Scrum of the Earth /

He's one of the tallest and biggest members of the Scotland squad but from last week's exploits also one of the most unrecognisable. After a brief trip back to Edinburgh,  Jim has returned to France full of hope despite the weather being terrible and absolutely freezing...

The best decision of my life

I’m very passionate about playing for Scotland. It has been an unbelievable experience so far and easily the best decision I’ve ever made. After my career, I’ll have so many stories and memories to tell, it’s brilliant. I used to like going out after the big games, living for the moment and I have done quite a lot of that. But I haven’t had a proper drink since June, and I think when I go home I’ll see if I can carry it on. Rugby’s my life and the World Cup has completely opened my eyes to how lucky I am.

Going up against the world’s best and the Haka

I’m only a young player and I’m hoping to be able to line up against these guys for a few years yet, but standing up against my first Haka was a surreal experience.

Ali Williams was stood directly in front of me. I think they pick out one player each but I don’t know whether Ali knew who I was, let alone if I was starting or a second-row. At one time his eyes were firmly fixed on me. I wasn’t intimidated because I’m not one of these players, which allows themselves to be affected by the occasion. I stood my ground, and as sad as it sounds, I wanted to give him the respect he deserves.

I only got 15 minutes but it’s still a cap against New Zealand. Although the game was out of reach by then, it was great to play in front of a packed Murrayfield crowd and the atmosphere was amazing, even if we weren’t allowed the bagpipes beforehand.

The ghost of Scottish rugby

My girlfriend and a couple of mates came up to Edinburgh and it was absolutely rammed everywhere. We went for some food in Zizzi’s and every single person in the restaurant must have had either a Scotland or an All-Blacks shirt on.

I was sitting at the table and a Scottish fan asked me what team I followed. Obviously I said I followed Scotland (in my English accent) and he replied, “Your boys didn’t do too well today did they.” He actually didn’t have a clue who I was. Someone else even told me, “you’re a big fella, you want to get yourself out there, you could do a job for Scotland.”

Even last week, I was having a coffee in the town centre, mingling with a few Scottish supporters, who wanted autographs and photographs, and one couple came over to me - the guy must have been in his late 50s. He was slightly tipsy and started chatting to me about rugby saying, “you boys are doing so well, the country’s so proud. We can go and win the World Cup now.” He continued saying, “you’ve been playing really well… It should be you and Scott Murray every time… So I shook his hand and he said, “cheers Nathan, have a good night.” I overheard his wife saying “that’s James not Nathan Hines you silly man.”

Italian revenge

The Italy game will be the biggest game of my life. It’s a 9 o’clock kick-off, so I’m trying to stay a bit more relaxed this week because I was a probably too overeager before the Romania game, especially as it was my first World Cup game.

I’m sure exacting some revenge for the Six Nations defeat will be in the back of some of the guys minds. I was only on the bench that day and the make-up of the side is completely different now. Having Jason White and a couple of the key guys back is a huge boost. Looking back, we know how important it’s going to be for us to keep our concentration from the word go. I know it’s a cliché but we can’t let them have an inch.


Good luck messages

We have televisions on the bus and all the old players and a few celebrities have sent good luck messages. Sean Connery phones Frank Hadden after every game and it was awesome to hear Colin Montgomerie, Alex Ferguson and Lorraine Kelly all sending their best wishes.

It’s not bad this professional rugby lark… After a serious physical work-out against the Samoan’s and with another on the cards against Tonga, Dan and some the England boys have been enjoying some downtime in the luxurious surroundings of the Red Bull house in Paris, watching DVD’s and doing battle with his teammates on the Nintendo Wii…

Samoan build-up

On the morning of the game, most of the players seemed very relaxed right up to kick-off. There was a massive sense in the huddle and whilst the national anthems were being played that all of the guys were really up for it. I was only on the bench but I was ready for some action.

‘Cozza’ has the last word. He would reaffirm what we would try to do from the first kick-off, with our field position and work rate levels. The senior players chip in with a few motivational bits here and there, but it’s usually mainly down to the captain.

Match of the Day

I think I only touched the ball once. I tried to use up as much energy as I could. Both sets of players were going to be tired after playing 70 minutes, so I really tried to chase as many kicks and make as many tackles as possible.

We gave away a few too many opportunities. We didn’t kick the ball out as often as we wanted, but in saying that, we defended reasonably well. I think during the period when we were 26-22 up, we defended well and it was vital to show that when it got close, we didn’t panic and managed to get out of our own twenty-two and build a few scores.

So close

Obviously I’d prefer to be starting but he’s shown by keeping Matt Stevens in that he’s going for consistency this week after we got the bonus point victory. Brian told me that it went ok but I’m on the bench so I’ll have to live with that.

I suppose he’s picking on performance. I’m fairly inexperienced and they have all been big games. I know the role I’ll play if I get on. Brian’s said I was pretty close to selection, but sometimes you’d often prefer not to know and think you’re slightly further away.

When you’ve been picked in the squad, you always think you’ve been in contention for selection. You always hold out a little hope but the news was disappointing when it came but now I’ll be supporting the team like every player.

You only have to look at the clubs who have had the most success. The good teams have an element of consistency about them. I’m on the bench and as long as the team performs well then I’m happy.

A win makes all the difference

We’ve learned a way to play that suits us all. It’s trying to move forward from where we were, and from being four points up and not panicking, it gives us a lot of confidence for Tonga and it has shown from the general atmosphere in camp, which has been a lot more relaxed.

We went to the beach for a couple of days before the Samoa game… Some of boys played golf, some went go-karting, and others tried a little bit of surfing.

