Rugby: Hines knows all about Italy's mystery man ahead of Six Nations clash

NATHAN HINES today delved into his rugby league background to provide inside track on one of the most controversial players to grace the RBS Six Nations.

Expected to gain a ninth cap at stand-off for Italy in Rome on Saturday is 31-year-old Australian-born Craig Gower, a virtual unknown in union circles before making his debut last summer – except to the likes of Hines, who was also born in Australia and came across Gower in the 13-a-side code there.

Hines was born in Wagga Wagga and moved to Scotland in 1998 where he took advantage of ancestry qualifications.

He said: "Craig was at Penrith Panthers when I was at the Bears and although he was a year younger I learned how he was being earmarked even as a teenager to become a Kangaroo. His breakthrough into top grade rugby league came early."

"Although he hasn't had heaps of 15-a-side experience and even less in the international arena he still has that rugby brain which enables him to see opportunities when they arise."

Hines returns to the Scotland squad after withdrawing from the team which visited Wales due to ankle damage. Although listed on the bench it is likely he will emerge at some stage for a 63rd Test appearance making him the most capped player in a squad that will have Hugo Southwell and Chris Cusiter turning out for the 50th time.

It is a landmark that Hines is particularly proud of and makes him suitably qualified to remark on just what the occasion will mean.

"Chris is captain and knows what it is like to lead the team out but that could be a new experience for Hugo this weekend.

"Although I'm obviously sorry Chris Paterson is out through injury it is good that Hugo's 50th appearance will seen him able to run on at the start.

"All the focus is on getting a win this weekend but that still shouldn't obscure two tremendous achievement. I'd like to think when you make that number of appearances you are recognised as having made a contribution although it is mainly later that you look back on things like that."

As for Hines being able to get insight through playing club rugby at Leinster who are chock-a-block with Irish internationalists, many of whom were in action against Italy at the start of the current series, he insists dialogue is always limited when it comes to exchanging notes.

"It's maybe strange but at Leinster there is rarely a lot of chat about the international scene although, when Scotland beat Australia last Autumn, that did merit a few 'well dones'.

Perhaps that is because Hines and his mates have been pre-occupied with their defence of the Heineken European Cup – they host Clermont Auvergne in the quarter-finals – while a recent 30-0 win over Munster was a highlight of his time in the Irish capital, so far.

The intensive schedule can take its toll, though, culminating in that ankle injury which provoked his absence from the Cardiff clash and opened a door for Jim Hamilton who retains his place.

"There was a time when I played when I maybe should have rested and against France I aggravated swelling in my ankle joints.

"It presented itself as a calf strain but as that subsided my ankle became sore.

"I learned my lesson from playing when I probably should have pulled out and I have now had two injections in my ankle so feel really good to go."

France V Italy Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality

Shane Williams is one of rugby’s all-time greats

WING wizard Shane Williams today stands out on his own as the undisputed try king of Welsh rugby.
His scintillating late touchdown against France on Friday night saw him surpass the great Gareth Edwards as the leading Welsh try-scorer in the history of the Five Nations and Six Nations rugby championships.
Williams had drawn level with Edwards on 18 championship tries with the score that completed a remarkable comeback in the dramatic victory over Scotland two weeks earlier.
And on Friday, he went clear at the top of the Welsh list by sidestepping his way over for his 19th tournament touchdown.
“It’s a massive honour to surpass someone like Gareth Edwards, who is a true legend of the game,” said the Ospreys speedster as he reflected on his achievement.
While it took former scrum-half Edwards 45 championship games to notch his tally of 18 tries, Williams has gone one better in just 35 appearances.
“I just love scoring tries, full stop,” he said. “That’s what I’m here to do and that’s what I’ve enjoyed doing since I was a kid. You are the equivalent of the striker in football. I’m just a little bit greedy maybe.”
While his match-winning effort against Scotland might have been a case of him popping up in the right place at the right time to round off a team move, his record-breaking score on Friday was all his own work.
As he ran back to halfway, he raised his arm in salute to the crowd and the ovation he received in response spoke volumes for the admiration the Welsh public has for the Great Entertainer.
“If someone had told me the year after my debut that I would score this many tries, I would have looked at them silly because I wasn’t even involved in the Wales squad then,” he said.
“I want to continue scoring tries,” said Williams. “I want to get up with the likes of Campese.
“I don’t know if that’s going to happen, but what I will do is continue to work hard and get involved in games.
“The more often I get involved the probability goes up I can create something and score tries.”
It was just unfortunate that his record-breaking sizzler against France couldn’t have coincided with a Welsh victory.
“As far as I was concerned, it was all about beating France and everything else was just a bonus,” said Williams.
“So to lose the way we did was very frustrating and a real kick in the teeth.

