Easter Trials

With the Women going to Amsterdam on Wednesday, to play Holland in two matches over the weekend and the Men leaving on Thursday for Copenhagen to play Denmark, this should be an interesting perod for the two Senior squads in Sweden.
There must be some confidence flowing through the Women's squad as they are taking on a side that failed to make the World Cup. However Holland did beat Sweden in two games prior to last years EM and will have had some time to have adjusted to their disappointment. They are also in there playing season unlike the Swedes, so this could be a much harder test for the Ladies than anticipated. We do feel that Jonas and his team will be aware of this and will ensure that the squad is well prepared, both mentally and physically, for these matches.

Then there is the Senior Men's outing. This should prove to be a welcome sign that things are continuing to improve in the progress that they have made under the steadying influence of Mike Tatu. A reasonably strong squad has been selected to go, with some top players sitting at home on the reserve list. With some players being given a last chance to impress the selectors. With competition in most positions now this is surely a blessing for the coaching staff. Following their win against Catalonia, the confidence in the squad must be improving, and guided on the pitch by a new captain, somebody who has been around the block a few times and has the respect of the management and players, we expect that the Men will improve on their performance in Spain and produce a very satisfactory result.

Good luck to both squads this coming weekend.

Sense and Sensibility

Word reaches us that the Union's annual general meeting typified the last few years stewardship. Unprofessional and a bit of a mess. As we were not present we can only present the information as given to us.
Despite what appeared to be an attempt to sabotage a straightforward vote, by some people from the north with a late proposal by them for Chairman. Sanity prevailed and Stina Leijonhufvud was elected Chairwoman. The first woman to hold that post in the SRF.
There were other nominations for election to the Board, one of which was Neil Johnson. Again sense prevailed and he failed to get elected. Probably a blessing in disguise?
After Lunch. there was a discussion regarding various topics, culminating in a presentation by the President of the Swedish Aussie Rules game. Quite how that was allowed to happen at an AGM takes us back to our correspondents first comment.
We wish Stina and all her colleagues on the board the best for the next year and we look forward to watching the game develop under their management.

Changing of the Guard

Out with the old and in with the new, it's a bit like the end of the year at the top of the tree for the Swedish Rugby Union. This weekend in Goteborg, the Annual General Meeting of the Swedish Rugby Union takes place and the departure of the 2 men who have been overseeing the show for the last few years. Some might have the view that it is about time that they left, because they appeared to think that it was their own personal fiefdom, to do with as they wished. We of course cannot offer an opinion on that, but others may do.
What we can offer is a view on the proposed new Chairperson, Stina Leijonhufvud, some one who we have featured in the past on one of our posts. We believe that this is a positive step forward for the Union and can only applaud the nomination. To our minds, Stina is a Fan of the game and will be equitable in her dealings with all people, but especially with the Men's and Women's sides. We do not believe that she will favour either sex and will do her utmost to promote both. Her attitudes to all the Clubs will also be without bias. Those who have doubts will have to wait and see, but we believe they will be pleasantly surprised.
This is another positive step forward for Swedish Rugby and cannot have come at a better time. With the Women's World Cup later in the year, this appointment will help showcase the game in Sweden and Europe.

A Refreshing Change

Well we have finally returned from two glorious weeks in the sun, which may seem a bit selfish, however we do feel that we had earned it. You know it's not easy keeping up a job in the city, corresponding with our friends in Sweden, writing and editing this blog.

So what's been happening whilst we have been away?

New logo for the Union website, looks really good. Hats off to Stina, great stuff!

We understand that the Women had a really enjoyable time, and a successful training camp under the guiding hands of Jonas Ahl. At Easter they are off to Holland to play a friendly. That could prove to be a good marker for the squad, so we wish them well.

Then there was the Hakes Cup at Vaxjo. Some decent rugby played with Enkoping retaining the Men's title and Malmo winning the Women's competition. Well done to both clubs.

Finally the Men had another hard training camp in Enkoping. There were more players invited to this camp and from all accounts it was very well run. The introduction of Sports Psychology was warmly welcomed by everyone concerned, including J J Zander, who was in attendance on the Saturday, to show the commitment of the Board to the squad.
The squad to play a friendly against Denmark in Copenhagen on the 4th April has been announced and is published on the Union website. There are a few surprises, no players from Goteborg, Pingvin or Spartacus, maybe that reflects on their performances last year, but overall the selection looks strong. With the home reserves containing some very good players, it will be interesting to see the final selection for the vital matches against Latvia and Croatia. We certainly do not envy the coaching team and ultimately the FK, there is a lot of competition for places which is obviously going to make the job difficult.
Overall, things are looking good for Swedish rugby.

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.