Month: December 2019

The RWC2019 Debrief: South Africa

The RWC2019 Debrief: South Africa

Welcome to the RWC2019 Debriefs. The World Cup is now over and a new 4 year cycle begins, but the first stage of any cycle should be looking back at how things went – what went wrong and what went right – before looking on to how things go for the next cycle to ensure qualification to RWC2023 (if they haven’t automatically qualified) and to make sure they enter that tournament in peak form.

As I continue down the list alphabetically, today I will be looking at South Africa.

RWC2019 Qualification

As the team who finished 3ʳᵈ at RWC2015, South Africa automatically qualified for the 2019 tournament.

2019 Form

While things were not looking great earlier in the cycle, the move to get rid of Allister Coetzee and have SARU Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus take over the head coach role started to improve performances and results.

Coming into 2019, South Africa won the shortened Rugby Championship with wins at home to Australia and away to Argentina, to add to a draw in New Zealand. In their final warm-up matches ahead of the World Cup, they managed a victory at home to Argentina and demolished Japan 7-41.

The Debrief

  • Pool Stages (2ⁿᵈ in Pool B)
    • New Zealand 23-13 South Africa
    • South Africa 57-3 Namibia
    • South Africa 49-3 Italy
    • South Africa 66-7 Canada
  • Quarterfinal
    • Japan 3-26 South Africa
  • Semifinal
    • Wales 16-19 South Africa
  • Final
    • England 12-32 South Africa

Looking at their pool before the tournament, South Africa would have been confident that they would make it out of their pool, with their opener against New Zealand likely deciding who came first. Despite coming in looking on better form, South Africa came off second best against New Zealand, with their mistakes being punished by a clinical All Blacks side, though there were some very strong performances from winger Cheslin Kolbe and back rowers Duane Vermeulen and Pieter-Steph du Toit.

With the hard match out of the way, the rest of the pool stage was about spreading the minutes throughout the squad to keep everyone fresh while remaining dominant. This chopping and changing of players did lead to some sloppy moments that cost them points, but never enough to put the win at risk. While Faf de Klerk didn’t have the best of pool stages, Herschel Jantjies and Cobus Reinach showed the depth at 9 in this squad, while the pack did an incredible job of dominating at mauls and scrums. Against Italy, this physical advantage was nullified by early Italian injuries resulting in uncontested scrums less than 20 minutes into the match, but a red card for Andrea Lovotti soon after halftime helped the Springboks pull away. They finished off their pool stage with a strong 66-7 win over Canada, but after putting on 40 points in the first 30 minutes, they failed to push on after Josh Larsen’s 36ᵗʰ minute red card.

If there was any worries that this limited second half against Canada hinted at problems to come, the Springboks quickly proved that would not be the case, as they got revenge for Japan’s win in Brighton. The pack was dominant from the first minute and this, combined with some great defence from Lukhanyo Am in midfield, nullified the Japan attack and created an incredible platform to attack off. De Klerk was starting to come back to form by this point and with his job made so easy by the pack, he was able to control the attack and get a try of his own, well playing an important role in the defence.

De Klerk’s game management – along with that of fly half Handré Pollard – proved important in a tight semifinal against Wales. Again, the Springbok pack gained an advantage and the defence held strong to stop the Welsh, while a combination of the halfback’s tactical kicking and Damian de Allende’s hard running (and deserved try) were enough to pull out a narrow victory.

Going into the final with England, we were given a clash of 2 great packs, but the South African forwards earned the dominance and another strong tactical game, with the team eventually breaking down England for a couple of late tries, earning the Springboks their 3ʳᵈ World Cup title to pull level with New Zealand.

Looking Ahead

This is a squad in a very good position. Coming into the tournament, only 7 of the squad were in their 30s, so a very high number should still be available come 2023, while a number of younger players who are maybe on the fringes of the XV and 23 at the moment are set to become regulars over the next few years, such as RG Snyman, Damian Willemse, S’busiso Nkosi, Herschel Jantjies and Kwagga Smith.

The key thing right now is not cutting off any options. A few years ago, the preference was clearly towards players based in South Africa, but so many of the squad and other potential internationals like the du Preez brothers are moving abroad. Players like Faf de Klerk and Cobus Reinach can point to playing abroad as having revitalised their career, so it could be that by allowing other players to move outside of South Africa, it allows them to learn different playing styles while also opening up spots back home for the talent coming through.

Right now, there are a few places that maybe need some attention. In the back row, it Francois Louw and Vermeulen will have both played their last World Cups, while flankers Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit will also both be in their 30s. Kwagga Smith is an incredible talent, great at the breakdown while his 7s background makes him dangerous in the loose. Dan de Preez looked fantastic for the Sharks and has carried that form into his early days at Sale. At 24 years old, this is the perfect time to bring him into the national squad and build him into the next star in the back row. Fly half also needs a look, as Elton Jantjies will be 33 come the next tournament and does not appear international standard to me anyway, while Handré Pollard can be a great player for a defensive territory-focused gameplan, he does not have the same level of expertise when running a more expansive attack. Curwin Bosch and Damian Willemse need to decide now if they want to play fly half or full back internationally and focus on the position, while the next generation of fly halves needs to start making its way through in Super Rugby too.

The other key thing right now is the man in charge. With the World Cup over, Rassie Erasmus has left his role as head coach to focus on his duties as SARU Director of Rugby. We saw in the Allister Coetzee reign just how badly things can go with the wrong man in charge, so the union need to make sure that they get in someone who can build on Erasmus’ good work. Johan Ackermann is a name that has been mentioned and while I completely agree with the quality of his work with the Lions and Gloucester, as a Gloucester fan I hope that the Springboks job will be his in the far future.

Assuming they get the right person in charge, this is a team that will be hard to beat over the coming years.

The RWC2019 Debrief: Scotland

The RWC2019 Debrief: Scotland

Welcome to the RWC2019 Debriefs. The World Cup is now over and a new 4 year cycle begins, but the first stage of any cycle should be looking back at how things went – what went wrong and what went right – before looking on to how things go for the next cycle to ensure qualification to RWC2023 (if they haven’t automatically qualified) and to make sure they enter that tournament in peak form.

As I near the end of the alphabetical list, today I will be looking at Scotland.

RWC2019 Qualification

Having reached the quarterfinals of RWC2015, the Scots automatically qualified for the 2019 tournament.

2019 Form

Scotland finished 5ᵗʰ in the Six Nations, with their only win in the tournament a 33-20 win at home to Italy. They did, however come back from a 31-0 deficit at Twickenham to draw 38-38 with England – a match where they almost won but for a converted try from George Ford on the final play. In their warm-up matches, they won home and away against Georgia and won at home to France, while Les Bleus dominated the reverse fixture for a 32-3 win.

The Debrief

  • Pool Stages (3ʳᵈ in Pool A)
    • Ireland 27-3 Scotland
    • Scotland 34-0 Samoa
    • Scotland 61-0 Russia
    • Japan 28-21 Scotland

It may sound harsh to say, but Scotland’s World Cup was all-but over just 25 minutes into their opening match. They were completely manhandled by the Irish pack and by that point were already 3 tries down, while things soon got even worse as one of their elite players, Hamish Watson, suffered a knee injury that brought his tournament to an end after just 38 minutes. The team started well with a high-tempo attack but had no answer for the Irish physicality.

