Match Preview - Gloucester v London Irish

Match Info:
Location: Kingsholm, Gloucester
Time: 1st Oct 2011 1300 BST
Form: Gloucester - W/L/W. L.Irish - W/W/L

Folllowing a brilliant win last weekend for Gloucester, and the same for London Irish, both sides will hope to put on another good show.

Gloucester see the return of Luke Narraway and more young prospects with the likes of David Lyons and Tom Savage. London Irish's squad isn't brilliant but they have the likes of Topsy Ojo and David Paice offering an additional amount of experience to the side. Click read more to view full analysis.

Sudi's Starting 15

Click read more to see Sudi's choice starting 15 for England to face Scotland tomorrow.

Rugby World Cup Preview - England v Scotland

Scotland will have one last chance to proceed to the next stage of this years Rugby World Cup. However, one problem might stop them. That problem is England. England have progressed and played better as the tournament has gone on and will look to battle all the way to final. This will be yet another hard fought encounter that will see two of the home nations come to blows in spectacular style. Click read more for squad analysis and predictions...

Sudi's Starting 15

This week Sudi has chosen his squad for Gloucester to face London Irish at Kingshom. Following a strong performance against Bath they will want to continue their good form. Click read more to view Sudi's choices for Gloucester Rugby on Saturday.

Rugby World Cup Scores Round-up

Here is a round-up of the last 8 matches from the Rugby World Cup 2011. Click read more to view.

Rugby World Cup Preview - Romania v Georgia

Match Information:
Location: Arena Manawatu, Palmerston North
Date: 28/09/11 0730 (BST)
Form: Romania - Loss/Loss Georgia - Loss/Loss


This will be one of the closeset fought battles of the tournament. Both sides will want to come away with at least one victory and for both this is where they could get it. Georgia seem the stronger side out of the two and are higher ranked at 14th in the world. Romania however are lower ranked, at 18th they are one of the lowest in the tournament, and have had worse results against the stronger sides in the group than Georgia.

Springboks announce strong side to face Samoa

By David van der Merwe

Peter de Villiers yesterday announced his team to face Samoa. As always there are a couple of surprises in the team.

De Villiers opted for a fit again Victor Matfield to captain the team and dropped John Smit to the bench. This gives Bismarck du Plessis his first start of the tournament. Not a bad move as Bismarck is rated as the number one hooker in the world by many.

Cheetahs runs a mock at Newlands

Report by David van der Merwe

The Cheetahs made the journey to Newlands for a clash that promised to be full of running and hard rugby against WP. With WP 2nd and the Cheetahs 4th on the log before this round it was expected to be tough with both teams putting everything on the line.

The first half did not disappoint at all. The Cheetahs put first points on the board through a Johan Goosen penalty. Dewaldt Duvehage then handed them their first try when he passed the ball to Robert Ebersohn. Robert gave the ball to Cameron Jacobs who scored. Goosen promptly converted. Shortly after this Piet v Zyl went over for the Cheetahs and after the Goosen conversion it was 17-0 after just 17 minutes. WP fought back with two Lionel Cronje penalties to make it 17-6. But Lappies Labuschagne had the last say in the half as he scored his try. Goosen again converted and the teams went at 24-6.

Bulls trample Lions in the Lions Den

Report by David van der Merwe
The Bulls made the great trek for the Jukskei Derby to Coca-Cola Park. On their minds were revenge for the loss at Loftus earlier this year to the Lions. The Lions only wanted to keep their home record clean. The match promised to be a spectacular one as is normally the case with this Derby.


The first half made for good rugby by both sides. At one stage I wonder if the teams switched jerseys as the Lions played kicking rugby and the Bulls the running style. The Bulls scored first through a Jano Vermaak try that Louis Fouche converted. Jano showed that he had no more feeling for the Lions and would not give them an inch. This was followed by a Elton Jantjies penalty to make it 7-3. From here on in it was all Bulls. They run in another try and two penalties making it 18-3. The Lions decided against poles on 5 occasions when given the penalties. And every time they turned the ball over to the Bulls. Dean Greyling got yellow carded just before the break leaving the Bulls with 14 men. On the stroke of halftime Elton Jantjies added 3 to the Lions' telly making the halftime score 18-6.