“We are a nation that tries to play rugby and sometimes you get punished for doing that.

“We conceded two interception tries, one my fault, which really took the wind out of our sails.

“In fairness, France started very well and defended very well and made it very difficult for us. “It was all catch-up for us in the second half again.

“There’s a bit of deja vu about the way we’ve started the last three games.

“You’ve got to commend the guys for the way they came back.

While his team have been denied, there’s no denying Williams his place in the record books or his status as one of the all-time greats of the Welsh game.

Wales V Italy Hospitality

France V Italy Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality

Wales - great, or greatly deluded?

Wales coach Warren Gatland has never been shy of aiming his verbal hand grenades at teams in big-match build-ups.

The Kiwi's take on the game was echoed throughout the camp, players and coaches lining up to stress how close Wales are to greatness.

Ryan Jones claimed Les Bleus were "creaking" and "there for the taking", Shane Williams said France were "on the ropes" and Stephen Jones talked of Wales aiming to be "one of the best sides in the world".

It is a view that can easily seduce when one remembers the thrilling fight backs that have characterised the men in red's last three games, against France, Scotland and England.

But the idea can just as easily shatter when considering the lax and error-ridden early action that had left Wales so distant in those three Tests, and in November's hammering against Australia.

Former England coach Dick Best famously claimed that Wales' 2005 Grand Slam was built on foundations of sand, but that surely cannot be said of the present side.

The scrum shared the spoils with a formidable France eight and - although the line-out creaked once again - that seems to be a frustrating case of failures in accuracy and execution rather than personnel.

Key players like Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Alun Wyn Jones and Mike Phillips have been missing for extended periods, although strength in depth has been built in their absence.

Physicality at the breakdown is a concern, but Wales clearly have the fitness to live with the best and their attacking potential is beyond doubt.

The biggest deterioration since Gatland's inaugural, Grand Slam year of 2008 has undoubtedly been the defence.

Two years ago Wales conceded just two tries as they stormed to Six Nations glory. In three games in 2010 they have leaked seven.

Last week Gatland pointed to the continued absence of Gavin Henson as a key element in the defence's decline, but after the France game there was a more positive spin.

"We've picked an attack-loaded team and I was very proud of the defence," said defence coach Shaun Edwards.

"To keep France to no offensive tries was a great effort. But there is no doubt people are doing their homework and have seen they can get intercepts, because more than 30% of our tries conceded over the last 18 months have come from intercepts."

Whatever the problems in the Welsh side, it seems that self belief is not one of them.

This would seem a deliberate ploy from Gatland who has identified Welsh pessimism as a weakness and has been keen to build confidence in victory ahead of major Tests.

It is the sort of thinking that saw him question Mathieu Bastareaud's fitness before the France match, to ask whether New Zealand had lost their aura before the All Blacks game and to stress his players' dislike of Ireland before last year's Six Nations decider.

A trip to face the Championship holders in Croke Park on 13 March is next up for Wales.

"If we can be on a level playing field going into second half against Ireland... we feel we can beat anybody," flanker Jonathan Thomas has already declared.

Gatland said: "We're critical of ourselves and hard on ourselves and hopefully that will make us a better side moving forward.

Wales V Italy Hospitality

France V Italy Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality

Ryan Jones doubtful for Ireland as Wales back row woe deepens

WALES are facing a back-row crisis ahead of their visit to Ireland in 13 days time.

With the disgraced Andy Powell out in the cold, captain Ryan Jones has emerged as a Dublin doubt after struggling through the 26-20 defeat to France with a calf injury.

“I struggled all week and was not able to do much training in the build-up to the game,” said Jones.

“I managed to get through the match, but it is pretty sore. We will see what the next couple of days might bring up.”

