#sharp lines rugby

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Is there anything this man can't do? He has done just about everything in rugby and he can even deliver a team talk in French and English!

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Autumn Internationals  - Game 1 -  All Blacks As Stuart Lancaster delivers his last few words to the England Camp and the players go through their pre-game routines, we thought we would provide some key thoughts before today's collossal clash with New Zealand. It goes without saying that there are key battles all over the pitch and that the battle of the forwards will decide the match, as always. But the critical aspects of the match will perhaps be some of the areas that attract less focus than the battle of the fly halves and captains perhaps. A key indicator for who will succeed today is which 9 is able to get on top. Both have serious prowess at making their teams tick and Danny Care is particularly sharp at the base of a ruck. You only have to look at the victory versus Wales this year to see what a pest he can be to an opponents defence. Aaron Smith is arguably the world's best, an electric step and a speedy delivery makes him hard to handle. Tom Wood's performance and ability to control Smith's game in 2012 will be giving him nightmares and that could be a critical encounter. Looking at the back three's, England have it all to prove. Mike Brown's form has dipped since the 6 Nations but it is hoped the Red Rose will inspire him to his old form, and alongside him he has two very inexperienced but very exciting wingers in May and Rokoduguni. Their ability to negate the threat of The All Blacks backs will be crucial in addition to their ability to create and finish any half-chances given to them. It is commonly said you will need three tries at least to beat New Zealand and what a chance this is for the two wingers to cement their places. With only a few hours to go, stock up your fridges, line your stomachs and don't move an inch because this promises to be one of the test matches of the year. Written by Andy Southall

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The Return to HQ After 8 months away and a less than successful tour to New Zealand, England will be packing down against the All Blacks in front of a sell-out crowd at Twickenham on Saturday. This is arguably the best time of year for a rugby fan and it is certainly the best time to gauge where the teams are on their quest for World Cup glory next year. Where England are right now is very much a difference of opinion. Stuart Lancaster's plans have been scuppered by injury to some extent but the public will not allow this to be a reason for failure next year. Injuries often give a great chance to new talent that has yet to prove itself and this may be the case this Autumn. With this in mind it is stunning that Jonathan Joseph has been neglected in order to allow Brad Barritt to fill the 13 shirt versus the All Blacks. Joseph is the form centre in the premiership and plays with Kyle Eastmond every single day. Barritt though full of courage and commitment, has never really proved himself as a game-changer at international level and the haunting memories of him being caught for speed on the outside by Justin Tipuric in 2013 are still very much in the mind. In addition to this, Owen Farrell has been given the nod over the form fly-half George Ford who is still to get any international experience. Facing the All Blacks is tough at the best of times but when you're not match fit it could be a real struggle. There is also this horrible feeling that we will face a similar scenario to The All Blacks in 2011 next year and see Farrell fall injured and we won't have a single back-up with experience at the top level when the All Blacks had 3. It was interesting to hear Nick Evans back-up Steve Hansen's selection this weekend when saying that Dan Carter quite rightly shouldn't be in the the squad as he is not in the top two form fly-halves. This begs the question as to why England seem to be following a completely different model to arguably the best sporting team of all time and are not picking fly-halves based on form. Having said that, the pack is still looking very strong despite the injuries and the back three should be very exciting with May and Rokoduguni the starters alongside Mike Brown. It will be interesting to see the style of rugby England play against the the Southern Hemisphere teams this year as in Dylan Hartley's words they are no longer a team building but a team performing. We will have to see.

Written by Andy Southall

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Raw thoughts on the England Squad for The QBE Autumn Internationals

You may not believe it when reading it, but often what you read on SharpLines has been carefully crafted, researched and has been in the pipeline for a while. Other pieces however, are far more emotional and are best delivered straight after the event, this is particularly the case when critiquing the latest England EPS squad. Stuart Lancaster yesterday named his 33 man squad for The Autumn Internationals and just like any other squad that has ever been named by any international side, there are a few surprises and shocks to many people.

Firstly, it must be said, we at SharpLines are huge fans of Stuart Lancaster and what he has done and completely agree with the lengthy contract he has been given. He has been brilliant at getting the fans behind the team again, growing leaders within the squad and giving youth its chance and no thoughts within this piece will change that opinion. It is however, important that we look at every squad selection particularly in a world cup year to ensure that players deserving of slots aren't missing out and that there isn't anyone making it in purely on old form or on 'experience' alone.