I went go-karting… Our liaison officer, who organised it funnily enough, was the best. He obviously set it up just so he could show off…. Matt Tait and Tom Rees were terrible, Mark Regan was ok for man of his size. I came third but you can imagine there was limited racing… It was just absolute carnage, people judasing left, right and centre, clipping back wheels, just like the dodgems. The guys who took us around didn’t seem to mind too much, but what are you going to say really…

English rugby moving forward

It’s nice hear as the clubs and the RFU have come to an agreement. It’d help a lot with preparation. It’s hard to prepare an unsettled side. In the past England have had a fairly settled side and the players have known each others games inside out, but it’s no secret that we’re a very unsettled side compared to the one leading up to 2003, especially with lots of changes in personnel.

I think from the audit, all rugby players will say they need more time for both international preparation and a bit of R&R, so maybe if the England side does have more time together, you’d see more consistency in all areas of the team.

Not good times in the Ireland camp and the players are burning on the pressure cooker. They might be the best Irish team on paper but AT says it's not only the media who are critical of their performances.

Catching a wave

Myself, Isaac Boss, Jerry Flannery and Paul O’Connell took a trip to Hossegor beach to see the World Surf Championships. We saw Kelly Slater and all those boys… We took pictures of them as they walked past. It was great. We got this big 28-seater bus and only four people turned up, so we had to find a mini-bus instead. It was another one of those days that Isaac and I have organised but none of them have actually been all that successful.

French anxiety

I was pretty nervous before the game. About three hours before kick-off for the big games, I start wishing I wasn’t playing. I was very nervous beforehand but once I got onto the pitch I was fine.

The France game was the biggest of my life because I was starting and played a bigger role in it. There was a crazy atmosphere. It was all very intense. It was a huge game anyway but it was made even bigger by its importance. Unfortunately our performance didn’t match up to the occasion.

Devaste!

We played some good rugby in the first half but we made some stupid little mistakes, especially at the start of the second half. We gave away stupid penalties despite playing quite a few good bits of rugby. Even when we were 12-3 down, we knew we had to score next. Once we put them under some pressure, we did the inevitable whenever we were in a try scoring position and passes went to ground. We’re not very good at chasing games but it was stupid rugby.

I was wee bit disappointed I didn’t get my hands on the ball as much as I’d have liked. I thought as the game went on they would’ve started to soften up a little bit and we would’ve got a bit more ball, but it wasn’t to be the case.

Everyone in the dressing room was gutted. The better team won and we just had to come to terms with that. We never really got in a position to win the game. Had we threw it away it would’ve been a lot harder to get over the defeat. They were a lot more composed and clinical with their opportunities.

Scapegoat?

I am a bit disappointed but Eddie’s gone for experience. Perhaps Dennis is better to deal with Argentina’s kicking game and they have an awful lot of experience and ability in their backline.

Coming home early

It certainly is something we have to face up to. Hopefully, it can push us on to make sure Sunday isn’t our last game. It’d be an awful shame if things didn’t go our way. Not a lot of people are putting confidence in us but we have to believe in ourselves and our ability.

Not so happy days

The way we’re playing there’s not been much fun. It’s only fun when you’re winning and when the performance is what you've wanted. We haven't had that yet, so there hasn’t been that much enjoyment here. We’re all tough mentally so we don’t let the results get us down.

If you could beat The Pumas?

It would be enormous, playing in ¼ finals would be massive opportunity for me personally and to go up against the All-Blacks would be an enormous challenge.

Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)

Scotland are getting serious. Unfortunately there are no sporting bloomer’s to report on but the Scots appear to be the lone British hopes for World Cup glory and it’s good to hear Big Jim’s on field form hasn’t been affected by his awful table tennis skills.

First taste is always the sweetest

It was awesome. After seeing how Georgia and Namibia have faired, who are viewed as the so called ‘minnows,’ especially after the Georgia vs. Ireland game, it was great to get the win. Looking at the rankings, Romania are supposed to be a lot better, so we didn’t really know what to expect.

I was really nervous before the game - more than normal and it was pretty weird playing at Murrayfield and being in the away changing room. It was covered in all Scotland stuff but it was a bit strange.

I feel I put in a good performance. I was a little quiet against South Africa and I think for the bigger games coming up it was important for me to have a good performance under my belt and to get stuck in.

The atmosphere was o.k. It wasn’t as good as it was in France but seeing as it wasn’t a sell out, the 34,000 who turned out conveyed their excitement and were really noisy considering Murrayfield was only half-full. In St. Etienne there were a lot of kids, who shouted a lot and the pitch was a lot closer, so the noise generated was a lot more intense.

Frank’s happy

I think he is. We made a few mistakes but we were all very pleased with the win and to make the step up from the Portugal game. We haven’t massively been tested yet but it’s given us an opportunity to iron out a few creases before the real test against New Zealand, which is going to be a big ask and then we need to be on top form for Italy.

Happy just to be involved

I am slightly disappointed not to start but I’m there and I’m involved in the 22. If that means I start against Italy five days later, it’ll be worth it. It’s going to be important to be as fresh as possible for what seems like the crunch game but obviously I want to play against New Zealand because they are the best and most exciting team in the world at the moment, and the atmosphere will be unbelievable.

The guys are all very excited. The pressure’s been slightly taken off because it’s New Zealand and you always want to test yourself against the best, so for a couple of the uncapped players such as Alasdair Dickinson, who ten days ago was watching the Portugal game in Gloucester, now finds himself up against Carl Hayman so he’s excited and probably a bit nervous.

I have four friends coming up for the game tomorrow. We went out for dinner last night and already the whole city’s gone rugby crazy. There was a massive crowd for the Ireland/ France game last night and there were loads of kiwi guys all dressed in their shirts.

