Men's National Squad

The squad has now been finalized for the match against Denmark on Saturday. There are some interesting selections made by the management with some surprising omissions. Presumably this is to see if some players are up to the rigours of International rugby and whether others are capable of playing in different positions. Strangely some players have been selected even though they did not attend the recent training camp, but the selectors must have a good reason for doing so. This is a match against a team from a lower division so apart from looking for a win, an imperative, in our opinion, it will allow the selectors to find out if these players can put pressure on the those who are perceived to be the first choice of the national squad. Let's hope they can produce the performances and produce the right result for Swedish rugby.
The squad as selected:-

1. Stefan Obradovic
2. Rickard Johansson
3. Peter Wiklund
4. Henrick Shengor
5. Rikard Örnberg
6. Mattias Björkebäck
7. Eirik Lundquist
8. Hannes Eriksson
9. Lee Sandberg
10. Tim Johansson
11. Tobias Borg
12. Sami Paulsson
13. Thomas Arvidsson
14. Daniel Nissila
15. Robin Fransson
16. Peter Blaha
17. Lars Tunestål
18. Ted Lunberg
19. Andreas Austa
20. Paul Mathews
21. Connor Murphy
22. Ian Gowland

Six Nations 2011

To England the spoils and the Six Nations trophy, but the real winners this year are Ireland. 

In truth, England didn't come anywhere near winning a Grand Slam, they were almost embarrassingly off the pace in Dublin and should have lost by 30 points or more.

That is the chief memory they will take out of the 2011 Championship.

No, the team that came nearest to winning the Grand Slam was actually third-placed Ireland and that's an Ireland that were only able to engage top gear in short bursts as they experiment with new players and systems ahead of the World Cup.

With Ireland you know for a fact that there is much more to come, with England you wonder.

Apart from the occasional mesmerising glimpse of French skill and early England dash against Italy, Ireland played most of the quality rugby in this year's tournament, albeit sporadically until on Saturday when they let England have both barrels for the full 80 minutes. If they start doing that with some regularity, look out.
eland outplayed France for large tracts of their game in Dublin and outscored them three tries to one. They only faltered at the Aviva because they got on the wrong side of the referee - as they did in Italy and Scoland - and Sean Cronin dropped the ball with both the line and a two-man overlap beckoning in the final minute. Ireland should have won in Wales but allowed themselves to become unnerved by one of the worst and most crass refereeing decisions in Six Nations history.
Even then they would have won if Paddy Wallace hadn't butchered a three-man overlap in the last minute when trying to score under the posts, rather than keeping it simple. He won't do that again, or if he does he will be out of the squad.
As you might have noticed there are a few 'ifs' and 'buts' there for which I make no apologies.The point is, however, that there were absolutely no 'ifs' and 'buts' about England.
On Saturday, in Dublin, they simply weren't good enough, not even close to the required standard to compete for the World Cup. There were no caveats whatsoever about the England performance, they were lightyears away from the rugby Ireland produced.
It is Ireland who have emerged with the most plusses. O'Brien has emerged as a massive backrow force, Paul O'Connell is back up to speed after serious injury, Donncha O'Callaghan has rediscovered his zest, Cian Healy increasingly looks the real deal at scrum-time and Mike Ross is so solid. Why have Ireland taken so long to recognise his worth?
Johnny Sexton has come through a dip in form and confidence, Ronan O'Gara is settling into his new, but important, role as second fiddle, Eoin Reddan looks sharp again, Keith Earls could be a major force at full-back, where he was one of the best underage players in Ireland history, Tommy Bowe has been majestic in his few games after injury and most of all their warrior chief, Brian O'Driscoll, has got the bit between his teeth again.
Don't think for one minute O'Driscoll will be travelling to New Zealand in the autumn just to make up the numbers.
The SANZAR teams watching the Six Nations - and they do like hawks - will have been most impressed and worried by new Ireland because they are clearly on a big upward curve again, yet still have a hard core of experience within the squad.
France are a perennial puzzle and worry them a little for that reason alone, but England's soft underbelly was cruelly exposed and don't think the southern hemisphere giants didn't notice.

