After his stand out performance for the Baa Baas yesterday, I thought it would be a good idea to tell you more about this somewhat under the radar player.

FACT FILE:
Name:Tim Jan Willem Visser
DOB: 29th May 1987
Age: 24
Clubs: Edinburgh Rugby (current), Newcastle Falcons
Position: Wing
Country: Netherlands

As some of you may have realised, yesterday was his 24th birthday and he played for the Barbarians! I'm guessing two tries (one of which being the match winner) are a great birthday gift.

Visser's match winner yesterday:

During England v Barbarians, Ugo Monye limped from the field midway through the second half. He now awaits a scan on suspected damaged knee ligaments. This could put his England RWC squad selection chance in jeopardy.

More updates to come.

Stade seem to be on a spending spree with the signing of Contepomi and the unconfirmed signing of Paul Sackey, who was released by Toulon.

Paul Sackey, who featured in yesterdays Barbarians lineup, announced his departure from Toulon a few days ago. The Toulon club president cut his contract by one year and said that Sackey wasn't meeting the clubs expectations. Sackey said the deal is near enough done with another side but he couldn't say which club until the move was confirmed. However, Sackey hinted that it might be (well, it obviously is) Stade Francais as he wore one Toulon sock and one bright pink Stade Francais sock.

CLICK HERE to see my collection of photos from todays game.

I will also post some videos including Tim Vissers match winning try.

Wow. Obviously I only say "wow" because I was there enjoying it live not on the TV, although I did catch a glimpse of Lazenby and co. My headline says most of the story really, except for who won but who won this game doesn't seem to important really. I think the quality of play was great yet surprising at the same time because of the "England Saxons" lineup.

Saracens are probably feeling a tad annoyed. All the glory at Twickenham - beating Leicester in a thriller only to realise that Munster have just stolen that glory in winning the Magners League. 

Obviously, congratulations go to Saracens on a fantastic victory in a thrilling final. Well i'm guessing it was thrilling but I wasn't watching so don't quote me on that!

In my opinion this is really, really good news for the rugby world as it means that Saracens have denied Leicester their tenth Premiership Title.

Really without Toby Flood, Leicester would have got nowhere. He scored all 18 of Leicester's points with just his kicking and thats why he is Englands first choice fly half. For Saracens, however, it was a different story. Well, it wasn't that different.

Young Owen Farrell, son of coach Andy Farell, scored 5 penalties out of Saracens total, 22. James Short combined once again with Schalk Brits and scored 5. Farrell added the extras and the final score was 22-18 to Saracens.

I thought I should take this opportunity to let the followers of this blog know what kind of live updates you will be getting on Sunday.

During the day I will be Tweeting some picture when I get the chance of Twickers or anything Tweet worthy I see.

In a signing spree, Sale have announced that Hendre Fourie will join them on a new two-year deal. Fourie broke into the England elite squad this year and played during the Six Nations, where England came out on top.

Fourie will bring good experience to the Stockport based side as his previous club, Leeds Carnegie,will play Championship rugby next season.

Losing the England captaincy to Lewis Moody and most recently, Mike Tindall, in the Six Nations will have come as a big blow for Steve Borthwick. But he still leads Sarries everywhere week and his a regular name in the starting lineup at Vicarage Road.

At the age of 31, Steve Borthwick isn't even named in the England Elite Squad anymore and would struggle for a  Saxons spot. But Saracens are in the elite of English and European rugby and holding strong for his club side is key for Borthwick.

He said this when describing what it felt like to be part of a team like Sarries. 
"It is hugely enjoyable to be part of this group. From the top down the club has created an atmosphere where each player is supported to be the best they can be."


Here is a Borthwick interview from back in 2010.

Premiership clubs will now be allowed to sign one new player outside of the salary cap. It is probably advised that with only one player outside the salary cap allowed, it should be probably a fairly big name!

This new rule is one of many new laws that will be enforced for the 12-13 season. The maximum spend will be £4.24m, the salary cap was previously £4m. For clubs with lots of money (Bath) this is a good thing!


"This combination will add significantly to the attraction of our competition to supporters, viewers and partners. Our successful growth will also continue to depend on striking the right balance between the investment in playing talent and the continued long-term financial stability of clubs. The clubs have agreed how best to strike the right balance." 
Mark McCafferty, chief executive of Premiership Rugby (Source of quotes ESPNscrum.com)

My first player feature! I take a look at one of Italy's top players as he prepares to captain the Barbarians.

