Six Nations Review.

What a feast of Rugby we had this weekend! Great movement, brilliant running lines, superb continuity all the things that you would expect to happen this weekend. Believe it or not it did! Unfortunately not in the Six Nations, but in the Southern Hemisphere.
Having settled down on Friday, with a fine bottle of claret, we were expecting a tremendous match between Wales and France and to be fair, there were some exciting passages of play, but they were few and far between. From our viewpoint France once they intercepted a poor pass and took the lead were always going to win the game and at half time looked as if they were going to run away with it. However Wales did come back at the French in the second half and visions of a revival similar to that against the Scots looked on the cards for a 10 minute period. Then the French regained their composure and despite another late score by Wales, France kept their 100 % record this year winning 20-26.
Italy beat Scotland yet again 16-12 and Ireland secured an away win against England 16-20. Both games were very disappointing, maybe not to the winning team's fans, but certainly for rugby supporters worldwide. Italy have very limited playing resources and can therefore be excused to some extent. Ireland have what appears to be a team that is going backwards. Scotland are very poor. The biggest condemnation must be for England. They are rudderless and have no idea. Martin Johnson was a great player but as the Head Coach he is fast becoming a joke. The selection of Steve Borthwick is pathetic, to make him captain, well that's bordering on insanity. The backs coach has been a dismal failure! All in all a very disappointing weekend of NH rugby. Let's hope for a lot better in the next round of matches.

Jumping Ship?

Well, this is interesting, at least to us. No sooner had we been informed of Paul Mathews departure from GRF, we have been told of two more players taking the same route, Will Brown and Alan Letele, with perhaps one or two others joining them. Now, to be fair, this has not been confirmed, but if it is true, one starts to wonder, what is going on at GRF? We know that they have recruited Ian Caple from Spartacus as a coach he was the inspiration behind Spartacus beating GRF twice last season, or so he told everyone, the question is, will he have any players left to benefit from his vast knowledge and experience? We believe that if this trend continues GRF will be struggling big time this season as they were last year but without some of their best players to rescue them this time. Of course, they have Neil Johnson coaching as well as Ian and we think that the two of them will complement each other, but will it work?

Latest and Interesting Scoop!

TrueSwedenRugby has been given a scoop regarding one of Sweden's top Player's.
Current International Paul Mathews has decided to change clubs and leave GRF for Spartacus. This is obviously good news for his new club as that will help them to develop their backline. It is a disaster for GRF as Paul was not only an inspirational Captain and player for them, it could also be argued that his performances were the only reason that they escaped the ignominy of relegation last season.
Although we have pressed him to the reasons why he was leaving, he has decided to keep that to himself for the time being, like any true gentleman, we suppose.
He was forthcoming on why he chose Spartacus though. "Even though I was made some very generous offers by other clubs throughout the country. I wanted to join a club that had potential, was run properly, had some good coaches and one where I could help them to develop. I want to feel the atmosphere of a Rugby Club and to start enjoying the game again. Spartacus, in my view offers me that." Although Paul is currently enjoying a rest in New Zealand, he assures us that he will be fit to play on his return.
Things seem to be looking up for Spartacus, we will be following their progress with interest this season.

Better Late than Never

First of all, we must apologise for the late report on the Catalonia match. But some of us find it difficult to type with one hand, especially if it's not the one you are used to writing with. Enough sympathy, on with the report.
The game kicked off at a cracking pace and the experimental Sweden team were soon into their stride. With Tobias Borg's pace being complimented by the speed of thought and direction from Ian Gowland, playing Fullback, this was to prove a serious threat from the backline. Alex Taylor was in commanding form and was well supported by Paul Sullivan and Thomas Ardvisson, all of which instilled confidence throughout the team and for the first twenty minutes, apart from some misdirected kicks, there appeared to be only one team in the game. The forwards were sticking to the game plan and playing simple but effective rugby. Tries for Tim Johansson, Ian Gowland and Tobias Borg with one successful penalty, gave a scoreline of 0-18 after 17 minutes on the clock. However the coaches were aware that Catalonia were not going to lie down, sure enough they came back at the Swedish Team and scored a pushover try from a rumbling maul.
It was inevitable that the visitors would start to fade as the majority of the squad had not played any rugby for almost 5 months. This became more apparent as the game progressed, with the Swedish forwards fighting hard at every set piece to maintain some pressure. Although the home side were gaining the upper hand, especially in the second half, there was a tremendous spirit within the squad and with some well executed replacements being made by Mike Tatu, the Swedes were managing to repel the most of the constant waves of attacks, and they occasionally made their own forays into the opposition 22. With the Catalans closing the scores to 17-18, Sweden were awarded a penalty. Playing a captains role, Alex Taylor stepped up and with a casual glance, slotted the ball between the posts. This gave the side a bit of breathing space and despite the pressure in the last 5 minutes, they held out for a vital and deserved win.
The training camp was a complete success, it was well organised and the players were more than happy with the schedule. The coaches got the opportunity to look at new faces and see how they performed under pressure.
We have been told that there is a further camp in March, where the coaches will be looking at other players before making their selection for the friendly against Denmark in early April.
Looks like that National Squad is moving forward and that can only be a good thing for Swedish Rugby!

Gathering Pace

It's nice to report some good, and to our mind very positive news regarding Swedish rugby.
We have been informed of the growing communication and co-operation between the managerial staff of both the Men's and Women's National squads. This can only be to the benefit of all concerned, with exchanges of ideas and plans especially between the FK's. This is a most welcome development and long may it continue.
Regarding the Men's squad to Spain, the only change to the published personnel that we have been informed of is Erik Lundquist has been called up for Victor Pettersson. Evidently Victor broke a finger at the January training camp and it has not healed in time. With previous experience of playing for the National squad, we feel sure that calling in Erik is a good move.
With the improvements being made to the National squad in terms of fitness, planning, and leadership, it looks like they are gathering pace and could well be on the way to having Sweden's best ever squad.
Good Luck to them in Spain, let's hope that they have a fantastic camp and finish it off with a fine win.

There is another training camp planned in March, which is again in Enkoping and with other players being invited, or so we are told, it looks like the coaches are trying to look at as many players as possible before they have to decide the final squad for the vital matches against Latvia and Croatia.