Changes in the back row led to a more physical performance against Samoa, which arguably gave their team a better balance, while they used the set pieces as weapons on their way to a convincing win over an ill-disciplined Samoan team. Against the Russians, the Scots let loose with a more attack-minded team that probably couldn’t have held up against stronger opposition, but was able to put Russia to the sword, with Adam Hastings contributing 26 points.

Other results in the pool meant that their game against Japan would see the winner qualify for the knockouts at the expense of the other team. What followed was one of the most exciting matches in the tournament as both teams went all-out with high-tempo attacking performances. While Jamie Ritchie (who was one of the stars of the tournament) put in a huge defensive effort and earned a number of turnovers, the team on the whole could not sufficiently halt the Japanese attack, while the Scots were unable to control the game effectively enough against a high pressure defence from the Brave Blossoms.

Looking Ahead

For so long now, Scotland have been a team that look like they are on the up, only to disappoint. However, I still feel confident that they are going in the right direction. While some influential players of recent years have reached the end of their international careers (such as John Barclay and Tommy Seymour), there are young players already establishing themselves in this squad who will be entering their prime come the next tournament, such as Ritchie, Magnus Bradbury, Darcy Graham, Zander Fagerson, George Horne, Blair Kinghorn, Adam Hastings and Rory Hutchinson – who in hindsight should have definitely been in the World Cup squad.

Scotland have the skillful players to run a high-tempo attack that teams will struggle to deal with, but they have not balanced that over the last couple of years with the more physical runners to make the hard yards to initially put them on the front foot. In players like Magnus Bradbury, Hamish Watson and Blade Thomson, they have players who should be regulars over the next 4 years and can carry the team forward and give them the physical edge they need to take their game to the next level.

The key right now is getting that balance between physical players and faster, lighter players over the next couple of seasons. Greig Laidlaw is a quality player, but Ali Price and George Horne are much better fits for the style of play, while Ryan Wilson will likely take on more of a supporting role as the team build leaders. Key will also be finding the right centre combination to get the best out of Finn Russell and the rest of the back line, creating a solid defensive midfield that will not leak tries, but also causing teams issues when they attack. If Hutchinson is not starting for Scotland in the Six Nations, I will be in shock!

The RWC2019 Debrief: Samoa

The RWC2019 Debrief: Samoa

Welcome to the RWC2019 Debriefs. The World Cup is now over and a new 4 year cycle begins, but the first stage of any cycle should be looking back at how things went – what went wrong and what went right – before looking on to how things go for the next cycle to ensure qualification to RWC2023 (if they haven’t automatically qualified) and to make sure they enter that tournament in peak form.

As I continue down the list alphabetically, today I will be looking at Samoa.

RWC2019 Qualification

Using the 2016 & 2017 Pacific Nations Cup as the regional qualifying tournament, Samoa missed out to Tonga and Fiji in the race for the Oceania 1 & Oceania 2 spots. Entering into the Europe/Oceania playoff, they qualified by beating Germany 66-15 and 28-42.

2019 Form

Samoa finished 4ᵗʰ in the 2019 Pacific Nations Cup, with a win against Tonga but losses to the USA and at Fiji. They lost 34-15 to Australia but after a poor first half, they fought back well to make it a contest.

The Debrief

  • Pool Stages (4ᵗʰ in Pool A)
    • Russia 9-34 Samoa
    • Scotland 34-0 Samoa
    • Japan 38-19 Samoa
    • Ireland 47-5 Samoa

How the mighty have fallen. Samoa used to be one of the teams you thought capable of beating out a Tier 1 nation for a spot in the knockouts, but that never really looked a possibility here.

While their outside backs looked very impressive against Russia, they had the advantage of being fresh and taking on a Russian team who were on a short turnaround, while they were also incredibly lucky that Romain Poite and his officials interpreted the high tackle framework different to the rest of the rugby world, leading to Ray Lee-Lo and Motu Matu’u only receiving 1ˢᵗ half yellow cards for high tackles on Vasily Artemyev that should have been reds.

Their discipline didn’t improve as the tournament went on, with 2 penalty tries and 2 yellow cards for Ed Fidow against Scotland, a yellow card for TJ Ioane against Japan and yellows for Ioane and Jack Lam against Ireland. With the issues keeping 15 men on the pitch and multiple offences making it hard to keep territory and possession, it’s no real surprise that the team struggled to beat anyone else in the pool, with the Ireland match in particular being a largely defensive effort.

They should however take some solace from a performance against Japan that saw them win a number of turnovers at the breakdown – an area where the Brave Blossoms had been very strong through the tournament – while they did have some moments when they showed their quality in attack.

Looking Ahead

So I’m going to start by making very clear: I am far from an expert in Pacific Island rugby. Over the years I have heard plenty of negative information about the way the Samoan Rugby Union is run and I think the drop-off in the team’s performances over the last couple of cycles has highlighted that. So first things first, the governance needs sorting to make sure that the priority of the people at the top is in the right place.

Also very important is the need to get someone in who can sort out the discipline of the squad. Samoa have long had the reputation of a physical team with big hitters like Brian Lima and the Tuilagi brothers, but now the big hits are often illegal, while the team consistently struggles to keep the penalty count down and all 15 men on the pitch. If they can’t improve their discipline, they will always struggle against decent opposition. Further to that, I noticed how the team appeared to start losing their heads in matches as decisions (often the right call) went against them. From the way they were acting it looked as if they felt it was them against the world and rational thinking would give way to emotion. It is vital that Samoa gets in someone who will work with them to understand first of all why these decisions are going against them and then how to cut them out. Cut out the penalties and an improvement will begin straight away.

More than this though, it’s important to make sure the opportunities are there for the players to play against elite opposition. As with all the Pacific Island nations, Samoa need to be getting regular games against Tier 1 opposition… both at home and away. Similarly, their players need to be playing in elite competitions but also having the freedom to represent their country.. While a large number of the players from the World Cup squad are in top leagues, there are also a number who are currently unattached, including winger Belgium Tuatagaloa, who was the leading try scorer in the French third tier last season as his team Valence Romans Drôme Rugby earned promotion to Pro D2 but did not have his contract renewed as he wished to represent his country at the World Cup, limiting his availability. Similarly, there have been suggestions for a while that other players are being forced by their clubs to choose between a club contract that will pay their bills or an international career… This needs to change!

The big worry right now is that due to all of this, the Samoan squad is getting on in age. Only 4 of the squad will be under 30 when the next tournament starts, and there currently appears to be limited players of equivalent quality coming through to replace them. Between players going over to the elite leagues (and ending up playing for their new adopted nation) and limited options at home, the players coming through are not getting the chances needed to reach the quality needed for the national team to improve.

Ideally, a Samoan Super Rugby franchise would go a long way to sorting all of this. There would be an opportunity to play elite rugby without having to move abroad (which some players could still do in order to make a larger pool of eligible players in elite leagues), while having the franchise ran by the union means that there would not be the worry of a club v country dilemma. It would also give the added benefit of improving the national team’s chemistry, as currently it is very rare that the squad is able to get together, while having the majority training together at club level weekly would go a long way to improving this.

Do I see any of this happening any time soon? Not really, but something needs to be done or our days of seeing Samoa at the Rugby World Cup could soon come to an end.

6 Takeaways from Schmoedown Spectacular IV

6 Takeaways from Schmoedown Spectacular IV

eason 6 of the Movie Trivia Schmoedown reached its climax at the weekend with Schmoedown Spectacular IV. With the final of the Ultimate Schmoedown Singles Tournament and Championship Matches in all 4 divisions, we were given an event that was truly… well, spectacular!