Dave's View: Injury rule at RWC 2011 confuses me

Feature by David van der Merwe

For many years now the IRB has been changing and amending the rules of rugby to make it safe for the players. The scrum is a good example. In my days of playing rugby there was no "crouch, touch, pause, engage". You simply crouched down and the teams engaged at will. This resulted in some injuries, but a lot less reset scrums. The new way is safer but takes longer.

South Africa 87-0 Namibia

Report by David van der Merwe
The all African game of the 2011 RWC was played a few days ago. The Springboks took on their northern neighbours, Namibia. The Boks talked with respect of Namibia during the lead up to this game, but once they were on the field showed none of it.

During the first 5 minutes Namibia defended valiantly. This and the fact that the Boks made some early mistakes ensured that no tries were scored. In the 6th minute the ball made its way to Gio Aplon. Aplon was away leaving the defence lacking behind to score his first try. It looked like a Ferrari pulling away from an old Morris Minor. This try was followed by Bryan Habana's record breaking 39th try in tests for South Africa. A penalty try and Jaque Fourie's 2xth try as centre, another SA record followed. Morne Steyn converted all the tries and a penalty to make the half time score 31-0.

Aviva Premiership Results

Click read more to view this weekends Aviva Premiership results.

Redpath: The fans are phenomenal

Following Gloucester's win against Bath, Bryan Redpath praised the hard work of both forwards and backs. The post match press conference opened with questions about Gloucester's strong scrummaging efforts.

"John Brain has done good work, with emphasis on the scrum" he said. "It was a collective effort, Carl worked lots on the drive."

Redpath went on to discuss what he told the players during the half time break, Gloucester did seem to out perform Bath in 2nd half so this could have been key.

Gloucester 23-6 Bath

Gloucester looked strong throughout
(SD photography)

Bath looked the dominant side in the opening half with a selection of attacks on the Gloucester try line but wasted a lot of time in the 22 and gave away penalties in plays that should have been capitalized upon.

Bath’s strongest attempt for the Gloucester line came as Nick Abendanon made a confident run. However Vainikolo stood in his way and he couldn’t get past him. Bath played the ball through the backs and made several attempts at the line until Jack Cuthbert knocked the ball on.

England 67-3 Romania

Following an OK performance against Georgia, where they should have scored more points, England proved how good they are with a thrashing of Romania.

The feeble rugby minnows couldn't withstand England's attacks and couldn't break through a solid defensive line meaning they only scored three points from a penalty.

Unlike Romania, England began scoring straight away with a 2nd minute penalty from Wilkinson to get the score board rolling.

Half Time Statistics - England v Romania

Mark Cueto has been the star man so far for England but without his confident team mates he wouldn't have scored his three tries. Ashton also scored two more tries later on in the half and Wilkinson converted both. England are certainly dominating but Romania did score a penalty meaning the score at the break is 34-3. Click read more to view our 20 minute statistics and 40 minute statistics.

The Tier Two Nations - Part 2

Feature by Damian Corbet

A lot of Georgia’s national team play their club rugby at the very highest level, in the French Top 14. Mamuka Gorgodze, nicknamed Gorgodzilla, was voted overseas player of the year in last season’s French Top 14 for his work at Montpellier, and tighthead David Kubriashvili is good enough to keep Carl Hayman on the bench at Toulon. These are very, very good rugby players who need and deserve the chance to shine on the international stage – and not just once every four years either.

