one bad game. We don’t pay any attention to anyone’s expectations except our own!”
Fase seemed to be looking forward to the clash of the two teams that have been involved in much of the ‘sledging’ of Wasps in these last few weeks …
“The Sarries, Sale game should be very interesting. My head says that Sale’s methodical style should do better than it did against Stad but I don’t think that Saracens will allow that without a fight, probably knowing Mctague and his ‘boys’, literally.”
“As much as one bad game shouldn’t see a side written off, one fortuitous result doesn’t prove anything either. Men and boys indeed!”
“To my mind Saracens haven’t played a “good, honest” game to date in this competition so it’s probably time for both teams to deliver!”
So fighting words from Wasps but time will tell if they can live up to the promise they showed when they joined the competition.
Roll on Tuesday :
Weather wise we are looking at a cold crisp night at both venues with maybe a hint of a shower, but nothing to bother the boys on the field.
International Weekend ...
With a number of the teams' players out on International duty this weekend it is of course a few days of worry for the coaches ...
As well as bringing you blow by blow accounts of the 6 Nation games this weekend our pundits will share their thoughts on the upcoming PEWC CUP games ... can Wasps pull of the unthinkable against Stad and who is going to come up on the top of the food chain in the Sharks and Saracens game. Saracens can't afford to slip any further behind can they?
As well as bringing you blow by blow accounts of the 6 Nation games this weekend our pundits will share their thoughts on the upcoming PEWC CUP games ... can Wasps pull of the unthinkable against Stad and who is going to come up on the top of the food chain in the Sharks and Saracens game. Saracens can't afford to slip any further behind can they?
Monday 28 January 2008
Week off woes ...
At Horizon Sports we have been getting a large number of emails complaining about there being no games on this week. Believe us the players need a week to recover from the last couple of rounds of matches ... but we will bring you any news as it comes in from the team training sessions ...
There is still no word from McTague the Saracens coach as he appears to, for some reason known only to himself, to be keeping a media silence, not talking to any members of the press at all. We asked the Stad Coach why he thought this might be ...
'Well I know Shaunie was pretty upset about that TMO decision ... what I don't get is why he is still brooding, it's all part of the game. I seriously think it only had as much bearing on the game as the ref missing that bad tackle of Penney's which would have taken us well out of sight of any potential comeback. I like the bloke but he does seem to be acting a bit childish - I mean he is happy to rip into the Wasps coach .... but anyway don't want to add to the bad blood that seems to be circulating in the comp so far.'
Could this be the reason ... who knows!
There is still no word from McTague the Saracens coach as he appears to, for some reason known only to himself, to be keeping a media silence, not talking to any members of the press at all. We asked the Stad Coach why he thought this might be ...
'Well I know Shaunie was pretty upset about that TMO decision ... what I don't get is why he is still brooding, it's all part of the game. I seriously think it only had as much bearing on the game as the ref missing that bad tackle of Penney's which would have taken us well out of sight of any potential comeback. I like the bloke but he does seem to be acting a bit childish - I mean he is happy to rip into the Wasps coach .... but anyway don't want to add to the bad blood that seems to be circulating in the comp so far.'
Could this be the reason ... who knows!
Friday 25 January 2008
Wasps out of hiding ...
Three days after the defeat to Sale the London Wasps coach finally comes out to talk about the game which deposits them to the bottom of the league table:
Our resident pundit Garad Edwards caught up with Fase at the end of a very physical training session for the team;
“That second half was a very poor performance all round, errors everywhere. That simply wasn’t a side worth their reputation playing.”
“To be honest though we were a little unlucky not to have gone 14-10 up at the half, though that would have been against the run of play. The boys showed plenty of heart in the first half and covered the errors well - The second half quite simply saw the team collapse. Anytime we were inside either 22 we quite simply choked.”
“Sale played the better game, not difficult really, and deserved the win. It was a good clean match and we easily matched their physicality but it was basic ball skills that let us down.”
“Dawe’s team needed the points badly and we flattered them with our lacklustre performance. I can understand that Dawe has felt the pressure following their lockout by Stade; let him enjoy his moment, he obviously needs it. It’s just the start of the season and there’s plenty of rugby yet to be played.”
“Returning home for Stade in a couple of weeks will be a welcome break from the road. We’ll be working the boys hard to sharpen their handling skill after a few days off to reflect on their recent performance. The line-up could see a shake up!”
Our resident pundit Garad Edwards caught up with Fase at the end of a very physical training session for the team;
“That second half was a very poor performance all round, errors everywhere. That simply wasn’t a side worth their reputation playing.”
“To be honest though we were a little unlucky not to have gone 14-10 up at the half, though that would have been against the run of play. The boys showed plenty of heart in the first half and covered the errors well - The second half quite simply saw the team collapse. Anytime we were inside either 22 we quite simply choked.”
“Sale played the better game, not difficult really, and deserved the win. It was a good clean match and we easily matched their physicality but it was basic ball skills that let us down.”
“Dawe’s team needed the points badly and we flattered them with our lacklustre performance. I can understand that Dawe has felt the pressure following their lockout by Stade; let him enjoy his moment, he obviously needs it. It’s just the start of the season and there’s plenty of rugby yet to be played.”
“Returning home for Stade in a couple of weeks will be a welcome break from the road. We’ll be working the boys hard to sharpen their handling skill after a few days off to reflect on their recent performance. The line-up could see a shake up!”
Wednesday 23 January 2008
TMO - do we need them?
Tonight Stad Francais’ coach was given the sternest test of his unbeaten competitive career yet. Saracens came within a TMO (Television Monitor Official) decision of at least drawing the match!
Right from Stads kick off the Saracen team showed their intent of taking the match to the French team. Consistent pressure kept the Stad team pinned back in their 22 for most of the first half. The power pack of the French were kept at bay, hardly seeing the ball and only stout defending kept the Saracen backs out. The turning point in the first half came when the Stad forwards pounced on a 50/50 ball and set up a driving maul for the first time in the game. Rolling a full 20m the Saracen team were getting left in an awkward position and the only choice they had was to take it down, Unfortunately for them (and McTague would argue it was one of the only times the Officials saw anything all evening) it was spotted. The penalty drove the French pack down to a 5m lineout and from here they are virtually unstoppable. A very accurate (smooth pass card) throw to the back of the line saw Parisse (obviously enjoying the fact he has just been given the Italian captaincy for the 6 Nations) drive for a gap in the Saracen defence, coming up short he was driven over by De Villiers and Plooy. Hernandez very uncharacteristically missed the easy kick.
But then it was back to the Saracens putting on the pressure. A deep kick off looked as if the Saracen backs were going to swarm all over Dominici. However a bit of lucky play saw Hernandez pick up from the resulting ruck and launch a massive 85m+ kick which bobbled down to the Saracen line. It was a straight race and Saubade the ultra fast Stad winger was not going to lose out. He picked up smoothly and trotted over the line for another score, with Hernandez not missing this time the look on McTague’s face said it all … 70% of the possession and 12 – 0 down!
Things almost got worse from the resulting kick off as again Saubade made a superb break down the wing, he was in for certain as the only person that could stop him was Rod Penney. Saubade is famous for his hand-off so Penney was taking no chances – the crowd thought it was a high tackle, the Stad coach later called it a ‘cheap shot’, but as is often the case with Penney’s ‘tackles’ (the Wasps coach had nearly walked off the pitch in disgust the week before) the referee seemed to think it was OK. Saubade had to leave the pitch for treatment. The incident nearly provoked an all out brawl and Penney actually had to run away from a pack of angry Stad players. Meanwhile Saracens were taking advantage of the distraction and Russell was nearly in the corner for a score. What McTague’s spokesman later called a ‘revenge’ tackle saved the day for Stad and as Blin (the Stad hooker) walked towards the sin bin McTague made the call for a tap and go penalty rather than the points – a bad decision in hindsight as the Stad defence held and Saracens went in trailing 12 -0. The referee looked relieved to call the half to a close!
The second half saw Saracens again come out the blocks firing. A brilliant move between De Kock and Glen Jackson saw the Saracen winger Haughton break through the Stad defence and under the posts – Stad were on the ropes … 12 – 7. The Saracen pressure grew and grew, their number 15 Russell was playing an awesome game, he had been mixing it up with the forwards in the rucks all game (rucking ability) but as one fan put it, ‘went a ruck too far’ – finding himself at the bottom of a French ruck when he had been dishing it out all game was never going to be a good move, the injury kept him out the game for a while and we have since heard he will be needing treatment on a bad cut and dislocated shoulder which may keep him out for some time.
