Hot: James O'Connor's lady
It is time for Planet Rugby's weekly wrap of who has their name in lights right now...and who is making the oval ball headlines for the wrong reasons.
You can't touch this!:
France's swanky new 500M Euro home: The Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR) announced on Friday that it plans to build a new 82,000-seater stadium in Evry, 25km south of Paris. The graphic of the proposed future home of French rugby is pleasing to the eye in our opinion while if you factor in that France will no longer be playing second-fiddle to football matches at the Stade de France then this looks to be a winning move.
Bridget Bauman: Yes those haircuts remain questionable, but James O'Connor's taste in girlfriend Bridget has been met with an emphatic nod from us here at PR HQ.
London Welsh: While the circumstances of their promotion to the top flight have been bordering on the farcical, finally the decision was made for the Championship winners to make the step up at the expense of Newcastle Falcons. An independent audit had previously found that the club had not achieved the minimum standards required - particularly at their stadium in Richmond - for promotion to the Aviva Premiership, but that was quashed at Friday's appeal hearing. Let us now hope not to see such indecision again as calls are already flooding in for that 'minimum standards' criteria to be abolished.
Hurricanes: On Saturday, Mark Hammett's ever-improving team became the first outfit to win at the Crusaders' new home stadium as two tries from Conrad Smith helped them keep their play-off ambitions very much alive. With a bye week coming up and then a clash with the Chiefs in Wellington to finish off, things look promising for the men in yellow. Picture this; if the Chiefs beat the Crusaders this week - thus becoming untouchable at the New Zealand conference summit - then who would blame Dave Rennie for resting stars like Sonny Bill Williams and Aaron Cruden for that clash against Hammett's men. Discuss.
USA Juniors: The United States won the Junior World Rugby Trophy championship in front of its home crowd over the weekend. The young Eagles won 37-33 at a sold-out Murray Rugby Park, Utah in a result that sees them replace Italy in next year's IRB Junior World Championship set for France. Wing Noah Tarrant, who scored a hat-trick in the game against Japan, claimed what proved to be the winner in the 76th minute. Congratulations.
Bbbrrrr... Someone throw another log on the fire!
Stormers: Twelve victories out of fourteen and still they are missing that elusive try bonus-point, the Stormers are grinding their way to the play-offs. Credit where credit is due, they are winning games under a thick cloud of injuries - particularly to their forwards - but for the neutral it is hardly entertaining stuff. Two bonus-points have been gathered up for the cold months in Cape Town but they came via narrow defeats to the Crusaders and Sharks.
'Canes scrum-half woes: While the men from Wellington have given themselves every chance of making the play-offs following that victory in Christchurch, their trouble in the number nine jersey seems to be going from bad to worse. Having lost Chris Smylie in pre-season, then TJ Perenara in the mini-break with a broken ankle and now Chris Eaton, who was forced off the pitch with a hamstring complaint. Jamie Nutbrown could now come in.
SARU fraudster: The South African Rugby Union (SARU) has again asked the media to assist in alerting people to the activities of an investment conman, claiming to represent SARU. The email fraudster offers investment returns of 130 per cent to 150 per cent for five-day deposits. SARU wished to state categorically that they are in no way involved in any such scheme. Whoever he is hopefully has his comeuppance and this does not happen again.
Comments
APV1 says...
@ Stellenbosched2 - if we're not careful, all of us might have sight problems, not just those who are one-eyed..! Well, it can send you blind, after all.
Posted 11:12 10th July 2012
Stellenbosched2 says...
This is turning into a master debate.
Posted 06:00 10th July 2012
APV1 says...
@ markpat - typing one-handed, were you..?!
;-)
Posted 09:59 09th July 2012
eireoldboy says...
Let's not get up too big a head of steam in the USA v. Italy battle....
Sergio Parisse and Martin Castrogiovanni would be in anyone's First or Second World XVs. The USA hasn't had anyone of that caliber since Dan Lyle.
Posted 15:18 06th July 2012
markpat says...
Yeah, as I was typing that, I was picturing it! ;-)
Posted 17:02 05th July 2012
Stellenbosched2 says...
Hi APV1,
You beat me to it re that kinky devil markpat.
So PR seems to have some problem with The Stormers. Well that's your right as an editoring body, but it's not cool to use your media advantage to express your dislike week in and week out. Not cool at all chaps.
Posted 16:39 05th July 2012
APV1 says...
@ markpat - if you ever get the chance to take your girlfriend over her, could you post the pictures of that?!
;-)
Posted 14:32 05th July 2012
GCP_JONES says...
@leinsterblue...
I know You and Mr Goy will never see my point as a valid one,I agree that over the course of the season Ryan and Ruddock will get their chance.We should be proud of the structures we have in place at Leinster. But donning My Green Jersey,I think there are too many good players only getting occasional starts when they should be regulars.
Look at Tommy O'Donnell in Munster he featured on a regular basis at the end of the season,with regular game time his improvement was there for everyone to see, yet now with CJ Stander coming to them in October How will he develop.Mean while We will be waiting 3 years to see 'IF' he declares for Ireland,he may well decide to head back to the Bulls with a nice chunky bank balance.
