I like to be kept busy - it works for me, and on that basis November is looking good both on and off the pitch.
Off the pitch, my rugby-writing colleague at the Bath Chronicle has the small matter of a new addition to the family looming, so I will be kept busy covering Saracens v Bath, Bath v Ospreys, Worcester v Bath and the last home game of the month - Bath v London Irish.
But it such a shame that Steve Meehan's men have had such a poor start to the season, with last weekend's defeat to Newcastle rubbing salt in the wound.
On the pitch, though, November is also full on, starting on the 7th with a game in National Two South, followed by an evening encounter at Esher RFC on Tuesday, November 17th when England A take on New Zealand.
The Black Ferns take on England in three matches, the first - a full Test - at Esher on Saturday, November 14th, the second at Esher and the third - the second Test - at Twickenham on Saturday, November 21st.
And the great news for me is that England women's second test at TW1 is a double-header, as the men take on the All Blacks, with the women kicking-off afterwards at 4.45pm.
Both games are live on Sky and I'm extremely privileged to be appointed as an assistant referee at Twickenham, with the iRB's David Keane (Ireland) in the middle.
Any involvement with a match at the hallowed turf of HQ is an honour, and to be there on international duty when the Martin Johnson's men take on the mighty All Blacks is the stuff dreams are made off.
All we need now is for Bath to start doing the business on the pitch too - and they need to start producing some results quickly if they are to avoid mediocrity this season in the Guinness Premiership.
Friday 30 October 2009
Friday 16 October 2009
Motivation is always good
Without doubt, training is a must for most officials and with players getting fitter, stronger and faster, that inevitably means referees have to increase an up their training too.
If you don't, it's fair to say that progression up the ranks will either slow, or stop. But it helps to have some form of motivation, a goal - some light at the end of the tunnel - always helps provide the impetus to get out there and train.
I am not a gym monkey, although I try to get down there twice a week, but the last thing I want to do is spend time on the treadmills or rowers, etc - they bore me senseless.
So, a couple of seasons ago someone encouraged me to have a go at 5km race that was run locally and not being one to back down from a challenge, I had a go. Shock horror - I actually enjoyed it.
Maybe it was my competitive nature, but running along side 100 or so others sparked something in me, and three years later I have knocked more than one minute of my personal best.
On Wednesday I went round the course in 26 minutes - OK, so not the fastest and I won't win any medals, but to learn that I beat my last time (run last November) by more than a minute really made my week.
My game plan was simple - find someone of a similar pace and sit behind them. And it worked!
While 5km races won't do anything for my speed work, it's the variety in training that I enjoy and setting a new personal best time has now enthused me to do even better in the next race in the Winter Series next month.
Somehow, though, I doubt I'll be knocking chunks off my time like last week.
If you don't, it's fair to say that progression up the ranks will either slow, or stop. But it helps to have some form of motivation, a goal - some light at the end of the tunnel - always helps provide the impetus to get out there and train.
I am not a gym monkey, although I try to get down there twice a week, but the last thing I want to do is spend time on the treadmills or rowers, etc - they bore me senseless.
So, a couple of seasons ago someone encouraged me to have a go at 5km race that was run locally and not being one to back down from a challenge, I had a go. Shock horror - I actually enjoyed it.
Maybe it was my competitive nature, but running along side 100 or so others sparked something in me, and three years later I have knocked more than one minute of my personal best.
On Wednesday I went round the course in 26 minutes - OK, so not the fastest and I won't win any medals, but to learn that I beat my last time (run last November) by more than a minute really made my week.
My game plan was simple - find someone of a similar pace and sit behind them. And it worked!
While 5km races won't do anything for my speed work, it's the variety in training that I enjoy and setting a new personal best time has now enthused me to do even better in the next race in the Winter Series next month.
Somehow, though, I doubt I'll be knocking chunks off my time like last week.
Wednesday 7 October 2009
Simply not acceptable
Much has been made in the press about events during and after the Coventry v Moseley match last week in the Championship.
For the record, Moseley won this fiercely-fought Midlands derby 25-28, with the referee awarding the visitors three penalty tries, the last deep into injury time.
I was not at the match and have not seen replays of it, but I understand that Coventry missed some kicks at goal and had chances to win the game, but did not.
The furore that has surrounded the game has, unfortunately, delved into the realms of that normally associated with football, in that the behaviour of some people (and I will refrain from calling them fans) after the final whislte was abhorrent. An alleged punch was aimed at the official and beer thrown over him, while a torrent of abuse was shouted as he made his way to the changing room.
Put simply, there is no place for this type of behaviour in our sport - and when the ink has barely dried on the RFU's Core Values statement, credit goes to Coventry RFC in taking swift action to identify the perpatrators and, hopefully, ban him/them for life.
As referees we've all at some time been a "pressure cooker" game, although it's fair to say that most will be a million miles away from the intensity of a Midlands derby in English rugby's tier-two competition.
Regardless, the referee would have gone out there and done his utmost to perform to the best of his abilities, and sometimes when the pressure comes on we all make decisions that - while in the comfort of a sofa with a DVD - we may not have otherwise. That's rugby - played by humans, refereed by humans.
But the press and local media have deemed to jump on the "age" bandwagon, as the referee in question is 21-years-old.
Cries of "he 'ain't old enough" and "what experience has he got?" have echoed around the Midlands for sure, but, like any other referee at the level, he would have gone through endless match assessments, performance reviews, training sessions, etc, to have proved his worth at that level.