It was a bout of Saracen pressure that saw the incident that will be talked about for years to come at Vicarage Road. The Stad scrum half gathered and passed from a ruck on Stads line … Corleto looked to have an easy kick into touch … but then he slipped as he went to kick. The Saracen pack pounced but Corleto scrambled onto the ball and basically refused to let go. Lucky not to be taking a walk it gave the Saracens a penalty 9m out! McTague gave the instructions to go for the try yet again … the pack rolled forward but then De Kock faked the inside forward pass and flipped it out to Ben Skirving who ploughed over the line under the posts. Bergamasco tackled him on the line but it looked to everyone in the stadium that Skiriving had managed to get the ball down. The referee went to the TMO who took a long time over the decision. The screen in the ground seemed to indicate that Skirving had got the ball down before being rolled over by Bergamasco. The decision was relayed to the Ref, even he looked slightly bewildered as he motioned ‘NO TRY’. McTague was outraged on the touchline …
Horizon Sports has spoken to the TMO and he has indicated that Bergamasco actually managed to get his ear under the ball stopping it from being grounded … we in the studio have never seen anything like it and it is bound to open the whole TMO debate again!
From this point on Stad played with new heart and nearly got in themselves from yet another 90m (torpedo kicker and massive kick card) kick from Hernandez. It went down to the wire however with Saracens threatening to score after the klaxon. A failed gather from Saracens saw Corleto pick the ball up and run into touch.
From a neutrals point of view the game was a ‘corker’ – for Saracens it has to go down as an opportunity missed – the TMO decision is bound to keep us busy for quite a while. Since the game McTague has refused to answer any questions from the media – the official word is no comment. Jones had this to say:
‘We showed our class out there tonight, our defence soaked up continual pressure from the home side, who it must be said played an excellent game. We made our breaks when we could and then managed to convert them into points, that was the difference between the teams I think. The TMO decision … well I thought he had grounded it but when you look at what the TMO saw it is obvious he made the right decision … I am never going to rib Mauro about his ‘elephant ears’ again … All in all an excellent night for us, going to Vicarage Road is never easy. We are obviously going to be going into the Wasps game as favourites and understandably so really … Fase seems to be having a rough time lately which is a shame as in the World Cup he showed a lot of promise I thought, maybe he can turn it around. The Saracens and Sharks game is probably going to be a preview of the play off game I imagine … they have all to play for!’
The PEWC CUP remember will see each team play each other twice in the group phase … the leader will gain a place in the final and then the 2nd and 3rd team will play each other for the other place in the final for the coveted cup, the loser playing again in the 3rd/4th playoff.
Right from Stads kick off the Saracen team showed their intent of taking the match to the French team. Consistent pressure kept the Stad team pinned back in their 22 for most of the first half. The power pack of the French were kept at bay, hardly seeing the ball and only stout defending kept the Saracen backs out. The turning point in the first half came when the Stad forwards pounced on a 50/50 ball and set up a driving maul for the first time in the game. Rolling a full 20m the Saracen team were getting left in an awkward position and the only choice they had was to take it down, Unfortunately for them (and McTague would argue it was one of the only times the Officials saw anything all evening) it was spotted. The penalty drove the French pack down to a 5m lineout and from here they are virtually unstoppable. A very accurate (smooth pass card) throw to the back of the line saw Parisse (obviously enjoying the fact he has just been given the Italian captaincy for the 6 Nations) drive for a gap in the Saracen defence, coming up short he was driven over by De Villiers and Plooy. Hernandez very uncharacteristically missed the easy kick.
But then it was back to the Saracens putting on the pressure. A deep kick off looked as if the Saracen backs were going to swarm all over Dominici. However a bit of lucky play saw Hernandez pick up from the resulting ruck and launch a massive 85m+ kick which bobbled down to the Saracen line. It was a straight race and Saubade the ultra fast Stad winger was not going to lose out. He picked up smoothly and trotted over the line for another score, with Hernandez not missing this time the look on McTague’s face said it all … 70% of the possession and 12 – 0 down!
Things almost got worse from the resulting kick off as again Saubade made a superb break down the wing, he was in for certain as the only person that could stop him was Rod Penney. Saubade is famous for his hand-off so Penney was taking no chances – the crowd thought it was a high tackle, the Stad coach later called it a ‘cheap shot’, but as is often the case with Penney’s ‘tackles’ (the Wasps coach had nearly walked off the pitch in disgust the week before) the referee seemed to think it was OK. Saubade had to leave the pitch for treatment. The incident nearly provoked an all out brawl and Penney actually had to run away from a pack of angry Stad players. Meanwhile Saracens were taking advantage of the distraction and Russell was nearly in the corner for a score. What McTague’s spokesman later called a ‘revenge’ tackle saved the day for Stad and as Blin (the Stad hooker) walked towards the sin bin McTague made the call for a tap and go penalty rather than the points – a bad decision in hindsight as the Stad defence held and Saracens went in trailing 12 -0. The referee looked relieved to call the half to a close!
The second half saw Saracens again come out the blocks firing. A brilliant move between De Kock and Glen Jackson saw the Saracen winger Haughton break through the Stad defence and under the posts – Stad were on the ropes … 12 – 7. The Saracen pressure grew and grew, their number 15 Russell was playing an awesome game, he had been mixing it up with the forwards in the rucks all game (rucking ability) but as one fan put it, ‘went a ruck too far’ – finding himself at the bottom of a French ruck when he had been dishing it out all game was never going to be a good move, the injury kept him out the game for a while and we have since heard he will be needing treatment on a bad cut and dislocated shoulder which may keep him out for some time.
It was a bout of Saracen pressure that saw the incident that will be talked about for years to come at Vicarage Road. The Stad scrum half gathered and passed from a ruck on Stads line … Corleto looked to have an easy kick into touch … but then he slipped as he went to kick. The Saracen pack pounced but Corleto scrambled onto the ball and basically refused to let go. Lucky not to be taking a walk it gave the Saracens a penalty 9m out! McTague gave the instructions to go for the try yet again … the pack rolled forward but then De Kock faked the inside forward pass and flipped it out to Ben Skirving who ploughed over the line under the posts. Bergamasco tackled him on the line but it looked to everyone in the stadium that Skiriving had managed to get the ball down. The referee went to the TMO who took a long time over the decision. The screen in the ground seemed to indicate that Skirving had got the ball down before being rolled over by Bergamasco. The decision was relayed to the Ref, even he looked slightly bewildered as he motioned ‘NO TRY’. McTague was outraged on the touchline …
Horizon Sports has spoken to the TMO and he has indicated that Bergamasco actually managed to get his ear under the ball stopping it from being grounded … we in the studio have never seen anything like it and it is bound to open the whole TMO debate again!
From this point on Stad played with new heart and nearly got in themselves from yet another 90m (torpedo kicker and massive kick card) kick from Hernandez. It went down to the wire however with Saracens threatening to score after the klaxon. A failed gather from Saracens saw Corleto pick the ball up and run into touch.
From a neutrals point of view the game was a ‘corker’ – for Saracens it has to go down as an opportunity missed – the TMO decision is bound to keep us busy for quite a while. Since the game McTague has refused to answer any questions from the media – the official word is no comment. Jones had this to say:
‘We showed our class out there tonight, our defence soaked up continual pressure from the home side, who it must be said played an excellent game. We made our breaks when we could and then managed to convert them into points, that was the difference between the teams I think. The TMO decision … well I thought he had grounded it but when you look at what the TMO saw it is obvious he made the right decision … I am never going to rib Mauro about his ‘elephant ears’ again … All in all an excellent night for us, going to Vicarage Road is never easy. We are obviously going to be going into the Wasps game as favourites and understandably so really … Fase seems to be having a rough time lately which is a shame as in the World Cup he showed a lot of promise I thought, maybe he can turn it around. The Saracens and Sharks game is probably going to be a preview of the play off game I imagine … they have all to play for!’
The PEWC CUP remember will see each team play each other twice in the group phase … the leader will gain a place in the final and then the 2nd and 3rd team will play each other for the other place in the final for the coveted cup, the loser playing again in the 3rd/4th playoff.
Sharks will not let it go ...
We caught up with Coach Dawe after the Sharks vs Wasps match, we imagined the win would have taken some of the animosity away from the situation, but it quickly became apparent that the two coaches had exchanged further words after the final klaxon. As we talked to Dawe he was enjoying a glass of wine in celebration of what he termed his teams, ‘destruction of Wasps’. Fase the Wasps coach had by this time declined the invitation of an after match beverage reportedly muttering something about being ill and having to catch the train home!