Posted 12:34 05th July 2012
markpat says...
@ kiwikev - can't post pics on here and not about to give out her facebook page or contact details ;-).
Not saying that Bridget Bauman isn't attractive, or that my girlfriend is a supermodel or anything, just saying that she's not jaw-droppingly gorgeous. On looks alone, though, I'd definitely take my girlfriend over her.
Posted 12:11 05th July 2012
jontheref says...
markpat
"Following on from APV1's comment, does France's stadium have a roof. If not, is there any reasoning behind building new stadiums without one? The've shown to be very useful from what I've seen."
But the French don't use the roof anyway, as it affects the GPS on the players.
:-)
Posted 10:32 05th July 2012
leinsterblue says...
@GCP_JONES - fair post re: imports into Irish rugby...speaking from a Leinster perspective, it hasn't bothered me too much as the nucleus of our team - about 95% of it - is still Irish...plus, with the possibility of Richardt Strauss declaring for Ireland, then the amount of imports in Leinster goes down by one...plus, I think that the player pool we have to choose from will ensure that we keep the team as 'homegrown' as possible...I agree with you about Rhys Ruddock warming the bench and I would also put Dominic Ryan in there as well...however, don't forget that although Ruddock has been around for quite a while he is still only 21 - Sean O'Brien only really started making his impact at 21/22...in addition, he is trying to break into a really decent bunch of backrow players - Heaslip, O'Brien, Mclaughlin, Jennings - and that is not an easy task...
Posted 10:04 05th July 2012
rico says...
leinster_goy - you need to get out a bit more. USA could easily surpass Italy at full International level soon aswell. Maybe..... Hot - USA Rugby as a whole and Not - Italian Rugby as a whole.
Posted 09:36 05th July 2012
sandal says...
@GCP_JONES
Thanks for your query. I have to second tha_mai on the provenance of the Canes team; I don't believe they have an unreasonable number of players from outside the region.
My concern was actually that Mark Hammett had either obliged or "motivated" a lot of international-class players to leave the region to play their rugby.
Naturally I am delighted, however, with the Canes' progress this year. I do feel a little uneasy about how they secured their wins against the Highlanders and the Crusaders, but to counter that I am livid that they contrived to lose from seemingly unassailable positions against the Cheetahs and the Brumbies. They seem to be trying to take over the Chiefs' old role in NZ rugby, spoiling their compatriots' chances and nurturing foreigners'.
@olepete
Most of us are over last season.That was when the damage was done to the Canes (look at the record) and to New Zealand rugby culture.
Posted 07:03 05th July 2012
Kiwikev says...
@ Markpat
Pics or it is not true...
And James O'Connor resemblance to a certain teen idol is unfavourable to most normal people...
Posted 04:08 05th July 2012
KiwiLad says...
With Kiwi/Saffa parentage James has a fine rugby pedigree.
His taste in woman is superb, a throwback to his genes.
However, the hair styles are definately an Aus influence.
Sack the hairdresser James.
Posted 02:28 05th July 2012
JayStarr says...
About the Chiefs beating the Crusaders and then resting their players for their Hurricanes match:
Firstly, they won't beat the Crusaders this weekend. The Crusaders just don't lose two games in a row - on the odd occasion that they do lose, they usually get so mad that the next team don't stand a chance! But even if the Chiefs do manage a win, they'd be foolish to rest their players for the last game - the Stormers are playing the Cheetahs and Rebels and can still take the top spot from the Chiefs if they lose.
Regarding the Stormers:
Really..?
"Oooooh... you're on your 9th loose-forward and haven't been anywhere close to full-strength since your first game, but have still been winning while other teams would've been losing - but we're going to complain that you haven't got any 4-try bonus points!"
Please! Last year they went down to their 5th fly-half, this year they're down to their 9th loose-forward. Which other team in Super Rugby could take such losses and end 1st (2011) and 1st/2nd (2012) on the Super Rugby log? Would you have felt better if they lost all the close games they had? Would it have made more sense then that they didn't score 4-try bonus points?
No, I think the fact that they always found some way to win shows incredible character... And in the finals you don't need 4 try bonus points - you just need to win.
Besides, their defense is so amazing sometimes, that in itself is entertaining!
Posted 23:09 04th July 2012
gungehammer says...
Is James O'Conner old enough to date? I swear he still looks 12.
Posted 16:08 04th July 2012
DrDeath says...
Really! 25K south of Paris? Don't really care how good it looks, real joy to get a drink and a bite to eat after a 9pm kick-off then!!! Not that the current venue is any good for that either! Millennium & Aviva far & away the most convivial!
Silly season has really arrived-skinny blonde teenager scrubs up well! Come on PR, leave that nonsense to the Daily Mail!
Posted 15:46 04th July 2012
Houston_11 says...
@leinster_goy
3. Munster
That is the highlight of my day (as an Ulster fan as well)... gave me a good laugh.
Glad to see London Welsh going up... it's deserved!
Posted 15:32 04th July 2012
DutchWing says...
olepete... that's rugby: credit where credit is due. I just hope they can keep it up and beat the Chiefs in their final round and other results go their way: Sharks & Reds need to drop some points...
Posted 15:23 04th July 2012