There’s no way out. As the Six Nations 2012 is approaching there’s no chance I can get out of writing a new post.

I have grown a bit weary of the game lately and I haven’t watched a match neither on tv or live since the 2011 RWC final.

After 20 years of loyal support of the game – on and off  the pitch – I’m probably suffering from a rugby overdose. Nontheless, despite I’ve been trying to avoid any contact, there are some news that have struck me… here is a short list:

• the Allblacks finally won back the William Webb Ellis cup after 24 years (I wasn’t particulary struck by this, but since I totally neglected them at the time of their winning at least I’m making amend now) ;
• French captain Thierry Dusautoir won the IRB Player of Year (but I hoped for David Pocock or Will Genia);
• Jonny Wilkinson (Eng), Chris “Mossy” Paterson (Sco), John Smit and Victor Matfield (Saf), Shane Williams (Wal) and few other legends of our game retired from international rugby (a real tragedy. This is the end of an era!);
• Martin Johnson stepped down on 16 November 2011 as England coach after a disappointing World Cup campaign and was replaced by Stuart Lancaster, serving on an interim basis through the 2012 Six Nations (who’s Lancaster btw? No, seriously, I’m not being cheeky, I’ve never heard of him before);
• Italy has a new coach too, Frenchman Jacques Brunel (fingers crossed);
• France also has a new coach, Philippe Saint-André;
• Brian O’Driscoll and David Wallace won’t play the upcoming 6 Nations due to injury (I’ve already lost my interest in the tournament!);
• for the third year in a row Rocky Elsom won’t start the Super Rugby competition as he’s recovering from surgery but is expected to be named captain of the NSW Waratahs (get well soon Rocky!!!!).

The list should be longer but I’m already having a rash on my left forearm so I’d better stop here now.

Some news about the 2012 Six Nations will follow… probably….maybe…

Rugby legends

GO THE WALLABIES!

We already knew that after the pool stage, every match played would have been decisive so here we are again at a crossroads. Which 2 teams are going to reach the final?

In the first of the two semifinals Wales will face France in a very balanced game. The Welsh team will have to do without their talented and cool-minded fly-half Rhys Priestland, but apart from that the team is pretty much the same. As for France, they are a very gifted team and at this stage they seem they have put all the inner incomprehensions a side…

There are also several “games within the game“, with Shane Williams and Vincent Clerc on the wing, the flankers’ battle between the two captains  Thierry Dusautoir and Sam Warburton, and the interesting match between the insiede-centers Jamie Roberts and Maxime Mermoz.

The second semifinal will be a real rugby “classic“: Australia v New Zealand. A what a game, what a battle, it will be! During the long way to the semifinal both teams suffered major blows due to injuries: the Allblacks lost Dan Carter and Mils Muliaina and rumors have arisen about captain Richie McCaw’s conditions. While for the Wallabies, there has been concearn about Kurtley Beale‘s fitness but apparently, both him and his fellow back Pat McCabe are fine and ready to play.

And here again we will see some interesting head to head: at scrum-half both Will Genia and Piri Weepu are pivotal for their teams. Weepu has taken the game management on his shoulder after Dan Carter’s loss and Genia is probably the best number nine in the business and is the real mastermind of the Australian side. The other huge duel is between Richie McCaw and David Pocock. These two guys are the best in the world in that position, and the breakdown area is really going to be a battlefield. I’m really looking forward to both games.

Anyway, I’m not going to do any predictions, but once again I will say….

RWC2011 - Semifinals

 WALES v FRANCE

Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (capt), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Lloyd Burns, 17 Paul James, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Scott Williams.

France: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Morgan Parra, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (capt), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Pascal Papé, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Fabien Barcella, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 20 Francois Trinh-Duc, 21 Jean-Marc Doussain, 22 Cedric Heymans.

Date: Sunday, October 16
Kick-off: 21:00 (20:00 GMT)
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Wayne Barnes (England)
Television match official: Giulio De Santis (Italy)

AUSTRALIA v NEW ZEALAND

Australia: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O’Connor, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Radike Samo, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Dan Vickerman, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Ben McCalman, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Anthony Faingaa.

New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Richard Kahui, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Brad Thorn, 4 Samuel Whitelock, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Hore, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Ali Williams, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Andy Ellis, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Sonny Bill Williams.

Date: Sunday, October 16
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Kick-off: 21.00 (08.00 GMT / 09.00 BST / 10.00 SAST)
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Romain Poite (France)
Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

What an incredible, terrifying, heart-stopping rugby weekend it has been! The Quarter-finals of the RWC2011 have been just how I expected them: maybe not always “spectacular” in its strict meaning but absolutely exciting.