Brendan Gallagher   Daily Telegraph 21st March 2011

England 22 Scotland 16

England placed one hand on the Six Nations trophy and teed up a shot at the Grand Slam after scrapping their way to an ugly victory over Scotland.

Martin Johnson's men head to Ireland next week knowing a victory will seal the first Red Rose clean sweep since the World Cup-winning year of 2003.

England's points difference is so great, courtesy of their thumping victory over Italy, that they should be crowned champions even if they lose in Dublin.

Scotland, who have not won at Twickenham since 1983, must beat Italy next weekend to avoid the wooden spoon.

England led 12-9 courtesy of four Toby Floo
Scotland were defiant to the last and teed up an exciting finale with a brilliant individual effort from the wing Max Evans but Jonny Wilkinson closed out England's victory with a late penalty.
England captain Mike Tindall, who was replaced at half-time because of an ankle injury, hobbled up the Twickenham steps to collect the Calcutta Cup from his future mother-in-law, HRH the Princess Royal.
England's success has been built on consistency of selection: only 16 players have been used in the starting line-up all tournament.
But it was their bench today that made the difference, with Croft scoring on his return to international action after recovering from the fractured shoulder suffered in the autumn.
And they needed his intervention to settle a ferocious but error-strewn game.
Neither side was able to exert control for a consistent period.
With the ball in hand, Scotland were the more creative side early on with Ruaridh Jackson threatening at fly-half and Evans a thorn in the English side.
Scotland struggled in the set-piece. They lost their first three lineouts and were penalised three times in the scrum, which gifted England all their first-half points.
What the Scotland forwards did do well was compete at the breakdown and the visitors defended with ferocity - Kelly Brown and Richie Gray were to the fore - and quick line-speed to keep England shackled.
Paterson kicked Scotland into an early lead and it could have been better still had Rory Lawson managed to hold onto an offload from Brown with an open field in front of him.
England's scrum shoved Scotland back on half-way to earn Flood a simple shot at goal but the England fly-half pulled it wide, only his second miss of the championship.
Flood slotted his second attempt when Scotland prop Moray Low was penalised for illegal binding but in the loose England's play was ragged and undermined by careless errors.
Scotland counter-attacked from a knock-on and went through 14 phases, with Brown and Evans to the fore, before referee Romain Poite penalised England for offside and Paterson landed the kick.
It was a scrappy game all round, with little fluid rugby on show although England began to find their stride when Ben Youngs was able to bring Chris Ashton and Mark Cueto into the game.
Shontayne Hape and James Haskell both carried strongly as England began to build momentum but when Flood made a half-break Tom Palmer was wrongly penalised for a knock-on.
Flood did edge England ahead after another immense shove from his scrum but Scotland finished the half on top after snatching another turnover and drew level at 9-9 with a 39-metre drop-goal from Jackson.
Tindall was replaced at the interval by Matt Banahan, who was straight into the action with a powerful run through Brown to spark the best attack of the game.
Nick Easter offloaded to Ashton, who carved through the first ranks of Scottish defence before passing off the ground to Flood. Palmer, Dylan Hartley and Tom Wood all drove for the line but Scotland's defence scrambled well.
Brown was stretchered out of the game but Scotland's defence remained strong as England came again, although they were helped by more Red Rose mistakes.
Foden slipped the offload to Ashton, who responded to a call from Cueto by trying to chip the ball in-field but he managed only to slice it into touch.
Scotland changed their half-back after 54 minutes with Dan Parks and Mike Blair sent on, while England replaced Youngs with Danny Care.
Banahan thundered through the middle again as England moved to within five metres of the line when Scotland flanker John Barclay was penalised for hands in the ruck and sin-binned.
Flood nudged England back into the lead before Scotland built up a head of steam, only for referee Poite to call a halt to the attack after injuring himself.
Scotland coach Andy Robinson was furious.
When play resumed, Parks scuffed a drop-goal effort and the pressure was released, with Haskell then galloping downfield.
Ashton sent Foden racing clear down the touchline. The Northampton full-back was arrowing in on the corner only for Paterson to produce a magnificent try-saving tackle.
England sent on a quartet of huge experience in Steve Thompson, Simon Shaw, Wilkinson and Croft and eventually worked the breakthrough in the final seconds of the Barclay sin-binning.
Wilkinson and Foden combined down the right before England moved play left and Cueto offloaded for Croft, who crashed over Parks' tackle to score.
Scotland responded valiantly. England repelled phase after phase, with Wilkinson leading the tackling effort, before Evans reclaimed his own chip to score and tee up a thrilling finish.
But Wilkinson sealed the victory with a penalty.
d penalties to three from Chris Paterson when Tom Croft came off the bench to score what appeared to be the decisive try.
 