HAKA time

I’ve always thought it looked awesome. Even years ago, just watching it on the TV, it fires you up and gets the crowd going, so I can’t wait. I haven’t even seen it live before, so just to stand in front of them will be awesome.

We were going to have a lone bagpipe to play for us but Murrayfield’s World Cup organiser is a kiwi so he’s not allowing us to do it.

Can you beat the All-Blacks?

To be honest it’s going to be difficult. We’ve picked an exciting team, which I think will do themselves, their family and the country proud. Lets face facts, New Zealand are difficult to beat at the best of times even with a first team. You could say this isn’t our strongest side but it’s the freshest team we could put out, and a lot of the lads are carrying knocks, so it’s a case for them to play as hard as they can and not show too much respect like Italy did. We’ll put up a few up ‘n’ unders and keep it tight but most importantly we want to put a performance in.

Italy

Personally I think they’re saving themselves for us. I’ve watched all their games and the Italian’s have approached it slightly different to us. They haven’t looked great in their opening games but they have a nine-day break before they face us and I think that was firmly in their minds from the start of the tournament.

Home Nations favourites

On paper we have been but we haven’t had a major test yet. We did in pre-season and you could say during the World Cup we are the form Home Nation but we haven’t played one of top five teams in the world yet so I think you can judge us after the Italy game.

Our ambition is to do something special. We’ve made the quarter-finals every time, so first things first, we want to get into the knock-out stages. I think the semi’s are a real possibility. There are a few things we need to do and the key guys need to be fit and after that we’ll see what happens. 

You would've thought after a 32-0 stuffing, all would be doom and gloom. Far from it as 'Dan the Man' says the England camp is full of optimism and still hopeful of World Cup glory

In the 22…

It’s been better obviously because I’ve been more involved in training. It’s nice not to be just a ‘bag man.’

I’d always prefer to start but all we want to do is win this match. It’s not about me or anyone else it’s about Saturday’s performance and if we win I’m more than happy to sit on the bench.

If I get on, I won’t be trying anything out of the ordinary. I’ll just be trying to play like I did for Leicester last season but the situation will determine how I play.

It’s a knockout

We’re in the competition to win it. We’ve just made it harder on ourselves but the attitude is now that we have two cup finals and we need to win both games to go through. In a way it’s a good thing as they’ll be no complacency going into either of them.

Last minute preparation

It’ll be a team run in the morning and then you’ve just got to get your feet up. You don’t want to be walking around too much the day before a game. We’ve got series 3 & 4 of , I imagine we’ll all be watching that.

It’s not like Brian to ‘stick it up his jumper’

I don’t think it was his philosophy to play like that because we played it reasonably well against Wales. It was just the style, which suited us. Brian has always tried to play with width in his teams so we’ll be trying to put a bit more focus on.

We’re changing the way we’re approaching the Samoa game, with the shape of our attack. We struggled with our width against South Africa so we’re looking to utilise Matthew Tait’s distribution skills plus Olly’s a great kicker so you’ll see a different attacking sense for Saturday.

South African Savagery

We just didn’t seem to get going. We didn’t have a lot of opportunities after getting off to really good start with our field position. Then we conceded an easy try and then easy 3 points and we found ourselves 10-0 down and were always chasing the game, and when you’re chasing the game you’re likely to give more opportunities to score and we didn’t do ourselves any favours.

Pretty disappointed on the night and the day after but since then we’ve made quite a few changes and we’re a bit more optimistic. There are a few things we wanted to test out and after studying a lot of Samoa tapes, analysing their attacking and defensive plays, we’re a bit more optimistic maybe than we felt in the past.

Sharing Jonny’s limelight

I got a lot of stick from all the boys because I sat there first and he came to sit next to me afterwards. Everyone said it was because I wanted to get on TV but I think he sat next to me so he wouldn’t get on TV.

Nothing too crazy

The team went out on Sunday night and watched France vs. Namibia game. In the light of our results, there hasn’t much to celebrate so it’s all a bit boring. Due to the nine o’clock kick off time we didn’t get back to the hotel until one o’clock. So we just chatted to families in the bar, I caught up with my parents so nothing to crazy I’m afraid to say.

In distinguished company

We got a tour of the Château of The Palace of Versailles, which was good. We got to see Louis XIV’s bedroom and Marie Antoinette but that’s about it. It’s not the best crack being away.

Keeping in touch

I spoke to Brett and Louis Deacon after the match and I was chatting to Sam Vesty for quite a long time. It was a really good result for us and I’m really happy they’re doing well.

Hardly ideal prepartions for Ireland as they prepare for Friday's French test. Embroiled in a bitter war of words against various newspapers, whose revelations have tried to rock the boat but despite all this AT is good to go and he won't be leaking anything incriminating, so safe reading....

I’m in!

My highlight’s definitely been getting selected on Tuesday morning. That was pretty special.

It’s been really exciting, there’s been an extra buzz about training this week. Despite being part of the squad, it was hard to get motivated last week knowing I’m just there to hold the bags. There’s nothing like starting a game and being the centre of attention with all the training and preparation.

Eddie’s changing faces

It’s the way Eddie works. He puts a lot of faith in the players and never lets one bad performance change his opinion of a player. It’s good to see and from the our perspective it’s very exciting to get a second chance to get the opportunity to play against France in a World Cup and hopefully I can make the most of it.

Why does nobody want to speak to me?

Eoin’s been getting a lot of press. I walked into the press conference and I wondered why no one wanted to speak to me. He was drowned in a sea of microphones and there were a lot of people giving him fair amount of questions but I’m extremely pleased for him and we both cant wait to get going.