The Wales squad meet up again tomorrow with Jones expected to see a specialist this week. If the Ospreys skipper fails to make the Croke Park clash, Warren Gatland faces a No 8 headache with no clear replacement in the current squad.

The options would be Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton or Jonathan Thomas, but the trio are natural flankers.

Gatland would most likely turn to Thomas or Blues rookie Warburton who packed down at the base of the scrum in training last week in the absence of Jones.

But Wales could go outside the squad and call in Gloucester captain Gareth Delve.

Wales insist Powell still has an international future, but it is highly unlikely that the Lions back-rower will return to the squad so soon after being dropped.

The 28-year-old was punished after the Scotland game when he drove a golf buggy along the M4 motorway, allegedly under the influence of alcohol.

Powell missed the French defeat after being thrown out of the squad and is due to appear at Cardiff magistrates’ court on Tuesday.

Gatland is also waiting on the fitness of Lions front-row duo Matthew Rees and Gethin Jenkins, plus Blues hooker Gareth Williams.

Rees has not featured in the Six Nations because of a groin injury and is set to return for the Scarlets against Ulster on Friday.

Jenkins limped off with a recurrence of a calf problem against Scotland last week and faces a race against time to prove his fitness.

Deiniol Jones’ rib injury will be monitored after the Blues lock was forced off in the first half against France.

Ireland V Wales Hospitality

Ireland V Scotland Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality

Beeb needs Scots broadcast, just ask Colin, or rather Chris

IF ever there was a compelling case for BBC Scotland producing its own broadcast for Scotland rugby international matches, it was from Cardiff.

On the occasion of Chris Paterson's historic 100th match for Scotland, he was introduced by BBC presenter John Inverdale as 'Colin Paterson'.

The excuse that this was just a slip of the tongue does not interest me, because

Inverdale went on to call the player 'Colin' again before the match had even started.

If Inverdale does not know Chris Paterson's name after 100 appearances for Scotland, during which he has become the best goal kicker in the sport, he never will.

It was an insult to Paterson to get his name wrong not once but twice as he achieved such a milestone in the game, with only a handful of other players having won a hundred caps for their country.

We then had the commentators twice going on about Alasdair Dickinson's error of judgment which led to his sin-binning. Dickinson must have been wondering about that as well, because he had been substituted some time before his team-mate Scott Lawson was shown the yellow card.

To make matters worse, after having to suffer Jonathan Davies willing Wales over the try-line, we then had to listen to incredible remarks from players after the match about Wales going on to win the championship.

While consistent with similar claims of huge strides being made off the field, the problem is that it is still 'jam tomorrow'. The other difficult fact militating against accepting Johnson's assertion is that it is difficult to see under what circumstances such latent talent will come forth. Having forced Ireland to make four times as many tackles and dominated possession, territory and the set-piece scrums, England are unlikely to be able to have better circumstances from which to challenge the better teams in world rugby. Though they had all this ball, all these positions, they were still outscored by three tries to one and their crossing of the line came from good forward play. When they tried to engage their opponents with a more expansive game plan they were taught a lesson in finishing.

For heaven's sake, they lost to England and then scored with the last move of the game against 13 men. Champions? Champions of Wales, maybe.

Scotland V England Hospitality

Ireland V Scotland Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality

Brian Moore: England's backs go missing in action against Ireland

The Twickenham agnostics, are metaphorically starting to hum this refrain after Martin Johnson's claim that England's narrow loss to Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday showed "there is still obviously a lot more in us".

The responsibility for this inability to score tries, or make repeated openings, has been laid squarely at Jonny Wilkinson's feet, but this game showed that the defect is far from his sole

responsibility. Riki Flutey's contribution from No 12 is the key to taking the right options during open play and whatever creative light he possesses it was hidden so far under the bushel as to be virtually invisible. He was simply missing in action.

When you add to this the failure of Mathew Tait to demand the ball, the continued non-communication between the back three and the technically-flawed service of his scrum-half, you see that Wilkinson is shouldering much of the criticism for what is a systemic failure of England's backs.

