Say goodbye to the old Lansdowne Road.2010
19th January -The Rugby world is saddened by the news that commentating legend Bill McLaren passed away after a long illness at the age of 86. Mr McLaren, from Hawick, retired in 2002 and received an OBE, CBE and MBE for services to the sport. He began commentating on BBC radio in 1953 and moved on to television six years later.
6th February - Ronan O'Gara broke the 500 points barrier as he extended his lead as 6 Nations highest points scorer. This occured in the game agaist Italy where he scored 16 points. Little known fact: he was born in San Diego California.
13th February - Chris Patterson gained his 100th cap for Scotland in their 6 Nations game against Wales. At the time of adding this article he is Scotland's highest points scorer with 372 points in the 6 Nations alone.
100 Cap Club as of Feb 13th
George Gregan (Australia) 139
Fabien Pelous (France) 118
Jason Leonard (England) 114
Philippe Sella (France) 111
George Smith (Australia) 110
Stephen Larkham (Australia) 102
Percy Montgomery (South Africa) 102
David Campese (Australia) 101
Alessandro Troncon (Italy) 101
Gareth Thomas (Wales) 100
All time 6 Nations point scorers as of Feb 17th:
| Ronan O'Gara | 520 |
| Jonny Wilkinson | 506 |
| Stephen Jones | 405 |
| Neil Jenkins | 396 |
| Chris Paterson | 372 |
| David Humphreys | 267 |
March 20th
England Women's claim fifth straight Six Nations title with a grand slam against France. England's women won the Grand Slam in nailbiting fashion as they edged out France 11-10 thanks to Katy McLean's second-half penalty.
Amy Turner’s first-half try gave them a 5-3 halftime advantage while the home side had Claire Canal sent off on the half-hour mark.
Despite their numerical advantage, England conceded a second-half try to Céline Allainmat that put France ahead 10-8 before McLean kicked the final points of the game with a 64th minute penalty. The drama did not end there though and, in injury time, French kicker Aurélie Bailon’s 45-metre penalty fell just short of the posts as England held out to record a record-breaking fifth consecutive Championship title. While England had been in imperious form heading into the match in Rennes, conceding just five points in four games, they faced their toughest test against a French side roared on by a partisan home crowd.
Running rugby was never going to be the order of the day in appalling conditions and for once England struggled to turn their superiority into points. McLean missed one drop goal opportunity on eight minutes before they fashioned the game’s opening points with a terrific team try. The forwards drove their way down the pitch before the ball was fed out to scrum-half Turner who scorched her way over in the right-hand touchline. McLean missed a difficult conversion but although Bailon reduced the deficit with a well-struck penalty, the home side’s night would take a turn for the worse when flanker Canal was shown a red card for making contact with the head of an English player.
England coach Gary Street’s nerves may have been settled by a 47th minute penalty from McLean but the game was turned on its head by France’s try nine minutes later. It came from an English error in midfield as the ball was spilt and the French pack immediately picked and drove deep into the visitors’ territory before winger Allainmat supplied the finishing touch. Yet England showed the mark of champions by refusing to panic under pressure with McLean’s penalty almost immediately restoring their slender lead.
Some desperate defence from both sides limited scoring opportunities until the dying moments when France had the opportunity to break England’s Grand Slam dreams. But Bailon just couldn’t summon the extra energy to split the posts and England smuggled the ball out of play to begin wild celebrations.
February 6 to March 20, 2010 - Six Nations
The BBC broadcast every game from the Six Nations Championships in high definition for the first time.
May 23rd
Cardiff Blues made history as the first Welsh team to win a European trophy after beating Toulon in Marseille to claim the Amlin Challenge Cup.
Cardiff Blues (6) 28
Tries: Roberts, Halfpenny, B Davies Cons: Blair 2 Pens: Blair 2, Halfpenny
Toulon (13) 21
Tries: Williams, Sourice Con: Wilkinson Pens: Wilkinson 2, May
Toulon: Marienval, Lovobalavu, May, Williams, Sinzelle, Wilkinson, Henjak, Taumoepeau, Fitzgerald, Kubriashvili, Lozada, Skeate, van Niekerk, Fernandez Lobbe, Auelua.
Replacements: Umaga for Sinzelle (70), Kefu for Wilkinson (46), Mignoni for Henjak (56), Emmanuelli for Taumoepeau (56), Bruno for Fitzgerald (34), Ryan for Kubriashvili (40), Suta for Lozada (51), Sourice for Auelua (68).
Blues: Blair, Halfpenny, Laulala, Roberts, Czekaj, Sweeney, Rees, Jenkins, Thomas, Filise, Davies, Jones, Molitika, M. Williams, Rush.