To win a world cup, there needs to be no dead wood in the squad. Everyone needs to be capable of stepping up on the biggest stage of all if we are going to compete with the big 3 from the Southern Hemisphere in addition to our 6 Nations colleagues. There is this growing feeling that there are favourites in the squad such as Brad Barritt, Billy Twelvetrees and Alex Goode who have not particularly performed when given the international stage to play on, yet they were almost instant picks for this recent selection. On the other hand guys like Christian Wade, who despite coming back from injury and shining against Leinster in Dublin as well as being the perennial top try scorer in the English Premiership, isn't even given a look in. Yes he has made a couple of defensive blunders in recent weeks, but would this have stopped Lancaster picking many of those mentioned above? Would it have stopped Wales picking Shane Williams all those years ago? Too often our wingers are selected on a safety first basis and there simply is no reason why Jack Nowell can be selected ahead of Wade no matter how promising and good Nowell may turn out to be.

The decision dominating the papers due to his history, is the omission of Danny Cipriani. This is an even bigger travesty than the lack of Wade in the squad. A guy who was ridiculed by many in the past has been absolutely outstanding on an off the pitch for the last two seasons. Considering the pack he has in front of him and the backline at his disposal, it has been a miraculous turnaround from the mercurial fly-half. He was thrown in at the deep end in the summer getting his first England game time in years away in New Zealand but he stepped up and couldn't have done any more in the minutes he was given. Since then no one would disagree that he has been the star fly-half this season but is now demoted to the Saxons. What is most worrying about this is, is what would anyone have to do to replace Owen Farrell not just in the next year but perhaps the next 5 years? He is certainly a very promising international fly-half and has really stepped up for England but when he is not match-fit and we have players like Ford and Cipriani who pundits have run out of superlatives for, that can't get any game time, there has to be a worry over Lancaster's loyalty in certain players. Bearing in mind what happened to New Zealand in 2011 where the best side in the world needed 4 fly halves to win the world cup at home, it is concerning that no one other than Farrell in the EPS has really had any quality game time in the number 10 shirt.

It must be said, on the whole the squad is very positive and there is plenty of talent we can't wait to see. In particular, what a sight it will be to see Semesa Rokoduguni represent England at Twickenham having starred not just for Bath but on the frontline for the British army, what a story. It is also great to see Lancaster keep the faith with Chris Robshaw as captain, calls for him to be dropped as captain are farcical and it will be exciting to see how he performs against the likes of Mccaw and Hooper this Autumn. On the whole despite a couple of disappointing decisions which are always inevitable, we are only 3 weeks away from International rugby season and we can't wait for the AI's to get started! #CarryThemHome

Written by Andy Southall

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Bath Time

Forgive the inexorably bad pun. After my colleague Andy Southall’s recent spotlight on Bath I feel I should weigh in with my opinion. As a lifelong Bath fan I had to be at the Tigers game and sure enough I was. There to witness the mauling of the Tigers, there to witness history. But in the understandable media hullabaloo after the game I feel a pinch of realism must be added to the proverbial pot of optimism surrounding this Bath team. 

For a start, Leicester were without a number of their marquee players who, on their day, make a massive difference to their game. Their pack didn’t turn up, their backs saw little ball. There is no arguing, they played poorly. Bath have also faced a very weak London Welsh side who are looking like the fresh-faced, new kids at school, with the ‘big boys’ staring down at them; and a Sale outfit who are still searching for the right blend of players to secure the results they so desperately crave.   At this point, before Bath fans have me hung, drawn and quartered, I will say Bath were excellent. Their pack dominated the Leicester eight and made them look very average indeed, despite the likes of Croft and Parling in their midst. Out wide Jonathan Joseph and Semesa Rokoduguni caught the eye, particularly Rokoduguni. As a former Army man, what a story it would be if he made it into the RWC plans of Mr Lancaster. He deserves selection for the Autumn Internationals at least on current form. As per Andy’s article George Ford also caught the eye but the real test for Bath will come in the form of Northampton this weekend. A seriously talented Premiership side who will ask huge questions of Bath in every area. And after this test, can they maintain a high level of performance and win those crunch games when it counts? This rhetoric can only be answered on the field. 

Written by James Deacon

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The Bath Boys of 2015 - Is This Their Year?

Two weeks into the season and the cream is already rising to the top in the Aviva Premiership. The usual contenders are right in the mixer including reigning champions Northampton, Saracens, Leicester and Bath. Whilst Northampton put away Gloucester with ease, Saracens infamous power and experience came to the fore and Leicester's new signings settling in well were all very impressive, Bath are already looking like this could finally be their year.

Kicking off the season with a try in the first minute from Anthony Watson after an inch perfect kick from George Ford, the tone has already been set. Bath ground out a win in Salford against a very resilient Sale side inspired by the mercurial Danny Cipriani before backing it up by sticking 50 points on Premiership new boys London Welsh. A back-line overflowing with talent and a forward pack that has the ability to knock down The Rec when the time for renovation finally arrives, they have all the ingredients of a title winning side.