Entertainment updates

The boys wanted to go to the circus….But they didn’t really.. They wanted me to find out some information just to give me something to do so I was at the front of the bus making an announcement about entertainment so I just blagged it and told them there was no circus on because it was a Sunday. The next day I got fined because someone was on the phone to our French Liason Officer, who said ‘I cant hear you because I’m at the circus’ so I got fined for that. I just paniced and thought they’d be no circus on a Sunday, but there was unfortunately.  

The prospect of the biggest rugby upset ever

At one stage in the second half, a lot of us were getting extremely anxious, especially with the intercepted try. Right up until the final whistle it was tight. I don’t think we will come up against a more physical team but defensively we looked good but we weren’t as good going forward continuing on from Namibia with a lot of handling errors and mistakes.

We were thinking we could actually be knocked out of this tournament by Georgia, which would’ve been disaster. It would’ve been absolutely gutting. The fact it nearly did happen is an awfully bad reflection on some elements of our game but we got through it and we’re where we wanted to be with two wins out of two, so we’ve just got to take on the positives and It’s all about France now.

Ireland United

It’d be nice not to be aware of it all but we know what’s going on and what people are saying. We refuse to let it frustrate us. We talked about this the other day in the team meeting and the vast majority is made up. We were all saying it doesn’t matter what people think because there are 30 players in this room plus the manager and that’s all that matters. Everyone else can say what they want really because we’re not going to let it get the better of us.

It’s a bit over dramatic with everybody saying if we lose then we’re out, but if we win then France will be out. We don’t want to be thinking of any negative thoughts but if we win its simple and we’re in the next round, and it would be a straight shoot out with Argentina for top spot. It’s just a massive game.

Is this the best Irish squad?

It’s something we said just before we set out and Eddie said ‘this is it, congratulations, there is something special about this group.’ In the last couple of weeks, we haven’t produced the goods on the pitch but there are a whole lot of people who know what we’re capable of and there’s a few who are trying to knock us down saying that we’d become bad players. We’re still the same players with the same bond. There’s that added incentive and a bit of pressure because on paper we’re a quality side and we’ve proved it in the past just not in the last couple of games but hopefully we will when times right, we’ll come good.

Loss of form

I think we are out of form but form is only temporary and it has to change eventually. We’ve got one more opportunity to change it on Friday and although the performances haven’t been great, it’s the performance on Friday that makes all the difference. Everybody’s grand. We know we can sill do it, nothings changed there, and the fact that everybody expects us to lose now takes a little bit of pressure off us. Ireland has never classically dealt with the tag as favourites too well so to go to France as underdogs will help.

Pre-game rituals

The night before I try to keep it quiet enough, maybe watch a bit of TV and take it easy. With the evening kick off’s it’s very difficult to kill a whole day. You just want to get on the pitch. About 9 o’clock there are many nerves flowing and its difficult trying to keep calm so I always try and get my head down for a little prayer and I would always bring bible into changing room and have a little read after the warm up.

Strings in my bow

I played on both wings and at centre for Ulster and for Ireland as well so I’m pretty used to swapping positions. The best players in the world are those who can play in a number of positions so it’s good for my game.

Cedric & Vincent

I’ve played against both of them before and I’ve been looking at the videos and see what they’re capable of. The back three are all so comfortable on the ball whenever defences give them a little time to settle, get into the game, get the ball in two hands and start to make decisions, it makes life easy for them. We’re hoping to disrupt their composure and get right in their faces and force them into a few errors.

Rugby legend/Question of Sport captain/dancing queen/BBC 5Live pundit - He maybe a jack of all trades but lost to Mark Ramprakash in strictly come dancing which says it all really.

The Italians have the unwelcomed task of taking on favourites, New Zealand, in their opening World Cup fixture this weekend.

Alessandro Troncon just keeps on going and Kaine Robertson has a few scores to settle with his native country.

It is in the forward where Italy could gage an upper hand. Martin Castrogiovanni is one of the best scrummagers around and back-row duo Mauro Bergamasco and Sergio Parisse have enjoyed fantastic seasons.

The Azurri have shown huge signs of improvement since Pierre Berbezier took charge and they massively fancy their chances of being in the last eight.

Italy team to face New Zealand, 8 September 2007, 13:45, Stade Velodrome, Marseille

1.Salvatore Perugini
2 Fabio Ongaro
3 Martin Castrogiovanni
4 Santiago Dellapè
5 Marco Bortolami (c)
6 Alessandro Zanni
7 Mauro Bergamasco
8 Sergio Parisse
9 Alessandro Troncon
10 Roland de Marigny
11 Marko Stanojevic
12 Mirco Bergamasco
13 Andrea Masi
14 Kaine Robertson
15 David Bortolussi

16 Carlo Festuccia
17 Andrea Lo Cicero
18 Valerio Bernabò
19 Manoa Vosawai
20 Paul Griffen
21 Gonzalo Canale
22 Ezio Galon

Experience counts for a lot on the big stage and the Springboks will have no excuses with a total of 609 caps blessing their 1st XV.

There is an exciting flavour in the side with speedsters, Bryan Habana and JP Pietersen complimenting the fiercest forward pack in the world including Schalk Burger and Victor Matfield.

Expectedly John Smit captains the team despite not playing since June and with the Percy Montgomery and Os du Randt, World Cup winners from 1995, making the grade, they are certainly going to be exciting to watch.

South Africa will want to lay down a marker ahead of the group winning clash against England next week and more importantly they'll get a much better workout than their rivals.

South Africa team to face Manu Samoa, 9 September 2007, 16:00, Parc des Princes, Paris.