Replacements: Hewitt for Laulala (80), Yapp for Jenkins (40), G. Williams for Thomas (46), Andrews for Filise (56), Tito for Jones (51), Warburton for Molitika (62). Not Used: Allinson, Flanagan.
Att: 58,632
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland).
| June 12th, 2010 | June 20th, 2010 |
| Argentina 16-24 Scotland | Argentina 9-13 Scotland |
| Argentina (13) 16 Tries: Tiesi, Leguizamon Pens: Contepomi 2 Scotland (12) 24 Pens: Parks 6 Drop-goals: Parks 2 |
Argentina (6) 9 Pens: Contepomi 2, Rodriguez Scotland (10) 13 Tries: Hamilton Cons: Parks Pens: Parks 2 |
Argentina: Rodriguez, Borges, Tiesi, Fernandez, Agulla, Contepomi, Lalanne, Roncero, Ledesma, Scelzo, Carizza, Albacete, Fessia, Leguizamon, Fernandez Lobbe. Replacements: Amorosino for Borges (47), Figuerola for Lalanne (78), Creevy for Ledesma (68), Ayerza for Scelzo (44). Not Used: Galarza, Campos, Mieres. Sin Bin: Leguizamon (40). Scotland: Southwell, Evans, De Luca, Morrison, Lamont, Parks, R. Lawson, Jacobsen, Ford, Low, Hamilton, Kellock, Brown, Barclay, Beattie. Replacements: Blair for R. Lawson (60), S. Lawson for Ford (76), Strokosch for Beattie (60). Not Used: Cross, MacLeod, Godman, Thompson. Attendance: 31,898 Referee: Dave Pearson (RFU) |
Argentina: Rodriguez, Amorosino, Tiesi, Fernandez, Agulla, Contepomi, Figuerola, Roncero, Ledesma, Scelzo, Carizza, Albacete, Fessia, Leguizamon, Fernandez Lobbe. Replacements: Carballo for Contepomi (63), Creevy for Ledesma (66), Ayerza for Scelzo (69), Guzman for Leguizamon (46). Not Used: Campos, Vergallo, Borges. Sin Bin: Roncero (36). Scotland: Southwell, Lamont, Evans, Morrison, Danielli, Parks, R. Lawson, Jacobsen, Ford, Low, Hamilton, Kellock, Brown, Barclay, Beattie. Replacements: De Luca for Evans (69), Blair for R. Lawson (67), Dickinson for Jacobsen (60), S. Lawson for Ford (66), MacLeod for Kellock (68), Strokosch for Beattie (60). Not Used: Godman. Att: 16,821 |
Scotland became the first side to beat Argentina at the Estadio Monumental Jose Fierro in Tucuman on June 12th then winning again on June 20th which was Scotland's forth win in 12 encounters with Argentina. Scotland recorded their first southern hemisphere series win with a 13-9 victory over Argentina in Mar del Plata's Estadio Jose Maria Minella.
June 28th, 2010 Argentina 41 - 13 France
Captain Felipe Contepomi tallied a career-best 31 points in brilliant fashion, scoring two of the Pumas' four tries, converting three, and nailing all five penalty attempts.
Argentina achieved their highest score and biggest margin against France. After the visitors tied the score on penalties at 6-6 after 17 minutes, Contepomi's third penalty in the 26th following turnover ball put Argentina in front for good.
A fourth penalty made it 12-6, then from the restart, livewire No8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe began and finished an attack from his own half.
Within eight minutes of the second-half, Contepomi crossed for his first try. Minutes later, France finally responded with a Julien Malzieu try, but scores from Martin Rodriguez and Contepomi sealed the record win and their captain's record points tally .
The defeat completed a miserable mini-tour for the Grand Slam champions, who were also hammered 42-17 by South Africa in Cape Town a fortnight ago.
"It's desolation," said a stunned France coach Marc Lievremont. "I don't know how we could sink so badly in these few weeks, to suffer two points records in South Africa and now here in Argentina. "I expected tough matches, but these defeats are ridiculous. It was a nightmare."
France skipper Thierry Dusautoir was equally despondent.
"When you concede 40 points in two successive Tests, there isn't a lot to say," he said. "We can find 50 excuses, but today we came up against a team who were just much stronger than us. We were dominated in all areas and this was our level sadly. "For a team that has ambitions to be world champions next year, it's going to be difficult to pick ourselves up from this."
Scorers: Argentina: Tries: Fernandez Lobbe, Contepomi 2, Amorosino. Cons: Contepomi 3. Pens: Contepomi 5. France: Tries: Malzieu. Cons: Parra. Pens: Porical, Parra.