It was obvious that Dawe was savouring the victory –
‘The boys did themselves proud, after all the bad blood and the accusations of dirty play we just showed them how to play. You want to do the rough stuff, we can do that too but we prefer to play in style. The weather hampered us against Stad, but this week we showed the sort of open play rugby we are capable of.’
When asked what he made of the deliberate high tackles that were going in Dawe shrugged them off, ‘Refs have a hard time, that first Wasps ‘assault’, to use the words bandied around by Fase last match, was certainly at least a yellow card, the big one in the second half, well to be honest I was busy watching Hodgson’s golden feet – I’ll look at the video and see if we should make a formal complaint, I prefer however to work it out on the pitch the next time we play them!’
On his teams performance he had this to say, ‘Lamont is a quality player, he’s shown his pace in the last few matches now. Chabal, well what can I say, give him the ball he’ll head for that line. Magnus Lund caused Stad some worries last match and this match I think he was basically a cut above the Wasps players. Hodgson was having trouble with his boots in the first half, I’ll be talking to the maker very shortly!! All in all the game was, well, MEN & BOYS really although I am waiting for the usual lame excuses about illness BLAH BLAH, can’t see him lasting much longer than the Stad match to be honest, the fans will not stand for it!!’
Well as subtle as ever we left the outspoken coach to his ‘wine’ … any reply from Fase? Well at the moment their seems to be an official ‘no comment’ from him and the Saracens coach McTague … the pressure is mounting!
It was obvious that Dawe was savouring the victory –
‘The boys did themselves proud, after all the bad blood and the accusations of dirty play we just showed them how to play. You want to do the rough stuff, we can do that too but we prefer to play in style. The weather hampered us against Stad, but this week we showed the sort of open play rugby we are capable of.’
When asked what he made of the deliberate high tackles that were going in Dawe shrugged them off, ‘Refs have a hard time, that first Wasps ‘assault’, to use the words bandied around by Fase last match, was certainly at least a yellow card, the big one in the second half, well to be honest I was busy watching Hodgson’s golden feet – I’ll look at the video and see if we should make a formal complaint, I prefer however to work it out on the pitch the next time we play them!’
On his teams performance he had this to say, ‘Lamont is a quality player, he’s shown his pace in the last few matches now. Chabal, well what can I say, give him the ball he’ll head for that line. Magnus Lund caused Stad some worries last match and this match I think he was basically a cut above the Wasps players. Hodgson was having trouble with his boots in the first half, I’ll be talking to the maker very shortly!! All in all the game was, well, MEN & BOYS really although I am waiting for the usual lame excuses about illness BLAH BLAH, can’t see him lasting much longer than the Stad match to be honest, the fans will not stand for it!!’
Well as subtle as ever we left the outspoken coach to his ‘wine’ … any reply from Fase? Well at the moment their seems to be an official ‘no comment’ from him and the Saracens coach McTague … the pressure is mounting!
Northern excursion ends in horror for Wasps!
Our reporters at the Sale game have given us this detailed report:
Sharks to receive, Wasps shank kick off straight to Julien Laharrague (the number 15) he moves out to the left wing nails a pass to Rory Lamont (14) who explodes down the leftwing (2 break aways!), and promptly runs it in for a try, Charlie Hodgson pushes the conversion wide.
At the second kick off Rory Lamont gets the ball out wide on the left flank again and bursts through the front line of defence(1 more break away) but second line took him into touch. At wasps line out they get ball into middle of park but the maul collapses, Richard Wigglesworth (sale 9) manages to ferret ball out of ruck and flips it out to luke Mcallister (13) who charges for the line but is promptly stopped by a foul from Wasps number 11 .
Sharks take the penalty touch and drive into a try with Chabal steamrollering wasps defence (hand off) . Hodgson's kick sliced again!!!! 10-0.
Wasps kick finds a gap in sharks defence and they drive into space , Lee thomas picked up an injury at this point that took him out for the rest of the half.
Hodgson tries took pick up ball to relieve but the attentions of the Wasps number 15 caused him to fail to gather, allowing Wasps number 15 to gather and drive home for a try, which they duly converted.
Wasps recieved the miskick from Hodgson again (having a shocker) and drive forward again as the klaxon goes , late in the Sharks 22 Hodgson gets the ball and trys for touch but slices in field, the forwards seizing their chance drive into the Wasps half sensing the chance of an overtime try ,the Wasps come back at pace but again choke at the 22 Hodgson seeing his chance grabs the ball and runs it out of play to end the half he wasn't chancing a kick this time!
SECOND HALF
Hodgson has a change of boots for the second half! kicks off the game much better , what follows is 20 minutes of middle of the park grinding by both teams forwards till Wiggle worth flips a pass to Oriol Ripol who runs it home for another try, Hodgson is right on the money this time and gets the conversion.
Late into the second half a massive ruck on the Wasps 22 grinds to a halt and collapses as Wigglesworth passes the ball to Chabal the klaxon goes, Chabal drives forward passes to Lamont who explodes through the wasps line (hand off 2 breakaways) only to be stopped 5meters short of the try line, Luke Mcallister picked up the ball moves across the line took the tackle and made the gap for Sebastien Lund to run in between the posts, Hodgson converted the try and it was game over 24-7!
The crowd went wild, the Wasps coach in a brief after match talk to the press was blaming an illness running through the changing room … from here in the stands it looked like he should be blaming a defence that wouldn’t even get a job as a sieve, the holes are too large, and an attack which relies on the other team’s errors to give them any score … things are looking bleak for Wasps unless they can pull something back against Stad in the next match!
Next fixtures:
Wasps entertain Staid in North London
Sale host Saracens up North
Sharks to receive, Wasps shank kick off straight to Julien Laharrague (the number 15) he moves out to the left wing nails a pass to Rory Lamont (14) who explodes down the leftwing (2 break aways!), and promptly runs it in for a try, Charlie Hodgson pushes the conversion wide.
At the second kick off Rory Lamont gets the ball out wide on the left flank again and bursts through the front line of defence(1 more break away) but second line took him into touch. At wasps line out they get ball into middle of park but the maul collapses, Richard Wigglesworth (sale 9) manages to ferret ball out of ruck and flips it out to luke Mcallister (13) who charges for the line but is promptly stopped by a foul from Wasps number 11 .
Sharks take the penalty touch and drive into a try with Chabal steamrollering wasps defence (hand off) . Hodgson's kick sliced again!!!! 10-0.
Wasps kick finds a gap in sharks defence and they drive into space , Lee thomas picked up an injury at this point that took him out for the rest of the half.
Hodgson tries took pick up ball to relieve but the attentions of the Wasps number 15 caused him to fail to gather, allowing Wasps number 15 to gather and drive home for a try, which they duly converted.
Wasps recieved the miskick from Hodgson again (having a shocker) and drive forward again as the klaxon goes , late in the Sharks 22 Hodgson gets the ball and trys for touch but slices in field, the forwards seizing their chance drive into the Wasps half sensing the chance of an overtime try ,the Wasps come back at pace but again choke at the 22 Hodgson seeing his chance grabs the ball and runs it out of play to end the half he wasn't chancing a kick this time!
SECOND HALF
Hodgson has a change of boots for the second half! kicks off the game much better , what follows is 20 minutes of middle of the park grinding by both teams forwards till Wiggle worth flips a pass to Oriol Ripol who runs it home for another try, Hodgson is right on the money this time and gets the conversion.
Late into the second half a massive ruck on the Wasps 22 grinds to a halt and collapses as Wigglesworth passes the ball to Chabal the klaxon goes, Chabal drives forward passes to Lamont who explodes through the wasps line (hand off 2 breakaways) only to be stopped 5meters short of the try line, Luke Mcallister picked up the ball moves across the line took the tackle and made the gap for Sebastien Lund to run in between the posts, Hodgson converted the try and it was game over 24-7!
The crowd went wild, the Wasps coach in a brief after match talk to the press was blaming an illness running through the changing room … from here in the stands it looked like he should be blaming a defence that wouldn’t even get a job as a sieve, the holes are too large, and an attack which relies on the other team’s errors to give them any score … things are looking bleak for Wasps unless they can pull something back against Stad in the next match!
Next fixtures:
Wasps entertain Staid in North London
Sale host Saracens up North
Tuesday 22 January 2008
A night to remember ...