1. Os du Randt
2. John Smit (c)
3. CJ van der Linde
4. Bakkies Botha
5. Victor Matfield
6. Schalk Burger
7. Juan Smith
8. Danie Rossouw
9. Fourie du Preez
10. Butch James
11. Bryan Habana
12. Jean de Villiers
13. Jaque Fourie
14. JP Pietersen
15. Percy Montgomery

Replacements:

16. Bismarck du Plessis
17. Brendon Botha
18. Johannes Muller
19. Wickus van Heerden
20. Enrico Januarie
21. Andre Pretorius
22. Francois Steyn

Dwayne Peel will lead Wales out for the first time against Canada as both Gareth Thomas and Stephen Jones settle for places on the bench.

Gareth Jenkins makes three changes from the recent French lesson dished out in Cardiff with namesake Gethin and the blonde Jones brother, Adam packing down either side of Matthew Rees on the front row.

Sonny Parker comes in at inside-centre aiming to feast off the mecurial talent James Hook who starts at 10.

Alun Wyn Jones will look to build on his impressive form of late as Wales need to build some momentum before the crucial encounter with the Aussies next week.

Wales team to face Canada, 9 September 2007, 14:00, Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes.

1.Gethin Jenkins
2 Matthew Rees
3 Adam Jones
4 Ian Gough
5 Alun-Wyn Jones
6 Jonathan Thomas
7 Martyn Williams
8 Alix Popham
9 Dwayne Peel (c)
10 James Hook
11 Shane Williams
12 Sonny Parker
13 Tom Shanklin
14 Mark Jones
15 Kevin Morgan

16 Thomas Rhys Thomas
17 Duncan Jones
18 Michael Owen
19 Colin Charvis
20 Michael Phillips
21 Stephen Jones
22 Gareth Thomas

Inspirational Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll has been given the all-clear to return to take centre stage after the savage beating handed out to him in the battle of Bayonne.

He makes the cut alongside 'our boy' Andrew Trimble, who has a chance to state his claim on the wing with Shane Horgan due for a comeback next week.

David Wallace also takes the field in an almost fully strength Irish lineup, who have the luxury of naming the 'George Best of rugby,' Geordan Murphy, on the bench.

Maybe the pick the of Home Nations on paper, and although this will be a walk in the park, the burning question remains concerning Ireland's ability to kick it amogst the big boys when it matters most.

Ireland team to face Namibia, 09 September 2007, 20:00, Chaban Delmas Stadium, Bordeaux


1 Marcus Horan

2 Rory Best

3 John Hayes

4 Donncha O'Callaghan

5 Paul O'Connell

6 Simon Easterby

7 David Wallace

8 Denis Leamy

9 Peter Stringer

10 Ronan O'Gara

11 Denis Hickie

12 Gordon D'Arcy

13 Brian O'Driscoll (c)

14 Andrew Trimble

15 Girvan Dempsey

16 Jerry Flannery

17 Simon Best

18 Malcolm O'Kelly

19 Neil Best

20 Isaac Boss

21 Paddy Wallace

22 Geordan Murphy

Last minute bits and pieces

I’ve just had a nine-day break so I was back in Leicester having some work done on my house and just making sure that while I’m away I’ve covered all the boring stuff. It’s surprising how much you need to catch up on.

I quite like getting up and getting on with things. Most of the days are different to what I’ve experienced before so getting into the new routine, training in different places and gyms. It’s sometimes nice not to know what you’re doing and where your going.

Missing the World Cup call

I was driving back from Leicester to Bath and my phone ran out of battery so I didn’t find out until I turned it on when I got to the hotel room in Bath. I didn’t really get to celebrate, we just went to bed because it was about 11 o’clock and everyone had arrived and just gone to sleep.

Reste en France

My French isn’t great. I got an A at GCSE. I think a lot of people get those kind of grades today and cant speak a lot of it. I know enough to be polite.

We’re staying just outside Paris. It’s supposed to be very nice. I imagine we’ll get our own room, it’s been like that so far. I’ve got my Laptop, DVD’s, books and the Ipod. I try and listen to as much music as possible. I like the new Rufus Wainwright album… stuff like Newton Faulkner and John Mayer.

Depending on whom you room with, it’s quite nice being away and you’ve got someone rooming with you. It’s mainly snoring and going to bed at different times that can be a hassle.

Teammates:

Least like to room with: Lewis Moody, he’s constantly trying to annoy you either wrestling or trying to hit you. He’s a bit of a pest yeah.

Best dressed: Paul Sackey, he always looks pretty slick, well turned out and pristine, not very preppie.

Worst dressed: George Chuter, he doesn’t really try to be fashionable. He’s just a stash man… I’ve got to try and pick out one of the Leicester players

Who thinks they’re the trendiest? Me, I probably think I’m cooler than I am.

Who spends the longest time in the Mirror: Moodos (Lewis Moody). His hair is always very nicely turned out. He puts extra effort into his hairstyle than everyone else, very well cleansed skin

Ladiesman: That’s difficult to answer particularly with a lot of the players having girlfriends…

Nicknames: (Laughs) Ronnie Regan I cant really say that, Mark Regan (Pepper) we’ll leave it at that, it’s probably best if we leave it at that.

Who’s the biggest whinger: Paul Sackey, especially in training

Biggest Joker: Sean Perry’s quite funny, Mark Regan and Moodos is always messing around, he’s likes the danger of hiding behind doors and tries to plum shot people.

Who would you least like to meet down a dark alley: Martin Corry’s looks pretty intimidating so I wouldn’t enjoy walking into him (good job he’s always on your side then Dan!).

Most intelligent: Tom Rees, he’s a very clever boy. We’ve actually been doing brain training on the Nintendo DS and I’ve actually come out pretty poorly, so on that note, I’ll nominate myself for least intelligent.