Argentina: Rodriguez, Amorosino, Tiesi, Fernandez, Carballo, Contepomi, Vergallo; Roncero, Ledesma, Scelzo, Carizza, Albacete, Fessia, Campos, Fernandez Lobbe.
Replacements: Agulla for Fernandez (77), Ayerza for Roncero (62), Creevy for Ledesma (65), Figallo for Scelzo (56), Leguizamon for Campos (55).
Not Used: Galarza, Figuerola.
France: Porical, Clerc, Fritz, Mazars, Malzieu, Trinh-Duc, Parra; Barcella, Szarzewski, Mas, Pape, Nallet, Dusautoir, Picamoles, Bonnaire.
Replacements: Poitrenaud for Mazars (50), Yachvili for Parra (61), Guirado for Szarzewski (61), Poux for Mas (72), Pierre for Nallet (50), Lamboley for Bonnaire (50).
Not Used: Rougerie.
Sin Bin: Fritz (36).
Att: 32,460
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Ref. Scotsman/BBC Sport
July, 19th, 2010
A Scottish Rugby Hall Of Fame is to be launched in the autumn - and supporters will have the chance to select one of the first inductees. Hall of fame judges, from left, John Beattie, John Jeffrey, Ian McGeechan, Chris Rea and Norman Mair met at Murrayfield yesterday to discuss potential inductees. Supporters' involvement will begin by their going to the Scottish Rugby Union website, www.scottishrugby.org
 |
| Hall of fame judges, from left, John Beattie, John Jeffrey, Ian McGeechan, Chris Rea and Norman Mair met at Murrayfield yesterday to discuss potential inductees. Picture: PA |
FUTURE
2010
Leading stakeholders from the international Rugby community, including a number of the world's top technical directors, coaches, referees and administrators, will gather in Dublin next month for an International Rugby Board Conference on the playing of Rugby. The May 13-14 Conference and will bring together representatives from the top 20 ranked Member Unions and is the first of its kind since the 2007 Woking Forum which recommended the inclusion of Argentina in an annual international competition.
Delegates will consider the central theme of global playing trends and will present their individual and collective insights into the playing of the Game at both the elite and participation levels as an invaluable part of seeking solutions to identified issues.
The Conference agenda is entirely stakeholder-driven with all 117 of the IRB's Member Unions having been given the opportunity to contribute via a survey to help identify the main topics for in-depth discussion over the two days.
While Union feedback determined that the Game was generally in good health as Rugby enters an exciting decade of Olympic Games inclusion and three Rugby World Cups, the process identified five key areas for consideration:
• the tackle
• the scrum (collapses and resets)
• excess kicking
• physicality of the Game
• the Law making process
"Rugby is currently enjoying unprecedented growth all around the world, reaching out to new countries, communities and audiences. Yet it is important that within that growth we collectively remain focused on the core values of our sport and ensuring that Rugby is as enjoyable to play, officiate and watch as possible while promoting the best-possible player welfare practices," said IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset.
"The object of the two-day Conference is to take stock of the Game and holistically consider global playing trends as we embark upon an exciting and pivotal decade for the Sport which includes Rugby Sevens Olympic Games debut in Rio in 2016 and the next three Rugby World Cups."
"The Conference will provide a forum for leading technical experts and playing representatives from around the world to gather to exchange information, discuss playing and coaching techniques and trends, currency of Law and player welfare considerations. The IRB is delighted to be able to facilitate that dialogue and I would like to thank the Member Unions for their collaboration and input to date. I am sure that it will be a very interesting forum," added Lapasset.
While the IRB Rugby Conference is not a decision-making forum, any outcomes will be presented to the IRB Rugby Committee for consideration at its October meeting.
The Conference is also a key element of the next four-year cycle of the Law Amendment process that will shape the way that Laws are evaluated, but any experimentation and/or amendment will not take place until after Rugby World Cup 2011.
2011 - The 2011 Rugby World cup will be held in New Zealand. The interest in this event will be huge - 60,000 visitors are expected to visit New Zealand for this tournament.
2012 - Pumas to join Tri-nations.
2015/2019
The awarding of Rugby World Cup 2015 to England and the 2019 tournament to Japan heralds a new era for the sport around the globe according to International Rugby Board and Rugby World Cup Chairman Bernard Lapasset.
Lapasset, who announced the IRB Council’s decision to accept the RWCL Board’s recommendation in Dublin on Tuesday 28th July 2009, believes that the combination will ensure two key objectives are met across the two tournaments.
“I think it is a good combination between two objectives that we need, with England in 2015 a strong financial result and for 2019 we need to grow the Game in another part of the world,” said Lapasset.
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