Rugby Union - O'Sullivan delighted by Slam Win

Page last updated at 12:38 GMT, Monday, 23 March 2009

O'Sullivan delighted by Slam win

Highlights - Wales 15-17 Ireland Former Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan said he was absolutely thrilled by the Grand Slam triumph at the weekend. Speaking before he flies off to take over as head coach the US Eagles, O'Sullivan said he was so glad for the players at finally achieving glory. "I was so delighted for them," said O'Sullivan who stepped down last March after seven years in charge of Ireland. "Some of the players may not be around next season, so for them it was a case of now or never." O'Sullivan, who guided Ireland to three Triple Crowns during his tenure, twice missed the opportunity to grab a Grand Slam. "Players like John Hayes may not be around next season and its great to see the likes of the 'Bull' getting his reward. "Even Brian O'Driscoll could find it hard to produce the performances he did this season. He will have a massive Lions tour to follow now, so it will be interesting to see how fresh he will be next season. "Ireland had a very strong 22 throughout the competition, and were fortunate not to have any serious injuries. "I remember two season's ago in the only game that we lost against France, both Brian and Peter Stringer were out injured, and I felt that it cost us the game. "In many ways it was fortunate that Brian played throughout the Championship this time. He was simply phenomenal, and there would have been nobody of the same calibre to replace him. "That title has been a long time coming, but it was worth the wait," said O'Sullivan, who has been paid numerous compliments from those close to the squad for building the initial platform. "People have been very gracious to me, and it is very much appreciated," added O'Sullivan.

Rugby Union: Wasps battle to win over Exiles

Page last updated at 17:24 GMT, Sunday, 8 March 2009

ENGLISH
Wasps battle to win over Exiles

Wasps 21-16 London Irish
Wasps (13) 21Tries: penalty, Barnard Con: Cipriani Pens: Cipriani 3
London Irish (6) 16Try: Thompstone Con: Geraghty Pens: Geraghty 3

Sunday's match at Adams Park was a keenly-fought contest
Wasps kept their play-off hopes alive with a hard-fought victory over out-of-form London Irish at Adams Park.

The defending champions went behind to an early penalty but had a penalty try when Irish struggled at scrum time.
Fly-half Danny Cipriani increased the lead with two penalties but that was matched by Shane Geraghty.

A try for Pat Barnard and a Cipriani penalty put Wasps 21-9 ahead and although Adam Thompstone's try set up a tense finish, the home side hung on.
The victory is Wasps's fourth in five games as they recover from a dismal start to the season.
And although they are 14 points off the all-important play-offs, Ian McGeechan's men still believe they can repeat their traditional late-season charge.
In contrast, the Exiles are going the other way and have now not won in the league since 3 January.

At that point, London Irish were topping the table but they are now in sixth and outside the top-four play-off places.

Irish were forced into a late change following the withdrawal of Topsy Ojo but they made the perfect start, going ahead in the second minute through Geraghty when Wasps infringed when collecting the kick-off.

But Wasps, who welcomed back flanker Tom Rees after two months out with a knee ligament injury, soon started dominating up front and with Irish scrums disintegrating in the 22, referee Romain Poite lost patience with the Exiles front row and awarded a penalty try.

Declan Danaher was sin-binned for taking out Josh Lewsey off the ball and Wasps increased their lead with a penalty after Geraghty's misplaced pass led to panic in the Irish defence.

Another ruck offence led to another Cipriani penalty, while Geraghty kicked his second before the break to make the score 13-6 to the hosts.

Cipriani's sloppy pass at the start of the second period led to another Geraghty penalty but Wasps took full advantage after Chris Hala'ufia was penalised for a late challenge on Eoin Reddan.
Three forward drives produced a scrum and the home side unleashed a wave of attacks which eventually saw Barnard just burrow his way over in the corner for a try awarded by the video referee.

Cipriani's 62nd-minute penalty made the score 21-9 but Irish gave themselves hope when wing Adam Thompstone showed an electric turn of pace on the wing to outstrip the Wasps defence.

The score led to the visitors piling on the pressure but the Wasps defensive line held firm.

Wasps director of rugby Ian McGeechan: "We've got to keep winning as many of the outstanding games as we can.

"We're on a decent run at the moment - two defeats since November, but there's some tough games to come.

