Rugby Comments and Opinions

Jane Shepherd asked:


Sale Sharks and England Rugby Union star Andrew Sheridan is scrumming down with the official support of South Cheshire based flooring company Flowcrete Group plc.

Flowcrete has put its weight behind the huge prop forward by sponsoring a new scrum machine for use by perhaps the most feared loosehead prop in world Rugby Union Andrew Sheridan and his fellow forwards at Sale Sharks.

Mark Greaves, Group Managing Director of Flowcrete, which has its headquarters in Sandbach, said: “This really is a partnership of strength. Andrew is among the toughest forwards in the game and we are proud of our reputation for providing tough yet attractive flooring for companies around the world.

“We are delighted to support Andrew and Sale Sharks. The club is among the best in Europe on the field having won the Guinness Premiership in 2006 and has a fantastic reputation for its work in the community. They have many supporters in our home area of South Cheshire and we are very pleased to join forces with them through this sponsorship arrangement.”

Sheridan is a man mountain at 6ft 4in and 19 stone and has a reputation for being able to bench press more weight than any of his fellow players. He is a current England international and has represented the prestigious British and Irish Lions.

Scrum machines are a vital training aid for Rugby Union players and are used to hone the technique of the forward pack.

Flowcrete is a world leader in the supply of specialist flooring for industrial and commercial buildings.

Since its launch in 1982, it has undertaken some of the largest and most prestigious flooring projects across the globe.

It manufactures specialist industrial flooring, seamless terrazzo, decorative resin flooring, self levelling floor screeds, underfloor heating, corrosion protection and car park deck waterproofing systems.

The company now has 26 offices worldwide, with manufacturing plants in the UK, USA,

Malaysia, Sweden, Belgium, Brazil and South Africa.

Major international projects include flooring at the new landmark Capital Towers Development in Dubai, and NASA’s Johnson Space Centre, in Houston, Texas, while work has been completed closer to home at the new Wembley stadium, Ascot race course, and the 02 Arena.

ENDS

Notes To Editors

For further information please contact Jane Shepherd, Shepherd PR, on 01538 308685 or email: jane@shepherd-pr.com

Flowcrete Group plc

The Flooring Technology Centre

Booth Lane,

Moston,

Sandbach,

Cheshire

CW11 3QF

Visit us on the web at www.flowcrete.com

Flowcrete UK Ltd is a subsidiary of Flowcrete Group plc

Flowcrete Group plc is a world leader in the supply of specialist flooring for commercial and industrial buildings. With 26 offices worldwide and 12 manufacturing plants globally, Flowcrete’s aim is to transform environments with its innovative specialist flooring products, these include decorative seamless resins, waterproof car park decking, resin terrazzo, seamless anti microbial flooring, corrosion protection, self-levelling cements, underfloor heating and acoustic systems. Flowcrete is using its global expertise to introduce environmentally friendly, hygienic and aesthetically attractive floors to create a better and more sustainable world at our feet.



Alexa

Sunil Jajodia asked:


As summer draws nearer the majority of people want to spend more time outside.  Children at school long for the summer holidays to start and people in offices yearn for weekend gardening or barbeques.  When the weather starts to get warmer there is often a desire to take up new outdoor activities and sports.  Some like to go cycling or to go on long walks.  Others decide to join a local sports club or team.  Rugby may have its origins in several football games which were played during the 19th century; these sorts of games had been enjoyed by generations, and were generally specific to certain areas or schools.  In the middle of the 19th century the rules of rugby football were officially formulated, and the Rugby Football Union was then started in 1871.  Over time, rugby has become less of an amateur game (although it is enjoyed by hundreds of young people and adults alike!) and there are now professional players.

A lot of people will be looking to start up a new sport this year, and rugby appeals to large numbers of youngsters.  Finding a local team shouldn’t prove too difficult in most places, and these clubs should have the necessarily rugby training equipment to help new comers to the game develop their skills.  There are a number of high street and online stores which sell rugby training equipment.  As in a lot of circumstances, sometimes the best deals are to be found on the internet, but buyers should ensure they use a reputable site when purchasing rugby training equipment online.