Aviva Premiership Preview - Gloucester v Bath

Match Information: 
Location: Kingsholm, Gloucester
Teams: Gloucester Rugby and Bath Rugby
Form: Gloucester - Loss, Win, Loss / Bath - Win, Loss, Win
Date: 24/09/11 / 1500 BST



Gloucester will host local rivals, Bath, on Saturday. Bath will want to prove their potential after a range of summer signings in the off-season. Gloucester however will look to improve on a shaky start to the new season and prove to the Kingsholm faithful that they are capable of winning silverware this season. In this post I will analyse the game, squads and most importantly give the Scrum Five score prediction!

The Tier Two Nations - Part 1

The Tier Two nations need a helping hand – and a level playing field! 
Feature by Damian Corbet

The Tier two nations have been showing a lot of promise at this year’s Rugby World Cup, but there’s still a very long way to go before they reach the standard of the top rugby nations.

There was a lot of pre-tournament hype about Georgia and how they would give the big boys a run for their money (I’ve been one of the ‘hypers’) but so far they have disappointed.

Just looking at European rugby for a moment, the biggest problem for countries like Georgia and Romania – both of which have strong rugby traditions – is a lack of regular, high level international competition. Playing in the World Cup every four years, and getting heavily beaten by the ‘big boys’, is simply not enough. They need more high level game time if they’re to reach the level of Italy, let alone Scotland, arguable the weakest of the home nations. 

Hazell out for six weeks

Gloucester's reliable flanker, Andy Hazell, has been struck with a six week injury lay off. The injury occured during Gloucester's encounter with Northampton on the opening weekend, Hazell played through the pain unaware of the damage that had been caused.

This may be bad for Hazell but gives young Matt Cox the perfect opportunity to prove his potential to head coach Bryan Redpath. Gloucester's squad should be announced today so I will preview the match later on and we will see if Matt Cox is inlcuded. Click read more to view related posts.

Rugby World Cup Preview - England v Romania

England will bring back Mike Tindall ahead of this weekends clash with Romania. Tindall was rested for the Georgia clash and Bath's Shontayne Hape took his place. This will be the first time Mike Tindall has appeared since his controversial night out with a mystery women.  If the team can leave that behind them, they are sure to put on a great show! Click read more to view our squad analysis and score prediction.

Rugby World Cup Preview - South Africa v Namibia

Peter De Villiers has re-called Bryan Habana and made a total of five changes as South Africa prepare to take on Namibia. The current world champions will be expected to walk this match but can the Namibians give them a run for their money?

Thomas Waldrom called up as cover

Leicesters Thomas Waldrom has been called up to the England squad as cover for Nick Easter.

England 41-10 Georgia

After a surprisingly poor first half from England, they redeemed themselves well in the second half. It may not have been the overwhelming victory everybody expected, Georgia put up a fight, but were no match for England at the end of the day. 

The Georgians started strongly and were rewarded for the effort as England conceded a penalty, they kicked for territory. This moment early on and Georgia's try from Basilaia were the best moments from the Eastern Europeans. 

Hape opened England's scoring early on as he broke through the Georgian defence following a mistake by the opponents. 

Half time update: England v Georgia

England really underestimated the power of Georgia’s side in the first half. They kept a clean 14-0 lead for the majority of the first forty minutes with Georgia’s fly-half missing three out of four penalties. The half has given us a real insight into Georgia’s style of play and England’s surpsingly weak to defence in the face of the Eastern Europeans.

Hape’s opening try was lucky really, the Georgians did make an error but he did have to fight for his second. England’s disclipine was terrible as they gave away 11 penalties and Georgia gave away just 3. The territorial statistics were mainly in Georgia’s favour and at one point England had 4% territory and Georgia had 96% but the only times England were in the Georgian half they did add points unlike their opposition.

Rugby World Cup Preview - Wales v Samoa

It's time for another match preview - in this post we will analyse the squads, give you our score prediction and let you know the ones to watch. 

Toby Faletau starts at Number 8.

Wales will take on Samoa in what could be the first upset of the tournament at Waikoto Stadium tomorrow. Those who haven't travelled down under will have to wake up early to see the encounter which kicks off at 0430 BST. Ireland's Alain Rolland will referee the game which is sure to contain some big hits. 


