Samoa sevens star Mikaele Pesamino signs for Sale

Sale have completed the signing of Samoa wing Mikaele Pesamino from New Zealand province Auckland.

The 26-year-old was the International Rugby Board sevens player of the year in 2009/10 and the leading try-scorer in this year's World Series with 56.

"This is a massive signing," said Sale head coach Mike Brewer.

"He had the choice of joining other clubs in the UK but has chosen Sale. He's incredibly quick and I'm sure our supporters will be very impressed."

Pesamino scored three tries in the Samoan XV-a-side team's 73-12 victory over Papua New Guinea last year, a win which saw them qualify for the 2011 World Cup.

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The 6ft 2in winger, who was born on the Samoan island of Upolu, has played for Auckland in the Air NZ Cup since 2007.

Sale have been busy in the transfer market this summer following a disappointing season in which they narrowly avoided relegation.

Utility back Matty James, full-back Paul Williams, props Aston Croall and Karena Wihongi and lock Wame Lewaravu are among the new faces at Edgeley Park for the new season.

The 2006 Premiership winners take on Newcastle in their opening game of the new season in September.

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Regions and WRU on collision course...again

THE Welsh Rugby Union and the four regions are on a major collision course again – this time over sevens rugby.

The two sides are heading for a showdown less than a year after the new Participation Agreement heralded in a new deal and peace broke out.

The agreement, reached after months of haggling, gave Wales coach Warren Gatland greater access to the leading players, limited the amount of matches they could play in a season, allowed for a free weekend before the start of a major competition like the Six Nations and brought in a summer international.

But also in the deal thrashed out was a clause agreeing that primacy be given to IRB sevens competitions as and when required. Wales won the World Cup Sevens competition in Dubai in 2009, with Craig Hill and Tom Isaacs, then with Newport and the Dragons, part of the squad. But they fell away again this year, part of the reason being that few leading players were available. Buy online Six Nations Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in Six Nations 2011 Hospitality and Tickets.

However, the Commonwealth Games are being held in Delhi in October and sevens is one of the events being contested.

Champions New Zealand are the big favourites with players like Hosea Gear, who scored a hat-trick of tries in the Maoris’ win against England last month, available.

The WRU want to make a show in this competition, they don’t want Wales to be embarrassed, and as a consequence they are expected to invoke the Participation Agreement clause demanding the release of players.

The regions are aware of it and they fear the loss of top players for a number of Magners League games, especially with sevens warm-up matches planned, while the actual competition clashes with the opening rounds of the Heineken Cup.

Wales have been drawn against South Africa, also their opponents in the full World Cup next year, Tonga and hosts India in the Commonwealth Games and coach Paul John, who was in charge for Wales’ World Cup triumph, is on the road this week spreading the sevens gospel.

He began in north Wales yesterday and visits the four regions during the rest of the week.

“The sevens game is getting bigger and bigger on the world stage and in 2016 is set to be included in the Olympic Games for the first time,” said John.

“That has meant countries like Russia have really taken a new look at the sport and the IRB World Series gets stronger and stronger every season.

“We have been drawn in a tough pool with South Africa and Tonga, but it will be a great opportunity for the Welsh players to prove themselves on a major stage.

“With rugby sevens an Olympic sport for 2016 we are constantly looking to improve the standard and competitiveness of our sevens players while sevens also provides a great platform to improve skills and technical ability for the 15-a-side game.” Buy online England v France Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in England v France 2011 Hospitality and Tickets.

Call to ban rugby scrums in schools

Rugby scrums should be banned in schools to protect children involved in a sport which is "not safe enough" for them, an expert has warned.

Professor Allyson Pollock, director of Edinburgh University's Centre for International Public Health Policy, called for the ban after research into child injuries.

The study was carried out during 190 rugby matches at five schools.

There were 37 injuries recorded, with 20 taken to accident and emergency.

The tackle was the "commonest phase of play causing injury" with the head and face the most injured body part, along with sprains or ligament damage.

Prof Pollock, one of the study's authors, said: "High tackles and scrums should be banned. The sport is not safe enough for schoolchildren and not enough is being done to protect the safety of children.
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She said moderating play may change rugby, but it was better to have a safe game than a dangerous one.

"Concussion is under-reported because it's not being monitored properly. Repeated concussions may have severe long-term consequences," the professor added, warning that teachers and coaches have a duty of care towards children.

"If youngsters were coming back from school trips with these rates of injuries it would be enough to trigger a major inquiry."

In the 193 matches played by 470 children in Scotland between January to April last year, the injury incidence during the match play was 10.8 injuries per 1,000 player hours.
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Out of 37 rugby injuries amongst the youngsters, 29 were sustained by children aged between 14 and 17 and eight in the 11 to 13 age group.
Injury surveillance

A spinal injury was admitted overnight in hospital and the 19 other injuries seen at accident and emergency were discharged without admission.