Thrillers all round …
In an evening unspoilt by the weather spectators at both games left the grounds after witnessing some fine rugby. Our reporters were at both grounds, first lets get the summary of what happened up in Sale this evening …
Wasps made the long journey up the M40 and M6 to play what many thought was going to be a grudge match. It didn’t take long for the match to explode into action. Sale received the long Wasps kick and then Lamont burst through the entire Wasps team and streaked away for a try within the first minute … Hodgson seemed to be having trouble with his boots and his conversion went wide. The home crowd hardly had time to settle back in their seats when another break saw the Sale forwards punching through the middle with Chabal lumbering over for another score, this time nearer to the posts. Yet again though Hodgson failed to convert.
The game then got physical with the Wasps prop getting sin binned for a very high tackle which denied the Sale backs another score. The referee just managed to keep control as tempers flared. In the aftermath the Wasps full back did manage to pull a try back which was calmly converted. Half time came with the home crowd wondering how on earth they were only 10-7 ahead. Dalalgio, the Wasps captain firmly believed that the second half would see them pull the score back … how wrong could he be!
Hodgson obviously had a change of boots at half time and in the home team totally dominated the second half running in another 2 tries! The Sharks ran away with a big 6 points … it’s back to the drawing board yet again for Wasps. More from our match side reporters tomorrow, and no doubt we will hear from the coaches.
Down at Vicarage Road the crowd hardly got to sit down as the game was played at a furious pace. With hardly a break down in play the game was phase after phase of excitement. In the end Stad Francais managed to keep their unbeaten record but only with the help of the Television Monitor Official who controversially ruled a Saracens try to be held up mid way through the second half. The final score of 12-7 was the closest game Stad had experienced in many a game. A detailed report will appear tomorrow and no doubt the coaches will have plenty to say!
The table as it stands tonight with a 2 week break coming up is :
Stad Francais played 2 won2 points 8
Sale Sharks played 2 won1 points 6
Saracens played 2 won0 points 3
London Wasps played 2 won0 points 2
In an evening unspoilt by the weather spectators at both games left the grounds after witnessing some fine rugby. Our reporters were at both grounds, first lets get the summary of what happened up in Sale this evening …
Wasps made the long journey up the M40 and M6 to play what many thought was going to be a grudge match. It didn’t take long for the match to explode into action. Sale received the long Wasps kick and then Lamont burst through the entire Wasps team and streaked away for a try within the first minute … Hodgson seemed to be having trouble with his boots and his conversion went wide. The home crowd hardly had time to settle back in their seats when another break saw the Sale forwards punching through the middle with Chabal lumbering over for another score, this time nearer to the posts. Yet again though Hodgson failed to convert.
The game then got physical with the Wasps prop getting sin binned for a very high tackle which denied the Sale backs another score. The referee just managed to keep control as tempers flared. In the aftermath the Wasps full back did manage to pull a try back which was calmly converted. Half time came with the home crowd wondering how on earth they were only 10-7 ahead. Dalalgio, the Wasps captain firmly believed that the second half would see them pull the score back … how wrong could he be!
Hodgson obviously had a change of boots at half time and in the home team totally dominated the second half running in another 2 tries! The Sharks ran away with a big 6 points … it’s back to the drawing board yet again for Wasps. More from our match side reporters tomorrow, and no doubt we will hear from the coaches.
Down at Vicarage Road the crowd hardly got to sit down as the game was played at a furious pace. With hardly a break down in play the game was phase after phase of excitement. In the end Stad Francais managed to keep their unbeaten record but only with the help of the Television Monitor Official who controversially ruled a Saracens try to be held up mid way through the second half. The final score of 12-7 was the closest game Stad had experienced in many a game. A detailed report will appear tomorrow and no doubt the coaches will have plenty to say!
The table as it stands tonight with a 2 week break coming up is :
Stad Francais played 2 won2 points 8
Sale Sharks played 2 won1 points 6
Saracens played 2 won0 points 3
London Wasps played 2 won0 points 2
Monday 21 January 2008
In the studio with the boys ...
Here we are in the studio with our regular columnists, Bill, Mark and Jona ...
Guys, we are in for a good couple of matches tomorrow night, the weather looks fine and there is a lot riding on the matches as well as the pride! So what do you think we are in for this week?
(Bill) Well Andy the Wasps Sharks game looks like it may be all out war, there is no love lost between either the teams or the coaches. After two weeks of thinly veiled 'sledging' they can finally sort it out on the field. The match itself will probably be very open, the Sharks last week tried to play a very open attacking game against Stad, Wasps did the same against Saracens and I don't think the weather did either of them any favours, hopefully tomorrow should be different.
(Mark) Let's hope the board has a decent ref sorted for that game Andy or it may get out of hand.
(Jona) To me the Saracens Stad game is going to either blow hot or cold, both teams know each other so well and both have a fairly similar style of play. It's going to be a tight one to say the least.
Well be sure to join us tomorrow night for some post match commentary ...
The PEWC CUP table as it stands:
Stad Francais 4
Saracens 2
London Wasps 2
Sale Sharks 0
Guys, we are in for a good couple of matches tomorrow night, the weather looks fine and there is a lot riding on the matches as well as the pride! So what do you think we are in for this week?
(Bill) Well Andy the Wasps Sharks game looks like it may be all out war, there is no love lost between either the teams or the coaches. After two weeks of thinly veiled 'sledging' they can finally sort it out on the field. The match itself will probably be very open, the Sharks last week tried to play a very open attacking game against Stad, Wasps did the same against Saracens and I don't think the weather did either of them any favours, hopefully tomorrow should be different.
(Mark) Let's hope the board has a decent ref sorted for that game Andy or it may get out of hand.
(Jona) To me the Saracens Stad game is going to either blow hot or cold, both teams know each other so well and both have a fairly similar style of play. It's going to be a tight one to say the least.
Well be sure to join us tomorrow night for some post match commentary ...
The PEWC CUP table as it stands:
Stad Francais 4
Saracens 2
London Wasps 2
Sale Sharks 0
Monday morning training in Paris ...
We have been in Stad Francais' training ground as the sun was trying to press through the overcast sky ... Hernandez could be seen honing his kicking skills, obviously Stad are worried about the kind of conditions they faced in England last week. The other noticable thing was some of the backs training with the forwards at the breakdown, it seemed they were learning some rucking skills. Jones could be worried about the strong Saracens pack.
All the team looked healthy and in good spirits and so they should be, their owner had just managed to secure a sponsorship deal with the surf industry giants 'Billabong', a partnership guaranteed to add even more 'flair' to the Stad set up - surf chicks as cheerleaders maybe!
All the team looked healthy and in good spirits and so they should be, their owner had just managed to secure a sponsorship deal with the surf industry giants 'Billabong', a partnership guaranteed to add even more 'flair' to the Stad set up - surf chicks as cheerleaders maybe!
Sunday 20 January 2008
Weekend training, all is quiet ...
As all the teams have a quiet weekend in their training camps there has been little contact with the media. We understand all the players are fit and although there is bound to be a few changes none of the sides to our knowledge have bought in any new players or staff ... the weather for the next round still looks like being fine or only light rain, so the teams should be able to show their stuff!
Thursday 17 January 2008
Next weeks fixtures ...
After the excitement of the first round of matches we are all looking forward to next weeks. One of the fixtures in particular promises to be full of fire, even before kick-off. The Wasps coach has come in for some harsh words from the Sale Sharks over the last week. Sparked by the Wasps claims of 'tackles bordering on assualt' and then the comments about Saracens 'dirty, underhand' play the Sharks management have basically accused the Wasps of being not up to the task. Both teams seem to be out to prove something. The other game sees Saracens host Stade. Always close games the French don't normally travel well and this game will really test them.
Thankfully the weather looks fair for both grounds, a far cry from the last games!
Kick off 7:00pm Tuesday 22nd January
Saracens vs. Stade Francais
Sale Sharks vs. London Wasps
Thankfully the weather looks fair for both grounds, a far cry from the last games!
Kick off 7:00pm Tuesday 22nd January
Saracens vs. Stade Francais
Sale Sharks vs. London Wasps
Dawe has his say ...
We caught up with Ian Dawe, the Sale Coach, getting off the plane from Paris in the still driving rain ...
'Damn just goes to show that if you don't make the pressure count count it can all so easily come undone.
We dominated the first half entirely Stade never even got into our half but we couldnt convert no matter how we tried. Lund made a fantastice break from the start but stout defence smothered the play, late in the first half Lamont made a fantastic break away on the left wing it took 3 defenders to bring him down but alas the forwards choked at the 9th hour.