I’m not going to analyse every single game, because, by now you’ll find plenty of articles and blog posts about it. I just want to fix those moments with some eloquent photos….

Diminutive Wales wing Shane Williams denies big Ireland flanker Sean O'Brien a try (Wales-Ireland 22-10)

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At last they remembered they are a team: France Pape, Ouedraogo, Szarzewski, Nallet and Yachvili celebrating the victory over England (France-England 19-12)

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A "Rocky" defense won Australia the semifinal. O'Connor and Elsom neutralise Spies (Australia-South Africa 11-9)

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Piri Weepu took everything on his shoulders leading the Allblacks to the semifinal (New Zealand - Argentina 33-10)

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Go the Wallabies!

So, here we are, at last, at the Quarter Finals of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

After the, more or less, predictable results of the qualifying pools, except for a couple of astonishing results (Ireland v Australia and Tonga v France), here we are at the moment of truth. Will the Allblacks overcome the loss of Dan Carter to overcome the combative and passionate Pumas? Have the Wallabies regained their 3N consistency to defeat the Springboks for the third time this year?

And as for the Northern hemisphere… will the Coques be able to find enough peace of mind and motivation to face a  pale but always dangerous England? And what about the most balanced – imho – game of the day: Irealand v Wales? Ireland proved to be extremely focused and Wales displayed a great game and determination.

Plenty of dark horses….

Anyway, as for me, I don’t have the slightest doubt who to support.

RWC 2011 - Quarter Finals

RWC snapshots…

"Listen Sharpie, I understand your feelings but...."

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Ok Dan, I allow you to sign my ball but you'd better know that my heart will always belong to Ireland!

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Je m'y sentais seule....

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Steyn evolution: from Francois to Frans... from boy to man.

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Hey bro, I think we are getting a little bit big headed here....

Unexpected, and sometimes weird, things are happening in this 2011RWC: France loses 2 games in the qualifying pool – 1 game from Tonga!! -  and get qualified for the quarters anyway. Jonny Wilkinson has a worse place kicking rate that me (and I never kicked!). Australian N°8 Radike Samo played at wing in the game with Russia. Russia scored 3 tries to Australia. Japan and Canada draw. And I could go on for quite a while!

This RWC has really proved to be very interesting in many aspects, and now that the knock-out stages are fixed, there’s one thing that we know for sure, that is we will have a North v South final.

Springbok second row Victor Matfield said it seemed the SANZAR (South Africa-New Zealand-Australia Rugby) teams, compared to Northern hemisphere teams, had been hardest hit by serious injury, with Australia having to replace back row Wycliff Palu and wing Drew Mitchell; New Zealand losing talisman player Dan Carter due to a groin injury; and South Africa that will have to do without long-range goal-kicker Frans Steyn who hurt his shoulder in the pool match against Samoa. Some great losses indeed.

On the other hand tackle-busting Wallaby wing Digby Ioane is almost certain to be selected for Australia against South Africa in the quarter-finals after recovering from a broken thumb. Which is  great news for the Wallabies who cheered the return of David Pocock too.

As for the “expected” things… well, Italy lost from Ireland in the deciding game of the pool stage and for the umpteenth time DIDN’T make it to the quarter finals…. but the subject, here, deserves a whole post of its own… 

Frans Steyn is out of the 2011RWC due to a shoulder injury

My RWC game of the impending weekend *has* to be Australia v Ireland. No doubt about it. Not only because they’re both in Italy‘s pool but first and foremost because they are my two very favourite teams. They both have a powerful back row and extremely talented backs, and a rather exciting game.

The game will be also a reunion of old pals as Rocky Elsom will find some friendly faces wearing the green jersey. Elsom’s former team-mates had nothing but praises for the Aussie flanker. During his one season in Dublin, Rocky was named player of the year in the Magners League and played a significant role in inspiring the club to their first Heineken Cup, an achievement that Leamy said has had lasting repercussions. “He brought on the guys around him in the Leinster pack and he’s left a bit of a legacy there.” Players to benefit include up-and-coming Irish loose forwards Jamie Heaslip and Sean O’Brien, who played alongside Elsom in Dublin. “You can see that Jamie and Sean were obviously a bit younger than him and he’s rubbed off on them definitely,” Leamy said. “You can see the dynamic it has brought to their game. The way they play is very like what Rocky does now.”

On his side Elsom returned the praises for his former team-mates: “Particularly in the back row, they’ve got a lot of ball-carrying options,” he said. “With the 6, 7, 8 combination, they’ve got a lot of leg drive with those blokes. They’re probably one of the more underrated back rows in test rugby. We’ve got to be on our game.”

