Despite losing all five of their warm-up games, the draw has been kind for the Wallabies, but they will watch out for FijiRight now there is no rear-view mirror. There are only 20 teams, 48 matches and one World Cup trophy ahead. The form guides that got them here are different. The philosophies of the coaches are unique. The chemistry of the squads and the players are algorithms no one can predict. All we know is that they gather on the same line in France this weekend chasing the greatest prize in rugby union.The mantras from the Australian camp are to soothe critics and reassure fans. Moving in the right direction. Coming together. Starting to click. But words are not...
Steve Borthwick’s selection of scrum-half is fascinating – and a recognition that England need to move the dial on their gameAlex Mitchell’s selection at scrum-half fascinates me. Has he really improved so much in the space of a month in Steve Borthwick’s eyes that he has managed to go from outside the World Cup squad looking in to starting England’s crucial pool stage match? Or is his selection a recognition that his style of play runs in tandem with what brings out the best in this England? I believe it is the latter and Borthwick needs to be given his fair share of credit for that.There’s an opinion that Borthwick is quite set in his ways. It was very clear...
Speedy Pies win 9.6 (60) to 7.11 (53) over Demons Coaches agree to disagree over Brayshaw collision The Collingwood players ran out for their qualifying final the way they always do – gambolling about and whooping it up. But the frolics didn’t last long. It was a brutal opening. It saw spotfires, hyperextended knees, errant elbows, concussion tests and a bloodcurdling collision between Brayden Maynard and Angus Brayshaw. “It’s a footy act,” Maynard later said. “He jumped off the ground and knocked a guy out,” Melbourne coach, Simon Goodwin, countered. “It didn’t look like it had much malice,” his opposite number, Craig McRae, offered. Like all things tribunals and finals, we throw our hands in the air, hope the player’s...
The CSJ’s strategy for sport and physical activity simmers with possibilities absent from the government’s schemeThe Rugby World Cup is about to start but it’s moves by players off the pitch that could be of greater national importance. Last week the plan for the future health and wellbeing of the UK was played out in a game of two reports spearheaded by rugby legends.The first saw the publication of the long-awaited new UK government strategy for sport and physical activity, “Get Active”. It contains good intentions, new targets and positive language but little clarity about how, this time, it’s actually going to work. A second report from the Centre for Social Justice published just days later then joined the fray,...
There is something uniquely powerful about football – a fact brought home to me when my mother died this summerI read Marc Stears’ book, Out of the Ordinary, this summer and recognised much of what he said in my own experience. The thrust of his argument is that our politics has become intellectually abstracted from how most people live and derive meaning in their lives. We have lost sight of the “everyday”, the joy that it offers in connection and community.I moved away from Grimsby at 18 and built an itinerant life, studying and living abroad. I eventually settled to work and build a family in London until my children started to develop “cock-er-ney” accents and I had to get...