Preview: 2011 IRB Zevens World Series - Londen

De voorlaatste etappe van de 2010/2011 HSBC World Zevens Series begint dit weekend in Twickenham, en na een record hiaat van twee jaar, het team van Nieuw-Zeeland Zevens is goed geplaatst om te breken hun kampioenschap droogte.

Huidige kampioenen Samoa zijn derde (100 punten) en 2008/2009 winnaars Zuid-Afrika vierde (92), twee kanten die beheerd te breken wat regelmatige succes door Gordon Tietjens mannen – alleen Fiji eenmaal had beweerd de titel buiten van Nieuw-Zeeland in de eerste negen jaar van de nu legendarische Zevens serie is geweest.

Nieuw-Zeeland zijn geplaatst eerst in de serie standen (134) met tweede geplaatste Engeland (121) hun belangrijkste uitdagers, en het is passend dat het toernooi komt naar Londen waar de thuisploeg hoop zal druk uit te oefenen op de leiders.

Terwijl Nieuw-Zeeland hebben pedigree als Zevens exponenten, Engeland is zeker groeien.

Vorig seizoen de Rugby Football Unie (RFU) aangeboden centrale rugby contracten aan hun Zevens sterren, en coach Ben Ryan heeft genomen zijn team aan de rand van een eerste titel.

Nieuw-Zeeland was altijd gaat om formidabele dit seizoen, graag versterken zich op het circuit, maar ze zal concurreren tegen een van de record menigte ooit gezien op een Zevens evenement.

Ticketverkoop eindelijk graaf waren op 89,866, en op de rails te breken de 100.000 markeren en Twickenham maken dit weekend de grootste menigte ooit bij te wonen een twee-daagse Zevens gebeurtenis. De huidige record aantal is de menigte van 100.000 capaciteit opgenomen in de Dubai Zevens in 2008.

Nieuw-Zeeland, duwen voor hun negende titel in 12 jaar, heeft vier van de zes benen tot nu toe dit seizoen te beweren poleposition gewonnen.

Engeland echter beweerde Dubai, en bereikte de finale in George, Wellington en Hong Kong.

Londen wordt algemeen beschouwd als een zelfs toernooi, met de laatste vijf winnaars alle worden verschillende teams.

Tietjens zei hij was blij met het standpunt van zijn team, maar waarschuwde tegen de jongens denken de baan was compleet ondanks een comfortabele 13-punt buffer tussen de eerste en tweede.

"We hebben vier van de zes toernooien gewonnen dit jaar en het is geweldig om te gaan in deze laatste twee toernooien in de leiding," zei hij.

"Maar we weten dat een van de top vijf teams deze toernooien winnen, kan dus we niet zelfgenoegzaam mogen.

"Engeland is nog steeds een reële bedreiging voor ons en we zullen moeten uitvoeren op de top van ons spel om de titel van de serie."

Ryan zei dat een grote menigte en afgelopen succes kon inspireren zijn mannen.

"De Emiraten luchtvaartmaatschappij Londen Zevens wordt steeds groter en beter elk jaar. Op en buiten het veld is een briljante spektakel en zijn populariteit is ook een bewijs van de globale boom Zevens is genieten van,"zei de Engeland coach.

"Er is niets die we genieten van meer dan spelen in de voorkant van onze eigen fans en met de serie nog in leven dat we weten we herhalen onze 2009 toernooi winnen om de achterstand op Nieuw-Zeeland."

"Het is niet het begin van het seizoen waar in interviews je wordt gevraagd wat uw kansen zijn. Er is niet een lange weg te gaan en dit is een zeer belangrijk voor ons, in golfen termen. We got to nail dit en we nog niet veel speelruimte. Het is moeilijker dan elk toernooi die we dit jaar, wat betreft de externe druk om te presteren hebben, maar hopelijk hebben we een groep van spelers die tot de gelegenheid stijgen zal."