Last week against London Welsh they were missing Matt Garvey, Francois Louw, Horacio Agulla, Gavin Henson and the soon to be joining Sam Burgess. All 5 of those players have the ability to walk into every side Bath will be competing with this year, yet not at any moment were they missed. Yes they were playing a very mediocre side and one that has a lot of learning to do but their ability to punish in the danger zone was particularly impressive and through using an armoury of different weapons. The sheer power of David Wilson, Rob Webber, Dave Attwood, Carl Fearns and Leroy Houston will trouble any side coming to the Rec and a losing bonus point you feel will be a good result for any team making the commute.

This Saturday will be their biggest test so far as Leicester Tigers come to visit. Bath academy boy Freddie Burns will be out to prove a point against the team that dropped him and allowed him to move on with his career. It will also be a true test of whether the Bath pack has the ability to bully some of the best in the league. There will be some key battles up front as the likes of Tom Youngs and Geoff Parling will be looking to come out on top against English rivals in a particularly important year for those looking to wear the red rose in 12 months time. Stuart Lancaster will inevitably be there on Saturday and it is the ultimate platform for those wanting to impress such as George Ford who is surely becoming more than just an option on the bench with England.

Saturday won't derail any title hopes but it will be a big knock at such an early stage should home talents not perform. It will be fascinating to see how some of the younger, more inexperienced Bath members deal with the occasion. Will Kyle Eastmond hit back at his critics in style or will Richard Cockerill's men grind out the win? More importantly, will this be Bath's year?

Written by Andy Southall

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RWC Memories... England vs Samoa

Who remembers this classic try from the 2003 Rugby World Cup? Jonny doing Jonny but how about the wheels on Balshaw? #SeriouslySharp

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New Season, Ones To Watch

With England’s women newly crowned World Champions, ‘Slammin Sam’ on his way to Bath (author is a shameless Bath fan) and a positive tour of New Zealand for the men’s side, English rugby is in a great place. And on top of all of that good stuff, the Premiership returns this weekend with some mouth-watering clashes set to light up grounds across the country. The team at Sharp Lines Rugby are chomping at the bit.

After a summer where we were delighted and impressed with our women’s performance in France in the Rugby World Cup, it is now time for the men to resume normal service week in and week out. With a Rugby World Cup just around the corner (don’t forget tickets go on sale on 12th September) this season will be vital for home grown talent to make an impression on Mr Lancaster and his team of coaches/selectors.

With a wealth of talent lining up for each club, here are a few players to look out for this season:

Sam Burgess – Bath

When the NRL season finishes, ‘Slammin Sam’ will be jetting his way from Sydney to Bath to try and become a dual code superstar. A monumental physical presence Sam has been superb for the Rabbitohs of Sydney and a key figure in England’s rugby league side. With pace, power and deft offloading skills, Mike Ford and Bath RFC have decided to slot Sam in at 12. Personally (and as a Bath fan) I think this is a great move. Burgess will be a battering ram in the midfield, combine this with vision and awareness and you’ve got a player who can release the likes of Watson, Joseph, Eastmond and Rokoduguni out wide. Ultimately it is not Sam’s skillset that will be tested but rather his rugby brain. Can he adapt to the subtle variations of union? Will he become a force in the contact area not only in attack but also, more crucially, in defence? The other huge question mark that hangs over him is whether or not he will make it into Stuart Lancaster’s thoughts and sneak into the England side. In my opinion, if he can make half the impression he has in the league format of the game, he’s got to be a shoe in for the union side. Regardless of all these question marks surrounding big Sam, I cannot wait to see him playing union and wish him all the best in his new home.

Danny Cipriani - Sale

Towards the end of last season Danny Cipriani was, in my opinion, the best 10 in the Premiership. Having worked incredibly hard at his game and clearly focussing on making the headlines for the right reasons, Cipriani was electric for Sale and began to realise some of the potential many saw in him as a youngster. With a smarter head on his shoulders Cipriani looked like the real deal and deserved his England call up. With superb attributes including a great understanding of the game from fly half, Cipriani galvanised Sale into one of the best attacking sides in the country. If Cipriani can begin this season playing like he did at the end of last season he will almost certainly have to come into Lancaster’s thoughts. Sale were a side transformed in the latter stages of 2014 and could be play-off spot contenders come 2015 with Cipriani steering the ship. 

Piri Weepu – London Welsh

With an international pedigree, a World Cup winners medal and having played for arguably the most dominant international side of the last decade, Piri Weepu is the signing of the summer for newly promoted London Welsh. With guile, intelligence and a bucket load of talent, Weepu will be critical in keeping London Welsh in the Premiership this season. Combining with former Bath man Olly Barkley, these two men will be vital in getting London Welsh firing on all cyclinders. Weepu’s on the pitch tenacity will be integral to decent ball for Barkley and his backs, but what you cannot put a price on are Weepu’s intangibles. His role in the dressing room, on the training field and as a leader will be where he will earn the respect of coaches, players and the fans.

Written by James Deacon

[Picture credit: Telegraph Sport]