What would your Teammates say about you: (laughs) is that serious or a bit more of a jokey one? They’d probably say I’m kind, thoughtful and probably slightly too in touch with his feminine side.

Clash of the clubmates: (On James Hamilton) He’ll beat me on this everytime. I would say he would always whinge about everything that’s going on he’s the most hard done by players in the squad. Traits/bad habits – yeah he has I cant really put them on a website. I don’t care what he said about me

What I’ve been up to

I’ve joined up with a few old friends. I was at Ulster versus Leeds last night and tonight I’m off to the Snow Patrol concert in Bangor, which should be pretty good. I live in Belfast so I like getting up north and seeing a few of school friends. I’m interested in what every 22-year-old is into really.

Something to look forward to

Everything’s good, we’ve been together for five weeks now and we could be at the World Cup for the same length, which is a possibility. Things haven’t got stale and we haven’t got bored of being in camp because we’ve got the World Cup to look forward to.  We haven’t stayed in the same place. We’ve been in been in Limerick, Belfast, Dublin and in France, which was a really good week and few of us got a bit of surfing in as well. The change of scenery kept people fresh.

World Cup

My bible is the first thing that goes in the suitcase, and then DVDs, maybe a wee box set, I was hoping to get third series of Lost but apart from one or two personal items they provide everything. I’ll probably just bring my laptop and my Ipod.

I don’t know who I’ll be rooming with because usually I’m always with Tommy Bowe but last week they changed all the combinations and I was with Jerry Flannery for the week, which was grand. I’ve roomed with Neil Best for a week in Australia and that was ok. A week was fine but any longer and the joke will start to wear thin. There’s been a few requests from people to move away from him, so he’s been moved about a bit.

In hiding

Eddie was walking around the hotel and basically he had a press conference in the morning to announce the squad. Eddie assured us we’d be told before so everyone had it in their heads, if you could avoid Eddie in the morning, you weren’t going to get dropped. I heard a couple of wee rumours and there were enough people that got dropped so the chances were you probably made it. It was harsh enough but I suppose it was a nice way of doing it.

Teammates:

Who’s the best dressed:  The Dublin fellas - Girvan Dempsey, Dennis Hickie, Shane Horgan and Gordon D’Arcy all seem fairly into their clothes and their image. D’Arcy has a Puma deal where he orders about five pairs of boots and ten t-shirts a week. He wears them once and throws them out because he hasn’t got a washing machine.

Worst: Neil Best, it’s awful. He looks ridiculous whatever he wears, even if its quite stylish and fashionable he’ll look ridiculous wearing it. For some reason he just can’t seem to pull anything off. I think he knows though.

Longest in the mirror: Isaac Boss has got to fix his dreads before he comes out every night so he spends a lot of time waxing his dreadlocks up making sure everything’s in good shape.

Nicknames: There’s a load. Tommy Bowe – Trevor, because he looks like Trevor Ringland when he plays. Shane Horgan’s called Shaggy but I don’t know why, Marcus Horan’s had a few but ‘Slimer’ because of the Ghostbusters character.

Biggest joker: Donnaca O’Callaghan, Quinny (Alan Quinlan) or Frankie Sheahan – There’s this well known story although I wasn’t there about Donnaca leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for all these ducks who came into the meeting and crapped all over the sofas.

Who has a problem with lateness: Malcolm O’Kelly, it’s not even getting out of bed but he just sits in front of the TV and will forget there’s a meeting.

Who’s the most Intelligent: Girvan Dempsey would have V. for very intelligent. I’d probably be the least intelligent to be honest

Who would you least like to meet down a dark alley: Carl Hayman

Teammates say about you: I’m a Christian so they’d probably think I’m a bit of a weirdo.

On Danny Hipkiss: I know his defence is very good and he runs very good lines. He’s also a pretty good thinker by the looks of things

SUITS YOU…

We’ve had a couple of days off before kit collection for the World Cup – everything from sports gear to suits. Eden Park have kitted us out – there’s some big units in the squad who wouldn’t  do too well getting anything off the peg, so they came down to the Vale Of Glamorgan Hotel to measure us all up. I’m a size 18 and a half neck size, which is by no means the biggest.

We’re out to France this week – staying at Le Bord, an hour from Nantes, where we play Canada and Fiji. We’re familiar with the place because we spent our pre-season training there. I don’t think we’re rooming with anyone initially, which is great because we’ll have some personal space. Nothing against my fellow squad players or anything, but it’s a long stretch, not an overnight stay like we have with The Ospreys

LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

The only item I’ll need is my MacBook – I think the hotel’s got wireless connection so if I’ve got my laptop I can watch DVDs, play games and all that. We’ve got everything from old school to new school taken out for us – board games, computer games. Some of the guys are closet players of the Halo games on the old X-Box, which is before my time really, but I think there’s been an investment in a Nintendo Wii recently so we’re looking forward to playing that. Playing Tiger Woods on a massive screen should be fun.

SQUAD MOOD

We’re known as a quiet bunch because we tend to keep ourselves to ourselves, but within the confines of the squad we’ve got plenty of characters. You won’t see much of that in the public eye because of our relationship with the media. If there’s a definition of being in the eye of the storm its when you’re wearing a Welsh jersey. I like to think I fit in well - my team-mates would probably use words like introvert, extrovert, strange, energiser. I’m a bit of a mix, but I try and keep things on the up, if you know what I mean.

PERSONAL FORM

There was a combination of pre-season fatigue and match rustiness in the friendly against England. I’ve never had a full international as my first game of the season and I got quite exposed against England, particularly as I was playing at 6. I was asked to do it so I did. Against Argentina I went from zero to hero, then back again after France. That’s the way it goes, I suppose.