Click read more to our predictions and squad analysis.

Rugby World Cup Preview - England v Georgia

England will take on Georgia on Sunday back in Dunedin at Otago Stadium. After sustaining an injury in one of England's warmup  matches against Wales last month, Lewis Moody will return to the field of play.

Moody will return amid several other changes. Flood starts instead of Wilkinson and Youngs instead of Wigglesworth, Shontayne Hape will start alongside Tuilagi ahead of Tindall in the centre.

Matt Stevens replaces Sheridan who has been sent home for further operations on a shoulder injury which he sustained in England's opener against Argentina.

Georgia's side will probably crumble against the strength of England but the likes of Kvirikashvili, Georgia's top scoring fly-half, will be able to organise the Georgian defence and in any attacks they may have he will certainly be involved.


Click read more to view England's full squad and Georgia's line-up.

Ireland 15-6 Australia

Certainly the best match so far. Ireland will be very pleased after an intense win in front of proud Irish supporters. Australia will not be so pleased. They led once or twice early on and made no more points after that. It was disappointing from the Wallabies but Ireland proved there low ranking does not reflect the quality they play at. They are definitely a competitor for this trophy and will look to improve further in the coming games.

The first half was dull with the scores tied at 6-6 as the sides headed inside to prepare for what was to be a spectacular second half. O'Connor scored two penalties in the first half with Sexton also scoring one for Ireland. With Australia holding a three point lead, Sexton levelled the scores to 6-6 going into the break.

Half time update: Australia v Ireland

A close, tightly fought first half. Mistakes and misses have lost both sides points but nobody is the favourite and this will be a battle to the end.

Australia have taken two penalties, both from James O'Connor who was re-called after a one match ban from the Australian management. Ireland had one penalty from Jonny Sexton and also a few misses from the young fly-half. However, Sexton redeemed himself with a drop goal to tie the scores at 6-6.

Australia will be disappointed that they have taken the opportunities to get more points and the half time score is the same as their opening clash with Italy. 6-6. Click read more to view players of the half and our predictions.

James O'Connor re-called by Australia

Getty Images

Ahead of Australia's group deciding match with Ireland on Saturday, Robbie Deans has re-called James O'Connor.

The young Wallabies star missed the squad announcement last month and was punished by the Australian management with a one match ban. However, he redeemed himself as he returned to playing rugby in Australia's world cup opener against Italy last weekend.

RWC Scores Round-up

Over the last few days we have seen a selection of minor matches between the lesser sides of this years world cup. Click read more to view the results.

Rugby World Cup Preview - USA v Russia

This game won't be major but will certainly give the Eagles and opportunity to prove they are world class side. It will be an even bigger opportunity for Russia.

They will  make their World Cup debut but aren't statistically the "worst" side in the tournament, that would be the Namibians who are ranked 20th but have been too a world cup before . Russia however, have not. I am worried for them, the USA aren't a fantastic side but could still bring them down and run over them with tries. And with the likes of Ireland, Australia and Italy in their group it looks a tough task ahead.

But it doesn't stop there, in Russia's warmup game against Gloucester last month they scored one try and Gloucester came out with a fairly makeshift side and still beat the World Cup minnows by 47 points to 7.


Read more to view ones to watch, the team line-ups and our predicted score.

Shaky start for Home Nations

For Wales, England and Scotland they made their opening matches a tough task. It has to be said, Wales did have to take on reigning  champions South Africa and England played Argentina but for Scotland they only just beat rugby minnows, Romania. And Ireland weren't particularly good either, they played USA and for the first thirty minutes they had made only a few points.

Kicking caused a lot of problems for the Home Nations and put them under pressure on the world stage. Jonny Wilkinson was the most disappointing, missing 5 out of his 8 kicks. In hindsight you could say England would have trampled over the Argentinians had Wilkinson scored those vital kicks.