With Season 7 bringing the biggest shake-up to the league since Anarchy, and the awards less than a month away, it is time to start looking at what impact Spectacular could have on the upcoming season. So in this article, I will be giving the 6 biggest takeaways* from Schmoedown Spectacular IV.

*By which I mean my 6 biggest feelings and thoughts, not more thievery from Ben “Bagel Boy” Goddard

 

Advantage: Finstock

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Spectacular really couldn’t have gone much better for Bobby Gucci and the Five Horsemen. 3/3 wins on the night leaves the Horsemen with the Singles and Teams Titles and puts the longest-standing manager in the league n a great position to win Manager of the Year at the Awards.

But as we head into Season 7, these results at Spectacular will take on even more importance. Founding Fathers’ successful defence of the Teams Title means that Finstock is able to keep them in The Finstock Exchange at the cost of his first 2 draft picks, while Ben Bateman’s Singles Title (and Who’s The Boss’ place in the rankings) means that he is also able to keep hold of them. While this does mean that he won’t technically get a pick until the 5th round on draft day, there is no way that he would have been able to draft Murrell, Rocha, Bateman and Reilly without them becoming champions. Having all the Horsemen in the faction is a great start to dominating the season as all 4 have won the Singles Title (including 3 over the last 2 seasons) and they also contribute 2 of the top teams in the league. Add in Dan Murrell’s announcement that he will be entering the Innergeekdom Division in 2020 and they are in such a strong place.

Oh, and as if that wasn’t good enough, Dagnino’s win in Orlando also means that he has a chance to steal a pick in the later rounds, so he can also find himself moving up the board from Round 5 onwards if there is someone left that he desperately wants.

KOrruption without a KO?

mtsKOrruptionmain

Kevin Smets’ win over Mike Kalinowski has left us in a very interesting situation. Not only did it lead to Mike and Chance waving goodbye to Grace and Ken and bringing in Shannon Barney as their new manager, but it’s also left Mike and Chance in a position where they are protected as a team, but without the guarantee of being able to stick with Shannon.

She’s announced that she is taking over the leadership of KOrruption, which Mike introduced before the team even formed, but unless she has a very early pick, there’s a risk that the face of KOrruption will be playing elsewhere. With Chance intending to continue competing in the Innergeekdom Division, he and Mike are 2 of the strongest triple threats in the league, so I’ll be shocked if they make it beyond the 1st round. Shannon needs to hope that she has one of the very first picks to make sure that she can hang onto her boys. If she can’t, a trade would be the only way to get them back, but she will probably have to put in a huge offer.

Get your mock drafts ready!

The geeks are taking over!

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The Innergeekdom Division is probably my favourite in the league at the moment, and I don’t see that changing very soon. Mike Kalinowski is a quality player who will be out for revenge after losing the title to Kevin Smets – who himself is going to be very hard to beat! Throw in another former champion in Mara Knopic, contenders like Brandon Hanna, Chandru Dhandapani, Chance Ellison, Emily Jacobson, Adam Hlavac and now Dan Murrell… that is suddenly looking a very deep division! Don’t be surprised to see some more rookies entering the division this season and some of this season’s rookies looking to improve now they know what it is like to compete in the league.

Innergeekdom is arguably easier to study due to the limited number of movies that will be covered, but the questions are far deeper as a result. Any of these competitors show just how good their knowledge is when they compete and will likely just get better the more they compete. It already feels like the Schmoedown Pros at the top of the rankings are already capable of beating anyone on any given Schmoeday… I get the feeling that the “elite” group is just going to get larger and larger in 2020. Bring it on!

The best rookies yet?

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It genuinely feels like each year’s rookie crop gets crowned the best yet as we get more and more rookies who know the game already so know what they need to do in order to compete, but I would argue that the 2019 crop is the strongest yet!

While Mara Knopic and Ethan Erwin both won titles in their rookie seasons last year, Paul Oyama and Kevin Smets matched the feat this year, with Oyama taking things further by managing a successful defence. But look at Spectacular and the argument that this is the strongest class gets even more credence. Brendan “The Kid” Meyer may have lost on his debut, but he was one of the stars of the Free 4 All and had a strong season off the back of that, resulting in an appearance in the Teams Championship match at Spectacular. Laura Kelly also made her debut at Star Wars Celebration and though she lost, her performance earned her a #1 Contender match against Andrew Dimalanta (himself a rookie), who she defeated to become the 4th rookie competing at this year’s Spectacular. Add in rookie manager Kaiser and all the others who had strong seasons and I feel confident anointing this the greatest rookie class so far.

It maybe that next year’s rookies take things to an even higher level, but they will have a tough challenge on their hands.

Going heel

MTS Spectacular IV Fyffe Club Heels
mts Movie-Trivia-Schmoedown-Emma-Fyffe

One of the big shocks of the night was as Emma Fyffe revealed her faction for 2020. The return of the Fyffe Club, the greatest babyface faction in the history of the Schmoedown. But this time, things were different, as Fyffe introduced her new advisor: deposed KOrruption manager Grace Hancock.

“The Lioness” is very much a heel and it was clear from the way that Emma spoke that her time as a face is coming to an end. Personally, I love this move! Dagnino has turned face this year and Jay Washington is far too likeable to be a heel too. That leaves just Burnett, Roxy, Shannon and Kaiser as established heels – and we barely even know Shannon at this point! Having a well-known manager turning heel gives so many possibilities, especially as it already looks like we are setting up for some feuds with Shannon. Let’s just remember as well that Emma has some history when it comes to feuding with the other managers: she’s never seen eye-to-eye with Dagnino or Jay Washington, so that is unlikely to change anytime soon, while she also developed a rivalry with new manager Samm Levine over the last year due to his style of “commissioning”, which led to him losing his role as Commissioner of the Singles Division. Straight away, we have plenty of feuds set up, so the heel turn feels like it will work.

What this turn will also do is allow some of the newer managers to focus on becoming good managers rather than having to also cause trouble. Keeping Levine as a face will allow his and Emma’s feud to continue with her as the aggressor, while at this point it is hard to imagine either Coy Jandreau or Winston Marshall as heels given their personality. Having Shannon as the only heel “new” manager but turning Fyffe to the dark side leaves a good balance between heels and faces, while also giving both sides of the morality scale a good blend of new and experienced managers.

Any given Schmoeday

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Sports fans will already know the idea of anyone being able to beat anyone “on any given Sunday”. While it was arguable that we already know it existed in the Schmoedown, Spectacular IV’s big results proved it.

Already, we have seen Stacy Howard manage huge victories over Mark Ellis and Mark Reilly in Ultimate Schmoedown Singles Tournaments, only to fall hard at the next hurdle. Add to that Andrew Ghai defeating Dan Murrell then Mark Reilly – both by TKO – in his first 2 Singles matches. And now, we have 4/5 matches in the biggest event of the year ending by KO/TKO. 4 Championship matches and the final of the Ultimate Schmoedown Singles Tournament… only the best of the best will be competing in these matches, so you would have thought that these matches would be so much closer – I even suggested that Kalinowski v Smets would probably go to Sudden Death!

Instead, we saw Mike Kalinowski, arguably one of the best Innergeekdom Schmoedown Pros ever, not even taking Smets to the final round. We saw William Bibbiani getting TKO’d twice in one night! Finally, we saw Paul Oyama’s 6-0 run in the Singles Division ended by KO in a match that he finished with just 3 points.

