Commonwealth Youth Games 2011 - Rugby Sevens

The weekend of 10-11 September 2011 saw the introduction of Rugby Sevens to the Commonwealth Youth Games.

Tosha - the CYG2011 mascot

The fourth Games, held on the Isle of Man, from 8-11 September saw eight nations compete in the sevens tournament, including the very first time that an Isle of Man national side had been selected.

Funding from the Manx Government had been secured, to renovate the Bowl Stadium in Douglas, a part of the National Sports Centre in the town.

The newly refurbished stadium has a full 3G synthetic surface, which has been approved for use in rugby by the IRB, and also the footballing governing bodies, with the Bowl Stadium home to the Isle of Man FA.

The tournament was covered on Manx Radio as part of their status as Official Games Station, providing full coverage of the IOM Commonwealth Youth Games.

I would like to thank all at Manx Radio for their support and encouragement while I was there, on my first live broadcasting job. Here is my round up of the tournament, with all the results.

Tournament Format

Two groups of four teams were drawn to play each other in a round robin format, with all sides playing three games each day.

All sides would play a quarter final fixture, with the winners progressing to the Gold medal semi finals, and losers to the Bowl/Plate semi finals. The losers of the Gold medal semis would play for the Bronze medal, and the losers of the Bowl/Plate semi finals would play for the Bowl Final, and the winners, the Plate final.

Pool A

Isle of Man v Scotland

The first fixture of the competition was a major milestone for Manx rugby, with the Isle of Man competing as a national side for the first time at any level. Their fixture against Scotland ended in defeat by 43-5, although Liam Murphy would have his name in island history as the first try scorer for the Isle of Man.

Australia beat Canada by 31-0, and with both underdogs having taken heavy beatings, the second round of fixtures saw the Canadians almost upsetting the formbook with a one point defeat, by 15-14 to Scotland, while at Australians beat the hosts by a more comfortable 47-0. Scotland had made it hard for themselves, having taken a 15-0 lead, letting the Canadians come back at them, and just holding out for the victory.

Australia v Canada

The final round of matches in the pool was simply a case of fighting for positions, leading into the quarter finals. The Isle of man, perhaps fancying to do something against Canada, just didn't have it in them, and lost out by 50-0, while the Australians were too good for the Scots, winning by 19-5, and taking first place in Pool A.

Pool B

With two minnows of world rugby up against two giants, this pool was also to see some heavy defeats for the underdogs.

England v Sri Lanka

South Africa started the ball rolling, with ten tries in a 62-0 rout of Sri Lanka, before England put Trinidad & Tobago to the sword, with nine tries in a 53-0 victory.

The Springboks equalled their first scoreline, with ten tries against Trinidad & Tobago (62-0), with England also putting ten past the Sri Lankans in their 64-0 win.

Again, the last round of pool fixtures saw tight fixtures to sort out the quarter final places. First up, it was the battle between England and South Africa, with the English winners by 7-5; a 7-0 half-time lead being defended until the final hooter, when the Springboks scored, but they couldn't convert from a difficult angle.

South Africa v Trinidad & Tobago

The Sri Lankans beat Trinidad & Tobago by 17-5, despite going behind to the Carribean side.

The tight finish to the England v South Africa match had led to both sides being seen as favourites to progress to the final match.

Quarter Finals

The quarter final draw had thrown up some fixtures which observers could see would end up one sided, and this was the case in all but the final fixture.

The first of these saw Australia put Trinidad & Tobago to the sword by 53-0, before the home side played an England team who had every player in the squad signed up to Premiership Academy sides, and most of whom had played A League reserve team fixtures for their team.

The home crowd were firmly behind their team, as the English were camped in their own half for a full two minutes, before they managed to gain any territory against the Manx men. Despite the territory gained, the islanders just couldn't get any advantage against their opponents, with some ferocious defending keeping them at bay. Quality soon prevailed, and England went through with a 52-0 scoreline, but not without the home side getting the crowd cheering with some stout tackling.

Scotland won easily enough against Sri Lanka, by 47-0, before Canada lost out 24-12 to South Africa. The Springboks had led by 19-0 at half time, and shipped two tries in the second half, although the strong Canadians just couldn't come back at them in time.

Semi Finals

The Isle of Man's quarter final defeat had led to a Bowl/Plate semi final match against Sri Lanka, a fixture that Mike Dee, the IoM manager had thought would be "interesting"! It certainly ended up that way, with a very first historic Manx win, by 26-15. This match certainly had the crowd on their feet, with Andy Evans scoring two tries and Alex Murphy one by half time. The breathing space of two conversions from those tries was needed going into the second half, as the Sri Lankans came back with three tries of their own, before Dan Bonwick put down between the posts and converted for a fantastic result.