Unfortunately we went to sleep for the first 10 minutes of the second half and were punished severely , their number 14 was outstanding , if i were a Wasps coach I would probably say that he was on performance enhancing drugs or something to the effect, but I am not ... the boy done good and thoroughly deserved his MOM award. On a more serious note Charlie Hodgeson injured his ankle in prematch warm up , but was so fired up for the game he neglected to tell me , it would explain why his kicking was off last night . It looks as though he may be a doubt for the next match but you know ... Wasps are going to pay either way!'
'Damn just goes to show that if you don't make the pressure count count it can all so easily come undone.
We dominated the first half entirely Stade never even got into our half but we couldnt convert no matter how we tried. Lund made a fantastice break from the start but stout defence smothered the play, late in the first half Lamont made a fantastic break away on the left wing it took 3 defenders to bring him down but alas the forwards choked at the 9th hour.
Unfortunately we went to sleep for the first 10 minutes of the second half and were punished severely , their number 14 was outstanding , if i were a Wasps coach I would probably say that he was on performance enhancing drugs or something to the effect, but I am not ... the boy done good and thoroughly deserved his MOM award. On a more serious note Charlie Hodgeson injured his ankle in prematch warm up , but was so fired up for the game he neglected to tell me , it would explain why his kicking was off last night . It looks as though he may be a doubt for the next match but you know ... Wasps are going to pay either way!'
Wednesday 16 January 2008
IN THEIR OWN EYES ...
Saracens versus Wasps … the fallout & Stad praise the Sharks:
Horizon Sports were at both post game press conferences, luckily the two coaches were not in the same room! Here at HS we suspect we have not heard the last of this game!
Firstly looking rather resigned McTague, the Saracens coach, talked to Mike Tindale as the Sarries were leaving Vicarage Road:
“Hi Mike, well that started well and ended in a little confusion.
The weather played such a part that I don’t think the ref had much to do but try and keep warm!! Of course I am disappointed, to go from 14 zip to 14 square is a bit depressing but no you have to look at the stats to see that no points were scored against the wind in that match. I also have spoken to our Scrummie and he claims he didn’t hear the end of normal time. When he realised he quickly released the pass to the fullback, expecting him to bury it into touch. Unfortunately the full back was expecting the scrummie to do so … and well the pass was a surprise and the rest is history.
The opening phases saw the boys getting a nice clean couple of tries, the opposition just didn’t like to get in there and make it personal, basically they were afraid of getting physical. They whinged about the physicality of the Sevens against Sale if I remember rightly, maybe the coach isn’t cut out for the big boys league. Also I think the second half showed that they also lack a little control with their number 8 getting 'sin binned'. I know my boys aren’t angels but we do try and play fair. If we dominated the first half then they certainly dominated the second, both times with the wind was at the teams’ backs, a draw is a fair result for what happened out there today, a win would have been nicer for the home supporters but I guess the guys wanted to show there stuff off and get a bigger margin of victory, we were held by the weather not by Wasps . I was happy, well they our attacks were unstoppable and the defence strong and well placed, both the opposition tries were from breakthrough passes by the fly half helped no doubt by the wind.
My man of the match has to be Rod Penney, not only was he in front line making us huge ground on offense, but was also seen flying back to drop their wingers on the breakaway plays..... Our training focus for the guys this week will be on clearing the ball quicker from the pack, and I will be sending the scrummy to get his ears syringed!! Thanks to all the supporters that showed up for the match in such awful conditions and I hope we have the same atmosphere for when we entertain Stad Francais next week!’
Not exactly kind words but not the fighting words that came out of the Wasps press conference a few hours later. Obviously still fuming Fase begrudgingly said a few words to the associated press a few hours after the end of the match from their HQ in High Wycombe:
‘“Despite an impressive fight-back following some early errors by the forwards we feel that we were simply not given a level playing field.” When quizzed about exactly what he meant by this all Fase would offer was,
“The standard of decision making by the ref was quite simply appalling. There were at least three blatant fouls as we moved inside the Saracens 22, each as ugly as McTague’s cackling face.”
The incidents he was referring too seemed to be tackles made by Penney, the Saracen’s winger, which were marginal at the best but went completely unseen by the linesman and referee. The video footage tends to be obscured and inconclusive as well (the ref rolls made by Shaun M in each case were 1,1 or 1,2 !).
Ian Dickey from the Observer asked about the conditions out there on the pitch;
“With playing conditions making ball handling difficult for both teams we played well throughout the second half and were only denied victory by the officials. To be honest it was only Saracen’s greed that let us back in at the end and let Lol (Dalagio) lead the boys superbly to even the match.”
He rounded the short conference off by a scathing attack on McTague and the tactics of Saracens;
“It’s a shame that a side that I only had praise for throughout the sevens tournament felt that they didn’t have the strength to play us man to man and had to resort to such underhand play. I think that we can almost take that as a back-handed compliment as we move on to next weeks game at Sale with heads held high.”
With that he stormed out the room, with the accusations of ‘assault like’ dirty tackles still fresh in the Sale Sharks coaches mind next week will be interesting to say the least!
Meanwhile the press conferences held in Paris following the Stad/Sharks thriller were of an all together gentlemanly nature. Jonno caught Jones, the Stad coach, on his way to a welcome pint in the hospitality rooms, he had this to say about the match.
‘The real winners of tonight’s match has to be the fans of both sides who travelled to see there team. Considering the conditions I thought both sides played with a lot of flair. The wind kept kicking to a minimum and it was tense out there. I was surprised with the tenacity shown by the Sharks, considering our second XIV had held them at sevens the previous week I was expecting a bit of an easier match to be honest. But Sharks showed that at this level there are no easy matches and I felt proud that our defense managed to keep them out. A great game played by two great sides, I will tip Sharks to decimate the Wasps next week and look forward to meeting them again come finals time. The main man for us in my opinion was Fillol at scrum half. He directed the play in both attack and defense and made some fine decisions out there. Looking forward to next week … well its our old foes Saracens. It’s never easy to play at Vicarage Road with the stands packed in over the narrow pitch, the atmosphere is always oppressive. Both teams know each other so well and they are always the team we find it hardest to dominate … but as the great gridiron coach Vince Lombardi once alluded to … winning is a habit … and at the moment our coaching staff have the habit!’
Horizon Sports were at both post game press conferences, luckily the two coaches were not in the same room! Here at HS we suspect we have not heard the last of this game!
Firstly looking rather resigned McTague, the Saracens coach, talked to Mike Tindale as the Sarries were leaving Vicarage Road:
“Hi Mike, well that started well and ended in a little confusion.
The weather played such a part that I don’t think the ref had much to do but try and keep warm!! Of course I am disappointed, to go from 14 zip to 14 square is a bit depressing but no you have to look at the stats to see that no points were scored against the wind in that match. I also have spoken to our Scrummie and he claims he didn’t hear the end of normal time. When he realised he quickly released the pass to the fullback, expecting him to bury it into touch. Unfortunately the full back was expecting the scrummie to do so … and well the pass was a surprise and the rest is history.
The opening phases saw the boys getting a nice clean couple of tries, the opposition just didn’t like to get in there and make it personal, basically they were afraid of getting physical. They whinged about the physicality of the Sevens against Sale if I remember rightly, maybe the coach isn’t cut out for the big boys league. Also I think the second half showed that they also lack a little control with their number 8 getting 'sin binned'. I know my boys aren’t angels but we do try and play fair. If we dominated the first half then they certainly dominated the second, both times with the wind was at the teams’ backs, a draw is a fair result for what happened out there today, a win would have been nicer for the home supporters but I guess the guys wanted to show there stuff off and get a bigger margin of victory, we were held by the weather not by Wasps . I was happy, well they our attacks were unstoppable and the defence strong and well placed, both the opposition tries were from breakthrough passes by the fly half helped no doubt by the wind.
My man of the match has to be Rod Penney, not only was he in front line making us huge ground on offense, but was also seen flying back to drop their wingers on the breakaway plays..... Our training focus for the guys this week will be on clearing the ball quicker from the pack, and I will be sending the scrummy to get his ears syringed!! Thanks to all the supporters that showed up for the match in such awful conditions and I hope we have the same atmosphere for when we entertain Stad Francais next week!’