Telegraph staff and agencies 13/03/2011

Wales 19 Ireland 13

It doesn’t get much better than this. There were errors. It was messy. But for sheer unadulterated tension this took the biscuit.  Ireland enraged by a mistake by the officials which allowed Wales to take the lead, were pounding away inside the final minute. It was rugby at its most visceral. Big men bashing into each other with no thought given to health or safety.

It seemed inconceivable that Wales would not crack. But they held on to record a victory which was a credit to their pack and their resolve as a side. Better sides than Wales have folded under that kind of onslaught. It might be the making of them.

Ireland can have no excuses. True, they were on the wrong end of a bad decision but this was a side hanging on in there. They did marvellously well to get back into the match but the old guard are fading and they lack the all-round edge and energy which the better sides can call on.

For years O’Connell has been the go-to man up front with Brian O’Driscoll providing the rallying point behind. O’Driscoll still has the magic. The way he finished off Ireland’s first try after Tommy Bowe, another astute footballer, had forced his way between Jamie Roberts and Alun Wyn Jones was exemplary: unfussy, accurate, clinical.
O’Connell now seems to be raging against the dying of the light. He is still a force. He is still able to nick the odd line-out but it was the bullocking runs of Bradley Davies, Roberts and Sam Warburton which were most damaging.
Ireland’s defence as Wales came at them with real intensity early on was to concede penalties. They’ve done this all championship and it is a sign of a side on the rack. Ireland coach Declan Kidney gave them a right old rollicking leading into the game on the matter of discipline but the match was only 27 minutes old when referee Jonathan Kaplan warned O’Driscoll that any more penalties would result in the sin bin.
Yet that is a mark of how clever Ireland were. Sean O’Brien gave away two penalties, others infringed but Ireland always stopped short of the infringement which would cost them dear. It was all rather tough on Wales because they played most of the rugby.
With their big forwards thundering forwards, they launched some exquisite attacks down Ireland’s left flank which, were it not for some outstanding defence by Bowe and Luke Fitzgerald, might have brought some reward for their advantage in territory and possession.
The game burst into controversy 10 minutes into the second half moments after Jonathan Sexton had replaced Ronan O’Gara. Sexton’s first act was to kick the ball out on the full and from a quickly taken line-out Mike Phillips sped down the touchline to score.
O’Connell was incandescent with fury, complaining to referee Kaplan that Wales had used a different ball from the one booted off the field by Sexton. Kaplan checked with his touch judge Peter Allan. “Was it the correct ball?” Kaplan asked. “Yes,” said Allan when it patently wasn’t.
Seconds later Fitzgerald appeared to score at the other end for Ireland only for Kaplan to pull Ireland back for a penalty in front of the posts which Sexton missed. It was a desperate couple of minutes for Sexton, Ireland and the match officials. Not for Wales, though. With James Hook’s belter of a conversion from the touchline a four-point deficit at half time had turned into a three-point advantage.
A deep sense of injustice fuelled Ireland for the rest of the match. Sean O’Brien, just as he had done towards the end of the first half, clattered into bodies and O’Driscoll drifted across the Welsh defensive line searching for an opening.
But Wales made their tackles and a Phillips run from the back of a line-out engineered the position for a penalty which Hook banged over. These are the moments when the Millennium Stadium proves itself one of the most evocative and emotional venues in sport.
Replacements flooded onto the pitch to disrupt the rhythm of both teams but the full-throated participation of the crowd was never less than total. It was relentless and intense in every aspect. It was magnificent.
Wales surfed the passion and held on. No doubt the debates will continue about the quality of officiating and how often major sporting occasions turn on a contentious decision. But Wales weren’t worrying about that last night. In a match which installed Warren Gatland as the longest-serving Welsh coach, their season was back on track.