The strong side from Canada hammered Trinidad & Tobago by 60-7 in the other Bowl/Plate semi final, setting up a Bowl Final of Sri Lanka v Trinidad & Tobago and a Plate Final of Canada v Isle of Man.

The Gold Medal semi finals set up and 'Auld Enemy' clash followed by a battle of the southern hemisphere giants.

England proved too strong against Scotland, winning by 19-5, while the South Africans beat Australia by 26-21 in the match of the tournament so far. Lewis Holland had set the ball rolling for the Australians, before South Africa came back, to lead by 21-7 at half time. Australia came back, equalising through a converted Alex Northam try, with kicker Waldo Wessells continuing his excellent record throughout the tournament. The winning try though, came from Burger Odendal right at the death.

That result set up an intriguing rematch of England v South Africa for the Gold Medal. Would the final be as tight as the group game, which had been settled by a missed conversion?

Bowl Final

The Carribeans from Trinidad & Tobago lost out to Sri Lanka by 24-12 in a match where the Asian side were ahead throughout. The T&T team appeared to be too keen to use their feet when the ball was loose, and never really got to grips with the game.

Plate Final

This was the one which the local support were wanting to see, but the big Canadian side outmuscled the IoM team by 8 tries to none, securing the Plate Final by a score of 52-0. While it was a big disappointment for the home team, their manager Mike Dee had been pragmatic about their chances in the tournament beforehand, so to finish sixth out of eight was a big achievement for the squad.

Bronze Medal Final

A re-run of the earlier group game saw the Scots give the Australians a huge fright, leading the game going into the final minute, but a Will Miller try secured the Bronze medal for Australia, with a 15-12 scoreline.

Gold Medal Final

England took the honours against the Springboks once more, but with a 21 point margin after the 20 minute final match. Helped by a Jack Arnott hat-trick, they took the game by the scruff of the neck, with a 19-12 half-time lead, and never looked back throughout the second half. The final result of 40-21 looked harsh on the Springboks who made this into a final worthy of the name, and went home as Silver Medallists.

Full Results

Pool A

Scotland 43 - 5 Isle of Man

Australia 31 - 0 Canada

Scotland 15 - 14 Canada

Australia 47 - 0 Isle of Man

Canada 50 - 0 Isle of Man

Scotland 5 - 19 Australia

Pool B

South Africa 62 - 0 Sri Lanka

England 53 - 0 Trinidad & Tobago

England 64 - 0 Sri Lanka

South Africa 62 - 0 Trinidad & Tobago

South Africa 5 - 7 England

Trinidad & Tobago 5 - 17 Sri Lanka

Quarter Finals

Australia 53 - 0 Trinidad & Tobago

Isle of Man 0 - 52 England

Scotland 47 - 0 Sri Lanka

Canada 12 - 24 South Africa

Semi Finals

Plate & Bowl

Isle of Man 26 - 15 Sri Lanka

Trinidad & Tobago 7 - 60 Canada

Gold & Bronze

Australia 21 - 26 South Africa

England 19 - 5 Scotland

Finals

Bowl - Sri Lanka 24 - 12 Trinidad & Tobago

Plate - Isle of Man 0 - 52 Canada

Bronze Medal - Australia 15 - 12 Scotland

Gold Medal - South Africa 20 - 41 England

* All photographs courtesy www.cyg2011.com

Sale Sharks - 8 April 2011

Sale Sharks  36 Gloucester 31

Aviva Premiership

Edgeley Park

Friday 8 April 2011

Live coverage of this vital fixture as I saw it on the night.

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Ansbro keen to make his mark

It’s not often we get to celebrate a new international name from the Lancashire stable, far less one who plays in the blue shirt of Scotland!

Leading out the Stonyhurst 1st XV.
Picture courtesy Stonyhurst College

For this quiet spoken young man, hailing from Dumfries and Galloway in the Scottish borders, it would seem natural that he would play for the country of his birth. Fate however, sent him to the red and white of Lancashire, through his schooling at Stonyhurst College, deep in the Ribble Valley.

His rugby abilities came to the fore during his time there, and he was selected to play at county Under 16s and Under 18s; from where he was selected for the North of England, in a squad alongside Sale Sharks’ Matthew Tait, Scott Armstrong of Leeds Carnegie, and captain Rob Webber, now hooker at Wasps.

It was while he was at university studying at Cambridge that he continued to play, with two Varsity match appearances, as well as a place in their side against the touring Samoans of 2005. It wasn’t his greatest moment, being knocked out after 30 minutes, but nonetheless, he earned himself some good reviews among watching scouts.

On tour with Stonyhurst in Australia, 2004
Picture courtesy Stonyhurst College

“I didn’t really think that I’d get into professional rugby. I never thought ‘Oh, I’ll wait for three years and then go back to it’. I had pretty much thought it was curtains as far as professional rugby was concerned.”

