Wonderful Decision

Here at Trueswedenrugby, we are delighted to welcome the news that Rugby 7's has been admitted to the Olympic Games. So much so , that we decided to open a bottle of Champagne and celebrate, but please keep that to yourselves, we would hate it if you thought we used any excuse for a drink, hic.
Anyway, this has to be great news for the worldwide Rugby community and for the smaller playing nations in particular. Sweden must now take advantage and start to utilise every resource it has to promote this format of the game. Of course, if played and coached properly it is a different game to the 15 a side we generally see on the park and it really is not a game for all shapes and sizes. But, if it gets more people interested in our wonderful sport, that can only be to the benefit of the game. More players and hopefully spectators for the clubs which should. if the clubs are managed correctly, increase revenue which in turn will allow more promotion of the game. Self generating, if done properly.
So all in all a good day for the sport, which is why we have almost emptied the bottle now, plus, it's Friday and we feel like leaving a bit earlier to get to our local bar, just to spread the word of course. See, we have already started the promotional thought processes, good don't you think? hic..hic..

Sticks and Stones

We would just like to re-assure our readers, that this blog  was set up to reflect a fairer and more positive attitude towards Swedish Rugby. Of course we sometimes write with a sense of humour in our posts, which hopefully does not upset anyone. As we stated at the onset of this blog, we will react to information and topics from other blogs if we feel it is in the best interest of the game. As far as we are concerned we try to think that all of our readers will have opinions and some may wish to publish them. We gladly welcome them, even if they may criticise us, oh and in case you are interested there are a few of us who write this blog, but we decided to keep just the one psuedonym, which is Heineken, as we do not want to publicise ourselves, after all it's the game in Sweden that is important, is it not? Many thanks to teamswedenrugby for the free advertising, as you can see, we are nothing but generous, so we have returned the favour.

Team Sweden?

Breaking news via Reuters otherwise known as the grapevine. We are led to believe that the squad for Sweden to play against Holland and Malta has been selected and if correct, looks to be a strong squad, with the return of a few well known faces. These are the names that we have been informed are in,

Alex Taylor, Sebastian Taylor, Andrew Daish, Magnus McDonald, Lee Sandberg, Matthew Youngman, Viktor Petersson, Mattias Thorhard, Bobby Nave, Thomas Ardvisson, Paul Matthews, Tobias Borg, Ricky Opuku,
Richard Johansson, Fredrik Casselhag, Jan Olf Johansson, Paul Sullivan, Alan Letele, Olof Wadell, Peter Wiklund, Rikard Ornberg, Roger de Jager Tim Johansson.

Looks to be a well constructed squad by Mike Tatu and we wish them well for the matches.

Down To The Wire

Within a couple of days the mighty forces of Sweden will collide in an awesome display of thrust and counter thrust. The earth will shudder as the impact of warrior against warrior begins. Such a devastating show will let the onlookers know that they are witnessing an almighty spectacle! At the same time as the World Tiddlywinks Championships there will two other intriguing Rugby matches taking place. Yes, you guessed it, the finals will be upon us. First up, the mighty Goteborg Ladies against the formidable amazons from Uppsala. This will also see a battle of minds by the coaches of either team. On the one side is a Scotsman with a renowned reputation as a coach, someone who has tasted success before and true to his race has very short arms and very deep pockets. Which will probably get deeper if they win. But enough about Guy, what about the other coach, I hear you ask? Well the Goteborg coach has a slightly quieter approach to things, even if he does like to go on a bit. Those clever thoughts and ideas behind those dark smouldering eyes. Oscar, the Peruvian battlehip from the men's side, is the complete opposite of the fiery warrior from the Highlands. So whose side will be victorious? The elements could well have a part to play, so we will just watch with bated breath and probably a set of earplugs. 

After the apertif we have the main course, served up in the guise of Stockholm Exiles led by the charismatic Englishman, Paul Sullivan and Enkoping marshalled by the enigmatic Matthew Youngman. Black against White, Good against Evil, this is just the stuff that goes to make a good western. So will the good guys come out on top? or will the Men in Black topple them? This will be close and weather permitting it should be an entertaining match, probably with a few fireworks here and there. If both teams play as well as they can, then there should be plenty to enjoy. There is some good news and some bad news for those Kiwis playing. So, we will spill the beans now. The good news, Wayne Barnes is not refereeing :) the bad news, the referee who is, learn't everything he knows from Wayne. Good luck to both teams!