"There's a lot of head-to-heads in the top eight or nine teams so there's still a lot to play for."
London Irish director of rugby: "I was very disappointed with some of our basics. You can't question the effort, but rugby's a simple game.
"You want a good platform to play-off, you want quick ball to give yourself scoring opportunities and for large parts of that game we had neither.

"We crafted our way back but made it far more difficult than it should be."

Wasps: Van Gisbergen; Mitchell, Waldouck, Lewsey, Voyce; Cipriani, Robinson; Payne, Webber, Barnard, Shaw, Skivington, Betsen, Rees, Hart.Replacements: Reddan for Robinson (44), Birkett for Barnard (64).Not Used: Ward, Holford, Leo, Walder, Hoadley.

London Irish: Geraghty; Thompstone, Seveali'i, Mapusua, Tagicakibau; Catt, Hodgson; Dermody, Buckland, Lea'aetoa, Hudson, Johnson, Danaher, S Armitage, Hala'ufia.Replacements: Richards for Hodgson (57), Coetzee for Buckland (54), Skuse for Lea'aetoa (48), Thorpe for Hala'ufia (57), Fisher for Skuse (64).Not Used: Gower, Homer.
Sin Bin: Danaher (11).
Att: 9,525
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Rugby Union: Stevens vows to return 'better'

Page last updated at 06:32 GMT, Thursday, 5 March 2009

Stevens vows to return 'better'

I was relieved to be caught - Stevens England prop Matt Stevens believes he can return to rugby a better player once he has completed a two-year ban for testing positive for cocaine. The 26-year-old, banned until January 2011, will resign from his Bath club deal rather than waiting to be sacked. "I hope with every grain of my soul, that I'll be able to come back and be a better rugby player than I was, and I think I will be," he told BBC 5 Live. "There's a sense of relief that I can get fixed and stop abusing myself." It emerged on 21 January that Stevens tested positive following Bath's Heineken Cup game against Glasgow in December. You don't know if you're never going to do it again and it's a horrible monkey on your back Matt Stevens In an interview to be broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live at 1930 GMT on Thursday, he revealed he turned to drugs and drink as an escape from the pressure of professional rugby. "You spend three or four days after a game recovering from what is basically the equivalent of two car crashes," he said. "I dealt with it the wrong way. I went out and binge drunk but it got to a point where I wanted to get away from everything, and the one way I could do that was by taking cocaine and it got progressively worse. "The scenario was similar to most people who take the drug: you have a big night out with friends and it's about. "Cocaine is rife in society today and it is very easy to get hold of, that's the worst thing about it. "For me it was difficult because I'm a confident bloke, a gregarious, happy, social kind of guy and never thought I would be affected by addiction of any kind - I was arrogant to that fact and obviously was very wrong." Stevens will have to learn to without the sport that has made his name Stevens has decided to resign from Bath, rather than wait for the outcome of an internal meeting to decide his future. "I have to do the honourable thing," he told The Times newspaper. "I want to spare the club who have been so good to me. I can't thank the coaches enough for the support they have shown me, and the players." Stevens made his debut for England against New Zealand in 2004 and has won 32 caps, playing in the 2007 World Cup. He was also a member of the 2005 Lions squad that toured New Zealand. But his ban will rule him out of this summer's Lions tour to his native South Africa, and he faces an uphill battle to re-establish himself in time for the 2011 World Cup. During his suspension Stevens plans to run the Bath half-marathon for charity and take up Brazilian jujitsu in an effort to maintain his fitness. He also wants to concentrate on business interests and intends to open a cafe in Bath city centre in April or May with fellow England international Lee Mears. But with the loss of his income from rugby, in which he is not allowed involvement at any level while he is banned, Stevens is selling his house. Over the next two years his main focus will be on his rehabilitation to overcome his drug addiction, which he admits will be a struggle. But despite the prospect of not playing rugby for two years, the South Africa-born prop insists that, having come to terms with his addiction, he has been happier over the past five weeks than he has been in years. "It's something that you just have to live with now," he added. "You don't know if you're never going to do it again and it's a horrible monkey on your back. "Luckily because of this test I've caught it before it ruins my life completely. "Obviously it has in some senses but I'm not laying on some street corner, I've not lost my family and friends because they have given up on me. I think everyone has not given up on me and that's a great thing to have." Listen to the full Matt Stevens interview with Matt Dawson on Five Live Sport at 1930 GMT on Thursday, 5 March

