IS RUGBY BECOMING A GAME WE JUST WATCH?

I attended a Sunday Times Autumn Internationals review in town last week with Stephen Jones, Stuart Barnes, Lol Dallaglio and Big Jim Hamilton. All the debate was about us watching rugby at the elite level (obviously), rather than the state of the game at the amateur level. The international game appears in rude health, with the RFU claiming 2.5m+ applications for 82,000 Twickenham tickets this Saturday, even with the most expensive now costing some (corporates I guess) £195 each. It is New Zealand I hear you cry, and we have not played them for 4 years, so a game not to be missed, so happy to shell out a mass premium for the AB's - however, even the SA and Aussie match tickets are costing an eyewatering £150, hardly within the budget of a young millennial amateur player once food, beverage and transport thrown in! But, don't worry lad, you can go and watch Japan!  Apparently, the RFU needs the money, as even £8m per game is not sufficient to fund Eddie, the management team, the players and the community game ... anyway enough on the RFU Banana Republic. In summary, with even Scotland now selling out their home games, including Fiji, the professional game for Tier 1 countries, especially at international and club level (with TV money), appears to be making good progress (Tier 2 country debate for another day).

Banana Republic HQ

I fear for the amateur game, yes, all community rugby clubs across the country are buzzing with mini and youth on a Sunday, who now contribute the majority of the club revenue, but, especially in the South, when this homegrown talent leaves school to head off to Uni or world of work, the majority lose contact with their local club, and either join a city team, or stop playing the beautiful game altogether. I feel this pain personally as run an U23 side for my local club, which helps keep the club-lads bond strong during Uni days, and provides a bit of strength in depth for the lower club teams during holidays. But, it is becoming increasingly difficult, with most of them, either stopping playing due to fear of injury or wine, women and song, or drifting away to work in London (where their peer group is) or up North (where the maths work), As a result, ours, like most small amateur clubs, who used to run 6-8 adult teams back in the day, now struggles to field 2-3 teams on a good day. And what is the RFU response, with their £8m per game? They are making HQ management and community coaches redundant to fund the increasing cost of the professional game. And, finally, we have not even touched on the increasing physicality of the game, which the RFU and World Rugby are rightly trying to address, to deter parents from withdrawing their son or daughter once they reach a certain age (when size is everything). But after Farrell's tackle at the weekend, even the most experienced observer of the game is confused what is legal or not, let alone a 12 year old. Given the mother test, that challenge would have failed...

So is adult rugby union, like golf or American footy, set to become a professional sport we watch, rather than a game at the heart of the local community that we play to keep fit? If so, will it survive?

AUTUMN INTERNATIONALS WEEK 1 REVIEW

Didn't do too well on my predictions - England won by 1 point versus my guess of SA by 5 (both victor and margin incorrect), Wales beat Scotland by 11 points versus my guess of Wales by 5 (victor correct, margin incorrect) and Ireland hosed Italy by 47 points versus my guess of Italy by 5 (victor and margin incorrect) - nobody told me Italy were going to play a B team as well as Ireland, in prep for the Georgia game this weekend.

England (somehow) scrape home against SA

Credit to England on Saturday for finishing ahead on the scoreboard, as they were second in virtually all key areas. No tries but four penalties from Owen Farrell, a very solid defensive effort from the forwards, including a MOM performance from Mark Wilson at 8 and the replacement front row really stepped up in the last third. Areas to improve on for England ranged from coming a distinct second in scrum, a high penalty count against them overall (which NZ would punish more severely) including another Itoje yellow, Daly under the high ball, more try scoring opportunities, especially as the only real one was butchered by Brad Shields failing to execute a 2 v 1 under pressure. South Africa, with more accuracy (especially throwing into the lineout) and better decision making, especially in second half, would have been 15 points up at half time and England would never have got back in the game. Safa stars were Allende in the centre, a real wrecking ball, the front five in scrum and Pollard at 10 who set up the only try of the game and kicked well.