Nieuw-Zeeland Zevens team voor Londen

Toby Arnold baai van overvloed
Tomasi Cama Manawatu
Shane Christie Tasman
Scott Curry baai van overvloed
DJ Forbes, captain Manukau County
Frank Halai Waikato
Bryce Heem Auckland
Solomon King North Harbour
Tim Mikkelson Waikato
Buxton Popoalii Otago
Lote Raikabula Manawatu
David Raikuna North Harbour

Londen toernooi (alle tijden zijn lokaal)

21 Mei
Nieuw-Zeeland v Kenia, 11: 58 am
Nieuw-Zeeland / Spanje, 3-d: 16.00 uur
Nieuw-Zeeland v Wales, 19: 18.15

22 Mei
Finals dag

Recente Londen Zevens resultaten

Australië 2010
Engeland 2009
Samoa 2008
Nieuw-Zeeland 2007
Fiji 2006
Zuid-Afrika 2005

Klik hier om te bekijken de zwembaden voor de 2011 Londen zevens.
Als u de volledige armaturen lijst voor de 2011 Londen Zevens, klik hier.

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Carter reportedly offered world record deal

French media outlets, led by Midi Olympique, have been led to believe that Dan Carter could be on the verge of signing a world record deal which would make the All Blacks first five-eighth one of the richest players in rugby.

Sebastien Chabal is alleged to be the highest paid rugby player in the world, but it seems Racing Metro in France could again break the bank in signing Carter in a deal worth a total of $4.8 million NZD.

Jacky Lorenzetti, the club's rich owner, seems intent to turn Metro back into a powerhouse rugby side, with the Western Paris based club having won the Pro D2 (second tier) in 2008/09 to win promotion to the Top 14 (the top tier), and are looking to win the French championship or an European trophy in the next three to four years.

As Racing Club de France, the team has won five French titles, from 1892 to 1990, and could add Carter to a glittering list of players.

Along with Chabel, Les Bleus lock Lionel Nallet captains the team, and Francois Steyn and Juan-Martin Hernandez are the two high profile acquisitions signed by the club in recent years, with Carter clearly the goal this season.

Media reported that Carter met with Lorenzetti from Racing Metro, and some potential suitors at Bath, while in London with the Crusaders.

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WCR : World Championship Rugby : The Official Game of the England Rugby Team

Manufacturer's Description
World Championship Rugby comes from the creators of Jona Lomu Rugby, and includes all the key elements that made that game so popular--but now has the addition of awesome graphics, presentation and gameplay for next-generation systems.

Manufacturer's Description
World Championship Rugby comes from the creators of Jona Lomu Rugby, and includes all the key elements that made that game so popular--but now has the addition of awesome graphics, presentation and gameplay for next-generation systems.

Price:

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The Dream Team of the Rugby World Cup 1995 - The Final

Golden Moments: NZL v ENG RWC 1995
Jonah Lomu scores one of the tries of Rugby World Cup 1995 against England….

 
The final, played at Johannesburg's Ellis Park under clear blue skies - and a passing South African Airways jumbo jet bearing the words 'Good Luck Bokke' - pitched the hosts against the favourites. England's Ed Morrison refereed South Africa against New Zealand on June 24 in front of 65,000 spectators, and the All Blacks' running flair met the superb organisation and will to win of the side coached by Kitch Christie, managed by Morne du Plessis and captained by flanker Francois Pienaar. The Springboks devised a plan to deal with Lomu long before 'rush defence' become a vogue expression, with two or three tacklers ganging up on the huge wing and denying him any space. There were no tries in the first five-point-try World Cup final; instead the scores were tied 9-9 after 80 minutes, with two penalties and a dropped goal each by Stransky and the 22-year-old New Zealand fly-half, Andrew Mehrtens. Each man kicked a penalty in the first half of extra time then Stransky dropped a goal with eight minutes remaining. A dangerous-looking pass to Lomu from New Zealand No 8. Zinzan Brooke - who had dropped a goal against England - failed to stick and South Africa won 15-12.





Matches:
South Africa 15 - 12 New Zealand
England 29 - 45 New Zealand
South Africa 19 - 15 France
Australia 22 - 25 England

Players/Officials: Rob Andrew | Max Brito | Frank Bunce | James Dalton | Pieter Hendriks | Josh Kronfeld | Jonah Lomu | Andrew Mehrtens | Francois Pienaar | Joel Stransky | Chester Williams

