Preview of Tigers and 6N's
By ChrisC
February 1 2011
The End of Prawn Sandwiches? - by ChrisC With the first weekend of the Six Nations upon us I thought that as well as casting an, admittedly jaundiced, eye over the LV= Cup (what does the = in the Liverpool Victoria logo have to do with anything by the way?) and the Saxons, I’d have a look at the northern hemisphere’s international competition that will be the last before the millions of Dendrobranchiata around the World, that are sacrificed every year, can breathe a sigh of relief.
Why are the little decapod crustaceans so relieved? They, alone perhaps, are delighted due to the sliding stealthily into force of the Bribery Act 2010 which was introduced by, and made its way through Parliament, during the dying days of Gordon Brown’s government, becoming law in April 2010 prior to coming into force this April.
Intended to bring up to date the 1906 Bribery Act the new legislation was aimed at corrupt payments to Foreign governments however it is now being interpreted as applying to corporate hospitality and, to quote Downing Street last month; “........bribery should play no part in winning investment or business.....”
An offence under the Act occurs when: “The defendant offers, promises or gives a financial or other advantage intending to induce another person to perform improperly one of their functions in their position of trust and responsibility, or as a reward for improper performance"
I know, I know, there’s a horrible irony in MPs legislating for the rest of us to prevent corruption and if ever there was a case where some people should be seeking out the shop where black pots and kettles are sold this it and of course the utensils could always be charged to their expenses.
The law for us lot is being enforced by the Serious Fraud Office who have been under employed for many a year ever since that nice Mr Blair decided that prosecuting a company that had allegedly bribed a foreign power wasn’t in the public interest, anyway the SFO can now concentrate on softer, less politically charged targets having said that it intends to “vigorously” enforce the new Act. Oh dear!
If found guilty it’s a maximum of ten years in clink and an unlimited fine. Oh dear!
There has been similar legislation in the USA for some time but there’s a specific exclusion for corporate entertaining which there isn’t in the UK version. Oh dear!
This, with the potential for a reduction in corporate sponsorship by business experiencing straitened circumstances and those, such as RBS, who sponsor the Six Nations using our taxpayer cash, the business model of many sports, of which the corporate entertainment market is an important element, look to be needing a rethink. Oh dear again!
Over the years I provided and received corporate hospitality but now I’d think twice on both counts although of course there’s a plethora of lawyers and consultants circling to help as there’ll be no shortage of vexatious complaints from those disgruntled at losing business to a competitor who provides corporate hospitality.
Both the RFU and, to a lesser extent Tigers, have nailed their colours to the corporate hospitality mast so there could be interesting times ahead for the bean counters.
Rugby though is just one of the sports that all this junketing centres on, and just to avoid confusion it is supposed to be to do with sport, although when I was once entertained at Welford Road in a corporate box in the then A&L stand it was hard to appreciate the fact as only three of us went out in the cold to watch the match and that included my wife and I and many will, during matches, have looked incredulously at the serried ranks of unoccupied corporate seats in prime positions at Welford Road.
So then, Rugby starts its Northern Hemisphere international competition on Friday when England go down to Wales (a Welsh translation of this piece is available on request!).
First though to the LV= Cup where last weekend Tigers again trooped down to Sandy Park to meet up with Rob Baxter’s Exeter Chiefs,when the Tigers’ latest scratch team got another thumping, this time from the aspirant West Countrymen, although it was good to see that Boris Stankovitch and Danny Hipkiss are restored to fitness, Tigers could need them in the next few weeks. The LV= farrago continues this Friday when Bath visit Welford Road where I expect that there’ll be a Tigers’ team on display more reflective of that which travels up to Leeds the following week as Richard Cockerill looks to give his re-jigged squad a chance to play together.
Finally, and before getting to the Six Nations proper, a brief mention of the Saxons fixture against Italy A last Saturday held at the delightful Sixways, what a great, true rugby ground they have over there – hurry back to the Premiership Warriors and hopefully the nonsense of the playoff phase, which they enter 17 points ahead of their nearest challenger, will not deny them their just reward for an exemplary season in exile.
In a frankly tedious A team match, due to its one sided nature, Tigers’ Billy Twelvetrees and Manu “Knocksdowntrees” gave good accounts of themselves and did their international ambitions no harm at all although I do so hope there will be no listening to the siren calls from some quarters that Manu should be in the senior England match day squad without further ado as he still has much to learn and another premature exposure such as marred Matthew Tait’s career and that of Tony Allen must be avoided. The latest Tuilagi is only 19 so give him a year or so of having his talent nurtured before exposing him to the maw of England and the media.
In the Saxons’ forwards I again liked the look of Joe Marler and Warrior’s Kitchener who together with Chris Robshaw were the pick of the bunch.
Behind the pack I thought Wigglesworth was unexciting and with Myler presented a steady if uninspiring combination. I would have liked to have seen Joe Simpson released from the senior squad, where he’s anyway destined to sit behind Youngs and Care, and given a run. It must be a concern how few good English qualified fly halves there are, with the Saxons only having Myler as a specialist in the position the others being utility players for the pivotal role only to be used in extremis.
James Simpson-Daniel once again showed what a lost talent he’s been to the international scene and why it’s so remains a mystery to me.
England have again been cursed by losses to key players with Lawes, Moody, Croft and Attwood already discounted from some or all of the competition and there are still doubts over Fourie
However in the first match down in Cardiff the hosts are also discommoded by injuries in the pack with Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones missing so I expect it’ll be largely a case of the England pack against the Welsh backs who will have to be denied quick ball if England are to prosper. The one area where there may be problems for England’s pack is at the line out where they had a poor showing last time against South Africa and the likely starters lack the athleticism of Lawes and Croft so Sheridan will need all his bench pressing prowess to hoist the locks into the air.