As far as international recognition goes, Ansbro was selected for Scotland A squad to play at the 2009 IRB Nations Cup. A hip injury against Uruguay put him out of the final match of that tournament, and it wasn’t until October 2010 that further international recognition came his way; a place in the Scotland A side against the USA Eagles that was ultimately aborted for what would become his greatest achievement so far – a call up to the full Scotland squad for the Autumn international series.

His debut against the South Africans on 20 November 2010 was a proud moment for the Saints back, never having expected the call.

“I didn’t expect it” was all he could say about a moment that has changed his standing in the game!

“I had lost alot of momentum when I went back to Northampton (after the Nations Cup), and didn’t play much club rugby. This year, although I’ve playing alot from the bench, I feel that I’ve been playing alot better.”

“To get the call was nice, but to play was something that I would never have imagined.”

His recent appearances for Northampton Saints have seen him gather more game time, where has taken his chance after an injury to team mate Chris Ashton. Best known as a utility back, he has started at outside centre and on both wings this season at Franklin’s Gardens.

It’s an exciting time at Northampton right now; a great position in the Aviva Premiership, the first side through to the Heineken Cup quarter finals, and winners of the 2010 LV Cup. Ansbro is keen to make his mark even further at his club, and being named Man of the Match in last week’s Heineken Cup match at Castres is also a great recognition of his regular first team starts.

Now that he has been included in the Scottish Six Nations squad, he will be looking to add to his two caps, and cement a place on the flight to New Zealand for Rugby World Cup.

Preston North End announce Phil Brown as new manager



Brown wants "to put smiles back on faces"

Preston North End have unveiled former Hull City boss Phil Brown as their new manager.

He takes charge at the club following the sacking of Darren Ferguson on New Year’s Eve.

The 51 year old has taken training with the players this morning, and will be in charge for the next match, the FA Cup Third Round match at Deepdale against Former boss Billy Davies’ Nottingham Forest.

“I’m more than excited to be here. We are trying to get the club out of the situation they are in, with 22 games to do it in.”

Brown takes charge at a time when Preston are rooted to the bottom of the Championship, having lost their last three matches, including the relegation dogfight at Crystal Palace on 3^rd January. That result has left the Lilywhites four points behind second-bottom Scunthorpe, and seven behind fourth-bottom Sheffield United.

The new management team at their first press conference

Alongside Brown was his assistant, Brian Horton, a man who has been in football management for almost 30 years, with Manchester City among his former clubs. He was equally positive about the challenge ahead.

“We’ve seen the players today, and we like what we’ve seen so far”

When asked about the prospects of climbing to safety, he was as positive as the new manager: “Seven points is nothing, there are 66 points to play for”.

Between them, they are looking at a target of winning half of their remaining games, which should see the side remain in the Championship come the end of the season.

Caretaker manager David Unsworth and his assistant Jamie Hoyland have been asked to stay on to work with the new management team, but as yet, there are no firm commitments.

One main concern is the current size of the squad, made threadbare through the return of five loanees to Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as the loss of talismanic striker Jon Parkin to Cardiff City.

When asked about the opportunities for new signings, Brown said: “Assurances have been given, and we have five or six places to fill, so we need to have the conversations with the owner and chairman.”

Preston North End - 12th November 2010

Preston North End 0 Hull City 2

npower Championship

This was a real six pointer for both sides, which ended up being a fixture which would see North End at the bottom of the table within 24 hours.

Darren Ferguson had said at the start of the week that he was looking for six points from both home matches being played this week, but ended up with nothing.

Ferguson was able to restore loan signing Ian Hume up front with Jon Parkin, giving him some hope of a potent attacking threat.

Hull made their own changes, with Vito Mannone replacing Matt Duke in goal, and Robert Koren returing to the side for John Bostock.

North End had the ball in the back of the net early on, but Jon Parkin was clearly offside, when he was in place to put home a shot saved by Mannone.

Hull threatened themselves, Richard Garcia missing a great chance to put the visitors ahead, after a neat through ball which split the home defence. His shot which went past the far post was an opportunity to show the home team how open they were to the visiting threat.

On 20 minutes, Garcia took advantage of a great cross from Koren on the right wing, who made use of the space he was given to put the ball into the box, with the Spaniard stooping at the back post to put Hull 1-0 in front.

Preston weren't learning from what had happened before, with the back line being split open once again, this time Koren wasted a great chance, which to be fair, was saved well from Andy Lonergan from point blank.

Preston themselves maintained their own threat up front, and were wasteful of the few chances they had, with an Adam Barton header missed from all of three yards out.

Hume did well to get a ball into the Hull six yard box, after collecting the ball up the left wing, with little support. His cross was cleared for a corner, to bring the home support to life.

Up to half time, Preston had two more efforts on goal, with Chris Brown shooting narrowly wide from distance, and Parkin hitting the side netting from an angle.