THE WORLD CUP COCOON

It’s that classic mixture of nerves and excitement at the moment, we’re really looking forward to being away from all the furore at home and just focussing and working together as a team with no external distractions. Personally, I‘m feeling the pressure a bit because I’ve had one decent performance - there’s a lot of class players in the second row and I’m probably fourth choice in the back row, but if the worst comes to the worst I’ll just have to keep thinking about what I’m missing at Uni while I’m away. It’s been a long time, a year and a half in the making and two and half months of pre-season. I can’t wait to get stuck into it.

TEAMMATES

Best dressed: Sonny Parker, very smart casual, always looks real stylish.

And the try-hard?: Mark Jones. I’ve seen him wear a woollen gillet before.

Who spends the longest in front of the dressing-room mirror?: I’ll just chuck Mike Phillips in there, although there are a few candidates…

Rock of the squad:  There are a few guys I’d put in that category, but Martyn Williams is mentally tougher than the lot I think. He’s a  stalwart, a legend, he’s been at it for years but he just never stops going.

Brightest spark?: I’d have to back myself, there.

Whose bright idea was it to launch a rugby site on the eve of the World Cup Final? Just when we should be knee-deep in fine wines, traversing France on the TGV, lapping up every day of The World Cup like it could be our last, here we are in Brighton, knocking out the first few pages of what we reckon will become the best goddamn rugby site on the planet.

 'If Bobby Windsor had been born a middle-class ponce from Swansea...'

For the next few weeks we’re all about France –  with regard to the Home Nations I’m too scared to hazard a guess how Wales will perform. The big difference compared to four years ago is that we all knew that with a bit of risk-taking they could be dangerous. This time round there aren’t any surprise packages like Shane Williams waiting in the wings.

England? They’ve watched the 2003 footage, tried to build another forward platform to rock the world, hoping the backs will minimise the errors and find inspiration on the biggest stage. It’s the only game they’ve got – let’s see how good they are at it.

The Scottish approach is even more pragmatic and for 40 minutes against Ireland you thought: ‘Blimey, they might have something here…’ Then they got the rag-doll treatment against South Africa. If only they had the faintest idea behind the scrum…

And then the Irish. Celtic jealousy perhaps, but I just don’t go for the theory that they’re the pick of the bunch. If they emerge from their group they’re doing well and after that, they just don’t have the firepower. Feel free to quote that back at me when I’m proved wrong…

And just when you think it’s all about the rugby you find out the IRB are locking horns with the world’s picture agencies – we could have a photo blackout on our hands on the eve of the tournament. You find out that there are tickets still available for Wales v Australia (In Cardiff for crying out loud!) nearly three times the cost of Six Nations seats.

But forget about all that for now. We’re live, we’ve got exclusive players diaries from Danny Hipkiss, Alun Wyn Jones, James Hamilton and Andrew Trimble. And better still we introduce our delightful and delectable 1st XV to the world in a matter of days. Stick us in your favourites and check back for the full story. Safe to say Phil Vickery didn’t quite make the grade…

Over & Out…

How every rugby coach must be envious of Graham Henry - the poor all-black coach can't even find a spot for Joe Rokocoko in his first choice 22 against Italy.

Munster-bound Doug Howlett and Sitiveni Sivivatu form Mils Muliaina's wing men while Luke McAlister and Conrad Smith take centre stage.

The whole of New Zealand has been gearing up for this match ever since Graham Henry took charge, but now it's here, will the All-Blacks turn up to the party or will the proverbial chokers fall to expectation once again.

New Zealand team to face Italy, Stade Veledrome, Marseille, September 8 2007, kick off 17:45

1 Tony Woodcock
2 Keven Mealamu
3 Carl Hayman
4 Chris Jack
5 Ali Williams
6 Jerry Collins
7 Richie McCaw (c)
8 Rodney So'oialo
9 Byron Kelleher
10 Dan Carter
11 Sitiveni Sivivatu
12 Luke McAlister
13 Conrad Smith
14 Doug Howlett
15 Mils Muliaina

16 Anton Oliver
17 Neemia Tialata
18 Reuben Thorne
19 Sione Lauaki
20 Brendon Leonard
21 Aaron Mauger
22 Leon MacDonald

One to watch, Juan Martin Hernandez, switches from full-back to fly-half for Friday’s mouthwatering World Cup opener with the hosts.

The decision seems strange considering Hernandez is widely regarded as the best 15 in the world, but the Stade Francais star wants to prove he can be as effective at 10.

The Pumas are massively fancied by some and if the South American’s monster pack can release an powerful and pacy back-line including Pichot and the Contepomi brothers, a shock could be on the cards?

With 4 wins from their last 5 encounters with France including a rare triumph in fortress Marseille, if they get off to a good start, watch this space.

Argentina team to play France, Stade de France, St. Denis, September 7 2007

1. Rodrigo Roncero
2. Mario Ledesma
3. Martin Scelzo
4. Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe
5. Patricio Albacete,
6. Juan Fernandez Lobbe,
7. Lucas Ostiglia
8. Juan Manuel Leguizamon.
9. Agustin Pichot (C)
10. Juan Martin Hernandez
11. Horacio Agulla
12. Felipe Contepomi
13. Manuel Contepomi
14. Lucas Borges
15. Ignacio Corleto

16. Alberto Vernet Basualdo,
17. Santiago Gonzalez Bonorino
18. Rimas Alvarez
19. Martin Durand
20. Nicolas Fernandez Miranda
21. Federico Todeschini
22. Hernan Senillosa.

Betting post

Counting down

Training’s been very intense, even after the games when we’re feeling a bit stiff and sore, they’re making us train, sometimes lasting from 8 in the morning until 4:30. I’ve had today off but we’re off to a charity dinner tonight.