Jonny Sexton was a little unsuccessful too. He missed less than Wilkinson but in the opening thirty minutes of Ireland's clash with the Eagles he missed 2 kicks and the opportunity to give his side a bigger lead.

Sheridan out of the World Cup

England prop, Andrew Sheridan has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup following a shoulder injury he sustained during England's RWC opener against Argentina last weekend.

Sheridan had two operations on left his shoulder and was returning after recovery from right shoulder surgery meaning the Sale Sharks representative will have to head back home to receive more surgery on his injury.

This will come as a big blow for the 31 year-old and unfortunately it could be his last world cup and it will certainly be a disappointment for the prop.

Click read more to view what Martin Johnson had to say.

Lawes given 2 match ban

Following yesterdays post regarding Courtney Lawes' citing he has been banned for 2 matches after facing a disciplinary hearing in the early ours of the morning our time.

England have not decided whether to appeal the ban but it does seem hefty for the incident which could be described as "minor".

But in good news, Lewis Moody is going to be ready for England's clash with Georgia and has been training this week.

Is this too short? Comment your thoughts or Tweet @scrum_five.

Courtney Lawes Cited

England's explosive tackler, Courtney Lawes, has been cited following allegations he kneed Mario Ledesma after tackling him into touch.

The incident occurred in England's clash against Argentina and it is believed that Lawes has breached rule 10.4(a) which is not to punch or strike somebody with the knee.

England coach, Martin Johnson, has said he will provide any information required for the disciplinary hearing which will take place on Tuesday at 3AM (BST) in Auckland.

This citing is the first so far of the Rugby World Cup 2011. The 22 year-old also earned his 11th cap in England's clash with Argentina since he got hist first against Australia in 2010 where he supplied the pass to Chris Ashton to score his memorable try.

England will continue their world cup campaign on Sunday against group minnows, Georgia.

Click read more to view a video of Lawes in action for Saints.

Rugby World Cup Scores Round-Up

Today's games were certainly more impressive than yesterday's and a little more gripping I might add. Click read more to view the latest scores.

Rugby World Cup Preview: South Africa v Wales

The second "big match" of the Rugby World Cup will take place tomorrow morning (BST) and it will see reigning champions South Africa take on Wales whose World Cup record has been disappointing in past tournaments.

Who knows what this game will bring, it could very easily be the first upset and after England v Argentina earlier on today, we know that anything can happen. Click read more to view Scrum Five's full preview.

Featured Match - Gloucester v Worcester

Gloucester hoped to redeem themselves after a disappointing defeat at Franklins Gardens on the opening weekend. But after a good performance last weekend, Worcester hoped to maintain their form and prove they were a Premiership class side.

One of Gloucester’s many young stars, Jonny May, and opened Gloucester’s scoring after a sharp interception of a Joey Carlisle pass. Taylor who started ahead of Burns converted giving Gloucester an early 7-0 lead.

A confident looking Tim Taylor added six more points from penalties in the next few minutes and added another just after the thirty minute mark.

RWC Scores Round-up

Click read more to view the latest Rugby World Cup scores.

Rugby World Cup: England vs Argentina

A boring match. Full of kicking errors and very disappointing mistakes.

England were favourites but Argentina proved they were certainly not the underdogs as they led the way in the first half with no tries, just 3 penalties. However, Rodriguez certainly didn't show his full playing quality with a selection of penalty misses.

Armitage in for injured Cueto

Following yesterdays news that Cueto was still suffering with a minor injury, it has been confirmed that Delon Armitage will come in to replace him for England's opener against Argentina.

Wilkinson also starts ahead of Flood and Wigglesworth is a surprise starter ahead of Leicester's Ben Youngs.

Click read more to view the full side to face Argentina.

Cueto a doubt for England opener

England's world cup campaign will open against Argentina at 9:30am BST on Saturday. However, England winger, Mark Cueto is suffering with a minor injury which could rule him of the encounter.