Fact File:
Name: Sergio Matteo Parisse
DOB: September 12 1983
Age: 27
Teams: Stade Francais, Italy
Position: No.8
Height: 6 ft 5 in
Weight: 233 lb

Having played over 50 times for his country Parisse is one of Italy's most capped players. He was born in Argentina, to Italian parents. When he was in Italy he joined Treviso but is now a Stade Francais regular. Parisse will go head to head with Gloucester captain, and now England captain, Luke Narraway on Sunday as England take on the Barbarians where Parisse will lead the Baa Baas at Twickenham.

So, I know I keep going on about it but lets just see what happened a last years encounter...

New Zealand have now won there ninth Sevens title after beating Argentina in the quarter finals. England failed to reach the quarter finals after a loss to Kenya, even though they held a considerable lead at half time.

Fiji and South Africa battled it out in the actual final but the All Blacks had already won the overall title. The result in the final was 24-14 to South Africa after beating the Fijians.

Bit old now, but great to re-live.

Having been released by French side, Toulon, Paul Sackey is on the brink of a new contract. Although he hasn't named the club, he says the deal is near enough done. Toulons club president said Sackey wasn't meeting his expectations and his contract was cut short by one year.

Sackey ensured that he enjoyed his time at the French club and has also been named in the Barbarians side for Sundays encounter with England. Sackey says he scored a couple of tries last time for the Barbarians and he hopes to do the same.

Gloucester part time skipper, Luke Narraway, has been announced as the England (Saxons) captain for the clash with the Babarians on Sunday. His opposite captain will be Stade Francais' Sergio Parisse. But he will also have to lineup against the likes of Carl Hayman, Paul Sackey, Frederic Michalak and Mathieu Bastareaud.

The battle will commence at Twickenham on Sunday. I will be tweeting pictures and updates whilst I am at the game.

I think we will all enjoy watching this! This video was produced by Jewson (JewonLimited on YouTube) and features some of Gloucester's young talent. This includes Henry Trinder, Freddie Burns, Jonny May and Charlie Sharples and in the video, Mike Tindall (who doesn't look very injured) is playing the "wise old man", which in some ways he is. But anyway, here is the vid:

Having made over 300 appearances for the Cherry and Whites, John Brain seems to be a perfect choice for a Head of Rugby Ops.

Previously, Gloucester haven't had a Head of Rugby Operations as such, the last one they had was Dean Ryan, now a Sky Sports pundit. Although Ryan wasn't working at Gloucester he was still regarded as our Head of Rugby Ops. Since his complete departure, Bryan Redpath was the main man. However, Redpath was only the head coach not the Head of Rugby Ops.

Brain will prove a good choice for Kingsholm and will provide a good rugby brain to our club! Come on Glaws!

Sorry about this.

I'm off to Twickersly on Sunday and I have to say I'm quite disappointed with the teams. The Baa Baas are Ok, with a selection of greats including Sergio Parisse and Carl Hayman. I was also glad to see the inclusion of former Gloucester player, Iain Balshaw and also Paul Tito of the Cardiff Blues has been named in the squad. Would have maybe expected the odd Quade Cooper or Bryan Habana but it's Ok.

Less can be said for the England Team. This is more of a game between England Saxons and the Baa Baas not the actual first team. But I will be very happy to see Henry Trinder, in his first England call-up, Sinbad making an England Elite squad return and Attwood and Doran-Jones, who are two fairly regular starters for England.

The England forwards are fairly disappointing but the backs more than make up for the slightly less experienced forwards. Hodgson and Monye are the two key men in the backs and will probably lead the way.

This post relates to the London Sevens taking place at Twickenham today. England vs Kenya was the opening match for the crowds and England looked like sure winners as they lead 17-0 at half time. Then again, thats what Northampton thought yesterday in Cardiff.

Kenya came back looking stronger than ever in the second half and England's back line fell to shreds as they had nobody back to cover. This allowed the Kenyans to score the vital tries they needed. Bit of a shocker from England who were definitely good enough to win that game. Still on now on Sky Sports 2.