If you ever wanted proof that the Movie Trivia Schmoedown is a sport, this is it. You can be the best in the league, you can do all the preparation you can, but on any given Schmoeday, you can still end up struggling to put any points on the board and finding yourself on the wrong end of a huge loss. And that is why we tune in: because we can never consider any match a foregone conclusion.

The RWC2019 Debrief: Russia

The RWC2019 Debrief: Russia

Welcome to the RWC2019 Debriefs. The World Cup is now over and a new 4 year cycle begins, but the first stage of any cycle should be looking back at how things went – what went wrong and what went right – before looking on to how things go for the next cycle to ensure qualification to RWC2023 (if they haven’t automatically qualified) and to make sure they enter that tournament in peak form.

As I continue down the list alphabetically, today I will be looking at Russia.

RWC2019 Qualification

Russia had probably the craziest qualification that a team has faced. With Georgia automatically qualified, the other 5 teams in the 2017 and 2018 Rugby Europe Championships were competing for the Europe 1 spot, with their results from those 2 tournaments – excluding the matches against Georgia – creating their own table and the most successful team qualifying.

Russia’s 4 wins and 4 losses should have left them in 3rd, behind Romania and Spain, who both managed 6 wins. However, points deductions for Romania, Spain and Belgium for fielding ineligible players saw the Russians elevated to the top spot. Following appeals, it was confirmed on 7th June 2018 that the points deductions would remain and that Russia would be appearing at the World Cup as Europe 1.

2019 Form

Considering that on pure results Russia were not expected to appear in the World Cup, it is probably no surprise that their build-up to the tournament had limited success. They finished 4th in the 2019 Rugby Europe Championship with wins against just Belgium and Germany. In the 2019 Nations Cup, they lost in Uruguay but won at Argentina B and Namibia to finish 2nd. In their final warm-up matches, they were hammered 85-15 away to Italy before losing 22-35 to Jersey and 14-42 to Connacht, however they did manage a 40-0 victory over a Russian Club XV.

The Debrief

  • Pool Stages (5th in Pool A)
    • Japan 30-10 Russia
    • Russia 9-34 Samoa
    • Ireland 35-0 Russia
    • Scotland 61-0 Russia

While Russia did not come close to winning a match, they were certainly able to come away from the tournament with their heads held high, especially considering they weren’t expecting to compete in the tournament.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one expecting them to get routed in their matches following their poor warm-up performances, but in the tournament opener against Japan, they looked very dangerous and it was only late on that they fell off in the game, while a number of their attacks came to premature ends due to the heat and humidity leading to handling errors. Despite a short turnaround, they put in another strong performance against a fresh Samoan squad and can feel aggrieved that they did not play over half of the match against 13 men after Ray Lee-Lo and Motu Matu’u both got away with yellow cards for clear red card offences.

Despite Ireland fielding a heavily changed lineup, after 2 tries in the opening 15 minutes it looked like the Irish would run away with it. However, despite not making many chances of their own, the Bears made themselves incredibly hard to break down and limited their opponents to just 5 tries. Unfortunately, the Scotland match was a step too far and an overly passive defence was ripped to shreds by a free-flowing, attack-minded team.

Throughout the tournament, there were some fantastic performances, most notably from Tagir Gadzhiev, who was monumental throughout the tournament with great all-round performances. Wingers Kirill Golosnitskiy and German Davydov consistently made metres while also looking good in defence and int he kicking game, while captain Vasily Artemyev led the team with good performances, even if I feel that he struggled at times when forced to kick.

Looking Ahead

This is certainly an interesting time for Russia. Their squad for the tournament was the oldest in this year’s edition of the competition – almost half of the squad were aged over 31 – with no players from their last 5 years’ worth of U20s squads. It feels like this is a squad that could be about to enter a hard time. Of course, following recent news, it may be that Russia are unable to compete at RWC2023 anyway, as Russia has been given a 4-year ban from all major sporting events, so it may be that the next 4 years becomes about rebuilding with a view to qualifying for the 2027 tournament.

Whether they are aiming for 2023 or 2027, they have some great players to build a team around. Fly half Yuri Kushnarev may be reaching the end of his career, but they still have an experienced option in the form of Ramil Gaisin, who put in some strong performances in Japan. Gadzhiev, Davydov and Golosnitskiy are some of the youngest members of the squad, who the team should be built around over the coming years, as is prop Valery Morozov – the only member of the squad currently playing in one of the top European leagues.

While the youth needs to start coming through from the U20s and the 7s pathways, Russia needs more players playing in the elite leagues if they are to have any chance of being competitive in the World Cups and when pushing for qualification. It’s hard to imagine that teams would not have Gadzhiev on their radar and players like him could excel if they can get regular minutes in the Pro14, Premiership or Top 14. However, much like Georgia, I feel that for more long-term success, Russia needs to look at getting a franchise into the Pro14. Enisei-STM (7 wins) and Krasny Yar (2 wins) have won the Russian domestic league between them for the last 9 years and have both appeared in the European Rugby Challenge Cup over recent years, so one of these would be an ideal candidate, unless they wished to create an entirely new franchise. Regular rugby would allow Russia’s top players to compete at an elite level against the best of the best and, while it may take a while for them to be super competitive, I can’t help but feel that right now this would be more beneficial for the growth of the game than having the Southern Kings taking up space in the Pro14.

Are we seeing the end of Russia as a competitive team for the near future? I hope no, but only time will tell.

The RWC2019 Debrief: New Zealand

The RWC2019 Debrief: New Zealand

Welcome to the RWC2019 Debriefs. The World Cup is now over and a new 4 year cycle begins, but the first stage of any cycle should be looking back at how things went – what went wrong and what went right – before looking on to how things go for the next cycle to ensure qualification to RWC2023 (if they haven’t automatically qualified) and to make sure they enter that tournament in peak form.

As I continue down the list alphabetically, today I will be looking at New Zealand.

RWC2019 Qualification

As defending champions, New Zealand qualified automatically for the tournament.

2019 Form

It was a mixed year for New Zealand. They shockingly finished 3rd in the shortened Rugby Championship, with just the 1 win in Argentina, while they also drew 16-16 at home to South Africa and were stunned by a 47-26 loss to Australia in Perth.

They did however get their own back on the Wallabies with a 36-0 victory at home, before defeating Tonga 92-7 in a warm-up match that saw them willingly go down to 14 men for the final 15 minutes.

During the year, a number of regular starters began to find their places at risk, with Reiko Ioane and Ben Smith being replaced by George Bridge and Sevu Reece, while Damian McKenzie’s injury suffered representing the Chiefs in Super Rugby eventually saw Beauden Barrett moved to fullback, with Richie Mo’unga coming in at flyhalf.

The Debrief

  • Pool Stages (1st in Pool B)
    • New Zealand 23-13 South Africa
    • New Zealand 63-0 Canada
    • New Zealand 71-9 Namibia
    • New Zealand C-C Italy
  • Quarterfinal
    • New Zealand 46-14 Ireland
  • Semifinal
    • England 19-7 New Zealand
  • Bronze Final
    • New Zealand 40-17 Wales

To start the tournament facing off against one of their biggest rivals was always going to be a hard match, but the All Blacks got off to a perfect start with a victory that left them highly likely to finish top of the pool. The Mo’unga/Barrett 10/15 axis and the change of personnel on the wings really began to function well, with Reece especially causing real issues for the Springbok defence, while the team also looked to capitalise on their opponents errors and punish them with tries. Against Canada and Namibia, they controlled the game well and built a platform to excel off regardless of the personnel on the pitch – just look at TJ Perenara’s try while he played on the wing against Namibia – though they did take a while to get going against Namibia, with a number of penalties (including 2 first half yellow cards for high tackles) and inaccuracies. Though the cancellation of their match against Italy due to Typhoon Hagibis put them through at the expense of the Italians, who were still mathematically able to qualify for the knockouts, I think that on the form shown in the previous 3 matches, the All Blacks would have qualified regardless.