Not exactly kind words but not the fighting words that came out of the Wasps press conference a few hours later. Obviously still fuming Fase begrudgingly said a few words to the associated press a few hours after the end of the match from their HQ in High Wycombe:
‘“Despite an impressive fight-back following some early errors by the forwards we feel that we were simply not given a level playing field.” When quizzed about exactly what he meant by this all Fase would offer was,
“The standard of decision making by the ref was quite simply appalling. There were at least three blatant fouls as we moved inside the Saracens 22, each as ugly as McTague’s cackling face.”
The incidents he was referring too seemed to be tackles made by Penney, the Saracen’s winger, which were marginal at the best but went completely unseen by the linesman and referee. The video footage tends to be obscured and inconclusive as well (the ref rolls made by Shaun M in each case were 1,1 or 1,2 !).
Ian Dickey from the Observer asked about the conditions out there on the pitch;
“With playing conditions making ball handling difficult for both teams we played well throughout the second half and were only denied victory by the officials. To be honest it was only Saracen’s greed that let us back in at the end and let Lol (Dalagio) lead the boys superbly to even the match.”
He rounded the short conference off by a scathing attack on McTague and the tactics of Saracens;
“It’s a shame that a side that I only had praise for throughout the sevens tournament felt that they didn’t have the strength to play us man to man and had to resort to such underhand play. I think that we can almost take that as a back-handed compliment as we move on to next weeks game at Sale with heads held high.”
With that he stormed out the room, with the accusations of ‘assault like’ dirty tackles still fresh in the Sale Sharks coaches mind next week will be interesting to say the least!
Meanwhile the press conferences held in Paris following the Stad/Sharks thriller were of an all together gentlemanly nature. Jonno caught Jones, the Stad coach, on his way to a welcome pint in the hospitality rooms, he had this to say about the match.
‘The real winners of tonight’s match has to be the fans of both sides who travelled to see there team. Considering the conditions I thought both sides played with a lot of flair. The wind kept kicking to a minimum and it was tense out there. I was surprised with the tenacity shown by the Sharks, considering our second XIV had held them at sevens the previous week I was expecting a bit of an easier match to be honest. But Sharks showed that at this level there are no easy matches and I felt proud that our defense managed to keep them out. A great game played by two great sides, I will tip Sharks to decimate the Wasps next week and look forward to meeting them again come finals time. The main man for us in my opinion was Fillol at scrum half. He directed the play in both attack and defense and made some fine decisions out there. Looking forward to next week … well its our old foes Saracens. It’s never easy to play at Vicarage Road with the stands packed in over the narrow pitch, the atmosphere is always oppressive. Both teams know each other so well and they are always the team we find it hardest to dominate … but as the great gridiron coach Vince Lombardi once alluded to … winning is a habit … and at the moment our coaching staff have the habit!’
THE WAIT IS OVER ...
Horizon Sports bring you the latest news from tonights matches:
THE GAME IS ON …
On a damp, windy and miserable night in both Paris and London it can be only be said that no-one would have walked away from the games disappointed. The break away cup event could have been in danger of being a wash out (literally) in its opening night … instead it was a showcase for club rugby.
Horizon Sports were at both grounds to bring you all the action … firstly we visit Vicarage Road in North London where in terrible conditions a good crowd turned out to see the match. The atmosphere was tense from the start as Saracens were on the pitch to ‘greet’ their local rivals with strains of the Who’s classic song, “Who are you … who who are YOU?” belting out over the PA.
This clearly rattled Wasps as their early play was dire, fighting against the gale force wind they were pinned down in their 22m for most of the first half. An early break by the winger Haughton in the corner was easily converted with assistance from the wind by Russell. Wasps kick off was literally blown back in their face and the resulting passage of play saw poor handling skills from Wasps allow the big ex league centre Farrell to plough the line and under the posts. As this point of the game it was looking far too easy for Saracens and then completely against the run of play Voyce, the Wasps full back, managed to snap up a ball and have an easy run under the posts at the stroke of half time. One of the few times Wasps had even seen the ball saw them going in only 7 points down.
The half time talk from Dalalgio must have been a corker as Wasps showed a never say die spirit in the second half. An over confident looking Saracens took the field only to see Russell completely slice the kick off and taken by the wind it sailed out, not making the ten yards required. It was obvious that Wasps were a team with a mission as they assaulted the Saracen line again and again. The visiting fans and their coach Steve Fase were fuming as a series of very late tackles and one straight arm, which if it had been spotted would have been a red card, thwarted their every move. The game slipped by and it looked like Saracens had held on to the victory.
The final hooter went and it was at this stage things went wrong for Saracens. From up in the commentary box it seemed like the raging wind was muffling the advice from the Saracens coach McTague as the Saracens looked as if they were keeping the ball in play looking for the bonus ‘try fest’ point. Solid defending kept them out and after a few near run (and yet another dodgy tackle from Saracens) attempts from Wasps the Saracens fly half finally called to the scrum half to give him the ball so he could boot the ball out. However he fumbled the kick and managed to knock on giving Wasps an excellent mid field position on Sarries 22!
A well worked peel off the back and pass to Voyce saw him crashing over the line … the crowd were hushed as the conversion attempt sailed over with the wind behind it … the teams went in tied at 14 all. The air in the Saracens dressing room was blue as the coach laid into the team. Wasps put up a spirited fight and in the end deserved to come away with a draw. I am sure we will hear from the coaches tomorrow!
Meanwhile over in Paris the expectant Parisian crowd braved the conditions. They had every reason to feel optimistic. There home form was excellent and the arrival of the World Cup winning coach added to the feeling that this was going to be their year!
This feeling lasted about 2 minutes … Lund caught the kick off as it veered off its intended target in the wind. The flanker made an excellent break (hand off and two break away cards) down the right wing and it appeared all Stad could do was stand and watch. Only an excellent covering tackle by Corletto saved the try. But the Stad players were left stranded as the Shark players descended on the ball. The muddy conditions obviously added to the difficulty of gathering from the ground in open play and the rucks and Thomas saw the ball squeeze from his hands for a knock on. The Stade spectators gave a sigh of relief, this is not what they had come to watch. It seemed that Stade were rattled by the opening few minutes and at the scrum Sale took the ball against the head. A break away from Chabal at number 8 was only just stopped by some solid Stad defending. It was at this point that Sale Sharks began to bite … they threw everything except the proverbial kitchen sink at the Stad line. Stad were pinned down in their 22 for the first time in ages. The cross wind made clearance kicks to risky and the crowd were treated to open running rugby which was reminiscent of Sevens play. Considering the conditions this was amazing stuff, but Stad couldn’t break out of their half and Sale assaulted the try line again and again. The Parisian crowd were worried but the Stad defence held firm, a number of game saving tackles being made only 3m out. Bergamasco and Lienberg making some fine tackles. A huge sigh of relief went around the ground as Hernandez kicked the ball out to end the half with both teams scoreless. One could only wonder if the Sharks were going to pay dearly for failing to make the extreme pressure pay.
They didn’t have to wonder for long however as the second half started with Hodgson, who had had an excellent game thus far, make a very bad kick off. The wind carried the ball over the dead ball line and the French team were quick to ask for the scrum back. An open side darting break from Fillol the scrum half saw good support play from Corletto who picked up and passed inside to Saubade who crashed over under the posts. The Sharks looked stunned as they watched the Hernandez conversion sail over. After 90% of possession in the first half they found themselves trailing 0-7 after a few minutes of the second half kick off. It was Stad’s turn to pile on the pressure, from the kick off the French team broke up the middle of the pitch, a number of players crashed through tackles and it was Saubade, the big winger, who again was lunging for the line. This time it was closer as the Ref went to the TMO to see if he had made a double movement over the line. The verdict was a try and the English club side looked gutted. Only the swirling wind sending the conversion wide gave them a little to be cheerful for.
Parisse succumbed to the pressure of the match, failing to catch the kick off. It suddenly looked like the Sharks would make a come back. Close pack play from Sharks forwards saw Sheridan catch a pop pass, put his head down and go for the line. Only a De Villier tackle and Bergamasco managing to drive Bruno into touch after he had picked up saved the try. Stad were under pressure again, a line out from their own 5 yard line. This was the gutsiest play of the match as Blin threw over the back to Parisse. A risky move but it saw the French team break down their left wing. A few excellent passes and blurring speed from Dominici (one of the rare smooth pass and break away card combinations) saw Stad on for the third bonus point try. Only 2 Shark players were close and the crowd erupted as Hodgson took Dominici out with a straight arm tackle, the referee missed this infringement and then rubbed salt in the wound by penalising Dominici for not rolling away. Hodgson decided against the kick in the gale force sidewind conditions and gave it to the pack to tap and go. Again the Stad defence held out for a few vital phases. But they took the ball into a ruck which just before the hooter sounded the Referee said ‘not coming out lads,’ awarding the scrum to the Sharks. 10m out this was the chance they needed to reduce the score and maybe get a vital ‘close game’ point.
