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'I have just had a protein bowl with him and a coffee in the green room out the back'
The Guinness Six Nations launch day in London ended up as every rugby event should – often stuffily guarded team talk eventually giving way to far looser lips and lashings of the tournament’s ever-popular black stuff.
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With the great and the good of the six competing nations having been and gone – some heading home; others, such as Ireland and England, off to sunnier climes in Portugal for some warm weather prep – the pods were in the house with the pints on tap.
There was our old favourite, The Rugby Pod featuring Goodie and Jim, giving it socks to Flats and Shanks along with the Try Hards, fun of the fair that had Wayne Barnes – yes, the Test match referee – trying to keep the shenanigans all above board at the sold-out 90-minute show.
It was sweetness and light in contrast to the day’s more formal earlier proceedings. The Wapping Tobacco Dock is a rough and ready exhibition space shoehorned into a grade one listed warehouse in east London.
A far cry from the gentile exclusivity of the posh Fulham Hurlingham Club where the event had nearly always annually taken place, stretching back to when icons such as Brian O’Driscoll were first on the prowl.
(Continue reading below…)
Eddie Jones insists the Saracens scandal could be beneficial to England
From SW6 to E1W, then, and the new location aside, Wednesday morning represented a widespread changing of the guard from what we had known in recent times.
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Four new head coaches. Four new captains. Recognisable faces but an unrecognisable workload for them as they worked their way through a mountain of questions and answers in the various media rotations.
Radio and podcasts, dailies and Sundays, photography, host broadcasters, other broadcasters, online and social… all with little or no pause. Not even family ties could intervene much.
Some new faces at our #GuinnessSixNations Launch today!
Best of luck to first-time #GuinnessSixNations Head Coaches in the upcoming Championship! pic.twitter.com/RQJRXclTX5
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) January 22, 2020
“I spoke to him,” quipped new Ireland boss Andy Farrell when asked late in the schedule whether he had managed to catch up with his son, England captain Owen. “I have just had a protein bowl with him and a coffee in the green room out the back.” How very reassuring.
Despite the eight newcomers to the usual twelve-strong coach and captain fold, the national narratives were mostly cosily familiar, mostly stuff everyone has heard all before.
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It’s routine at this stage in January to hear an update on a Johnny Sexton injury, to learn that Gregor Townsend’s glass is its usual half-full, to throw the eyes up at the French espousing their customary desire for a new dawn, to shake the head as the Italians ponder how to somehow get better, and to admire the colossus that is simply Alun Wyn Jones, reverential and calculating all in the same breath on an occasion where he had a fresh sidekick in Wayne Pivac.
And welcome back to @AlunWynJones and @owen_faz.
Key date for the diary: Round Four #ENGvWAL on 7 March 😎 pic.twitter.com/TxOL9XrPJE
— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) January 22, 2020
So many words were carefully chosen. Less so the sartorial look. Pivac opted for a red tie when black was in vogue. Meanwhile, Fabien Galthie attempted to replicate the Agustin Pichot style, casual white runner-type-shoes going against the grain of a spick and span dark suit. French inconsistency? You bet.
Then there was England and the awkward elephant in the room. Allianz Park may be more than an hour away by public transport from Shadwell, but that distance was never going to be enough to inoculate Eddie Jones and captain Farrell from the biggest story of the Premiership era – the automatic relegation of Saracens.
“Portuguese beer will help,” chirped the tieless Jones, his overcoat already on and his hands fidgety as he addressed the story of the day, the month and the year one final time while he completed his last media rotation before heading for the exit.
This will be absolutely fascinating. https://t.co/uei3jdKyEN
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 22, 2020
Only 81 days had passed since England had given second best in the World Cup final to South Africa, yet here was the coach being asked how he could fix a squad’s morale bruised and broken by salary cap revelations that have left the defending league champions unanimously labelled as cheats.
“It will be a matter of just getting the issues on the table, having a good chat and then just spending time with each other. Time is a big thing,” Jones hoped. “We will be honest and upfront about it and we will come through it and get on with what’s in front of us,” chipped in Farrell.
All very convincing but very unconvincing at the same time. A bit like the women’s game. Their coaches and captains were at the Tobacco as well, shooting the breeze but without the same level of audience that had lapped up every nuance of the men’s preview.
Six Nations. Two tournaments. One main topic of discussion. This Saracens saga is only going to run and run and run. Just like the pints on tap when the pods were later in the house.
WATCH: Andy Goode and Brendan Venter didn’t hold back on this week’s The Rugby Pod as they discussed Saracens and the salary cap scandal
Comments on RugbyPass
Billy's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
28 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to comments