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February 8, 2010 The greatest advert for the game? Posted 13 hours, 40 minutes ago
The opening Six Nations action may not have been the greatest advert for the game but the BBC Sport trailer for this year's Championship surely was - for those that may have missed it, it featured Morgan Freeman reading William Ernest Henley's Invictus poem over a montage of action - stirring stuff. Click here to check it out. The promo obviously ties into the recent release of the new Clint Eastwood film based around Nelson Mandela's first term as President of South Africa and specifically the role the 1995 Rugby World Cup played in the country's recent history. If we gloss over the worrying commercial aspect of this creative element we can applaud the license-fee funded BBC for raising the bar for this sort of thing. The use of the Oscars-magnet that is Freeman easily trumps Sky Sport's Heineken Cup promo from a couple of seasons ago in which the equally accomplished if not so crowd-pleasing thespian Stephen Berkoff recited the powerful 'play as a team or die as individuals' speech originally delivered by Al Pacino in the film Any Given Sunday. Click here to check it out. Now, if Sky Sports managed to secure the services of Pacino himself... February 7, 2010 Posted 1 day, 15 hours ago
It's been another busy week in the Twitter world what with the big Six Nations kick off, the impending Super 14 kicks off, George Smith's retirement from international rugby and Lee Byrne's successful appeal against a two-week ban. Here's our pick of the word on the web. "Wellington def knows how to put it on when it comes to 7's weekend!!!http://twitpic.com/11s5nx awesme @NZI_Sevens" "On the way to the airport with "king of the gym" Ezra Taylor .. Not a fan of flying but couldn't be more happy to be getting on the plane :)" "Sport is rarely a game of perfect, certainly not in your first match back together as a team since November." "Another one bites the dust. George Smith is an absolute legend!! He will carve up the S14 this year. Deserves every accolade he gets.." "Well,twitterers.You have spoken.I am buying this tom..Will take a pic of me walking through Cardiff with it on.Happy days:)" "Great to see my roomie @jameshaskell dotting down!! Love the dodgy celebration too!!" "http://twitvid.com/89453 - On the plane back from rotorua.Skux and pow rapping." "Q.c Adam lewis blackstone chambers.what a legend and he is welsh!!!" "Last day of training this week. Then of to go and have a look at a few Buffalo farms. I will post some pics." "Just managed to get katherine jenkins, whose in the room, to sing!! Amazing!!! What a voice! Thank you! http://twitpic.com/11p512" February 2, 2010 Posted 6 days, 12 hours ago
England and their kit partner Nike have officially unveiled their latest sartorial venture - the one-off shirt to mark the Rugby Football Union's Cententary Year that will be worn for one night only against Wales at Twickenham on Saturday. If Martin Johnson's ambitious selection for the Twickenham showdown and the small matter of almost 130 years of rugby rivalry was not enough to draw your eye to Saturday's game then surely the chance to see England take to the field in their retro-skin-tight number will do the trick. January 30, 2010 Posted 1 week, 2 days ago
It's an exciting time in the rugby world what with this year's Six Nations and Super 14 looming but the Twitterati don't bother themselves with such trifling matters. Check out our pick of what rugby's great and good have been saying on the social medium this week. "The drugs testers have tracked me down AGAIN! Another wee in front of an old dude." "Sarah Cox is killing me, how the hell she's got a job! Totally waste of time, I'm going to tune into Classical FM will be a better show!" "Soccer AM - not as good as it used to be!" "I see how it is..Now Jamies on here no one wants Alfie:) You guys are lucky i dont take things to heart:)" "Home alone for the next 2 months (hopefully) as Hask is away with the england boys. Got to amuse myself with an aussie :( Mark Gasnier!!" "mane i just had to retweet this vid cz its funny as helll-----> http://twitvid.com/0E8DB milsy would kill me if he knew i posted this hah" "Mane all the skin on the bottom of my feet has been ripped off.not a good feeling" "Back in england in the car on the way home. I'm not feeling the best knee hurts and 12 stitches in my face. Good times." "Great day so far; run, swim in bay 4 team, gym, lunch now! Good to see lads back jumping off the pier at 8am & no crying Biggsy this year." "On our way back home, after a not so great week results wise,but we learn from our mistakes, not our success." "In camp tomorrow! Wonder if it's all changed since last year! Nice to have everything done for me for 9 weeks!" We remind you that none of the above accounts have been verified but we're happy to take the chance for your entertainment - but would anyone masquerade as Keegan Daniel?