Against Ireland, the All Blacks put in a performance that was terrifying and probably made many people feel that they were set to complete the three-peat. New Zealand played Ireland off the park, with Mo’unga controlling the game, Aaron Smith having one of his best performances in a while and hugely impressive performances from Reece and Ardie Savea too. Against England, however, they found themselves on the receiving end of a dominant performance, with the team struggling to deal with England’s quick defensive line and a lineout that was out to steal as much ball as possible. The additions of Perenara and Sonny Bill Williams brought an improvement to the performance, but too late to turn the game around.

With the Bronze final being a match that neither team appeared fully committed to, New Zealand ran riot against the Welsh. Mo’unga controlling the game and scoring a try, while Ben Smith looked back on form while scoring 2 tries as they took advantage of a Welsh defence that was over-chasing.

Not the best tournament for the All Blacks, but only one match that they should really look back on as a missed opportunity.

Looking Ahead

Let’s be honest, this cycle’s All Blacks squad was not the same quality of the last couple, but there were signs this year that the next cycle will see another top quality team coming through.

For so long, they have stuck to just Beauden Barrett at 10, but I have felt for a while that Mo’unga gives more control at flyhalf, while moving Barrett to 15 allows him to be even more dangerous. If they want to stick to the 10/15 playmaking combo, then they will be spoiled for choice when McKenzie returns from injury, while young fly halves like Josh Ioane, Stephen Perofeta and Tiaan Falcon will also be looking to put in huge performances in Super Rugby to break into the squad. While Williams and Ryan Crotty have likely played their last games in the black jersey, in Jack Goodhue, Anton Lienert-Brown and Ngani Laumape (who I will continue to argue should have been in the squad), they have 3 world class centres to build the squad around, while Reiko Ioane is also a potential option in the centre and may look to revitalise his All Blacks career there with the quality of wingers coming through.

In the pack, Kieran Read will clearly be a loss, but the decision to use Ardie Savea at any available back row position has brought a great new dimension to the pack, allowing a more specialist fetcher like Sam Cane and then another player who can vary depending on the tactics, for example Shannon Frizell, Dalton Papalii, Luke Jacobson, Vaea Fifita and Akira Ioane, while injuries and suspensions for New Zealand’s main second rows over recent years have also allowed players like Patrick Tuipulotu and Jackson Hemopo to get some time in the squad, while Fifita is also an option there. Finally, in the front row, the majority of players are in their mid-late twenties so likely have another World Cup in them, while there are already young talented players coming through who will be pushing into the squad with a couple of good seasons in Super Rugby.

This is not a squad that will suddenly drop in quality anytime soon. The only thing that needs sorting right now is a replacement for Steve Hansen. While results and performances may suggest that he stayed in the role a season or 2 too long, he is still a highly experienced coach that has been with the team for so long. It is vital that New Zealand Rugby get the right man in to replace him, otherwise the improvements of the other teams around them over the last few years could see them come under pressure to stay in the top 3 of the World Rankings.

The RWC2019 Debrief: Namibia

The RWC2019 Debrief: Namibia

Welcome to the RWC2019 Debriefs. The World Cup is now over and a new 4 year cycle begins, but the first stage of any cycle should be looking back at how things went – what went wrong and what went right – before looking on to how things go for the next cycle to ensure qualification to RWC2023 (if they haven’t automatically qualified) and to make sure they enter that tournament in peak form.

As I continue down the list alphabetically, today I will be looking at Namibia.

RWC2019 Qualification

Namibia qualified as Africa 1 by winning the 2018 Africa Gold Cup, winning all 5 games in the process.

2019 Form

Namibia finished bottom of the Nations Cup with losses to Argentina B and Russia, though they did manage to beat Uruguay. They won all 3 of their warm-up games, however these were not against internationals: facing a Sharks Invitational XV and the Southern Kings twice.

The Debrief

  • Pool Stages (4th in Pool B)
    • Italy 47-22 Namibia
    • South Africa 57-3 Namibia
    • New Zealand 71-9 Namibia
    • Namibia C-C Canada

With 2 of the tournament favourites and another Tier 1 nation in Italy all in this pool, things were never going to be easy for the Welwitschias. They put up a good fight against the Italians and scores a couple of good tries, but they tired as the game went on and it let Italy build up a scoreline that could have been even more damaging had their handling not been better. Moving onto their highly vaunted neighbours, they were unable to deal with the physicality of the Springboks pack and were dominated at the set piece, which made it easy for them to be manipulated by the back line. Despite this – and 2 yellow cards – though, the team again fought hard throughout to stop the scoreline getting too one-sided.

With the All Blacks next up, it was easy to imagine that we would be witnessing a rout from the first minute. However, Namibia shocked everyone by putting in a big performance that held New Zealand to just a 10-9 lead after 30 minutes. Though the All Blacks eventually ran away with the match to score more than in the same fixture in the 2015 tournament, the match statistics showed just how much Namibia had improved, with far better stats for possession and metres made.

Going into the tournament, I imagine that Namibia were targeting their final match against Canada as their best chance of a win. Sadly, the impact of Typhoon Hagibis resulted in the match being cancelled, though earlier results meant that they finished above the North Americans courtesy of points difference.

Looking Ahead

This is a good time for Namibia. While there are some players in their 30s who have likely played their last World Cup, the majority of the squad are young enough to have a good chance of representing their country again in France in 2023, while key players like halfbacks Damian Stevens and Cliven Loubser, who have a combined age of 46. In Johan Deysel, JC Greyling and Johann Tromp, they have some fantastic players who will bring great experience to any side – the kind of star players that a team of Namibia’s level needs.

While Namibia look set to continue pushing for that Africa 1 spot, they are a long way from pulling off a result against Tier 1 opposition. Only a couple of the squad are playing in the top flight European leagues, with the majority of the players part of the Welwitschias Currie Cup squad. If Namibia are to continue improving, they need to have more representation in Super Rugby and other top flight competition. With the lack of success the Southern Kings have been having (and the relative lack of focus on them compared to the Super Rugby franchises), I can’t help but feel that the Welwitschias would find more benefit from competing in the Pro14, though I feel that Georgia (at least) should be ahead of them in the list of possible Pro14 franchises.

Schmoedown Spectacular IV Predictions

Schmoedown Spectacular IV Predictions

It’s hard to believe that we are reaching the end of Season 6 of the Movie Trivia Schmoedown. It feels like only a couple of months ago that Jeannine “The Machine” and Chance Ellison were opening the season live in New York. It has certainly lived up to the name “The Magic Season”, but it’s not over yet. On December 7th, Schmoedown Spectacular – the Wrestlemania of the Movie Trivia Schmoedown – will take place in front of a live audience, with thousands around the world likely to be live streaming the event. And what a card we have to look forward to: The final of the Ultimate Schmeoedown Singles Tournament and a Championship Match in all 4 Divisions of the League.

Who will be ending the season on a high? And who will be spending the offseason thinking what might have been?