Tournaments/Tours: Rugby World Cup

 Final: South Africa 15-12 New Zealand

World Cup No. 3 
May 25 - June 24, 1995
 Hosts: South Africa 
Teams: 16
Format 
Sixteen national sides mustered in South Africa for the third Rugby World Cup - and the first to be hosted by one nation - in May 1995. There were 32 matches at nine stadiums which included some of the game's most famous venues such as Ellis Park, Newlands and Loftus Versfeld. The teams were arranged in four pools of four teams with representation from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Teams played each other in a league format in the pool stages, and were awarded three points for a win and one for a defeat. The top two nations of each pool advanced to the quarter-finals, with a pool-winning side matched against a runner-up from a different pool - followed by two semi-finals, a third/fourth place play-off and the final.
Pre-tournament hype 
England had won the Grand Slam under captain Will Carling earlier in the year and were regarded as favourites or joint-favourites with the southern hemisphere powers. The media at large voiced concerns about the crime rate in South African cities and no one knew quite what reception the so-called Rainbow Nation would give to a rugby tournament so soon after the end of the hated apartheid regime. However, the hosts, South Africa, were taking part in a World Cup for the first time after their official re-admission to the worldwide rugby family in 1992, and were bound to put up a huge challenge to take the title of world champions which many in the Republic had claimed for themselves in the long years before and during their sporting isolation.
Pool stages 
Most of the doubts were dispelled by the rapturous reception given to the third Rugby World Cup by a multi-cultural crowd at the opening fixture in Cape Town. The fact that South Africa kicked off Pool A by defeating the holders, Australia, at Newlands, certainly helped. Joel Stransky, the fly-half, kicked 17 points in a foretaste of later success. Both teams would qualify for the quarter-finals. The All Blacks rampaged through Pool C in which a dire deciding match between Five Nations rivals Ireland and Wales went the way of the Irish. England's mostly first-choice line-up laboured to narrow wins over Argentina and Italy before seeing off Western Samoa 44-22 to win Pool C. And France pipped Scotland 22-19 to edge Pool D, the same pool in which a tragic injury occurred to Ivory Coast wing Max Brito while playing against Tonga which left him paralysed below the neck.
Knock-out stages 
Jonah Lomu's performances in the pool had marked New Zealand as the team to beat and they duly hammered Scotland 48-30 in Pretoria. The Springboks had lost hooker James Dalton and wing Pieter Hendriks to suspension after an all-in fight in the pool win over Canada but held off a highly physical challenge from Western Samoa to get through to the last four. There the hosts defeated France in a semi-final in stormy Durban which only narrowly escaped being rained off. The French had comfortably disposed of Ireland in their quarter-final, while the most exciting match in the last eight was England's nerve-jangling 25-22 win over their 1991 conquerors Australia, settled by Rob Andrew's dropped goal in Cape Town. The semi-final was an entirely different story as Lomu put four tries past England in a stunning individual performance as the All Blacks won 45-29, again in Cape Town.

Player of the tournament 
The quietly authoritative captaincy of Francois Pienaar was a big factor in South Africa's victory, and the wing Chester Williams's four tries in the quarter-final was an extraordinary personal achievement. Williams had been omitted from the original squad with a hamstring injury but benefited from the slightly dubious regulation that a suspended player could be replaced when Hendriks was cited and banned after the Canada punch-up. But Lomu, who had turned 20 just before the World Cup, was the star. He had revealed some of his unique talent previously at the Hong Kong Sevens but was dropped by New Zealand after his debut against France in 1994. On the hard grounds of South Africa the Tongan-descended, 6ft 5in colossus ran riot. Big wings had been seen before but Lomu broke the mould. He bounced off would-be tacklers with ease and turned innocuous looking situations into outrageous tries. Aided by the clever openside flanker Josh Kronfeld and centre Frank Bunce, Lomu shattered England with four tries in the semi-final, famously running over Mike Catt and swatting off Tony Underwood along the way. He was termed 'a freak' by Will Carling but the world hailed a new sporting hero.
Frozen in time 
New Zealand's final defeat - blamed by some on an unsubstantiated claim that some of their players suffered food poisoning due to dodgy practice at the team hotel - took some of the gloss off Lomu's legacy. Stransky's nerveless dropped goal to win the Webb Ellis Cup might have lived on in the same way as Jonny Wilkinson's would do in 2003. But when Pienaar, the openside flanker (who in South Africa wears the No 6) was presented with the trophy by the country's president Nelson Mandela - wearing an identical green Springbok jersey - an iconic image was created which will recall forever South Africa's World Cup. Thanks scrumdotcom!
Also, next weekend in Wellington NZ has the Boks facing off against the Welsh side, I still have access to a double room at a hotel which is literally 5 minutes walk to the stadium, so please forward this if you know of someone struggling to find a place, I must get rid of it this weekend, I only wish we could be there ourselves! http://rugbyworldcupfever2011.blogspot.com/p/rugby-world-cup-2011.html

This is the semi-final match for the World Cup in Rugby, 1999. Taped and licensed by the Rugby World Cup.
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World Cup plans won't change

Rob Andrew insisted on Friday that England's 2011 World Cup campaign would not be derailed by the major managerial overhaul taking place at Twickenham.