For others, interest in rugby does not include a desire to actually participate in the sport.  A lot of the game’s followers prefer to watch rugby matches from the comfort of their own front room, and games are frequently broadcast on sports channels.  People who only ever watch the game on television may well feel they are missing out on something, and this is often the case; although watching rugby on the TV can be exciting, it cannot rival the atmosphere of attending a match.  Being part of such a number of people, all sharing the same enthusiasm can be n exhilarating experience.  Plus likeminded people are often more willing to talk about the game for long periods of time than those who are not at all interested!

Human beings have been participating in competitive sports for thousands of years, these activities serving to help unite groups, keep fit and strong and to improve necessary survival skills.  Although the majority of modern societies no longer need to hunt for survival, some aspects of sport have kept them going throughout the centuries.  One of these factors is the camaraderie felt between sporting teams and between fans.  Another is physical fitness.  Over recent years increasingly sedentary lifestyles and poor quality diets have led to an increasingly overweight population.  At this time, more people taking up sports and other activities is very important for their health and longevity.  Encouraging younger people to take part is also vital.



Lauren

Frederick Beazley asked:


Rugby Union is a very demanding game, placing very rigorous demands on players physical and mental attributes. Most amateur players however perform very poorly in respect of rugby-specific fitness tests, due predominantly to poor training habits and lack of correct skills training by coaches. It’s stop-start nature demands that players have high levels of speed and explosive power, as well as having the ability to recover quickly between sprints.

Rugby is such a simple game - score more tries than your opponents. To achieve this, your team must win possession of the ball by dominating lineouts, scrums, rucks and mauls, and every other facet of the game where the ball is contested. For YOU to dominate a game, you need to be competent in the skills of evasive running, kicking, passing, catching and tackling.

Strength is an obvious requirement to play the game, however it is not the only goal for a player. Exposive power is equally as important to develop speed and acceleration and to develop the fitness demands for tackling and jumping.

As a player, it is your responsibility to put in the time and effort needed to master the basic skills and be in best physical condition. As in life and other pursuits, absolute commitment is required if you want to be the best you can. To excel nowadays, players must master the basic skills AND improve speed, strength and power. Fitness, strength, power and mastery of the basic skills is what makes one player stand out from the rest of his team-mates.



Ava

dresscloth asked:


A rugby shirt, often referred to as a jersey, is a shirt worn by players of rugby league or rugby union. It usually has short sleeves, though long sleeves are common as well.

leisure shirtsRugby shirts have a buttoned opening at the top, in a similar style to polo shirts but with a stiffer collar. Modern rugby shirts often have a very small collar so as to provide less material for a potential tackler to latch onto (even though such an action is illegal in a game). Rugby shirts traditionally have rubber buttons so that they would, if pulled on in a game, come undone rather than pop off.

Rugby shirts, like most sports jerseys, will usually have a logo on the chest and a number on the back, though shirts not meant for competitive play will usually forgo the number. Labels of sponsorship are common, and generally appear on the abdominal area of the shirt. A traditional design of rugby shirt consists of five or six horizontal stripes or “hoops” in alternating colours. A number of football teams have adopted this pattern, such as Queens Park Rangers and Parma A.C.. Football shirts by contrast traditionally have vertical stripes.

Rugby shirts were traditionally made out of cotton, but as synthetic fabrics became cheaper they have become incorporated into rugby shirts[1]. The two most common materials are a mix between cotton and polyester (many of these shirts are meant for supporter use, though they can be used in a rugby game), and pure polyester (these shirts are generally designed for game use).

The reason for the preference of polyester in a game situation is two-fold: firstly, polyester is harder to get hold of in a tackle situation, as it is inherently more ’slippy’ than cotton or a cotton-blend. In addition, the increasing use of skin tight shirts further enhances this effect, as there is no loose material for a tackler to get a grip of. The other benefit of man-made fibre over cotton is that it absorbs less water and mud. As rugby is a sport played mainly in winter and/or bad weather, a cotton rugby kit can weigh around 6 to 8 lb  when wet. This extra weight has to be carried by the player, in addition to running in wet, heavy ground.