Sometime Soon?

At last, some information is starting to appear with regards to the Men's National Team, it might be dripping out but expect the flow to increase shortly.
Players, we understand have been asked about a training camp the weekend before the Holland Test. Is this wise? Obviously there is a need to view how players react when they are working towards a common goal and whether they can match up to the standards that are required at International Level. We are aware that there has been a selector watching matches and presumably certain players and how they are performing. So quite clearly, there has been communication within the management team, which is headed by the youthful Mike Tatu, ( who are the others in the set up?) but how many players have they watched? This we cannot answer, at the moment, however we will endeavour to find out this information. Suffice to say, we believe that Mike will get things right and he will do things his way. What coach wouldn't? and we know that he will have his critics, but given time he is clearly the best man for the job in Sweden.
It will be interesting however to see the selection of the Squad, which barring injuries would probably be the same for both tests, considering the lack of time available between them. Can we expect to see some new faces?, has anyone performed so well that they cannot be left out?, will there be a return of some old faces?. Who, if any, will be dropped? Intriguing really, but we guess that it will not be too long before the squad is published and then the expectation will be over, not only for us, but the players who are longing to make it. My, it's almost worthy of a short story, don't you think?

Almost There

Despite the inclement weather, the results this weekend almost went the way of all the home teams. Hammarby being the one's to rock the boat. Alas although they won, it was not by enough points to secure a place in the finals. Was that, one wonders, because of  ill discipline last week? Still they run Exiles close this year and let's hope that they can build on this for next year and that they don't fall away like GRF have after also coming close to making the finals last year. Enkoping, who must surely be the favourites now, duly run up a big score against Pingvin, a squad that does not travel well. Will be an interesting couple of games but we expect the team wearing white shirts, yes they are white underneath all the sponsors logos, to come out victors over the two matches.
Uppsala Ladies produced a fine display against Enkoping in the home leg of their semi-finals and it was a pleasure to watch. Guy must have worked his magic this week to inspire that performance and overcome the loss last week by more than enough points to make the finals. If they perform like this in those matches then the opponents will have their work cut out. Those opponents? well no real surprise either. After last weeks win away at Exiles by 19 points, GRF emerged victorious at home in what was a pretty sub-standard game by all accounts, with both teams performing below the expected levels. This may have been due to the weather, who knows? Let's just hope that the finals will produce some quality rugby for the spectators.

What about the play offs for the Men's Elite. Again home wins for both sides. Spartacus out muscled Vanersborg in a very scrappy and tense game. The weather did not help but, according to our reporter on the touchline, it was well controlled by the referee. So Spartacus will have the chance of consolidating their position in the Elite and will hopefully try and improve their record next year.
Finally, GRF scraped home against Attila in a game that they could quite easily have lost if the opposition had taken the chances that came their way. According to reports, the GRF coach was pulling his hair out, well he would have done if he had any, but he was clearly distraught at his sides performance. It always seems to be the case, that without their playmaker, and he was injured for this match, GRF cannot play.

Pulling Together

Well for once things did not go the way the President of the United States of America would have liked. The 2016 Olympic Games will be held in Rio De Janerio, fantastic! What a wonderful place to showcase the fast flowing game of Rugby 7's.
We are predicting that the IOC will confirm 7's as an Olympic Sport and as such the game of Rugby will get a much needed boost in Sweden. If the members of the Board take advantage of the opportunities that this will bring, then Rugby as a whole will be the winner. Obviously, next year the Women's  15's World Cup will be to the fore, with the National Squad having qualified to compete in it, ( there cannot be enough praise given to the players and all the coaching and management staff who helped to achieve this unique feat in Swedish Rugby history). However, every effort should be made to glean as much publicity from it, as is possible. We have every confidence that the Men's National Squads,will start to move forward, although qualification for the World Cups may be a bit too far off at the moment. Allied with the progress that the developing squads are making, there appears to be a bright future for the game in Sweden. So, a united front from all Clubs and supporters of this wonderful game can only be of benefit. Come on, let's cut out all the destructive criticism then others will see that we are all pulling together.