January 28, 2010 Time to take the Six Nations on the road? Posted 1 week, 4 days ago
The Six Nations is without doubt an institution. A firm favourite with players, coaches, fans and the media, it is a mainstay of the rugby calendar and its appeal appears to grow year on year. The Championship is also a commercial success from the lucrative title sponsorship and broadcasting rights down to the pubs and clubs that rake it in on match days. But should the Six Nations start looking a little further afield in a bid to cash in on the lure of the Championship? Writing in our very own Forum, one of our readers raised the prospect of staging a Six Nations match in the United States in a bid to raise the profile of the sport in that country. But is such a move viable? A similar arrangement has worked very well for Australia and New Zealand with Hong Kong and Tokyo playing host to Bledisloe Cup games in the last two years. Those fixtures have provided a much-needed windfall for the Unions involved and also helped boost efforts to develop the game in the Far East. And the NFL's decision to stage regular season games in London has been an unequivocal success on all fronts. So should the more commercially astute of the Six Nations be seriously considering following suit? At first glance, a match between England and Ireland at Giants Stadium in New York is an attractive proposal and given the make up of the city's population an 80,000 sell out would appear possible. Some thoughtful scheduling could minimise the concerns regarding travel fatigue and turnaround time and a nice cheque from USA Rugby for making the trip and a large cut of the revenues - that would no doubt have to be shared amongst the Six Nations - would also help soften the blow. But the added bonus would be increased exposure for Championship brand and those of the teams involved which in turn would bring financial reward elsewhere, notably when it came to broadcasting rights outside of Europe. The decision to go down such a route would of course rest with the Six Nations Committee and the Home Nations as I fear a France v Italy game would not have US fans flocking in high enough numbers to warrant the expense of staging the fixture. It would be a brave move to tinker with such a successful format and may incur the wrath of fans that are arguably the lifeblood of the Championship. And given the limited five-match schedule it would have to be a very attractive package for any of the Unions to take it on considering it would mean relinquishing a lucrative home tie and the financial rewards that brings. But the potential rewards may have some reaching for the atlas. January 24, 2010 Posted 2 weeks, 1 day ago
News reaches us that concern is growing amongst the powers that be that Twitter represents a PR disaster waiting to happen. Whether Manchester United's decision to bring a halt to their players' social networking will spark a tidal wave of similar action is yet to be seen but bookmakers are reportedly taking bets on the next club to crack down. Rugby has not been immune to Twitter-induced scandal with a couple of All Blacks feeling the wrath of coach Graham Henry last year but could rugby escape the social network police? Why we ponder that question here's the latest from the sport's Twitter geeks. "Acting is hard work! Think I'll stick to my daily job! So much respect for actors..." "Back in England in the car on the way home. I'm not feeling the best knee hurts and 12 stitches in my face. Good times." "Getting irritated by the price of Nice to London - it's only an hour for god's sake!" "As one last thought,the requests for Andy Powell have been heard,and I will get him on here!! That will be fun:) " "So good to have a weekend off and delighted to find American Pie on Sky One, awesome film." "I'm in the towers hotel! Drinking! Sweet!" "Way past my bedtime but had a great birthday. 31 isn't all that bad." "I'll have you know that @jameshaskell asks to do this to me as he says he finds my hair 'offensive' and it makes him want to vomit!!" We remind you that none of the above accounts have been verified but we're happy to take the chance for your entertainment - but would anyone masquerade as Tom Biggs? January 16, 2010 Posted 3 weeks, 2 days ago
It's time to dip back into the Twitter behemoth for our latest fix of rugby chit-chat. Here's what some of the sport's leading lights - and some other bods - have been saying in the last week. "Is the whole world in Harrods?? the ground floor was a brawl to get to the stairs!" "Had a great week of training and team building in Michaelhouse, here we had to slide down a hill like a kid!!!" "I'm sitting on my own laughing like an idiot to fawlty towers again. It is amazing it doesn't matter how many times I watch it." "On the train back to Paris with my old pal Epi Taione. Am trying to convince him to change his name back to Paddy Power.Good times." "Just finished intervals/gym session in the rain. Thanx for all the tattoo ideas if u have some pics send them in I wanna see more ideas." "The Newport Dragons boys buried Gethin Jenkins's car under a pile of snow. Nice one guys:)" "I just tried to get out of the drive i was like a ice road trucker...knocked supermarket on the head!!!" "Indoor contact training was tough! My head ate 1 of our forwards knees. I've got a fair shiner on my forehead." "It's lunchtime and I have been seeing how long can go without eating mcdonalds.nearly been a week and I'm hanging out 4 it.might break soon." "Daddy day care today and I am feeling tired they are wearing me out and am all cbeebies out." January 13, 2010 Posted 3 weeks, 5 days ago