Rugby league shirts often have a large ‘V’ around the neck, however more and more teams are embracing the rounded collarless design. The “V” tradition appears to have been started because shirts with a ‘V’ were cheaper than other shirts, Rugby league shirts also tend to be more colourful and extravagant in design when compared to rugby union shirts.

The extravagant colours and design of rugby league shirts are most probably a product of modern day professional football, which has been a part of rugby league’s culture for far longer than rugby union’s. Rugby league shirts or jerseys as they are often called may hold less tradition than rugby union shirts. This holds more truth among the fully professional rugby league clubs in the National Rugby League who often change the shirt design every year or two to encourage fans to purchase the latest shirt design. However, rugby league clubs are now going back to the clubs’ roots in terms of design (Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles being an example), while clubs like the Sydney Roosters, South Sydney Rabbitohs and St George Illawarra Dragons do not change their main jersey design.

The rugby shirt has, in numerous cultures, become a popular fashion item, with many clothing manufacturers producting rugby styles shirts, with the distinctive collar and hooped or squared design, which do not represent an actual club.



Rachel

Peri Witny asked:


A Rugby union match of Guinness Premiership had taken place at Adams Park on 22 February at daytime 3:00 pm between Northampton and Wasps. Wasps had been doing hard work for many days to get dominance over Northampton. They had made two changes at their side to come up with strong stand up team to face Northampton in that match. Rob Webber replaced Joe Ward. Some replacements were also done to bring positive livescores. Finally after forceful fight, Wasps got victory over Northampton with 9-5 lead.

A forceful striker, Danny Cipriani, who omitted from England’s RBS 6 Nations side, kicked the three penalties which helped Wasps to earn a Guinness Premiership victory over Northampton. But Danny Cipriani seemed eclipsed by the exciting young player of Northampton who managed to score only in one try in the match. Another player Foded came in place of Johnson took pass from Stephen to burst over a point in the 55th minute of the match. But Myler had experienced off day, missing three attempts of penalty and it made them to get first premiership victory of the season in a match as they tried for it for a long time. The performance of Cipriani kicked Wasps in to lead of 6-0 with some penalties in the fifth and tenth minute of the game, just failed to land another point in the second half. In a nutshell, we can say that Wasps performed well in this match.

The coach of Wasps also credited the players in great words for playing well in the match as it will increase the confident of their players for coming matches. Wasps have good impact and strength over bench and the attitude of the club is positive and healthy due to the win of Wasps over Northampton last week. You can review live rugby results to explore more about the current status of Wasps over Northampton. This victory has brought more self confident in the players of Wasps as they are certain sure about their victory in the coming match as well which will be helpful for their strong display on the ranking table chart.

You just notice that Northampton also showed better opening half after the threat of former international star Serge Betsen from the Wasps side. He stroked a powerful run down in the middle but his attempt lacked some clinical finishing converting territorial benefit into points. After this victory, Wasps’ players are quite confident that their fans will get behind them madly one more time. Last time their excellent performance in the match inspired their fans. It also made them more inspirational heroes in the eyes of their fans after facing tough side of Northampton with flying colors. But Northampton should play well in the second half to earn good points over Wasps. Both teams had battle of 40 minutes to get back into full match. Do not miss this excited match review that will bring surprise and suspicion for you.

To catch live action of your favorite rugby player, just browse ScoresPro.com to get live Rugby results.



Enrik

Supplement Centre asked:


Nutrition has a big role in improving performance in sport. Having a good nutritional plan aids your performance a great deal. Eating the right stuff to enable you to perform at your best is not hard but, just like any other diet, you need some discipline.

Training to play rugby, whether ball skills, aerobic or anaerobic fitness, contact skills or resistance training requires high levels of energy to perform; as do matches.