Yet Ireland were 13-9 in front at half time and in some ways it was a surprise. There is no doubt they are not the force they were. One of the more intriguing aspects of the first period was the lack of yardage gained by Paul O‘Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan.

Paul Ackford  Daily Telegraph 12/03/2011

Italy 22 France 21

First, the plaudits. Italy's  victory in Rome against a French side determined to avenge their reversal at Twickenham was one of the great moments in Six Nation's history.

It was a reward for Nick Mallett, an informed and intelligent coach, who has had to work with the smallest squad in Europe, and a resounding pat on the back for his players.

Any old coach can pluck results from a huge well of talent but Mallett has done so without a pair of half backs, with a midfield that is held together by string and with a huge burden placed on his star players, Sergio Parisse and Martin Castrogiovanni.

There was no luck underpinning the victory here. This was not a scratchy moment. From the moment that Mirco Bergamasco rifled over the penalty to secure the one-point lead, Italy looked like the winners they weren’t against Ireland.

During that game they missed an upset when they failed to secure the restart after getting in front of Ireland in the final seconds.

Against France, there was no repeat error. As France tried in vain to set up a position for a Francois Trinh-Duc drop goal, it was Italy, controlled and orderly, who provided the resistance.
That’s the measure of their improvement. And all this, don’t forget, against the team that are still, for a weak at least, the current Grand Slam holders.
Italy have never had enjoyed this magnitude of success before. They’ve had their moments, against Wales and Scotland, but outside of those two nations they had never beaten the big three of Ireland, England and France in the Six Nations.
Scotch France from that list now and think of the two that remain. What price the scalps of England and Ireland over the next few years. Both have struggled in Rome.
And what of France? There’s no debate now. Italy’s victory has exposed French coach Marc Lievremont as a charlatan. If France stay with him for the World Cup, then God help them.
Lievremont has had too long to get his side sorted for this defeat to be a blip. Blessed with the best bunch of players by some distance – and that includes a resurgent England – Lievremont has chopped and changed and seen his team lose confidence and fall into decline.
There were those who thought that their performance in the opening game of this Six Nations against Scotland was proof that they had exorcised the demons which possessed them against Australia when a second half of catastrophic awfulness saw then concede a shed load of points.
I was at the Stade de France when Scotland were the visitors and thought that they had regrouped. It was born out of a love French rugby generally and a belief that all that talent has to be channelled into something special.
What a romantic fool I was. The truth, the brutal truth, is that Lievremont is betraying a great tradition.
How can a coach seriously, as he did this week, justify the inclusion of Sebastien Chabal to play Italy solely on the basis that he was not catastrophic against England.
That’s madness, as was Lievremont’s decision to rest prop Thomas Domingo and No 8 Imanol Harinordoquy for Wales, the so-called bigger game. International rugby is about the here and now, not next week or a tournament at the end of the year, even if that tournament is the World Cup.
Teams build confidence by winning and they win more often when they settle on a side and play them on a regular basis. That is England’s policy under Martin Johnson.
The England manager has resisted the clamour to change his midfield of Mike Tindall and Shontayne Hape because he knows what he gets with them, warts and all.
Lievremont lacks that clarity of thinking and France have suffered as a result. As the excitement grew in those closing minutes in Rome; as Mallett hopped and skipped down the stands towards pitch-side like an excited schoolgirls; as Italy finally nailed a result of real importance, thoughts also turned to the fact that France were unable to pursue a drop goal routine which might have nicked a win for them.
Lievremont has ripped the confidence and clarity from France just as Mallett has invested those qualities in his side.