If Cueto is out, London Irish's Delon Armitage will come in and replace him on the wing. He sustained the injury against Ireland in England's final world cup warm up and has been in doubt since.

Victor Ubogu to Feature on Come Dine With Me

Press Release

The players pose to promote the show.

Four rugby greats - Kyran Bracken, Martin Offiah, Victor Ubogu and Gareth Chilcott - go shoulder-to-shoulder in a charity rugby special of the TV favourite, Come Dine With Me.

Broadcast to coincide with the kick-off of the Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand, the episode will air on Friday 9^th September, 2011 at 8pm on Channel 4.

Come Dine With Me follows amateur chefs competing for the title of the ultimate dinner party host. Each episode brings together four strangers who take turns cooking up their idea of the perfect evening. Each competitor then rates the host's performance and the winner is lauded the 'ultimate dinner party host' and awarded a cash prize. The Celebrity guests take the prize for their chosen charity.

To read more about the special show and see what the players had to say click read more.

Featured Match - Gloucester v Northampton

Errors cost Gloucester on opening weekend

Silly errors could have lost either side the game at the end of the day. In hindsight Gloucester could have won and if they had done we would have looked back and said Saints could of won as well.

It could be down to Gloucester's inexperienced fly half's or down to not capitalising on opportunities. Saints certainly didn't have a perfect performance either. They led by ten points at one point, 23-13, and only made 3 points after that. Whereas Gloucester made 11 points, through penalties, a try and a drop goal.

Half time Update: Gloucester v Northampton

After an entertaining half at Franklins Gardens, Northampton lead by just 4 points. Although it has to be said, it could have been a one point lead if Taylor hadn't missed an early penalty attempt.

Both sides new signings have performed fantastically this half. Samu Manoa of Saints and Chistolini of Gloucester have both showed their potential already during this match.

May scored Gloucester's only try but could have easily scored a hat-trick already. Roberts scored a potentially controversial try from a quick tap and go, he might not have been correctly positioned when he  quickly started but it's too late now. Read more to view players of the half.

Cockerill: We just fell short

"We could have snuck it at the end. The battle was good and we just fell short at the end although you have to give credit to Exeter and what they came with.

"I'm not downhearted at all. We have a lot of blokes missing - and I'm not using that as an excuse - but I was pleased with the way we battled away."

Featured Match - Exeter Chiefs vs Leicester Tigers

Exeter stun Tigers at Welford Road

Six tries were scored in this intense Premiership opener at Welford Road. Exeter copied their opening game last season when they beat Gloucester at Sandy Park but beating Leicester in front of their home crowd is certainly a big step forward.

Aviva Premiership scores round-up

Here are scores from todays Aviva Premiership matches. Our featured matches this weekend are Leicester v Exeter and Gloucester v Northampton.

• Leicester 28 Exeter 30


• London Irish 24 Harlequins 29


• Newcastle 9 Bath 22


• Saracens 15 Wasps 20
  


• Worcester 17 Sale 12

Click read more to view Championship results.

Aviva Premiership Preview

The new Aviva Premiership is upon us and starts this weekend. As ever it looks to be a fantastic competition and Scrum Five's editor previews it.

Gloucester, Leicester, Northampton and Saracens were the top 4 last season but clubs like Wasps, Bath, Harlequins and London Irish could easily break into the semi-final places. We know Leicester are one of, if not the strongest side but in last seasons final some might say that Saracens were the surprise winners.

I've analysed the stats to pick one team to win - click read more to see my preview.

Gloucester announce strong side for Saints encounter

Click read more to view the squad.

World Cup Opening "A night to remember"

An artists impression of the newly built Eden Park.

The opening ceremony for this years Rugby World Cup is said to be "A night to remember" by RWC organisers.


It will take place for half an hour prior to the opening game of the tournament between New Zealand and Tonga at the newly built Eden Park stadium. The ceremony is expected to gain around 50 million television viewers.