Occasionaly the powers that be have to take a punt - fortune favours the brave after all, and I've no doubt the RFU firmly believed in his capabilites and potentional, and I have no doubt they still do.
Ask any referee and they will tell you that you learn more from the hard games than you do the good - and most of it comes down to how we deal with pressure.
The best, the very best, are past masters at it, while the rest of us keep forging away at working out the most effective plan on deflecting it.
Maybe the referee's calls at Coventry were right, maybe they were not - but no referee ever goes out there to make the wrong ones.
I stand by the fact that for someone as young as this referee is to go there and make some huge calls against the home side in a local derby says a lot.
And while the ins and outs of how he dealt with the pressure (rightly or wrongly) will no doubt be analysised by his bosses, I take my hat off to him and hope he bounces back very soon.
And I have no doubt he will.
For the record, Moseley won this fiercely-fought Midlands derby 25-28, with the referee awarding the visitors three penalty tries, the last deep into injury time.
I was not at the match and have not seen replays of it, but I understand that Coventry missed some kicks at goal and had chances to win the game, but did not.
The furore that has surrounded the game has, unfortunately, delved into the realms of that normally associated with football, in that the behaviour of some people (and I will refrain from calling them fans) after the final whislte was abhorrent. An alleged punch was aimed at the official and beer thrown over him, while a torrent of abuse was shouted as he made his way to the changing room.
Put simply, there is no place for this type of behaviour in our sport - and when the ink has barely dried on the RFU's Core Values statement, credit goes to Coventry RFC in taking swift action to identify the perpatrators and, hopefully, ban him/them for life.
As referees we've all at some time been a "pressure cooker" game, although it's fair to say that most will be a million miles away from the intensity of a Midlands derby in English rugby's tier-two competition.
Regardless, the referee would have gone out there and done his utmost to perform to the best of his abilities, and sometimes when the pressure comes on we all make decisions that - while in the comfort of a sofa with a DVD - we may not have otherwise. That's rugby - played by humans, refereed by humans.
But the press and local media have deemed to jump on the "age" bandwagon, as the referee in question is 21-years-old.
Cries of "he 'ain't old enough" and "what experience has he got?" have echoed around the Midlands for sure, but, like any other referee at the level, he would have gone through endless match assessments, performance reviews, training sessions, etc, to have proved his worth at that level.
Occasionaly the powers that be have to take a punt - fortune favours the brave after all, and I've no doubt the RFU firmly believed in his capabilites and potentional, and I have no doubt they still do.
Ask any referee and they will tell you that you learn more from the hard games than you do the good - and most of it comes down to how we deal with pressure.
The best, the very best, are past masters at it, while the rest of us keep forging away at working out the most effective plan on deflecting it.
Maybe the referee's calls at Coventry were right, maybe they were not - but no referee ever goes out there to make the wrong ones.
I stand by the fact that for someone as young as this referee is to go there and make some huge calls against the home side in a local derby says a lot.
And while the ins and outs of how he dealt with the pressure (rightly or wrongly) will no doubt be analysised by his bosses, I take my hat off to him and hope he bounces back very soon.
And I have no doubt he will.
Tuesday 6 October 2009
Time to stop and think
www.ecclesrfc.org.uk/main.htm
This is sad news - I never knew the guy, never went to Eccles RFC or indeed know anyone from the club, but still...
I am sure everyone in the rugby community will have the thoughts of this man's family and friends in their prayers.
This is sad news - I never knew the guy, never went to Eccles RFC or indeed know anyone from the club, but still...
I am sure everyone in the rugby community will have the thoughts of this man's family and friends in their prayers.
Thursday 1 October 2009
New website for women's rugby
Thankfully, after many years of hoping, a new website has been launched specifically for the promotion of women's rugby.
While there are plenty of websites dedicated to rugby, and in fairness most of the home unions have a dedicated section on their own sites to their national women's team, a target-specific site has been sadly lacking.
Those looking for information on the top-end of the women's game have been lucky to find the odd snippet buried at the back of some of the major sites.
But fear not anymore, for http://www.scrumqueens.com/ is here. With editor Alison Donnelly at the helm, the site - launched this week - looks very promising and professional.
And I guess a bit of harmless self publication won't do any harm as yours truly is contributing to the site via the medium of the blog.
With the Women's World Cup taking place in London from August next year, an exciting season lays ahead for the sport and I am sure everything you could possibly want to know about international women's rugby will be covered by scrumqueens.
I know Alison has some great interviews and features lined up with coaches/players/administrators and, yes, referees, from the top-end of the game - so it bodes well for the future of the sport on the web.
Take a look and see what you think!
While there are plenty of websites dedicated to rugby, and in fairness most of the home unions have a dedicated section on their own sites to their national women's team, a target-specific site has been sadly lacking.
Those looking for information on the top-end of the women's game have been lucky to find the odd snippet buried at the back of some of the major sites.
But fear not anymore, for http://www.scrumqueens.com/ is here. With editor Alison Donnelly at the helm, the site - launched this week - looks very promising and professional.
And I guess a bit of harmless self publication won't do any harm as yours truly is contributing to the site via the medium of the blog.
With the Women's World Cup taking place in London from August next year, an exciting season lays ahead for the sport and I am sure everything you could possibly want to know about international women's rugby will be covered by scrumqueens.
I know Alison has some great interviews and features lined up with coaches/players/administrators and, yes, referees, from the top-end of the game - so it bodes well for the future of the sport on the web.
Take a look and see what you think!
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