Warning: This will contain spoilers for the Ultimate Schmoedown Teams Tournament, so proceed with caution if you have not yet watched the full tournament

Ultimate Schmoedown Singles Tournament Final

Growl Growl!
Growl Growl!
feat mts Movie-Trivia-Schmoedown-Ben-Bateman

Originally meant to be part of the Orlando Live Event, Ben “The Boss” Bateman’s back injury caused the match to be moved to the opener at Spectacular. Bateman has had an incredible season, going 4-1 in Singles and 6-4 overall and is arguably the best Schmeodown Pro in the Singles & Teams Divisions to have never won a belt, so he will be driven to win this. William “The Beast” Bibbiani is a former Singles Champion and clearly one of the most knowledgeable competitors in the league, with his marathon run in the Free 4 All a highlight of not just 2019 but the entirety of Schmoedown history.

Recent months have seen a bit of a heel-ish edge return to Bateman’s play and it will be interesting to see how Bibbiani, performing in his first 1v1 live event, copes with that. While I have really come to respect Bibbs’ knowledge of the Schmoedown over the years – helped greatly by his time as my boss at TriviaSD.com – I think that Bateman’s preparation and calculating strategy within the game is second to none right now, so I see him pulling out the victory, assuming he gets a favourable category in Round 2.

Star Wars Title Match

MTS Chicago Live Alex Damon wins
mts laura kelly alyce

Laura “The Luminess” Kelly may not have won the Fatal Fiveway at Star Wars Celebration this year, but she certainly put the Division on notice with a strong performance. Working with manager Alyce, she has clearly worked on her knowledge of the game, making her an even more formidable opponent.

Speaking of formidable though, defending champion Alex “The Demon” Damon is probably one of the toughest competitors in the entire league. Running a YouTube channel called Star Wars Explained means you need to know your stuff and he certainly does. He even started the channel as a way of training for a trivia contest at Dragon Con in Atlanta – a contest he finally won this year! There’s very little he doesn’t seem to know, while he also has experience of a full Schmoedown live event production from his #1 Contenders match against Ken Napzok and Joseph Scrimshaw last season.

While I think Laura will put up a strong fight, I just can’t see anyone beating Alex at the moment!

Teams Title Match

MTS Founding Fathers Anarchy
MTS Shazam Announcers william bibbiani brendan meyer

Two former rivals who became partners, “The Outlaw” John Rocha and “Dangerous” Dan Murrell are 2 of the biggest names in the league and from the moment the Founding Fathers were formed in Anarchy last year, it always looked a matter of time before they won the Teams Championship. They have a 4-2 record, with those only losses coming to KOrruption, who they went on to beat in Orlando for the title. John Rocha comes alive at a live event while Dan Murrell appears to get better with each live event appearance. A curious stat: Rocha has never successfully defended a title, losing on his first defences to Mark Reilly, Ethan Erwin and The Patriots; Murrell however has never failed to defend a title at least once in any of the 3 times he has held the Singles Title… One of these records will be coming to an end at Spectacular, but which one?

Their opponents Shazam! are on a great run of form, having defeated The Odd Couple, The Family and surprise package Loony Bin on their way to winning the Ultimate Schmoedown. I’ve already stated that “The Beast” is one of the most knowledgeable players in the game, and Brendan “The Kid” Meyer is a wonderful talent who I wouldn’t be shocked to see challenge for the Singles Title in the future.

What will be interesting is seeing how they cope with the live environment. As an actor, “The Kid” should be comfortable in front of a live crowd, and the pair were 2 of the biggest stars during Free 4 All 3, however that is the only live event that they have competed in so far. Meanwhile, Rocha and Murrell have thrived in live events since their introduction last season; they know what the atmosphere will be like firsthand. Add to that the difficulty Bibbiani will have 1 match to get over the agony of losing to Bateman (or alternatively, have to try and keep the momentum from beating Bateman during the Star Wars match) and it is highly possible that he comes into this match a little over/under-cooked.

I give the advantage to the Founding Fathers, but it’s gonna be close!

Innergeekdom Title Match

MTS Movie-Trivia-Schmoedown-Mike-Kalinowski-1024x576
MTS Movie-Trivia-Schmoedown-Kevin-Smets-1024x576

While it understandably isn’t the main event, this is the match that I am most excited for right now. With the retirement of Rachel Cushing, Mike “The Killer” Kalinowski and Kevin “The Smasher” Smets are arguably the top 2 competitors in the Innergeekdom Division. When the pair faced off at Collision in a #1 Contender match, Kalinowski came out the victor in a thrilling match, with Smets left to rue saying the wrong name on an answer he clearly knew.

When it comes to preparation, these are 2 of the best in the league, to the point that it is hard to consider any Innergeekdom category a weakness for them, just slightly less of a strength. At one point, Kalinowski had a shot to become Mikey 3-Belts, but that opportunity was gone in a flash and following his loss in Orlando he could conceivably finish the season with no belts, so he’ll be keen to hold onto the title. Meanwhile, Smets has had Kalinowski in his sights all season and as the only loss on his record, he will be up for revenge.

This is going to be a close match and I would not be at all shocked to see this go to Sudden Death, but I’m going to give the slightest of edges to Kalinowski.

Singles Title Match

MTS Paul Oyama
MTS Ben Bateman Tale of the Tape

Ben Bateman’s prize for beating Bibbiani will be a match against “Primetime” Paul Oyama. Part of the 2019 rookie crop after graduating from the fan leagues, Oyama has had an incredible season, going 6-0 in Singles, including winning the title off Dan Murrell and defending against Jeff Sneider in New York. This guy knows more about movies than someone his age should, while he also knows the game inside out.

Right now, I think that Bateman has a good chance against Oyama, providing the right categories come up, as he is so used to mind games from opponents like Andrew Ghai (and from playing his own mind games), while I am confident that he will have developed specific strategies for dealing with not just Bibbiani, but Oyama too.

I expect it to be a close one, but I can see “The Boss” shedding the Dan Marino comparisons and finishing the season as the Singles Champion.

The Tenth Manager

As well as 5 amazing matches, Spectacular will also give us the reveal of the tenth and final manager. With one spot still to fill, we know that next year’s managers are:

  • Roxy
  • Dagnino
  • RMB
  • Kaiser
  • Jay
  • Emma
  • Grace
  • Winston
  • Coy

So who will the last manager be? A while back, I suggested that a loss to KOrruption would see Rocha retire and become the tenth manager. From the way that Kristian was speaking earlier this week on SEN Live, it sounds as if the manager is already confirmed, which makes me think that it will not be Rocha, regardless of who wins against Shazam! Kristian also went on to say that at this moment, he thinks the unnamed manager has the potential to be one of the top prospects for winning in Season 7, something which leads me to believe that it is someone who knows the game inside out. Rachel Cushing and Clarke Wolfe have both ruled themselves out of the role, but I think the aftermath of the Ultimate Schmoedown Teams Tournament Final gave us our answer: Andrew Ghai.

feat mts Movie-Trivia-Schmoedown-Drew-Ghai-Free-For-All-3

The dastardly one shocked everyone by announcing his retirement “from competitive play” following The Family’s loss to Shazam! “Competitive play” is an interesting choice of words. It suggests that he’s still intending to be a big part of the league, just not competing in matches. He is one of the best tactical minds in the game and has had a huge impact on Drew McWeeny during their matches together this season, and I think that he understands the role that a manager will have moving forwards better than most.

 

What are your predictions for Spectacular?