Most of the required energy should come from carbohydrates. You should eat foods low in the Glycaemic Index (GI) and either a protein blend or Casein, egg or soy protein early in the day before exercise. This will provide you with slow release energy you need throughout the day as well as providing you with a slow release protein. Just before exercise, you should consume high GI foods as well as high amounts of Whey Protein. The high GI food will provide a quick release burst of energy you will need and the whey protein floods your bloodstream with amino acids to aid recovery. It has been proven that athletes perform better when they consume a protein and carbs drink before and during exercise compared to carbs drinks and water.

Eating protein is as important as eating carbohydrates. It is essential for muscle repair and recovery. Each meal during the days should have a high amount of protein content and foods such as chicken, turkey and tuna are all excellent at providing a source of protein.

Everyone needs vitamins and minerals, but athletes may need a higher amount than the average person to aid recovery. Fruit and vegetables are a great source of these, as well as providing fibre and complex carbs. Foods such as spinach, watercress, courgettes, mange tout, peppers and apples are some of the most commonly eaten foods by rugby players.

Finally, the most important thing. Plenty of water. You should drink a pint of water with every meal. Before training sessions or gym sessions you should have a hypotonic drink to compensate for the fluid you will lose during exercise and post exercise you should consume a hypertonic drink to replace lost fluids, electrolytes and carbs. During exercise, isotonic drinks are preferred by many top athletes as they replace the lost water and sodium.

You can make these easily at home without having to spend much money.

Hypotonic:

250 ml Fruit Juice (Orange, Apple, Pineapple etc.)

750 ml Water

Pinch of Salt

Hypertonic:

750 ml Fruit Juice (Orange, Apple, Pineapple etc.)

250 ml Water

Pinch of Salt

Isotonic:

500 ml Fruit Juice (Orange, Apple, Pineapple etc.)

500 ml Water

Pinch of Salt

World famous rugby player Jonny Wilkinson claimed he eats mostly chicken breast with a salad of mange tout, courgettes and peppers!

Pre-Match Preparation

Breakfast is important on an average day, but the morning of a match it is even more important. You should eat a big breakfast which, again, is high in carbs and protein. A bowl of cereal isn’t enough. You should try and have a bowl of cereal, eggs (poached, scrambled or an omelette, not fried), some fruit and at least a pint of water.

In the days leading up to a match, you need to drink much more water than usually to ensure you are properly hydrated. Drink a hypotonic drink the morning of a match.

You do not need a large lunch. A small portion of meat with pasta and salad is perfect. Eat a couple of hours before kick off. Just before kick off, some players like to eat a chocolate bar or a small packet of sweets for a quick bit of sugar.

Post Match Meal

This should be a complete meal. It should contain a high amount of carbs, protein and vegetables. Something such as Lasagne with a salad is good after a match as you have a good mix of carbs and protein in the meat and pasta.

Supplements For Rugby

I would consider the most important supplements to take to be carbs and protein. You can get these in the form of a “weight gainer” or you can obtain pure protein and complex carbs and mix them to the amounts you want.

Glucosamine Sulphate is commonly taken by athletes including rugby players to aid with joint maintenance. Due to it’s high impact nature, there is a big strain on the joints.



Victoria

Philip Spires asked:


Saville won the Booker Prize in 1976. In such a vast novel it is inevitable that the pace will occasionally quicken and slacken, but a book like this can be read over weeks, almost dipped into as the passing phases of Colin’s life unfold. David Story was born in Wakefield, and so was I. It could be argued that his most famous and perhaps still most successful work is “This Sporting Life”, a portrait of a Rugby League player who achieves local fame and then notoriety as his life and career blossom and then fall apart. It was filmed in the early 1960s, with Richard Harris playing the starring role. Along with about 28000 others, I was in Wakefield Trinity’s Belle Vue ground soon after midday to make sure that I got a standing place by the railings next to the pitch to see Trinity play Wigan in a cup-tie. I was only ten and needed to be early because, had I been further back amongst the crowd, I would have seen nothing. Wakefield beat Wigan 5-4, with Fred Smith scoring the only try of the game at my end. They went on to win at Wembley that year, beating Huddersfield in the game where Neil Fox used a drop goal strategy not seen before or since.