Eight of the injuries resulted in time off school. Five of those injured were off school for one day, one was off for three days, one for five days and the spinal injury caused the youngster to be "off school long-term", the research said.

The study, to be published in the Journal of Public Health, also said a rugby injury surveillance system in Scottish schools should be "strongly encouraged".

The Scottish government helped to fund the research.

A government spokeswoman said: "We initiated preliminary work around this study and we will now look closely at the findings of the research.

"While the Scottish government is fully supportive of school rugby, it's very important we have accurate data about injuries sustained on the pitch to ensure that young people are not being exposed to disproportionate risks."Buy online England v France Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in England v France 2011 Hospitality and Tickets.

Evans forced to retire

Thom Evans has lost his battle to return to action following a serious spinal injury.

The 25-year-old Scotland winger damaged two vertebrae following a collision with Wales full-back Lee Byrne during the RBS Six Nations.

Evans was stretched off in a neck brace and needed emergency surgery to stabilise his spine.

However despite working hard in rehab over the past four months to get back to full mobility, Evans has now told family and friends that he has now accepted medical advice that he will not play again.

And former Scotland winger Roger Baird, who mentored Evans, believes the news is sad for the game and the player.Buy online Six Nations Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in Six Nations 2011 Hospitality and Tickets.

Blow

"It is devastating for Thom because all you want to do is play top-class rugby for as long as you can, and there is no doubt he would have contributed a lot to Scottish rugby in the years to come," Baird told The Scotsman.

"It is also a huge blow for the Scottish game and the Glasgow and Scotland teams because we just don't have players with his searing out-and-out pace.

"Although he was quite late to rugby we spoke a lot about his defence, positioning and other things and he took them all on and didn't make the same mistake twice.

"He is genuinely brave and strong, with good intelligence for the game, and I could only see him getting better.

"But you also have to get things into perspective. The great thing is that Thom is able to walk."Buy online England v France Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in England v France 2011 Hospitality and Tickets.

Wales should take time over Gatland contract

Rugby Correspondent Andy Howell believes the WRU should be in no rush to hand coach Warren Gatland a new contract beyond the 2011 World Cup IF the WRU feel the need to examine Warren Gatland’s contract position they should cast their gaze across the Severn Bridge towards English football.For it might just stop them making an expensive mistake.Gatland is playing a clever game by revealing he’s considering several offers to leave his post as Wales coach following the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.The Kiwi’s current deal expires at the end of that tournament and the WRU could let it run its course and not offer Gatland an extension, as the Union did with Steve Hansen in 2004.But there seems to be a desire among members of the inner circle at the Welsh Rugby Union to keep the highly-paid Gatland on after the World Cup.There’s a danger the public utterances of the canny Gatland will result in them panicking and rushing to offer the 46-year-old a new deal.Buy online Six Nations Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in Six Nations 2011 Hospitality and Tickets.Yet look at the football World Cup and how teams can implode overnight; the last thing you want to do is offer a new deal now. England were destroyed 4-1 by Germany on Sunday – the culmination of a dismal World Cup campaign – and that showed the mockery of the Football Association racing to tie up coach Fabio Capello before a ball had been kicked in South Africa.The FA negotiated the removal of an escape clause in his £6m per year deal amid supposed overtures from Champion League kings Inter Milan.Inter supposedly wanted him to replace Real Madrid-bound Jose Mourinho and terror set in at the FA’s Wembley headquarters.

But the only winner was Capello with a possible £12m pay-off now in the pipeline.

Just weeks after that escape clause was removed Capello is teetering on the brink with Club England chairman Sir Dave Richards saying he needs two weeks to address the Italian’s future.Hardly a ringing vote of confidence when you’ve got two years to run on your contract.The worry is the WRU could also end up with egg on its face if it offers – and Gatland accepts – a deal to extend his stay in Wales.

Unless results improve, and Wales make a real fist of the Six Nations and World Cup next year, why would some of the powers-that-be want to keep him on?