RUGBY UNION- Irish battle to win over England

Page last updated at 00:46 GMT, Sunday, 1 March 2009 Sport Feeds RSS feed RUGBY UNION Irish battle to win over England Ireland stay on course for the Grand Slam as they scrape a 14-13 win over England at Croke Park. Indiscipline angers boss Johnson Haskell wants England crackdown O'Driscoll relief at Dublin win

Rugby Union: Saracens plan massive clear-out

Page last updated at 19:17 GMT, Tuesday, 24 February 2009

Saracens plan massive clear-out:

By Alastair Eykyn New Zealander Jack joined the London club in 2007 Saracens have told 15 of their playing staff they will not be required next season as they will be replaced largely by South African players. Former All Black Chris Jack is the highest-profile casualty, along with Cencus Johnston and long-standing club men Kevin Sorrell and Ben Skirving. Ex-Springbok Brendan Venter will become head coach at the end of the season. Venter told the 15 players the news on Monday, and the players are thought to be considering their response. In a statement, the London club said: "It would be completely inappropriate for the club to make any specific comment on these private meetings." It went on: "Many of the players were enthused and excited by what they heard; inevitably, some were disappointed." Saracens are now effectively run by a group of South African investors who also have a stake in provincial sides the Sharks and the Stormers in their home country. It is thought that players from those two sides could well be brought in at Saracens. Saracens' statement added: "The club is already working with the various players' agents and the PRA [Professional Rugby Players' Association] to assist in securing their futures, and, without exception, the club will act decently and honestly. "This has been a difficult week, but the reality is that Saracens is not immune to the economic realities being faced by many companies across the country."

Rugby Union: Wales players' selection warning

Page last updated at 19:31 GMT, Thursday, 19 February 2009

Wales players' selection warning

Gavin Henson (circled) photographed in Cardiff city centre Wales team manager Alan Phillips has refused to rule out selection for the clash against France being affected by the conduct of players on a night out. Gavin Henson, Andy Powell, Rhys Thomas and Jonathan Thomas were rebuked by the Welsh Rugby Union for their behaviour. Team-mates Lee Byrne and Mike Phillips were also warned over events on Sunday. Wales team manager Alan Phillips said: "Well I can't say about that [selection] at the minute. We'll just see what happens on Monday." Wales face France in Paris in the Six Nations on Friday 27 February with fans carrying expectations of victory on the way to a back-to-back Grand Slam. Phillips told BBC Wales' Scrum V Radio: "I wouldn't say it's been a difficult week. "I mean, take into account we've beaten England last Saturday and the difficulty has been instead of everybody returning to camp yesterday [Wednesday] deliriously happy, there was a bit of a cloud over proceedings. "And we dealt with the issues yesterday. The six boys that were out on Sunday were fully aware of the situation going forward. "They let us down. They apologised to the players and management as a group and took a bit of gyp off the boys there and they put their hands up and owned up to being out, which is something that we didn't want on Sunday and we just shut the book there and move on. "They are fully aware of [their responsibilities] and that's where we left it. We'll make life a little bit difficult for the six of them for the next week or two and just keep hammering home their responsibilities, and not just to the team, but to the Welsh public in general Wales team manager Alan Phillips "Anything that's been done internally will stay internally. Just to say we'll make life a little bit difficult for the six of them for the next week or two and just keep hammering home their responsibilities, and not just to the team, but to the Welsh public in general. "We've talked about this three or four weeks ago. It's tough times, people losing their jobs... very important that we as a group of people conduct ourselves properly and that wasn't the case on Sunday, but they are fully aware of that. "Certainly [it's more high profile than it was in my day], but we don't want to stop them going out either and mixing with the public. "If someone wants to go out for lunch or a quiet beer we have got no problems with that. "But it's very important that we respect our position and we treat people properly." The players were questioned by team managers about what they were doing in Cardiff city centre on Sunday. Henson in particular apologised to "any member of the public he offended". All six players were warned about "their various levels of involvement". Wales had beaten England 23-15 at the Millennium Stadium in the Six Nations the day before, when Byrne, Powell and Phillips all played. Players had met at the Queen's Vaults pub in Cardiff city centre The WRU said Henson, Powell, Rhys Thomas and Jonathan Thomas were "rebuked" after each admitted to "varying degrees of regrettable conduct". The players had met at the Queen's Vaults in Westgate Street, opposite the Millennium Stadium in the city centre. Eye witnesses had called for an apology, claiming Henson was abusive and had to be taken out of the pub. The Ospreys star did not play in Wales' victory because of injury. Onlookers said Henson, the partner of singer and TV presenter Charlotte Church, was seen messing about with pool balls on the three tables in the pub and was abusive when anyone took issue with him. Another man who videoed Henson on his mobile said the player tried to grab the mobile and then told him that it was none of his business. The eye witnesses said the other players were just enjoying their night out and tried to calm things down. Full-back Byrne took Henson out of the pub while scrum-half Phillips publicly apologised over the pub's sound system. Phillips and number eight Andy Powell stayed on to talk to customers. Another onlooker later saw Henson outside the pub, throwing his money around telling people to take it. South Wales Police confirmed officers were called to St Mary Street at around 2115 GMT on Sunday after reports of a disturbance. A fixed penalty notice was issued to someone for a public order offence, but not one of the players.