Paul Ackford, Daily Telegraph  12/03/2011

Håckes Cup 2011

We thought that we might take a trip to picturesque Växjö to take in the spectacle of the indoor 7's competition for both men and women. Traveling incognito and trying not to stick out like sore thumbs, which we think we managed, we were hoping to be entertained by some classic running rugby. After all, we had been informed that there were people in attendance who were going to report back on those players that shone, we guess you could call them spotters?
This for many players was their first run out since the end of last season and for others it was presumably part of their pre-season warm up. While for a great many others, it was just a social event.
With 7's now being an Olympic sport, we were hoping to see an improvement on last years play, alas this was not the case and from the moment the first Ladies match kicked off, it was apparent that there was a dire need for some fitness, some dramatic weight loss and for some 7's coaching! We lost count of the number of basic errors. the amount of contact etc, and whilst the competitors may have enjoyed it, this was a very poor advert for the game. Still, we hoped that the men would be able to show us how the game is played, how wrong we were, if anything, they were worse than the women, although with one or two exceptions, they appeared fitter, note to the men, yes your bums do look big in those tights, at least that is what we heard from some of the women,sounds a bit like pot, kettle and black we think.  Mentioning fitness brings us nicely to the officials, most of whom appeared not to know the laws ( or amendments as per the competition ), there positioning was in the main very poor and that may also have something to do with their fitness. Still they can concentrate on getting fit and improving their knowledge over the next few weeks in time for the start of the season, Well we can but hope!
Back to the rugby, given there pedigree it was no surprise that Exiles were one of the few teams to attempt, albeit at times, to play the game as it should be. We were surprised to see Hannes Eriksson and Will Brown running out for Exiles, should we read anything into this? we know that Exiles are always keen to recruit talented players, from home and abroad.  Having spoken to a couple of the squad, they were here to have a run out and enjoy themselves. Well the grandfather certainly did that and the rest of the squad were not far behind him!
However after what was a really poor display of 7's rugby, we feel sure that the spotters will not have been troubled and we also have a plea. If the Union are serious about having teams that are able to compete in this form of the game, and more importantly, qualify for the Olympic games? Then some serious planning and organizing needs to take place and it needs to be done much sooner than later!! As the game appears to have gone backwards.
Håkes Cup was a lost opportunity for the Union, let's hope that they learn from this!
For the record, Exiles won both the Men's and Women's cup.

Men's National Team Training Camp.

After a period of inactivity, it is nice to see that a training camp has now been organized. This camp is being held on the 26/27th March 2011 at Täby IP in Stockholm.
There appears to be no players based in England selected for the camp and we can only surmise that is because of costs. Although to bring a new face from Ireland will be quite expensive. this at least proves that the management are scouring the world to bring fresh talent to the squad. Even more impressive are the number of new faces selected, from clubs struggling to make any impact in the leagues below the Elite. It is clear to see how Attila can get there players selected, but Vanersborg's numbers have also increased and that appears to smack of bias. A question that begs to be asked, in our view. Were the coaches of all the clubs asked for their views about their players? After all some of them have not been playing since the end of September and consequently may not have any fitness, could be injured or may not be interested.
Notwithstanding that question and views, we hope the camp is successful and that the players produce the goods.

Players selected:-

Thomas	Arvidsson	Fredriksberg,DK
Ivar	Bengtsson	Hammarby
Peter	Blaha	Attila
Tobias	Borg	Enköping
Alexander	Andersson	Pingvin
Alex	Eliasson	Spartacus
Hannes	Eriksson	Hammarby
Ian	Gowland	Exiles
Linus	Hector	Vänersborg
Jan-Olof	Johansson	Spartacus
Tim	Johansson	Enköping
Magnus	Karlsson	Hammarby
Eirik	Lundquist	Enköping
Bobby	Nave	Enköping
Daniel	Nissila	Attila
Ricky	Opku
Stefan	Obradovic´	Attila
Paul	Sullivan	Exiles
Rasmus	Tengner	Vänersborg
Mathias	Thorhard	Hammarby
Jim	Wetterström	Finland/ERK
Peter	Wiklund	Vänersborg
Matt	Youngman	Enköping
Rikard	Örnberg	Vänersborg
Henrik	Shengor	RK Speed,DK
Ted	Lunberg	Södertälje
Andreas	Austa	Södertälje
Rikard	Johansson	Hammarby
Connor	Murphy	Connacht, Eire
Robhin	Karlsson	Hammarby
Niklas	Ståhle	Hammarby
Mathias	Björkebäck	Hammarby
Ronnie	Zetterqvist	Trojan
Lars	Tunestål	Pingvin