Into added time on, Chris Parry was through on the Hull goal, and only thwarted by a fantastic tackle by Anthony Gerrard.


View Matchday in a larger map

The home side kept pressing at the start of the second half, and perhaps their best effort of the match was from Hume, who hit the base of the post; the ball rolling just in front of the line, wide of the opposite post, and cleared from danger.

Hull retained their ability to threaten, as Preston always looked jittery when off the ball, and at times, seemed incapable of winning the ball back from their guests, who were able to play 'keep-ball' for periods of the second half.

Sky cameras giving a view of thousands of empty seats at Deepdale

The second goal came from a piece of great tenacity by Garcia who seemingly chased a lost cause on the right wing, getting past the defence, putting in a blistering cross into the heart of the six yard box, with veteran Nick Barmby poking the ball past Lonergan.

While Preston missed chances again to get a goal, Jay Simpson for the visitors missed a clear chance to kill the match completely in added time, when he hit the far post when one on one with the keeper.

The final whistle was met by a howl of booing from the home Town End fans, with manager Darren Ferguson facing calls for his sacking by a home support who have seen their team slide alarmingly down the table.

Ferguson later admitted that: "It was a  a disappointing evening and result", with news of a post match player's meeting giving him the confidence that: "they are 100% behind me".

The attendance of 9,088 was a reflection of the level of support behind the club, at a time when Preston are in real danger of losing their eleven year stint in the Championship.

Sale Sharks - 5th November 2010

Sale Sharks 39 London Irish 14

LV= Cup

Friday night - Bonfire night, and the sparks were flying at Edgeley Park, Stockport, when Sale Sharks met London Irish in the LV Cup.

A narrow bonus point opportunity for Sale went begging the last time these sides met, only six days previously. An opportunity then, for revenge, and with twelve changes to the starting line-up, Sharks went for the visitors from the off. Sale managed to see off the Londoners with a first half display of blistering running and solid defensive work.

View from the back row of the press box at Edgeley Park. 

Straight from the start, the early intentions of Sale was to put points on the board; the first of the match was from the boot of fly half Rob Miller from five metres inside his own half after three minutes. Following that, the first try of the match followed soon after, with Tom Brady evading his opponents with clever footwork, before touching down on the left wing. The conversion from the touchline was kicked wide of the near post by full back Paul Williams. Brady left the field afterwards, replaced by debutant Ian Thornley on the wing.

As for the visitors, London Irish were left resorting to kicking the ball for position, as they were struggling to get past the gain line. A wet pitch from the day’s rainfall, had left the ball slippery, and this was evident with handling errors on both sides. Marland Yarde, for the visitors, was culpable with a missed opportunity on half way, losing possession to Sale.

The home side were always looking for more point scoring opportunities, and Miller tried to add to the tally with a second penalty kick from inside his half, this time falling just short of the posts. Running at pace into the Irish line paid off halfway into the period, with Fergus Mulchrone putting down after getting the ball from Williams, who side stepped his opposite number brilliantly. Williams converted the try.

It took a full 25 minutes for London Irish to take their first scoring attempt – Chris Malone hit the post with his penalty attempt, before Darren Allison was through for a try, before being called back for picking up his own knock on.


View Press Box in a larger map

This period of the half saw Irish put some pressure on the Sale line, with Chris Brightwell in particular hitting the carriers well, and then taking the ball deep into the visiting half, getting the ball out wide to Mulchrone for the third try of the match on the overlap. Williams converted once more.

Just on half time, debutant Thornley scored; the ball being kept in several phases on the try line before being taken out left to the winger for a converted score, to take the Sharks in 25-0 at half time.

The second half saw a renewed effort from Irish, putting Sale on the backfoot for the early period. Again, solid defending saw off the threat; Asaeli Boko saving a certain score by Alex Corbisiero by putting him into touch at the very last. London’s attempts to pass out wide were pounced upon with an audacious interception by Rhys Crane, who took the ball on the wing in his half, and got under the posts to have put the match beyond the visitors. Miller converted.

As if the game wasn’t over as a contest by that point, Chris Leck scored for the Sharks last try of the match on 70 minutes, after great running by Lee Imiolek. Miller converted for Sale’s last points of the match.

With confidence running through the home side, passing out wide saw them found out by Yarde, who took his chance with an interception, his score converted by Chris Malone. With only fourteen players on the pitch at the last, due to late replacement Karena Wihongi being sin binned, the visitors got their second try of the game, with Chris Hala’ufia carrying from a ruck on the line after some sustained pressure. Malone again converted, for a final score of 39-14.

The match was worthy of a greater attendance than the 5,106 who attended, and a great way of laying to rest the disappointment of the previous fixture. With so many young players in the side tonight, it can only mean a great future for the club in terms of their playing staff.