Rugby Union: England to make solo 2015 Cup bid

Page last updated at 07:48 GMT, Thursday, 19 February 2009

England to make solo 2015 Cup bid

England reached the final when they last hosted the World Cup in 1991 RFU chairman Martyn Thomas has confirmed that England will make a solo bid to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup. England's proposal was supported by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and sports minister Andy Burnham after high-level talks at Downing Street on Wednesday. Scotland, Wales and Ireland are keen on staging the tournament but none of them have the facilities to do it alone. Thomas said England would consider moving some matches to stadiums in the other three home nations. Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, which hosted games in the 1999 and 2007 World Cups, Murrayfield in Edinburgh, Hampden Park in Glasgow and Croke Park and Lansdowne Road in Dublin are obvious candidates. "England will bid for the World Cup," said Thomas. "We have certainly had very good discussions with the Welsh in terms of using the facilities they have, particularly the Millennium Stadium but also the Ospreys and maybe the new Cardiff stadium. I believe that rugby is one of the great sports and I also believe we can win the Rugby World Cup bid for this country in 2015 Prime Minister Gordon Brown "I am sure if we go ahead with the bid we will certainly involve games in Wales. We haven't totally ruled out games further north. We want to make sure there are games in the north of England and that it reaches out to as many people as possible." Eight different countries have expressed an interest in hosting the 2015 event - Italy, South Africa, Australia, Japan and the four home nations. RFU chief executive Francis Baron had warned that England may withdraw their bid because of "massive financial risks", saying that the International Rugby Board's demands for a guaranteed sum in profits had changed the bid process. But Thomas met with Mr Burnham and outlined the levels of financial support the RFU would require to host the tournament for the first time since 1991. "I am pleased to say Andy Burnham has indicated today he is very happy to sit down with us and give us some support," said Thomas. "There seem to be potentially two other countries that are likely to be strong contenders - where their government has come very strong to say they will, as we are told, underwrite the bid totally. One is in Europe and one in South Africa. " "I have had a very positive meeting with Andy Burnham, who is the boss, and with Gordon Brown - who is the ultimate boss. Certainly Andy is very supportive in helping us win the Rugby World Cup." Mr Brown offered his support publicly as he addressed England players and officials at Downing Street to mark the launch of the RFU's Injured Players Foundation. The Prime Minister, who lost an eye playing rugby when he was 16, said: "I believe that rugby is one of the great sports and I also believe we can win the Rugby World Cup (bid for) this country in 2015. "I hope that you, the RFU, will be able to persuade other countries that the Rugby World Cup should come here. I am here to support people who were part of the 2007 World Cup team when you played South Africa (in the final), having already beaten France and Australia. "I was very proud to be in Paris that day when you took on the South Africans and performed so well."

Rugby Union - Current News and More

At 23:32 GMT, Monday, 16 February 2009

Rugby Union:

LONDON WASPS Brive announce signing of Flutey French club Brive announce England centre Riki Flutey will join them from Wasps in the summer on a two-year deal. Six Nations rugby union: 7 February - 21 March Video and audio highlights Highlights - Italy 9-38 Ireland Highlights - France 22-13 Scotland Highlights - Wales 23-15 England Comment and analysis WELSH Ieuan Evans column "I thought the Wales tight five were superb" Jeremy Guscott column "Wales didn't have their usual spark without talisman Shane Williams" Italy v Ireland photos Pictures from Ireland's 38-9 win over Italy in Rome Lions Watch Who boosted their prospects in the second round of the Six Nations? BBC pundits' England verdict "The majority of the new players can't think for themselves"