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FOX SPORTS
June 02, 2015 4:32PM
POOR OLD POMS
AS tournament hosts, hopes were high in England that Stuart Lancaster’s men could triumph at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
But the Red Rose seems to be wilting fast thanks to some bad boy behaviour, with Danny Cipriani this week joining Manu Tuilagi and Dylan Hartley in the naughty corner.
Cipriani may have blown his selection chances after the star five-eighth was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving following a car crash in his Mercedes C63.
The timing couldn’t have been worse for Cipriani, England’s third-string No 10, who was outstanding in a romp over the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday.
Lancaster said: “Danny was good and is a good enough player to apply the shape and organisation we’re trying to create in attack.
“To kick 11 out of 11 is excellent. He has learned a lot about discipline from Sale this year, so he has been a lot more controlled and composed in games.
“He understands the mechanics of what it takes to win big games because I’ve seen him do it for Sale, so he has definitely improved through the course of the season.
“He played a lot at full-back four or five years ago and that versatility is certainly something we would consider further down the line as we get towards naming our World Cup squad, but fly-half is a pretty competitive position, as is full-back.”
Lancaster has taken a tough stance on disciplinary matters, dumping star centre Tuilagi after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a female police officer and Hartley after he was banned for headbutting in a club game.
But it’s not just the English getting into hot water ahead of the World Cup.
Ireland’s Jack McGrath and Ian Madigan and France’s Yoann Huget have all escaped citings for recent incidents but World Rugby told BBC Sport: “World Rugby is keeping an interested eye on the application of the disciplinary process.”
FALLING LIKE FLIES
IT’S not just bad behaviour ruining the World Cup dreams of players.
Rugby is a brutal sport and it’s starting to take its toll on some of the world’s top players.
All Blacks lock Patrick Tuipulotu has been ruled out of the tournament to undergo hip surgery, while Wales centre Jonathan Davies will also be watching from his couch after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee.
Wales are in the group of death, Pool A, with Australia, England, Fiji and Uruguay and the Wallabies have their own injury concerns with Brumbies lock Sam Carter out for 12 weeks with a knee injury.
Wales’ Kiwi coach Warren Gatland this week named a 47-man World Cup training squad, with 17 of the players chosen having previous experience of international rugby union’s showpiece tournament.
The squad includes New Zealand fly half Gareth Anscombe and Gatland revealed some interesting preparation plans.
“The players will face a tough couple of months of intensive training, we will be taking them to Switzerland, Qatar and Poland and I can assure everyone they are no holiday camps,” Gatland said.
“We put a lot of emphasis on conditioning and preparation in 2011 which worked well for us and we are looking to step that up again this time.”
NO STONE UNTURNED
STADIUM pitches, hotel beds and weather patterns have been occupying the mind of South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer, reports Reuters, as he leaves nothing to chance in the hope of leading the Springboks to World Cup glory this year.
“We have looked at every trend that has won a World Cup so we know exactly what it is going to take,” Meyer told reporters on Monday.
“We have studied every single weather pattern for the last 20 years so we will know what to face.
“We’ve been at the hotels, at the fields. I have guys investigating the fields now again, (breakdown skills coach) Richie Gray is there looking at conditions at the exact times that we are going to play ...
“We have been to the training venue to see exactly where the media will be, how do we close it up. I have been to every single hotel, I have almost slept in every single bed.”
HE’S OUR GUY
TOULOSE legend Guy Noves will take over as coach of France after the World Cup,
The 61-year-old — who turned the job down in 2011 — has an unrivalled record as a coach guiding Toulouse to 10 national titles and four European Cups.
He will replace Philippe Saint-Andre, who has served just one term, on November 1, the day after the World Cup finishes.
“It is a little bit funny because on the one hand there is a World Cup to prepare for and one is obliged to support the team and the coaching staff,” said Noves.
“On the other hand I reflect on the fact that for the second time in my life luck has smiled on me because they have accepted to appoint me after I turned it down four years ago.
“It is an immense honour even though I do not have much time to savour it as I have a semi-final to prepare for next weekend.”
Noves saw off opposition from former France captains Raphael Ibanez and Fabien Galthie, both considerably younger than him, and reportedly England’s 2003 World Cup winning coach Clive Woodward.
WHAT’S IN A NAME
JAPAN are hosting the 2019 World Cup and hopes are high that the country’s new Super Rugby team will help prepare the developing nation to be more than competitive four years from now.
The national team are called the “Brave Blossoms” — a great name — but the new Super Rugby franchise is desperately searching for a catchy moniker.
The team enters the expanded SANZAR competition next year and Japanese fans have been asked to help come up with a catchy name — with the proviso that tongue-twisters will be banned.
Mindful that Japanese sport is littered with baffling team names difficult to enunciate in the local tongue, such as rugby’s “Brave Lupus,” football’s “Ventforet” or basketball’s “Cinq Reves,” JRFU officials cautioned that it should be “easy to pronounce.”
Japan and former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones called on local fans to dust off their dictionaries before the Tokyo side enters the fray alongside South Africa’s Kings and a team from Argentina, also yet to be christened.
“Joining Super Rugby gives Japanese players the opportunity to play high-level rugby consistently so that the players will go to Rugby World Cup 2019 with more than 40 Test caps and 50-60 Super Rugby caps,” Jones said.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/ru...-1227380105956
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