Can't you see he is wrapping his arms around attacker

And then onto that Faz tackle. I would not have wanted to make that decision, which could potentially have meant the away team winning the game at Twickenham with the clock dead, but for the video ref not even to warrant it a penalty I found strange. The Aussie and Kiwi agreed between them that whilst he led with the shoulder, he wrapped his arm(s) sufficiently to warrant it as a legal challenge. Certainly, all the Northern Hemisphere refs interviewed this week (who did not have to make the decision live admittedly) indicated they would certainly have penalised Farrell - some even saying it was a yellow card offence. Imagine the opposite scenario, where a South African put in the same challenge on an England player, or even a Pacific Islander (on Ben Youngs or George Ford)? They would have shown him a red, locked him in the tower and thrown away the key. Anyway, coulda, woulda, shoulda ... doesn't matter now, but Erasmus, the SA coach's response in the post match conference was interesting - "if that sort of tackle is now legal, we will practice it in training this week and inflict it on France on Saturday" (the first 10 mins of that game will be interesting). And true to his word, he was filmed instructing Esterhuizen, the victim of said tackle to mirror Farrell's challenge, which is worth watching ... no doubt the ineffective suits at World Rugby will not be amused.

SA practice the Farrell

Last but not least, forget international rugby, the real game of the weekend was Jersey's win over London Irish, the Exiles first defeat of the season - just watch Jersey's first try from under their own posts.

PREDICTIONS FOR 3RD NOV

My predictions for today's games are:

England v South Africa
SA by 10 pts

Wales v Scotland
Wales by 5 pts

Ireland v Italy
Italy by 5 pts

And a second string AB's have just put 69 pts on Japan...

Game on!

TIMES & S.TIMES AUTUMN INT DEBATE LONDON

2018 Autumn Internationals Preview - 1st November 2018
Honourable Artillery Company EC1Y

On stage were Stephen Jones, Stuart Barnes (with a glass of red), Lol Dallaglio and (Big) Jim Hamilton. Not one of them thought England will win tomorrow - enough said. When asked who would they have in England matchday squad, nominations ranged from Cips, Don Armand, Dave Attwood and Elliot Stooke to those injured plus many Wasps players (Lol obviously). And Stuart Barnes said Scotland will not win the World Cup but they could win the Six Nations LOL

Barnesy we love you!

ENGLAND S.AFRICA MATCHDAY SQUAD REVEALED

Farrell at 10, Te'o at 12, Daly at 15, Hartley at hooker, Kruis in second row, Shields at blindside and Wilson at 8. The three quarters look decent, especially with Manu Tuilagi on bench but will need quick ball. Can England's pack physically compete up front with their South African counterparts? The England back row looks light and inexperienced with Curry, Shields and Wilson up against Kolisi, du Toit and (probably) Vermeulen, plus Itoje and Kruis will also have their work cut out against Etzebeth and de Jaeger. England have recalled Hartley to combat Malcolm Marx at hooker, and support two inexperienced international props in Hepburn and Sinckler.

Mark Wilson starts at no.8 versus South Africa

Out wide, it looks like England may have the edge, with Daly, May and Nowell forming an experenced proven try scoring trio at the back, plus master distributors and creators of space in Farrell and Slade - only the fitness of Te'o is a concern. South Africa are without Faf de Klerk and Willie Le Roux in key positions, which puts more pressure on Pollard to prove his undoubted potential. Still, if they select Kriel and de Allende in the centres, plus Damian Allense and Dyantyi out wide they will have a good balance of brute force and lightening pace.

England need to win, both, to stop the losing rot setting in, especially before NZ visit next week, and to gain a psychological edge over their Southern Hemisphere rivals ahead of Japan next year.