But before that cup-tie against Wigan, the packed Trinity ground became a film set. We were all unpaid extras as Richard Harris and members of the Trinity second team filmed some actions Sequences for “This Sporting Life”. I show no disrespect for Richard Harris by recalling that the sequence required a whole string of takes, necessitated by the fact that the star kept dropping the ball! I have seen the film several times, but I have not yet managed to spot my short-trousered legs behind the sticks at the Belle Vue end. They are there, somewhere.

I digress at length from my intended review because Colin, the central character of Saville, could easily have been me, or perhaps my older brother. Like Colin we were brought up in a small Yorkshire mining village. Also like Colin we went to a grammar school and experienced similar tensions and contradictions as a result of social class differences. And again like Colin we both became, as a result of that education, something previous generations of our permanent-feeling community had never aspired to, perhaps never knew existed. Unlike Colin, we did not aspire to become writers, except of course for me, who eventually tried to become one! It was the education that changed everything and this aspect of Saville is beautifully portrayed, right down to the visit to the old Kingswell’s shop in Wakefield to buy the ludicrously expensive school uniform, a source of pride for the miner’s family, but also a pointer indicating how lives will inevitably diverge.

Saville also deals with how social mores were changing in the new second half of the twentieth century. Colin’s parents simply could not relate to how his life was developing, perhaps finding hardest to stomach the individuality that he developed and was determined to express. It was a quality you could not pursue when, as poor people, your lives were always inter-dependent. The communal nature of their poverty made this a desire they could not comprehend and occasionally his pursuit of his own ends was seen by them – perhaps quite rightly – as errant selfishness. Of course, we now live in an age where the individual is the norm, the indivisible unit of society and, perhaps, where an idea of community is mere nostalgia.

Above all else David Storey’s Saville evokes a time and a place. It also evokes a language, a dialect that preserves the use of thee, thy, thou and thine and, although occasionally laboured, the book’s specialised vocabulary and syntax create the sound of a Yorkshire twang.

Saville has no vast themes, no overtly historical settings against which the characters enact their lives. Rather it concentrates on a social and economic setting which was quite peculiar to these mining communities in Yorkshire. But this is the book’s real strength. What we have is a social document, as powerful and yet as specific as some of its nineteenth century equivalents. Now, after the closure of the pits, though the villages remain, these communities have disappeared to be replaced by settings that perhaps offer less chance of social mobility or self-respect than in Saville’s time. This provides and irony that my own novel set in these same places might bring into focus. But in Saville’s time, the idea that the pits would close never entered anyone’s head, a fact which makes Colin’s transformation through the book remarkable, credible and yet ultimately sad, since we now see it as effectively driven by necessity, not choice.



Natalie

Ben Carso asked:


On July 28th 2009 a decision will be made that may not only decide where the 2015 rugby World Cup will be, but it may also decide the future of World Rugby.

Thus far, the World Cup has been held in England, Wales, France, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. It will be held once more in New Zealand next year but it is after that where the IRB really need to look ahead and not just to 2015.

The countries that wish to host the World Cup in 2015 are South Africa, Japan, England and Italy. In my opinion it has got go to either Japan or Italy. Both can provide the stadiums and support to host such a tournament and it should not go to any of the big guns as it always has done.

Imagine, for example, the euphoria if held in the far east. Remember the football World Cup and Olympics of recent times. Large sporting events are practically bred for these far eastern countries becuase they can and always will deliver.

Imagine what this would do for countries yet untouched by rugby civilisation. It would create mass rugby exposure at a whole new level, let us be honest, the Rugby World Cup is in itself a massive event, but should coverage be held in Japan it would almost be a rugby epidemic that will reach to new heights.