Andrew's current role as director of elite rugby is to be scrapped and he is still deciding whether to apply for the newly-created position of rugby operations director.

Under the new structure being implemented by Rugby Football Union chief executive John Steele, responsibility for the England team would shift from Andrew to the new performance director.

In the meantime, Andrew insisted he is happy to stay involved at Twickenham and he took part in the selection meetings ahead of tthe Six Nations squad announcement.

"I have a job to do now and I am doing that job. We will go where we go in the future. The important thing for now is that everybody at the RFU is 100 percent behind [England team manager] Martin [Johnson]," Andrew said.

"We are planning meticulously around the start of the Six Nations.

"We know what the plan is through the summer, through the training camp and to the World Cup in September. That is all we are focusing on."

Martin Johnson is contracted until the World Cup and Andrew confirmed his position as England team manager will be unaffected by the reshuffle.

"The strategy for Martin is that he is taking this team to the World Cup. He will take the coaches he wants to take and he is building a squad," said Andrew.

"Everybody can see the squad is developing nicely."

Andrew's biggest challenge as elite rugby director was to broker a
complex agreement with the Premiership clubs over England access and the development of young English players.

Both systems have proved to be a success for the RFU, with 14 of the current 33-man elite squad aged 25 or under while 67.1 percent of Premiership players qualify for England.

The new position Andrew has been invited to apply for covers the continued management of the system plus tournaments, referees and coaching development.

"We have some very good players coming through the system," Andrew told the BBC.

"Joe Simpson has pushed into the senior squad. Joe Marler and James Gaskell, who were the outstanding players in the under-20s for the last two years, have come into the Saxons.

"The pipeline is the strongest it has ever been."

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Rugby World Cup Greatest Tries

There is nothing more exciting in rugby than a well-worked try. It might come from a flowing move the length of the field. It may be produced by the strength of the forwards, by the brilliance of a back, or by the speed of a winger. The Rugby World Cup has produced well over a 1000 tries in its 20-year history, and this DVD contains almost 100 of the very best. Each one of rugby's top nations is featured, and all the best names are included. Think Jonah Lomu, the one-man wrecking ball, demolishing the England defense in 1995. What about David Campese, Australia s world cup winner, ghosting past Ireland and New Zealand four years previously. There's Serge Blanco s famous last minute try putting France into the 1987 final. And there s John Kirwan's length-of-the-field treat in the World Cup's very first game. This DVD is a treat for any fan of the oval ball game. Including: Jonah Lomu for New Zealand against England 1995 David Campese for Australia against New Zealand 1991 Jason Robinson for England against Australia 1993 Philippe Bernat-Salles for France against New Zealand 1999 Gordon Hamilton for Ireland against Australia 1991 Stephen Jones for Wales against England 2003 John Kirwan for New Zealand against Italy 1987

Price: $29.95

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World In Union: Anthems

Wales R.U. 12-Month Official Sports Wall Calendar 2011 - 12x12

Price: $34.97

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Rugby World Cup Greatest Moments

There have been a huge number of memorable moments in the 20-year history of the Rugby World Cup. I still cannot believe the United States of Northern America are World Champions of Rugby!!!
Think of the last minute drop-goals to beat Australia by champion of rugby Rob Andrew (in 1995), and Johnny Wilkinson (in 2003). Or maybe the finest rugby match ever played, the semi between the rugby champions of  France and the All Blacks at Twickenham in 1999. Perhaps you might consider the moment that President Nelson Mandela walked onto the Ellis Park turf for the 1995 final wearing a Springbok shirt. Using interviews and action, The Rugby World Cup Greatest Moments includes all the most memorable action, including the record points tallies, and the breathless finishes. This years RWC 2011 will I guarantee be look out for something spectacular on the 26th Sept! There's a special bonus for all rugby fans, with extended highlights of some of the very best matches.
This DVD is a very special accompaniment to the sport's top tournament. Including: The 2003 World Cup Final Nelson Mandela visits the Springboks in 1995 France take on New Zealand in 1995 Wales beat Australia in 1987 Ireland play Australia in 1991 Scotland play England in the 1991 semi-final New Zealand win the first World Cup
Price: $29.95

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