Aphiwe Dyantyi - 6 tries in 9 games

ENGLAND AUTUMN SQUAD SELECTIONS ANNOUNCED

Is the rest of the world meant to feel sorry for England and Eddie Jones following the squad announcements this week for Autumn internationals? England have more registered adult rugby players than any other country and 12+ professional teams - there is no way they should be struggling for front or back row options just because of injuries. And with the RFU set to make some community coaching staff redundant in a cost cutting exercise, the situation may get worse not better. I guess as an Anglo Scot, being asked to empathise with England's position in rugby is a bit like being asked to shed a tear for Jose and Man Utd.

With the Vunipola brothers, Chris Robshaw, Joe Launchbury, Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson, Sam Simmonds and Dan Robson injured, Nathan Hughes banned and Joe Marler retired, Eddie Jones has been forced to name eight uncapped players in the 36-man England squad, including Joe Cokanasiga and Zach Mercer from Bath. Other new faces include Ben Moon, Nick Schonert, Val Rapava-Ruskin, Ted Hill, Mark Wilson and Michael Rhodes, who is the latest Southern hemisphere schooled player, selected for England along with Brad Shields and Ben Te'o. Winners include Dan Cole, Elliott Stooke,  Chris Ashton and Ben Morgan at the expense of Luke Cowan-Dickie, Dave Attwood, Alex Goode, Don Armand and the unluckiest man in the world, Danny Cipriani. Another leap of faith is that good players like Ashton, Te'o and Manu Tuilagi have not played much (or any) rugby this season, plus Alex Lozowski is banned for two weeks prior to the first game.

Alex Goode - one of the unlucky many

In Robert Kitson's excellent article in The Guardian, he sums up public frustration with Eddie Jones and his selection decisions - "...the English public badly want reassurance that key combinations in crucial areas of the team – front row, back row, half-back, midfield – will be settled before the World Cup in Japan next year. And above all they want to know if England will be reborn next month or are destined to under-perform, relative to their resources, for a third World Cup in a row".

Yes these internationals are a phoney war, as what counts is form in second half of 2019 in Japan, but no major international team wants to be tinkering with partnerships and units less than a year out. And with England's poor form in 2018, the pressure is on England to win at least 2, if not 3 out of the 4 matches in November. Eddie begs to differ and deserves the last word (as ever) - "But what I do know about World Cups, and this will be my fourth, is that the only time you need to be at your best is at the tournament itself. All the leading up to it is sparring. Sometimes the scoreboard doesn’t tell you you’re moving forward.”

Game on!

HEINEKEN ROUND 1 REVIEW

The first weekend of the Champions Cup saw five teams secure that all important away win, and more importantly, five teams lose a game at home. The stand out performance was Newcastle turning over Toulon, a great achievement, but symbolic of the French team's decline. Cardiff at Lyon was almost as impressive, especially with only 40% possession, with Saracens (at Glasgow) and Racing (at Scarlets) also winning away in tight games, thanks to some inconsistent refereeing.

Toulon are being left behind in European rugby

Teams "kicking themselves" include Bath, who lost another tight game against Toulouse, courtesy of Freddie Burns inability to ground the ball, when Maxime Medard knocked the ball out of his (one) hand just as he went to dot down. Many have fallen foul of the decision to head for the posts once over the line to make the conversion easier, even I have been guilty, getting a haematoma in my stomach courtesy of not seeing the fullback in my blind spot, before he hit me hard forcing me to drop the ball - luckily my team won. Edinburgh will also be feeling that "one got away" by butchering a simple late try against Montpelier, but were clearly the better team, evidence of their dramatic improvement under Richard Cockerill. Gloucester and Ulster secured home victories over Castres and Leicester respectively, whilst Exeter and Munster neutralised one another in a 10 - 10 draw. The only mismatch was Leinster's 50 point drubbing of Wasps, ominous for other teams in their group.

Round 2 up this weekend, where those losing teams face must win games if they are to qualify for later stages. Ones to look out for are Wasps v Bath and Edinburgh v Toulon.