Again Chabal broke, again the Stad defence held firm until a combination of quick passing saw an overlap on the left. The final pass let them down and from a snaffled ruck Hernandez received the ball and not trusting the wind ran into touch to end the game. Both sets of supporters gave the players a standing ovation as they left the pitch … if this was the standard of games the audience were in for then it seemingly justified the break away challenge cup … bring on next week!!
THE GAME IS ON …
On a damp, windy and miserable night in both Paris and London it can be only be said that no-one would have walked away from the games disappointed. The break away cup event could have been in danger of being a wash out (literally) in its opening night … instead it was a showcase for club rugby.
Horizon Sports were at both grounds to bring you all the action … firstly we visit Vicarage Road in North London where in terrible conditions a good crowd turned out to see the match. The atmosphere was tense from the start as Saracens were on the pitch to ‘greet’ their local rivals with strains of the Who’s classic song, “Who are you … who who are YOU?” belting out over the PA.
This clearly rattled Wasps as their early play was dire, fighting against the gale force wind they were pinned down in their 22m for most of the first half. An early break by the winger Haughton in the corner was easily converted with assistance from the wind by Russell. Wasps kick off was literally blown back in their face and the resulting passage of play saw poor handling skills from Wasps allow the big ex league centre Farrell to plough the line and under the posts. As this point of the game it was looking far too easy for Saracens and then completely against the run of play Voyce, the Wasps full back, managed to snap up a ball and have an easy run under the posts at the stroke of half time. One of the few times Wasps had even seen the ball saw them going in only 7 points down.
The half time talk from Dalalgio must have been a corker as Wasps showed a never say die spirit in the second half. An over confident looking Saracens took the field only to see Russell completely slice the kick off and taken by the wind it sailed out, not making the ten yards required. It was obvious that Wasps were a team with a mission as they assaulted the Saracen line again and again. The visiting fans and their coach Steve Fase were fuming as a series of very late tackles and one straight arm, which if it had been spotted would have been a red card, thwarted their every move. The game slipped by and it looked like Saracens had held on to the victory.
The final hooter went and it was at this stage things went wrong for Saracens. From up in the commentary box it seemed like the raging wind was muffling the advice from the Saracens coach McTague as the Saracens looked as if they were keeping the ball in play looking for the bonus ‘try fest’ point. Solid defending kept them out and after a few near run (and yet another dodgy tackle from Saracens) attempts from Wasps the Saracens fly half finally called to the scrum half to give him the ball so he could boot the ball out. However he fumbled the kick and managed to knock on giving Wasps an excellent mid field position on Sarries 22!
A well worked peel off the back and pass to Voyce saw him crashing over the line … the crowd were hushed as the conversion attempt sailed over with the wind behind it … the teams went in tied at 14 all. The air in the Saracens dressing room was blue as the coach laid into the team. Wasps put up a spirited fight and in the end deserved to come away with a draw. I am sure we will hear from the coaches tomorrow!
Meanwhile over in Paris the expectant Parisian crowd braved the conditions. They had every reason to feel optimistic. There home form was excellent and the arrival of the World Cup winning coach added to the feeling that this was going to be their year!
This feeling lasted about 2 minutes … Lund caught the kick off as it veered off its intended target in the wind. The flanker made an excellent break (hand off and two break away cards) down the right wing and it appeared all Stad could do was stand and watch. Only an excellent covering tackle by Corletto saved the try. But the Stad players were left stranded as the Shark players descended on the ball. The muddy conditions obviously added to the difficulty of gathering from the ground in open play and the rucks and Thomas saw the ball squeeze from his hands for a knock on. The Stade spectators gave a sigh of relief, this is not what they had come to watch. It seemed that Stade were rattled by the opening few minutes and at the scrum Sale took the ball against the head. A break away from Chabal at number 8 was only just stopped by some solid Stad defending. It was at this point that Sale Sharks began to bite … they threw everything except the proverbial kitchen sink at the Stad line. Stad were pinned down in their 22 for the first time in ages. The cross wind made clearance kicks to risky and the crowd were treated to open running rugby which was reminiscent of Sevens play. Considering the conditions this was amazing stuff, but Stad couldn’t break out of their half and Sale assaulted the try line again and again. The Parisian crowd were worried but the Stad defence held firm, a number of game saving tackles being made only 3m out. Bergamasco and Lienberg making some fine tackles. A huge sigh of relief went around the ground as Hernandez kicked the ball out to end the half with both teams scoreless. One could only wonder if the Sharks were going to pay dearly for failing to make the extreme pressure pay.
They didn’t have to wonder for long however as the second half started with Hodgson, who had had an excellent game thus far, make a very bad kick off. The wind carried the ball over the dead ball line and the French team were quick to ask for the scrum back. An open side darting break from Fillol the scrum half saw good support play from Corletto who picked up and passed inside to Saubade who crashed over under the posts. The Sharks looked stunned as they watched the Hernandez conversion sail over. After 90% of possession in the first half they found themselves trailing 0-7 after a few minutes of the second half kick off. It was Stad’s turn to pile on the pressure, from the kick off the French team broke up the middle of the pitch, a number of players crashed through tackles and it was Saubade, the big winger, who again was lunging for the line. This time it was closer as the Ref went to the TMO to see if he had made a double movement over the line. The verdict was a try and the English club side looked gutted. Only the swirling wind sending the conversion wide gave them a little to be cheerful for.
Parisse succumbed to the pressure of the match, failing to catch the kick off. It suddenly looked like the Sharks would make a come back. Close pack play from Sharks forwards saw Sheridan catch a pop pass, put his head down and go for the line. Only a De Villier tackle and Bergamasco managing to drive Bruno into touch after he had picked up saved the try. Stad were under pressure again, a line out from their own 5 yard line. This was the gutsiest play of the match as Blin threw over the back to Parisse. A risky move but it saw the French team break down their left wing. A few excellent passes and blurring speed from Dominici (one of the rare smooth pass and break away card combinations) saw Stad on for the third bonus point try. Only 2 Shark players were close and the crowd erupted as Hodgson took Dominici out with a straight arm tackle, the referee missed this infringement and then rubbed salt in the wound by penalising Dominici for not rolling away. Hodgson decided against the kick in the gale force sidewind conditions and gave it to the pack to tap and go. Again the Stad defence held out for a few vital phases. But they took the ball into a ruck which just before the hooter sounded the Referee said ‘not coming out lads,’ awarding the scrum to the Sharks. 10m out this was the chance they needed to reduce the score and maybe get a vital ‘close game’ point.
Again Chabal broke, again the Stad defence held firm until a combination of quick passing saw an overlap on the left. The final pass let them down and from a snaffled ruck Hernandez received the ball and not trusting the wind ran into touch to end the game. Both sets of supporters gave the players a standing ovation as they left the pitch … if this was the standard of games the audience were in for then it seemingly justified the break away challenge cup … bring on next week!!
Monday 14 January 2008
Long trips and breakfast deals ...
Sale make the long trip to Paris to try and escape the northern rain, Wasps and Saracens are not so lucky as the weather in North London looks set to be messy ...
The London boys will be getting:
Heavy rain and a strong southerly wind blowing up the pitch - on the plus side it will be fairly mild.
Sale will feel right at home in Paris meanwhile as the conditions are very similar although the wind will not be as strong.
It looks set to be a powerful close encounter between the forwards!
The London boys will be getting:
Heavy rain and a strong southerly wind blowing up the pitch - on the plus side it will be fairly mild.
Sale will feel right at home in Paris meanwhile as the conditions are very similar although the wind will not be as strong.
It looks set to be a powerful close encounter between the forwards!
Sunday 13 January 2008
A QUIET WEEKEND ...
With only a couple of days to go until the first matches it is hardly surpising that all the team camps are quiet. Don't forget to view on the night of the matches for the news ... you'll here it first on Horizon Sports!
Wednesday 9 January 2008
What an appertiser!
Saracens and Stade Francais were involved in a pre comp friendly tonight. While both coaches obviously rested some of the bigger names it was still a closely fought contest. For a while it resembled a Super 14 southern hemisphere game with both teams involved in a kicking battle. Saracens looked like they would go in at half time 7 points up. However a kick ahead and chase by the Stade team managed to get in under the posts!