The annual contest for the Six Nations crown often sets the standard both on and off the field and this year's battle for northern hemisphere supremacy will continue that trend with England's home matches set to be broadcast in 3D. The clash against Wales on February 6 will be Europe’s first sports event to be screened live in 3D, according to England’s team sponsor O2. The match will be broadcast live in 3D at 40 Odeon and Cineworld cinemas and the cost of this feast for the eyes? Just £12.50 - a fraction of what it would cost you to go to Twickenham - that's if you can get your hands on a ticket - leaving you a bit of hard-earned cash to spend on your popcorn. And if you enjoy the experience then you can do it all again for the match against Ireland on February 27. It certainly is an exciting innovation and the communal viewing experience harks back to the days when boxing used to be broadcast to the masses via movie theatres in the United States - long before the days before 24/7 sports networks. Interestingly enough, that sport has recently returned to those routes with the added element of high definition. Let's just hope that England put on a show worthy of the innovation and not a repeat of the dour stuff served up in the autumn. Despite being in its infancy, this year has already been a big one for 3D what with the runaway success of director James Cameron's Avatar film. The blockbuster, that is set to become the highest-grossing film of all-time, opened our eyes to what the technology can do and we are all set to become hooked. ESPN are at the forefront of the drive to bring top-class sport into your living room. Our broadcast colleagues announced last week that the industry's first 3D network will begin broadcasting in the United States later this year. ESPN 3D will showcase a minimum of 85 live sporting events during its first year, beginning June 11 with the first 2010 FIFA World Cup match, featuring South Africa versus Mexico, ESPN and ABC Sports president George Bodenheimer announced. Other events to be produced in 3D include the 2011 BCS National Championship Game, college basketball and football contests, up to 25 World Cup matches and the Summer X Games. Additional events will be announced at a later date. "ESPN's commitment to 3D is a win for fans and our business partners," Bodenheimer said in a statement. "ESPN 3D marries great content with new technology to enhance the fan's viewing experience and puts ESPN at the forefront of the next big advance for TV viewing." ESPN has been testing ESPN 3D for more than two years, even showing a USC-Ohio State college football game in select cinemas and to 6,000 fans at the Galen Center on USC's campus. You will of course have to stump up for a 3D HDTV and acquire some 3D glasses (although there are hopes for a glasses-free version) to see how good it looks in your living room and that will not be cheap with The Guardian reporting that a compatible TV will cost around $2,000 with subscription fees on top. But Sony, Panasonic and Samsung are all reportedly rushing to put out 3D TV models, several of which were promoted at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, in anticipation of a high demand. It may be some time before you can watch the Six Nations in 3D in your living room - the BBC of course have the rights to the Championship - so you may have to make do with a visit to your local multiplex. UPDATE - Appears to be plenty of consumer-driven buzz around this subject - thanks largely to the media-magnet that is the CES. Exciting times. Interesting take from analysts Zpryme: "HDTV never had a “killer app” and has consequently taken a decade to gain any real traction—and even then, it’s been largely a result of rapidly falling prices and last year’s switch to digital. Avatar, however, has clearly presented consumers—and the industry at large—with a compelling case for going 3D." January 9, 2010 Posted on 01/09/2010
The Twitter phenomenon appears to know no bounds and the great and the good of the rugby world are not immune to its lure - except perhaps All Blacks coach Graham Henry who joked that he thought it was a new English fly-half during their recent European tour. In what I am sure will turn into a series of illuminating posts, here is a selection of what some of the technology-savvy rugby players to have embraced the micro-blogging tool have been up to in the last week. “Top team effort in the snow. Basteraux is an animal and my feet are frozen” "And I am not sure how much longer I can stay in a room with Martyn Williams farting. It's torture!" "I just ran into Martin Johnson outside the supermarket, forgot how big and scary he was!! Or for some of his current players is!" "I'm getting my kit ready and then seperating my egg whites ready for my omelette in the morning, preparation is key!!!!" "First week of pre-season finish. This is definitly not my favourite part of the season." "Another tough day in Africa,some fitness this am, then 18 holes at Durban CC with Butchie, I'm hanging in there." "Good luck to my little mate Freier for his back operation tomorrow! Lets hope it doesn't make him any shorter." "Just found an amazing place in Paris to get a massage and a Turkish bath. I will be returning often." "Where can I find a good sled, inflatable rings have been the best so far." "On the BBQ now, weather has been the best, I'm on holiday, I'm just living the dream right now and getting a tan haha how bout that." January 8, 2010 Farrell flying up the coaching ladder Posted on 01/08/2010
"Andy Farrell will coach at a very, very high level." Saracens boss Brendan Venter predicted a bright coaching future for his assistant Andy Farrell on these very page a few short months ago and so emphatic were his words that you were left in no doubt of his sincerity. And it appears Farrell's speedy ascent up the coaching ranks is well underway. The dual code international has joined England Saxons coach Stuart Lancaster's backroom team for their forthcoming clashes with Ireland 'A' and Italy 'A'. "His knowledge, not just of the game, but about people and how to get the best out of them is second to none." Farrell, who won 34 caps for Great Britain rugby league side and eight caps for England in the 15-man code, had a formidable reputation as a rugged and skillful player and went an incredible eight years without missing a game at one stage. And you don't play to the standard he did, in both codes, without amassing a wealth of knowledge about the game and the people who play it. It is that wisdom that Venter, and now the Saxons, are keen to draw on but crucially it is his ability to impart that knowledge that is arguably more important. Next stop the England coaching team before Rugby World Cup 2011 - watch this space.
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