I’ve been hanging around with Nicky Walker and Euan Murray a lot because we’re living in the same apartment and also with Scott McLeod. We live in the city centre opposite the First Minister and JK Rowling. It’s right in the posh bit of town and right opposite there’s an awesome Thai restaurant and every Tuesday we go out in groups of 4/5 with a team leader and they organise where we eat.

We haven’t had many team socials. We’ve had a Landrover driving day and our own Highland games day in St. Andrews, which was cool.

World Cup survival

My mobile phone will be valuable because we’ll have a lot of downtime. I’ve just bought an Archos, because I’m not sure whether we’ll be able to get English speaking TV channels so I got one of these and it can store 120 movies and a load of songs so it’ll come in very handy. They’ll be a Playstation. All the boys are quite into their football games and Rory Lawson has the lot so I’ll give the Archos to him and he’ll fill it up.

Teammates

Pairing up: I wouldn’t fancy rooming with Nathan Hines. He’s farts all the time I’ve never ever seen a bloke who does it all the time, even before the game on the bus, he’ll sit there with a big smile on his face. He definitely has the worst personal hygiene.

Worst dress sense: Euan Murray – He wears his trainers all the time. He wears the same one’s to training, when he goes out at night and casually and he’s got these drainpipe jeans he wears as well. They’re shocking! Oh and these medium size skin type tops too.

Best dressed: Simon Taylor, whenever he’s not in his rugby kit he’s always dressed quite smart – trousers, shoes and a shirt and jumper on. He’s got a nice bar in Edinburgh so he’s got to keep his rep up for that. He spends the longest time in the mirror too, even before he goes in the gym, he’s always doing his hair. I don’t think he knows anyone is watching but I always see him do it.

Hard man Nathan Hines is classed as the team hard man maybe it’s because of getting sin binned all the time, but Mike Blair’s a tough lad but the boys wouldn’t tell him.

Biggest moaner: Craig Smith and John Barclay – they’ll moan about anything, about training, food, kit, everything.

Funniest nickname: Sean Lamont a.k.a Ballsack.

Shopping: Nicky Walker’s got a massive wardrobe, he’s a bit like a girl, dies his hair and goes on the sun beds.

Ladiesman: Rory Lamont thinks he is, he’s always in the VIP clubs while the rest of the boys are in the pub next door.

Most intelligent: Simon Taylor, I think he won the weakest link a few years ago, the sports one. On the way to games he’s either doing a crossword or reading a massive book.

Least intelligent: I’m sure I’d be up there! Can I say myself?

Lateness: Euan Murray’s got the worst lateness. He’s been fined a few times as well. Depending on the excuses, it ranges between £50-£10. There’s a rule on mobiles too. If it goes off in meetings or something important it’s £10 and they hide your mobile and give you clues where to find it. Good gag!

Clash of the columnists: Big Jim on Dan the man

He’s a fairy, like a woman, always cooks for everyone and the girlfriends. He doesn’t like a drink or going out and he’s in bed by 9, a bit like a woman.

So Wilkinson’s injured, Lawrence Dallaglio (despite slagging off the RFU on BBC’s Inside Sport on Monday) has talked his way into the number eight shirt and the Mike Catt/Jamie Noon centre partnership gets another chance.

Ollie Barkley fills in at 10 with Leicester Tigers trio, George Chuter, Lewis Moody and Martin Corry joining Andy Farrell on the bench.

Ben Kay gets the nod ahead of Steve Borthwick in the second-row as Brian Ashton has clearly abandoned any temptation to play with width.

Congratulations Mr. Lewsey on 50 caps but sadly it's all very predictable. As an England fan forgive me but this team doesn’t exactly set the pulse racing. Looking ahead to 2011 are we…

England team to play USA Eagles, Stade Felix Bollaert, Lens, September 8 2007

1 Andrew Sheridan
2 Mark Regan
3 Phil Vickery (c)

4 Simon Shaw
5 Ben Kay
6 Joe Worsley
7 Tom Rees
8 Lawrence Dallaglio
9 Shaun Perry
10 Olly Barkley
11 Jason Robinson
12 Mike Catt
13 Jamie Noon
14 Josh Lewsey
15 Mark Cueto

16 George Chuter
17 Matt Stevens
18 Martin Corry
19 Lewis Moody
20 Peter Richards
21 Andy Farrell
22 Mathew Tait

Cedric Haymans shifts from wing to full-back after a towering showing against Wales sees the Toulousian join Aurelien Rougerie and Christophe Dominici in the back three.

Clemont Poittrenaud was expected to start at 15 but cannot even make the 22.

David Skrela and Pierre Mignoni are the half-back pairing while Freddie Michalak warms the bench alongside the beast, Sebastian Chabal.

What a World Cup winning bench this looks like - Chabal, Elissade and Michalak - you heard it here first and if we’re wrong it wouldn’t be the first time the French have let us down.

1st XV vs. Argentina at Stade de France, Saint Denis, September 7 2007

1 Olivier Milloud 

2 Raphael Ibanez (C)

3 Pieter de Villiers - Stade Français

4 Fabien Pelous
5 Jérome Thion
6 Serge Betsen
7 Remy Martin
8 Imanol Harinordoquy
9 Pierre Mignoni
10 David Skrela
11 Christophe Dominici
12 Damien Traille
13 Yannick Jauzion
14 Aurélien Rougerie
15 Cédric Heymans

16 Dimitri Szarzewski
17 Jean-Baptiste Poux
18 Sébastien Chabal
19 Julien Bonnaire
20 Thierry Dusautoir
21 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde
22 Frédéric Michalak