Premier League: November 2019

Premier League: November 2019

The title race took a strong swing in the direction of Liverpool in November, as Liverpool beat defending champions Manchester City 3-1 at Anfield, before a 2-2 draw for City at St James’ Park extended Jürgen Klopp’s side’s lead to 11 points going into December.

Tottenham’s struggles continued for the first half of the month, before Mauricio Pochettino was replaced with José Mourinho, which appears to have changed their fortunes in the following weeks. Pochettino was quickly followed into unemployment by Arsenal manager Unai Emery given his marching orders following a 2-2 draw at home to Southampton, while Quique Sánchez Flores made it to the end of the month but no further after a 2-1 loss at Southampton on the last day of the month marked the end of his time at Watford, his sacking being announced on December 1st.

Watford end the month bottom of the table, with Norwich and Southampton joining them in the relegation zone, though Everton, Brighton and Aston Villa are all within 3 points of the bottom 3, though all with better goal differences.

Premier League Round-up

Crime and punishment

Nobody ever wants to see a player get injured, so my thoughts went out to André Gomes as I watched him suffer a serious ankle injury against Tottenham at the start of the month.

A clumsy challenge from Son Heung-min brought the Portuguese midfielder down, but as he went down his foot got caught beneath him, resulting in a fractured and dislocated ankle. Son was clearly distraught at the injury his tackle had caused, but was then given a red card for the tackle – despite referee Martin Atkinson having appeared ready to produce a yellow card until noticing the injury. It was later confirmed that the severity of Gomes’ injury was taken into account, with the red card being given for endangering a player.

As much as I sympathise with Gomes, a red card for Son was an absolute joke. The challenge was clumsy and deserving of a yellow, but by no means dangerous, and the injury was simply the result of an unfortunate accident. In my opinion, a n injury to a player should not be accounted for when deciding on a punishment in these kinds of situation. A simple nudge in the back that is deserving of no more than a free kick could otherwise become a red card if the fouled player fell awkwardly and hurt themselves, meanwhile a much more cynical and dangerous challenge could only receive a yellow as it didn’t cause injury.

Thankfully, the red card was later overturned by the FA, while Gomes is expected to make a full recovery. Hopefully lessons will have been learned when a similar situation inevitably occurs again in the future.

And your winners… and new Premier League Champions…

It’s not even Christmas yet, but the title race looks all-but over. A 3-1 victory over the defending champions at Anfield was a big result in the title fight, but following Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Brighton and Manchester City’s 2-2 draw at Newcastle, the Reds have now opened up an 11-point lead after just 14 games.

While Liverpool have a history of letting a lead slip (sometimes literally, sorry Steven Gerrard!), I find it hard to imagine that it’s going to happen again this year. Liverpool are yet to lose a Premier League match this season and have only dropped points on one occasion, so even if City were to win every remaining game, it’s questionable if Liverpool would drop enough points to lose the lead.

The thing is, I don’t see City going the rest of the season without dropping more points. Leroy Sané has been a big loss to the attack despite the strength in depth there, while Gabriel Jesus doesn’t appear to adequately replace Sergio Aguero whenever the Argentina is missing. Worse though is at the back, where the failure to replace the outgoing Vincent Kompany has left them short at the back following Aymeric Laporte’s injury. Fernandinho is a quality player, but he isn’t a centreback, which teams are able to take advantage of, while he is then missed in the holding role, putting even more pressure on a questionable defence. Whether they wait for Laporte to return, or look to bring in another centreback in January, it could be that it is already too late.

I’m not a betting man, but if I was, then my money would be going the way of Liverpool.

Getting ridiculous

Southampton’s 2-1 win over Watford at the end of the month is a match that is going to stick in my mind for a while. While it was the match I watched during a long-overdue catch-up with an old friend, what I will remember it for is 2 of the worst decisions that I have seen all season.

I’ve thought for years that goalkeepers get too much protection and that was proved after Ben Foster tried to flick the ball past Danny Ings and, realising that Ings had the turn on him, pulled him down in the box. Instead of a penalty for Southampton, a free kick was given against Ings for leaning into Foster. Anywhere else on the pitch and against any other player, that would never go against Ings, so to see it here is ridiculous – thankfully it didn’t impact the result at the end.

That said, the only reason it didn’t impact the result was for a goal from Ings that should never have stood. As Moussa Djenepo rounded José Holebas, he appeared to stumble and stretch out an arm, with replays clearly showing him flicking the ball goalwards, allowing him to regain control of the ball and cut it back for Ings to score the equaliser. Under the new handball rules, it does not matter if Djenepo deliberately handled or not – any contact with the hand/arm by an attacking player in the build-up to a goal is considered a handball, so this should have been clearly ruled out. Unfortunately, VAR apparently didn’t pick up on this as they did not have all angles available to spot the offence. I don’t understand what the point of VAR is if they don’t have access to all available angles. I remain a firm supporter of VAR, but so far this season it’s been a shambles! With the nature of the business, every decision is important, as shown by Flores’ sacking the day after this loss. A “sorry, we got it wrong” after the fact is not good enough.

I bid you adieu…

November 2019 was a dark month for Premier League managers at top clubs. Mauricio Pochettino was shown the door at Tottenham and José Mourinho brought in to replace him, while Unai Emery was also shown the door at Arsenal, with Freddie Ljungberg taking over as interim head coach. Quique Sánchez Flores managed his last match in his 2nd spell at Watford this month as well, with his sacking being announced on December 1st. Meanwhile in Manchester, Ole Gunnar Solskjær remains on the precipice and I currently feel that it will be very difficult for him to make it to the end of the year still in charge at Old Trafford.

I understand why Pochettino was removed given the results this season, but I think that he has been in a similar situation to Solskjær, in that he has not received the support he needed from his club’s chairman. Emery however was not getting results despite bringing in expensive players like Nicolas Pépé, while the apparent lack of leadership, the incident with Granit Xhaka and the consistent failures to create a solid defence meant that his days were going to be numbered. Flores as well was no shock, given that Watford – a club already known for frequently changing their managers – were rooted to the bottom of the table. A 2-2 draw at Arsenal was a high point, but that was eclipsed by a 8-0 loss to Manchester City. With the way results were going, it was too big of a risk to stick with him if they wanted to avoid relegation.

José felt like a bit of a gamble, but things have started well for him at Spurs. Dele Alli has hit form again and results are going their way, even if 2 Premier League games in a row saw them almost throw away a 3-goal lead. United tonight will be a big test, but I’m sure that he will want to get one over on his former team, and I’m sure his players will be up for it too.

Who will be next: Solskjær, Marco Silva or someone else?

Finally, today is a first for my Premier League recaps as I have some content to include that I can take no credit for. Football has been a big part of me keeping in contact with my friend Chris since we stopped working together. A Spurs fan (he has provided all the pictures this site has used from White Hart Lane and the Tottenham Hotspur Staudium), I was very interested to hear his thoughts on Pochettino’s sacking and it was safe to say he had plenty. I joked to him that if he wanted to write something, I’d publish it for him, and within no time, I had an email waiting for me with what I’m about to show you.

Bear in mind that this was written on the evening after his sacking was announced, so José’s early success may have helped, but I think that we still stand by what he has written as the switch in managers looks to be a band-aid on a deeper wound.

Take it away Chris:

‘The Game is About Profit, Not Glory’ – why Tottenham’s issues lie at the top

In 2001, ENIC decided to purchase a controlling stake in Tottenham Hotspur F.C. from Lord Alan Sugar and Daniel Levy became chairman of the club. In these 18 years Tottenham have had 12 managers, an average net spend of £5.4 million per window and 1 league cup win.

