- Rob Hodgetts
- 24 Jan 07, 02:29 PM
Hurlingham Club, London - "It's time to let rugby do the talking. Let the games begin."
So said Jacques Laurans, chairman of the RBS Six Nations committee, at the official launch of the competition at the plush Hurlingham Club in snowy south west London on Wednesday.
They were all there, the great and the good of the European game, with captains and coaches from each side exposed to the media for a one-hit quotes-fest.
The general consensus among the press and the pundits is that Ireland are marginal favourites in one of the most open Six Nations for years. And forget old Calcutta Cup rivalries. The opener between is going to be a positive giggle.
Continue reading "Six Nations starts here..."
- John Beattie
- 24 Jan 07, 12:59 PM
Glasgow - Today is one of those days. Busy. Still no word from Charlotte, maybe I should speak to . Can one speak to Gavin Henson?
Is it possible to pick up a phone, call the Ospreys, and say: 鈥淐an I speak to Gavin Henson please?鈥
Anyway, I was just along the corridor at the high tech bit of the 麻豆官网首页入口 here in Scotland where they edit fancy bits and pieces together.
Pete, Chris, Katie ( all three locked away in a high static hotbed of multi million pound technology) and I got into a conversation about the size of rugby players as Pete had been at the filming the 鈥減ortraits鈥 of the players.
Continue reading "Eating a Big Mac after beating England"
- Hugh Watkins - Professional rugby union referee
- 24 Jan 07, 08:40 AM
A shoulder injury forced me to retire from my playing days as a centre or full-back for . But from the ashes came the beginnings of my refereeing career in 1990.
I became professional in 2001 and have officiated in the Heineken Cup, World Cup qualifiers as well as the World Series Sevens in exotic places like Hong Kong, Beijing and Cardiff...
To date I am on the and have participated in Tri-Nations, RBS Six Nations and I'm hoping to be selected for the World Cup as a touch judge.
Without doubt the funniest moment in rugby has to be as a touch judge for France v Italy when winger Christophe Dominici had an easy run in for a score. He stuck his tongue out and was about to touch down near the deadball line when he dropped the ball! His face was a picture - as was mine!!!
The strangest thing a spectator has said to me was that I was missing a bloody good rugby game!
- Bruce Pope - 麻豆官网首页入口 Wales Sport journalist
- 24 Jan 07, 08:15 AM
Cardiff - There are few better places than Wales to live and work if you love your sport - even if you happen to be an Englishman - so it's been a happy six years since they let me in the front door here in Cardiff.
I'm Devon-born and Dorset-raised but it wasn't till I ended up in Swansea at the end of my studies that I had a top-flight rugby team to support, just as the in the 90s.
Regional rugby and the amalgamation with Neath means the have inherited my loyalty.
I got my first taste of journalism during an exchange year in the USA, as a tennis reporter for the . After graduating and a year back-packing in Africa I started freelancing in London, working as a sports sub-editor for the likes of the and the .
It's always a hard task to put aside being an over-excited fan (and put down the beer glass) during a major tournament and take on the role of impartial 麻豆官网首页入口 journalist, plus a Welsh girlfriend and an Irish mother mean I've got my feet in a few camps.
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Wales 27-18 England
