FRANCE IS a very beautiful country with lots of hospitable people, and I’m sure the Rugby World Cup party will look after itself and be fantastic. It’s what happens on the pitch that I’m judged on.
To actually get the World Cup first and foremost was a great feat by the FFR. Off the pitch I’m sure it will be a marvellous occasion, but I’ve got to be really single-minded. For me, it’s how fast can we chase the kick-offs? And make sure we get out of the 22 with a minimum of fuss. So that is my total, total, total concentration.
We have warm-up matches against very good opposition. Scotland are a strong team now. Then we’ve got a game against Fiji and we all know how much they’ve improved over the last few years. And then we’ve got one against Australia. Everyone is talking about them being a real threat at the World Cup; Eddie Jones has gone back, and they have a lot of players coming back to fitness. So we have to give various players a chance in various positions, and there could be a bolter or two who makes the World Cup squad.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 2023 من Rugby World.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 2023 من Rugby World.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
"I stress-test my coaches' ideas but ultimately you have to let the bakers bake"
Northampton Saints' director of rugby explains how to be an effective coach
REMEMBER WHEN...WE HAD A HOTLINE ON RUGBY GOING PRO
RW readers could ring in to have their say on the amateur-pro debate
RUGBY RANT
Editor Joe Robinson on why rugby needs to take kit launches more seriously
WHAT IT'S LIKE TO...BE A SEVENS REFEREE SELECTOR
Irish official David Keane lifts the lid on his role behind the scenes
“You can still be fully professional and enjoy yourself"
The Wales great who also represented the Lions and Scarlets with distinction
CLEVEDON RFC
Giving grass-roots rugby the love that it deserves...
Downtime with... Jacob Umaga - "Best player in my family? I have to say Uncle Tana"
The Benetton fly-half on Italy, basketball and talented kinsmen
SHANE MCDONALD
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
100* Not Out
RW charts a century of Samoa's flagship national team, including its dramatic rebirth in the late 1980s
Chunk
More than a decade since his retirement, we caught up with Allan Jacobsen, the larger-than-life former Scotland prop