The back row could also struggle for dynamism without Moody and I’d like to see Tom Wood, who’s had a great season at Saints, get the nod if Fourie is injured. Haskell looks nailed on for the blind side with Easter at #8.
If Ben Youngs, behind a dominant pack, can inject pace into the team effort and enable Toby Flood, the other half of probably the most settled half back pairing in the competition, to get the England backs into some space so that Hape and Tindall can get the back three into the game, then there could be an away victory and if there is then they could go on to win the whole shebang as thereafter they have Italy, France and Scotland at home before visiting Dublin for the final match on 19th March so they’ll not have a better chance.
Wales meantime have Phillips, who gallops around well enough when going forward but looks like Bambi when going in the opposite direction behind a retreating scrum, which I reckon will be the case on Friday, denying Stephen Jones the time he needs to get his talented outside backs into the game, which if the Welsh pack can get close and their team plays for the full 80 minutes, could do the business albeit without Halfpenny and Shanklin and with Clemont Auvergne bound Lee Byrne looking for his best form but they still have Scarlets’ Morgan Stoddart and Jonathan Davies to call upon.
Did I mention that a Welsh language version of this article is available on request?
Scotland have a decent pack and an exemplary defence against which it’s going to be hard to score and I hope we see Ruaridh Jackson display his skills at #10 as he looks like he could be a bit special however I think that in spite of their victory over South Africa in the Autumn, when young Richie Gray was outstanding against Victor Matfield and in spite of the presence of players like John Barclay, one of the best flankers in the competition and the likes of Mike Blair or Rory Lawson at scrum half, the Scots lack the penetration out wide, preferring to go though endless phases of forward possession, needed to do anything other than be tussling with Italy to avoid the wooden spoon.
Wales, as already mentioned, have some big issues in the pack however with the likes of Halfpenny, although he’ll miss the openers against England and Scotland, Shane Williams and Jamie Roberts being orchestrated by Stephen Jones they’ll be a big threat to all the teams out in the backs but they must get off to a winning start against England or the competition is effectively over for them.
An enigma to me is James Hook who, when playing for Ospreys, often looks World Class however when playing for his country the sparkle seems to go from his game and he can look a mere functionary maybe it’s another case of international coaches bleeding the talent out of a player. It’s an ongoing mystery why players are selected for international duty and then the coaches seemingly do their utmost to change the way they play?
If the Welsh pack can hold out and Hook hits club form then the Welsh could be dark horses.
Did I mention that a Welsh language version of this article is available on request? Oh I did. That’s OK then!
Ireland, who were runners up last year, have an issue at tighthead prop to overcome amongst others in the tight five and behind the pack I rather hope that young Sexton will get to consistently start ahead of O’Gara to give O’Driscoll the best chance of a last hurrah in this World Cup year as surely time is catching up with one of the greatest centres of recent times. While the team looks to be ageing they do have home advantage against both the other main contenders, England and France, so could go close. The drifting into decline of Munster and the ageing Ireland scrum will be the issue here I think and which coupled with the absence of Rob Kearney, Stephen Ferris and Jamie Heaslip, three of their go to men, won’t help
Italy, with their pack, will cause everybody problems up front but they just lack creativity behind the scrum and with pretty much their only really creative player, Craig Gower, injured, don’t have a kicking game so they’ll do well to avoid another Wooden Spoon but don’t count against them sneaking wins against Wales and Ireland in Rome when their fearsome scrum could pulverise the two weakest front fives in the competition and with Sergio Parisse fit they could cause problems.
Last year’s winners, France, looked seriously sub-standard when they got well and truly stuffed by Australia in the Autumn. It’ll be interesting to see if Harinordoquy gets the nod ahead of the iconic Sebastian Chabal.
The key question is who gets the fly half berth with Michalak injured, maybe Damien Traille will get the position he covets as neither David Skrela or the flaky, if sometimes brilliant, Francois Trinh-Duc, have looked to be in peak form. Morgan Parra is an outstanding scrum half and if he and his half back partner click behind the French scrum then they’ll take all the beating.
Of all the teams the French remain the most unpredictable and could manage to retain the trophy if they hit a hot streak.
I don’t have the faintest who’ll win the trophy but my guess is:
Champions – France – unpredictable but with enough quality in depth to do it if they’re in the mood and if Marc Lièvremont doesn’t go too off piste.
Runners Up – England – too many key players missing but pack still strong enough to go very close especially if they get off to a flying start in Cardiff and under the skin of the French at Twickenham.
Third – Ireland – ageing and pack could be under pressure and I wonder if Kidney will be radical enough to keep faith with his youngsters.
Fourth – Wales – too many injuries up front for the pack to get their sparkling backs away, can look brittle under pressure and drift away in the final quarter.
Fifth – Scotland – loads of endeavour but where will the tries come from if the tactic of multiple phases trying to bore the opposition into submission doesn’t work?
Wooden Spoon – Italy – also too little creativity behind their pack so again where will the tries come from but could be a close run thing with the Scots.
I’ll be hopelessly wrong of course.
Finally hold the Marie Rose sauce on those prawns and a glass or two of Champagne would be much appreciated!
Oh and a Welsh translation is available in which I tip Wales for the Grand Slam!
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:02:08:20:50:02 by Stephen Bath.
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Strike up the band: ''I wanna be in that number, when the SFO go marching in''
Also, I think a brief but tuneful ditty in recognition of the substitutes bench: the worthy pleocyemata - so often overlooked by all but dodgy sandwich makers, would strike a chord in the crustacean world of relief
As far off the mark as ever, Chris, but a worthy effort and a vocabularian feast
Seriously, [the unflinchingly repetitive] thanks!
'Lions led by donkeys' .. Lest we forget