Only one thing matters in international rugby. It’s called winning, something which Wales have lost the art of since beating England at the Millennium Stadium in February 2009.Since then, Gatland’s men have lost 10 of their 15 internationals when he has been in charge (he missed the North America tour last summer because of his Lions duties in South Africa) with just wins over Italy (twice), Samoa, Argentina and Scotland.Hardly anything to write home about – and it could get worse with New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina joining Fiji in coming to Cardiff this autumn.Let me stress, I believe Gatland should see out his current deal.Judging by some of the rugby Wales play, allied to their spirit, resilience and fitness levels, the players clearly still have faith in him as the right man to take them to the World Cup.Buy online Six Nations Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in Six Nations 2011 Hospitality and Tickets.Wales won 10 of their opening 15 fixtures – including that magnificent 2008 Grand Slam and a home victory over Australia – under Gatland after he took over the reins following that miserable Gareth Jenkins-led World Cup flop in 2007.It could be argued Wales over-achieved during that period.But having played some magnificent rugby and erected a stone-wall defence in the 2008 Six Nations there’s no reason why they can’t repeat it, especially with the talent at Gatland’s disposal.But his overall record with Wales reads played 28, won 14, lost 14 – a modest 50% success rate.Buy online England v France Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in England v France 2011 Hospitality and Tickets.That Gatland is a wanted man isn’t a surprise given an impressive CV compiled at Ireland, London Wasps, Waikato and, initially, Wales.But if he wants to fulfil his dream of coaching the All Blacks he has to qualify first by guiding a Super 15 team back home.What the WRU need is a calm hand on the tiller and patience in dealing with Gatland’s post-World Cup future.It’s far too early to consider it now... let’s see what shape we are in at the end of the Six Nations.Otherwise, Capello might not be the only international coach getting a handsome pay-off.Buy online England v France Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in England v France 2011 Hospitality and Tickets.

State of the Nation - Wales

The question regarding this team is not how far do they still have to go, it's how far can they still go before the next World Cup.Let's face facts: potential though this side has and competitive though it is, this is not a team that can go on to lift a World Cup, nor is it a team that will take a Grand Slam or Six Nations any time soon.Warren Gatland arrived in the principality with a fanfare in 2008, taking a side that had been knocked out of the World Cup by Fiji to a Grand Slam in the Six Nations.Since then, things have not been so good. Of the last fifteen games, Wales have won only five. With many of this current crop hitting full international maturity and with the World Cup one year away, you'd be hoping for a better return than this right now. They've been more consistent under Gatland, they've been better-organised, in many ways more competitive across the board. It's winning appears to be the problem.Having blown a 16-3 lead at home to a rag-tag South African team, Gatland talked before the series against New Zealand about mental strength being required to achieve the first win for Wales against the All Blacks in 57 years. That was a couple of days before his side fluffed several chances to build up a significant lead and then were caught napping twice for tries that turned the shape of the game. In the second half, mentally, the Welsh fell right off it.In the second game the Welsh were better but still got stuffed by nineteen points. That's the problem once again - other teams seem to be able to find a new level to close out a win or adapt to find a winning game, Wales don't. Occasionally the talent within the team finds something miraculous - remember that comeback against Scotland - but you just can't rely on things like that happening every time.So what's to be done? It's difficult to say. New players, like Dan Biggar and Tom Prydie, are popping up and giving decent accounts of themselves but looking at the collective, the Welsh are just lacking someone with a bit of X-factor to conjure up the magic that would ice the cake Gatland has baked so skillfully.However, it must also be remembered that the June tour was undertaken without several key players: James Hook, Shane Williams, Martyn Williams, Duncan Jones and Tom Shanklin were all missing, as was new flanker Sam Warburton who looks as though he will be a great one day. Perhaps they would have provided a little spark.Buy online Six Nations Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in Six Nations 2011 Hospitality and Tickets.
Perhaps. But what this Welsh team now needs is a big win and then some continuity from that. If it doesn't come in November, it might not come at all before Warren Gatland's contract comes to an end after World Cup 2011 - which would be a shame considering how well the Welsh have pulled together in his tenure.Buy online England v France Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in England v France 2011 Hospitality and Tickets.

Cipriani not quitting rugby

New Australian franchise Melbourne Rebels coach Rod MacQueen has played down media reports from the UK that had reported that English fly-half Danny Cipriani is trying to get out of his newly signed rugby contract and pursue a career in soccer. The Daily Mail had reported that the 22-year-old had grown so disillusioned with rugby, after his well-publicised breakup with his English girlfriend, model Kelly Brook which had left him brokenhearted, that the ex-England international may be interested in trialling for two English Premier League clubs.
“Danny’s a little broken-hearted after the breakup with his girlfriend, but as far as I know, he’s not trying to get out of his contract”, said Rod MacQueen. after apparely receiving a text message from the player who rubbished the rumours, who is currently in Los Angeles training with NFL players to improve his footwork, before joining up with the Rebels later in the year. Buy online Six Nations Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in Six Nations 2011 Hospitality and Tickets.

Cipriani had played 7 times for England but had since struggle to hold on to a position in the side, after narrowly missing out on selection for the 2007 World Cup, and being axed from the Six Nations Cup for inappropriate behaviour. While he has time on his side, being quite young, England manager Martin Johnson had insisted that Cipriani would not be in the equation to play for England whilst he is playing in the southern hemisphere and would therefore most likely not figure in next year’s showpiece in New Zealand. Buy online England v France Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in England v France 2011 Hospitality and Tickets.