The second half saw more forward play although it was he backs who seemed to star for both sides in attack and defense. Another well worked back move and some very heavy hits in defense saw Stade leading 21-14 at the hooter. Amazingly Hernandez tried to kick and chase, obviously going for another try. However the crowd held their collective breath as he made his one kicking mistake of the match … the ball fell to the Haughton the Saracens winger who burst through the advancing Stade players. Some good covering defence managed to keep him wide as he crashed over the line. It was all down to Jackson to convert and tie the game … the roar from the home Stade crowd said it all as the ball fell short.
The second half saw more forward play although it was he backs who seemed to star for both sides in attack and defense. Another well worked back move and some very heavy hits in defense saw Stade leading 21-14 at the hooter. Amazingly Hernandez tried to kick and chase, obviously going for another try. However the crowd held their collective breath as he made his one kicking mistake of the match … the ball fell to the Haughton the Saracens winger who burst through the advancing Stade players. Some good covering defence managed to keep him wide as he crashed over the line. It was all down to Jackson to convert and tie the game … the roar from the home Stade crowd said it all as the ball fell short.
The final score was 21-19 with both teams showing some exciting running rugby!
If the commitment to attacking play is indicative of what we are in store for then … BRING IT ON!
SHARK BAIT...
Horizon Sports caught up with Ian Dawe the coach of Sale Sharks this morning. Dawe was obviously not happy with some of the fallout from the Sevens Comp, however he had kind words about the young Stade side that held his international players to a draw …
“ it is too harsh to say they disrespected the tournament, it was a good chance to let the younger fringe players shine. They showed great resolve and tenacity to fight back for the draw, although of course a few high tackles seemed to have been missed by the ref, but that’s rugby.”
This then got him talking about some of the comments allegedly made by the Wasps coach …
“If he (Fase the Wasps coach) thinks things got rough then he should try and remember that rugby is supposed to be a contact sport! The game is played by men and if his prima donnas can’t handle this then maybe they should go and play in the ‘Andrex League’ (for our foreign viewers this is the English toilet paper which prides itself on being ‘soft’).
Dawe then spoke about the match with Saracens which he narrowly lost …
“Fair play to Saracens for an excellent victory although we (the Sharks) were a little jaded in the final after chasing Wasps around the pitch in the match before, obviously they didn’t want to get their kit dirty!”
When asked if he was looking forward to the Cup Challenge he continued with the sledging of Wasps …
“ we are looking forward to showing the Wasps how to play the ‘mens’ game … I think they need reminding!’
Here at Horizon sports we think we are going to be in for a cracker of a comp …
“ it is too harsh to say they disrespected the tournament, it was a good chance to let the younger fringe players shine. They showed great resolve and tenacity to fight back for the draw, although of course a few high tackles seemed to have been missed by the ref, but that’s rugby.”
This then got him talking about some of the comments allegedly made by the Wasps coach …
“If he (Fase the Wasps coach) thinks things got rough then he should try and remember that rugby is supposed to be a contact sport! The game is played by men and if his prima donnas can’t handle this then maybe they should go and play in the ‘Andrex League’ (for our foreign viewers this is the English toilet paper which prides itself on being ‘soft’).
Dawe then spoke about the match with Saracens which he narrowly lost …
“Fair play to Saracens for an excellent victory although we (the Sharks) were a little jaded in the final after chasing Wasps around the pitch in the match before, obviously they didn’t want to get their kit dirty!”
When asked if he was looking forward to the Cup Challenge he continued with the sledging of Wasps …
“ we are looking forward to showing the Wasps how to play the ‘mens’ game … I think they need reminding!’
Here at Horizon sports we think we are going to be in for a cracker of a comp …
PEWC ELVS
Horizon sports in conjunction with the PERB (Ponders End Rugby Board) have announced a series of Experimental Law Variations to be used in the PEWC CUP. They are aimed at producing a more spectacular game.
Details of these rules can be obtained from the PERB by contacting crashtackleAThotmail.co.uk
Details of these rules can be obtained from the PERB by contacting crashtackleAThotmail.co.uk
NO STING IN THE TAIL ...
London Wasps were left ruing what could have been after consecutive losses saw them only coming ahead of a Stade 2nd IV in the PEWC Sevens competition. In the press conference after the evening Fase, the coach, tried to explain away the results:
"The Saracens simply outplayed us, we had no real answers on the night and made too many basic errors. At least we put some points on the board, Saracens are worthy champions. The Sale game was a different matter however, they put in some extremely hard tackles which my staff and I feel were unnecessary in Sevens and to be honest bordered on assualt! We stood up to them all the way and it was only a questionable penalty that handed them the victory. I am sure my players will be looking forward to meeting them in the near future."
The Wasps players looked subdued leaving the ground and will be wanting to put a better performance in against Saracens when the PEWC CUP starts next week!
"The Saracens simply outplayed us, we had no real answers on the night and made too many basic errors. At least we put some points on the board, Saracens are worthy champions. The Sale game was a different matter however, they put in some extremely hard tackles which my staff and I feel were unnecessary in Sevens and to be honest bordered on assualt! We stood up to them all the way and it was only a questionable penalty that handed them the victory. I am sure my players will be looking forward to meeting them in the near future."
The Wasps players looked subdued leaving the ground and will be wanting to put a better performance in against Saracens when the PEWC CUP starts next week!
Tuesday 8 January 2008
LATEST SCORES ...
Tonight Saracens managed to win the PEWC SEVENS competition sweeping aside London Wasps in the early game 21-7 before seeing off Sale Sharks in the final 21-14. Wasps had also lost to Sale Sharks in a hard fought game 7-10 which must dampen their spirits before next weeks games. Stade Francais fielded a 2nd XIV seven which managed to hold the Sharks to a 7 all draw.
Meanwhile the Stade first XV were dismissing Leciester Tigers 14-0, the Tigers hardly saw the Staid 22 and if it hadn't beeen for some staunch defensive work the score could have been higher. The match can have only boosted the confidence of the French team going into next weeks match with Sale.
The Staid coach was remarkably subdued during the after match press conference, praising the Tiger's defence he hinted that the crowd should expect Staid to come out with all cylinders firing in an offense orientated game next week at Sale!
Meanwhile the Stade first XV were dismissing Leciester Tigers 14-0, the Tigers hardly saw the Staid 22 and if it hadn't beeen for some staunch defensive work the score could have been higher. The match can have only boosted the confidence of the French team going into next weeks match with Sale.
The Staid coach was remarkably subdued during the after match press conference, praising the Tiger's defence he hinted that the crowd should expect Staid to come out with all cylinders firing in an offense orientated game next week at Sale!
Monday 7 January 2008
Stade ruffles some more feathers ...
In a move guaranteed to provoke response from the other teams Stade are rumoured to be putting out a second team seven for the Tuesday comp while the First XV play a visiting side from the north of England. Details are sketchy at the moment but the Stade coach gave us this short comment on his way to the training ground in North London :
"Our players are confident we can play a full XV game at the same time as the sevens comp and probably win them both! We got the opportunity to play a full match on the same night with a visiting side and obviously took the opportunity so as to try some of our training ground moves out in a full match."
Commentators are quick to blame this move on the fact that Stade may want a ready made excuse if there sevens form remains as it is at present having recently been beaten by both Wasps and Saracens!
"Our players are confident we can play a full XV game at the same time as the sevens comp and probably win them both! We got the opportunity to play a full match on the same night with a visiting side and obviously took the opportunity so as to try some of our training ground moves out in a full match."
Commentators are quick to blame this move on the fact that Stade may want a ready made excuse if there sevens form remains as it is at present having recently been beaten by both Wasps and Saracens!
Friday 4 January 2008
Fixtures announced ...
The draw for the first week of the PEWC CUP was made in Enfield today under independant scrutiny ... the first round of games to take place on the 15th January at 7:15 KO ...
Wasps v. Saracens
Stade v. Sale
Watch out for pre-match views from the coaches soon on Horizon Sports ....
Wasps v. Saracens
Stade v. Sale
Watch out for pre-match views from the coaches soon on Horizon Sports ....
New Year Sevens...
The teams are spending a final weekend of rest before the one day sevens tournament on Tuesday. While many see it as no indication to how the season will kick off the following week pride is certainly at stake ... no one will want to lose badly and have to start the following weeks full comp psychologically 'kicked' ...
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