As of writing, a quick search tells us that Tottenham Hotspur is the 9th most valuable football club in the world at an estimated $1.6 billion (Forbes; May ’19). ENIC paid an initial £21.9 million for the controlling stake (Telegraph; Dec ’00).

The Spurs way, ever since the ‘glory days’ headed by club legend Nicholson, has been ‘The Game is About Glory’ – in his great words, ‘It is better to fail aiming high than to succeed aiming low. And we of Spurs have set our sights very high, so high in fact that even failure will have in it an echo of glory’. Should you ask any footballing fan what their definition of success is for their team, or any team, the last word that would come to their lips is ‘profit’.

On 27th May 2014, Tottenham appointed Mauricio Pochettino as Head Coach on an initial 5-year contract which started, what most football fans across the globe believed to be, the new era of Tottenham Hotspur. With the plans in full swing for a new, world class stadium, a strong, young and promising spine throughout the starting XI, the club needed rejuvenation and Pochettino seemed to be the answer.

In 5½ years, Pochettino has taken Tottenham to a new level. Leaving the club with the most wins by a Spurs manager in the post-war era (159), 4 consecutive top-four PL finishes and their first ever Champions League final, have ENIC, Daniel Levy and Tottenham Hotspur F.C. made a grave mistake? Tottenham have gone from being a club known for their inadequacy, ‘lack of guts’ and on the wrong end of the infamous ‘St Totteringham’s Day’ for so long, too long. There is one man responsible for changing that mindset, that gut, that desire and putting Tottenham on the global stage.

Not even 6 months after taking the club to their first ever Champions League final, the board of Spurs have taken the ‘brave’ and ‘difficult’ decision to part ways with their finest manager in many of our fans’ lifetimes. The first period of Pochettino’s tenure where he has faced criticism has been matched with rash, baffling dismissal instead of being matched with the support, investment and trust he has earned.

The performance of the team cannot be ignored in the recent past. The incredible Champions League run has eclipsed the Premier League performance of the club and, as of October 2019, Tottenham hat the joint most Premier League losses of 16, joint only with relegation-candidates Brighton & Hove Albion. This, however, was pre-warned by Pochettino who, within a press conference, was clear that having not signed any players from 31st January 2018 to 2nd July 2019, having significantly under-paid and important players not being offered suitable new contracts would result in ‘a painful re-build’. I have no doubt that this has been an expectation for Pochettino for some time who has had to work with limited investment deserving of his achievements over the course of his employment by Levy.

As of writing the shortest candidate for the job is Jose Mourinho. A natural winner when surrounded by money and a lot of it to pay the best players the best money for the biggest transfer fees. Is he, the fans (and Daniel Levy) naive to think that anyone is able to do a better job for the club than the man just fired? Only time will tell but, unless Levy and ENIC decide the game is about glory, rather than profit, it’s going to be a long road.

feat football prem league logo white

The RWC2019 Debrief: Japan

The RWC2019 Debrief: Japan

Welcome to the RWC2019 Debriefs. The World Cup is now over and a new 4 year cycle begins, but the first stage of any cycle should be looking back at how things went – what went wrong and what went right – before looking on to how things go for the next cycle to ensure qualification to RWC2023 (if they haven’t automatically qualified) and to make sure they enter that tournament in peak form.

As I continue down the list alphabetically, today I will be looking at Japan.

RWC2019 Qualification

As hosts, Japan automatically qualified for the tournament, however they would have also qualified through finishing 3rd in Pool B during the 2015 campaign.

2019 Form

Wins over Fiji, Tonga and the USA saw Japan finish top of the Pacific Nations Cup, but they came into the World Cup on the back of a 7-41 loss to South Africa.

The Debrief

  • Pool Stages (1st in Pool A)
    • Japan 30-10 Russia
    • Japan 19-12 Ireland
    • Japan 38-19 Samoa
    • Japan 28-21 Scotland
  • Quarterfinal
    • Japan 3-26 South Africa

Japanese rugby is far from my strength, so when I was predicting the pool standings, I did not expect them to make the top 2, largely based on the lack of success the Sunwolves (who were playing a lot of non-Japanese players). So imagine my surprise watching them in the pools.

The Brave Blossoms won fans in 2015 with their miraculous win over South Africa, and those fans were multiplying exponentially as this year’s tournament went on, courtesy of the way that they played the attractive high-tempo rugby that we all love to see, but also did it well enough to not just be competitive, but to win their games. Kotaru Matsushima made himself an instant celebrity with a hattrick in the tournament opener against Japan and carried on with his strong performances to finish the tournament with 5 tries, the bounce of a ball narrowly denying him a couple as well.

The back row were also sensational through the pools – despite my pick of players to watch, Amanaki Mafi missing most of the tournament through injury – with Michael Leitch, Lappies Labuschagné and Kazuki Himeno being some of their biggest stars with their incredible engines, hard carrying, endless tackling and numerous turnovers, while hooker Shota Horie threw his hat in the mix for being one of the best in the world at his position.

With each match, the Japanese tactics appeared to be all-but impossible for their opponents to deal with. Not even defensively solid Ireland could find a way to stop them, and but for the bounce of the ball, Japan’s winning margin could have been considerably more. And it wasn’t just the attack that caused problems, as they played a high-pressing defence that limited their opposition’s time on the ball and helped Japan stay on the front foot to win turnovers. Their pool victory – and subsequent first ever qualification for the knockout stages – was fully deserved.

Things were always going to get tougher entering the quarterfinals, as they faced South Africa. The match ahead of the tournament had already suggested that a repeat of “the Miracle of Brighton” was unlikely, and that soon proved the case as they were unable to cope with the incredible physicality of the Springboks. Credit to Japan: they held in it as long as they could, and their stars didn’t perform badly, they just had no answer for a Springbok pack that was putting heavy pressure on their lineout and powering through them at every opportunity. A disappointing end, but a tournament with so much to praise for Japan.

Looking Ahead

This is a very interesting time for Japan. The team is clearly on the up, and the World Cup will have created so many more rugby fans, but now Japan need to build off this. Key to that is what I discussed with Georgia: finding a way to get regular Test matches against Tier 1 opposition. Beating Scotland and Ireland was no fluke, but if the Brave Blossoms are to continue growing, they need to be added to one of the Tier 1 international tournaments – for geographical reasons I would say the Rugby Championship.

Beyond that, though, they need to keep developing the talent. While stars like Timothy Lafaele, Matsushima and Himeno should have another World Cup in them, there will be question marks surrounding a number of the other big names from this squad. Horie, Leitch, Labuschagné, fly half Yu Tamura, and winger Lomano Lemeki are already in their 30s, while star winger Kenki Fukuoka is stepping away from rugby to become a doctor. After the hard work Japan have put in to get international recognition, they need to make sure they have the quality coming through to avoid a massive drop-off the moment their aging stars disappear, as arguably happened with Italy. And herein lies the issue as the Sunwolves have arguably not been used right, with so many foreign players filling the squad instead of Japanese players, and now they are entering their last season before being cut from Super Rugby. Meanwhile the Top League is seeing an influx of former internationals from other countries coming in for one last big paycheck before they retire, which may be bringing some extra quality to the league to learn off, but is also blocking off spaces for homegrown talent to come through.

Japan needs to look at its domestic game to ensure the talent is able to make its way up to the national team, while the national team needs to build on their success with regular Tier 1 matches. If this can happen, Japan are in a great spot to remain competitive for the coming years.