Children from those areas will look up to the sport, will view rugby as the new social outlet, and, for the future, will create more players from different backgrounds with different skills. The next few world cups should be handed to these other countries so that the game as a whole can develop, imagine Rugby being played in the streets of Argentina like football is played in Brazilian streets, imagine the whole of Japan turning out to watch their local heroes play on home soil.

So for World Rugby’s sake please - IRB - let someone else have a go!

The top 10 online bookmakers currently make South Africa as favourites and England, as they will also be bidding for the FIFA World Cup in 2018.



Claire

Peri Witny asked:


This tournament shall include teams of England, France, Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Italy. Ever since 5 teams became six in the year 2000, only 3 teams which are England, France, and Wales have great chances of winning. The other three teams have realistically very little chance of winning. Wales will be looking to defend their title.

Teams which will win all their matches will also collect the grand slam along with the prestigious Six Nation’s Rugby Trophy.

The tournament will begin on Saturday with first match between England vs. Italy on the 7th February 2009 and Ireland vs. France on the same day. The match scheduling is as follows:

England vs. Italy Sat 7th

Ireland vs. France sat 7th

Scotland vs. Wales Sun 8th

France vs. England 14th

Wales vs. England 14th

Italy vs. Ireland 15th

France vs. Wales 27th

Scotland vs. Italy 28th

Ireland vs. England  28th

Italy vs. Wales 14th Mar

Scotland vs. Italy Sat 14th Mar

England vs. France Sun 15th Mar

Italy vs. France Sat 21st Mar

England vs. Scotland Sat 21st Mar

Wales vs. Ireland Sat 21st Mar

Detailed Overview of the Teams

Wales: There is no argument that Wales are the clear favorites with none of their rival having improved their performance recently; their retaining the Championship is easy. With arguably the worlds best finisher in Williams, coupled with a strong team across the board, it would take a very good side to match the Dragons over 5 games. The match in France shall be the biggest threat to another Grand Slam title.

England & Martin Johnson are in desperate need of a positive campaign after being hammered in the November Internationals. Much will rest on the shoulders of Andy Goode, the fly-half recalled for his first game in over 2 years in the absence of both Danny Cipriani & Toby Flood.

They do have 3 home games this time around but must travel both to Wales & Ireland; they haven’t won in either country since they last won the tournament in 2003.

France:  They can win or lose to anyone on their day and that will never change. The home loss to England last year hurt Les Bleus, however, and they will be looking for revenge at Twickenham on day 4 match. With the pressure on coach Marc Livrement after consecutive defeats to South Africa & Australia, the notorious Parisian crowd may also work against the French if they do not try to take early leads in their home game

Ireland: They haven’t won this competition since 1985 and there is no reason to believe that the Shamrock is any better than their rivals this time. They do have one of the best fixture lists, with home games against England.

Get set for the excitemen and try ScoresPro.com for Rugby Livescore or Rugby Results



Andrew

Online Betting UK asked:


The French were able to scrape their way to a victory in their opening 2009 Six Nations match. They scored a 22-13 win over Scotland at the Stade de France last Saturday, but it wasn’t an impressive performance.

Now France coach Marc Lievremont has to figure out how to get his team to play better of they will be in significant trouble against the powerful red tide from Wales.



The French sides are underdogs in this Six Nations match up, as expected, but the debate rages on about their level of play and the game plan employed by the coaching staff.

Punters are not feeling very confident. France can make the necessary adjustments, as sports books report money flowing in on the Welsh side.

Lievremont, who took over from Bernard Laporte in late 2007 after the last World Cup, stated \”On the very day when our forward play and our combativity and discipline reassure us, it\’s other problems that leave us exposed.”

It is generally acknowledged that the Welsh team is the best rugby team in Europe at the moment, and looking every bit the favorites to repeat as Six Nations Champions.

Can France, who will be hosting the first Friday night game ever in the Six Nations, find a way to slow them down? Doubtful.

There is a multitude of betting options for this match.

Keep watching rugby betting to get updates about Six Nations Rugby Betting 2009 at Betuk.com



Cole