So it will be a game within the game…

Old pals

In the meantime Ireland hooker Jerry Flannery has been ruled out of the remainder of Rugby World Cup 2011 after tearing a calf muscle in training, while Aussie David Pocock missed the Friday training session as a precautionary measure due to tightness in his back.

Australia: Kurtley Beale, James O’Connor, Anthony Fainga’a, Pat McCabe, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Quade Cooper, Will Genia; Radike Samo, David Pocock, Rocky Elsom, James Horwill (captain), Dan Vickerman, Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore, Sekope Kepu.

Reserves: Tatafu Polota-Nau, James Slipper, Rob Simmons, Ben McCalman, Scott Higginbotham, Luke Burgess, Drew Mitchell.

Ireland: Rob Kearney, Tommy Bowe, Brian O’Driscoll (captain), Gordon D’Arcy, Keith Earls, Jonathan Sexton, Eoin Reddan; Jamie Heaslip, Sean O’Brien, Stephen Ferris, Paul O’Connell, Donncha O’Callaghan, Mike Ross, Rory Best, Cian Healy.

Reserves: Sean Cronin, Tom Court, Donnacha Ryan, Denis Leamy, Conor Murray, Ronan O’Gara, Andrew Trimble.

The first round of the Rugby World Cup has already taken its toll as quite few players suffered from various injuries. As a matter of fact, the tournament could even have already lost one of its stars: Aussie wing Digby Ioane sustained a fracture during Australia’s opening 32-6 win over Italy, and that would be a real bummer for him, for Australia and for all of us.

But the injury list is quite long: South African lock Victor Matfield and centre Jean de Villiers will miss the Springboks’ second World Cup match against Fiji as De Villiers picked up a rib injury while Matfield suffered a hamstring injury.

France fly-half David Skrela‘s World Cup may be hanging in the balance after he suffered a shoulder injury in Saturday’s win over Japan.

While Japan number eight Ryukoliniasi Holani has been ruled out of the rest of the World Cup with a knee injury. Holani joins Justin Ives on the sidelines after the New Zealand-born lock failed to recover from a left knee problem.

Argentina centre Gonzalo Tiesi has been definitely ruled out of the rest of the World Cup too with an injury to his right knee, with captain Felipe Contepomi also left struggling with bruised ribs.

If anyone had some doubt about it… this is going to be a very tough tournament.

And here is someone who was so unlucky that he didn’t even get to the World Cup: David Wallace was ruled out of the World Cup by a knee injury, last 27/08, during the England’s 20-9 victory at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. “He took it like the man he is. I’ve never seen a man as physically fit as he is right now. It’s heartbreaking for him, but that’s the cut-throat nature of sport.” said Ireland head coach Declan Kidney.

And it is heartbreaking for us (read *me*) too.

David Wallace ruled out of the World Cup only two weeks ahead of the beginning

Few months have passed since my last post on this blog, but as the 2011 Rugby World Cup kicked off last Friday, 09th September, I cannot neglect it any more.

I’m not going to write about the beautiful opening ceremony in Auckland, or the New Zealand v Tonga (41-10) inaugural game, or the brave performance of Japan v France (21-47), and I’m not even going to talk about the narrow or laborious victories of some big names with the underdogs (Scotland v Romania 34-24; Argentina v England 9-13; Ireland v USA 22-10; Australia v Italy 32-6; South Africa v Wales 17-16).

No, today I want to talk about the people and the true spirit of this incredible beautiful game and its World Cup.

I’m lucky enough to have been to rugby games in different countries, Scotland, England, Australia, France, and – as Italian supporter -  most of the time just being a part of the event was my reward for the long journey: the joyful crowd, the chants, the friendly atmosphere. Well, think all of this multiplied by 1000, enhanced by the Spirit of the World Cup.

On one side, people travelling from the four corners of the world, mixing together in a happy melting pot, showing their true colours, making new friends; on the other side, locals  – in this case New Zelanders -  adopting one country or another, supporting all the teams during the games… but of course as far as the Allblacks aren’t around…

I still have to find another sport in the world with such a true fellowship feeling: to me, this is the real meaning of a… World in Union.

A World in Union: Rugby fans from Japan, Samoa and New Zealand happily together at 2011 RWC

A Scotland supporter surrounded by Romania-supporting schoolchildren from Invercargill's Middle School

Today Italy celebrates the 150th Anniversary of its Unification. Despite our Country is passing through difficult times, there’s still something – big or small – that makes us to be proud of being Italians.

Here is an example.

Happy Birthday Italy! Buon Compleanno Italia!