It is unfair and inaccurate to single out the No 10 when there are a multitude of other contributory factors: Toby Flood, for example, would have done no better last Saturday. Moreover, even if Wilkinson had played flawlessly, the refusal of nearly all his fellow backs to accept their responsibility to think clearly and act accordingly would have rendered his contribution worthless.

The most damning aspect of England's loss, however, was the one problem that has been highlighted so often that it has almost become accepted as a natural state of affairs; something intractable, criticised only by those who are fatally out of touch with the essentials of the modern game – slow ball. How many times does this point have to be made before it is addressed properly? The body positions of players taking the ball into contact, their delivery of the ball when going to ground, the failure of clearing players to go beyond the ball – all these remain clear. Without a solution to this malaise, England cannot progress properly and it is time someone was held to account.

Fortunately the French have been almost single-handedly showing that, sporadically, northern hemisphere rugby is capable of matching its southern counterpart. Their first-half dismantling of the Welsh was as clinical as was their mistaken tactical decision to sit back and play for territory in the second half, which merely ceded ball to a struggling opposition who gleefully accepted the implicit invitation to attack.

In making this mistake the French showed they are not immune from the muddled thinking that passes as 'the game today'. What remains ineluctable is that without the ball you cannot score and kicking the ball long means you do not have the ball. Perhaps the simplicity of this notion renders it unacceptable to modern thinkers who insist on cloaking everything in jargon.

The seismic change in the French attitude to defence has underpinned every success they have achieved in the last two years and if they can rid themselves of even a modicum of inconsistency, they have the chance to mount a serious World Cup challenge.

The Scots have been handed a similar lecture, albeit that theirs has come at the other end of the spectrum; it takes only one period in which you dominate, but do not score, to see you scrapping for the wooden spoon.

This Six Nations rugby has been distinctly average, although it still produces the unexpected and has provided several tight finishes; in this at least it continues to demonstrate its worth.

France V England Hospitality

Scotland V England Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality

1990 Grand Slam match 'only a game'

RUGBY legend David Sole has criticised claims Scotland's 1990 Grand Slam victory over England was more than just a game.

In a letter in today's Scotsman, the man who captained Scotland to that historic 13-7 victory says it was not a question of "settling scores, of getting 'one over' on the English or of putting political wrongs right".

It was, he said, just a great sporting moment.

Earlier this year, former England rugby hooker, Brian Moore, belittled Scotland's victory, claiming anti-English bigotry and hatred of the poll tax were behind the historic success.

In his autobiography Beware the Dog, Moore claimed the Scottish victory in the winner-takes-all Five Nations decider was fuelled not by superior skills and tactics, but by hatred over the imposition of the poll tax by Margaret Thatcher's government, as well as anti-English fervour.

Moore's view that the match was more than just the clash of two rival sides is echoed in Scotland of Sunday chief sports writer Tom English's new book The Grudge: Scotland vs England, 1990, in which Moore repeats his belief that Scotland saw the England side as "Thatcher's team".

The book also includes comments by the then England captain, Will Carling, who said that in the run up to the game he had been branded by the media as "Thatcher's captain".

However, Sole dismisses claims of a political or anti-English dimension in the Scottish team's phenomenal performance on the day. He said there was already a bond of friendship between both teams that had been formed during a tough British Lions tour of Australia the year before.

"Friendships were forged that remain to this day but above all, a mutual respect grew amongst the squad of players – respect that carried over from 1989 to the Five Nations Championship of 1990," he said. "It was not a question of settling scores, of getting 'one over' on the English or of putting political wrongs right. It was simply a game of rugby – the only difference was that there was a Grand Slam at stake.

"It is a shame that the victory has been interpreted by some as something more than that, but if that is the belief that they hold, then that is their right, but to do so diminishes what the game represented for many others.

"To continue to hold such xenophobic beliefs is not healthy for Scotland as a nation. We should continue to be fierce rivals of England, but in my view that rivalry should be no different to any other nation that we compete against. Let us be proud of our achievements – and I shall be extremely proud of the Grand Slam of 1990 – but let us view them for what they are – great moments in sport, no more, no less."

Over the years, alternative explanations have been given for the Scottish team's fervour on the pitch. They include tales of commemorative "England Grand Slam 1990" T-shirts and ties being on sale in Edinburgh before the game.

France V England Hospitality

Scotland V England Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality