Sixteen England Lions
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TOUCHLINE The Official Newspaper of The RFU May 2017 Issue 201 SIXTEEN ENGLAND LIONS Head coach Warren Gatland chose 16 Englishmen in his squad for the three British & Irish Lions Tests in Auckland (24 June), Wellington (1 July) and Auckland (8 July). Forwards Joe Marler, Mako Vunipola, Kyle Sinckler, Dan Cole, Jamie George, George Kruis, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes and Billy Vunipola have been named. They are joined by backs Ben Youngs, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, Jonathan Joseph, Ben Te’o, Anthony Watson and Jack Nowell in the squad. Sam Warburton is Lions captain for the 10- match tour which begins on 3 June. Said Gatland: “The competition for places makes us excited heading to New Zealand. We’ve got the depth and quality to handle the opposition we face.” Joining the 16 Englishmen in New Zealand are 12 from Wales, 11 from Ireland and two from Scotland, making up a 41-man squad of 22 forwards and 19 backs, with Saracens and England forward Itoje the youngest player at the age of 22. ENGLAND’S ARGENTINA TOUR Eddie Jones’ 31-man squad for England’s two-Test tour to Argentina in June will be captained by Dylan Hartley and includes 15 uncapped players. In the pack, props Will Collier (Harlequins) and Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs) are included with second-row Nick Isiekwe (Saracens) and back-row forwards Sam Underhill (Ospreys/Bath Rugby) as well as brothers Ben and Tom Curry (both Sale Sharks). In the backs scrum half Jack Maunder (Exeter Chiefs) receives his first senior call-up alongside fly half Piers Francis (Auckland Blues/Northampton Saints), backs Alex Lozowski (Saracens) and DON’T MISS THE Harry Mallinder (Northampton Saints), centres Joe Marchant (Harlequins), and Sam James (Sale Sharks) as well as wings MITSUBISHI MOTORS Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks), Nathan Earle (Saracens) and Joe Cokanasiga (London Irish). EXETER 7S The squad assembles on Sunday 29 May to begin their Europe’s best rugby sevens talent will gather in Exeter for the preparations for the two-Test tour which sees England play at Mitsubishi Motors Exeter 7s on the 15th and 16th of July at Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan on Saturday 10 June Sandy Park. and Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao Lopez, Sante Fe, on With thousands of fans heading to Sandy Park over the Saturday 17 June. past two years, the 2017 event promises more rugby and Jones has made a number of enforced changes to the coaching entertainment for spectators. It will showcase one of the set-up to compensate for Steve Borthwick’s absence on the British game’s most exciting and high octane versions, coupled with & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. Jones will take responsibility a carnival atmosphere in and around the stadium’s fan village. for the forwards, supported by scrum coach Neal Hatley. Defence It’s a rugby spectacle not to be missed! coach Paul Gustard adds the lineout and kick-off to his coaching To buy tickets to the Mitsubishi Motors Exeter 7s, go to remit and Glen Ella, who previously toured with England in sandypark.co.uk/sevens Australia in 2016, will link-up with the squad in Argentina to assist A community 7s tournament, the SW Rugby 7s, runs alongside Jones with the attack. The former Wallaby will be supported by the Mitsubishi Motors Exeter 7s. For how to enter a team visit skills coach Rory Teague. swrugby7s.co.uk or email [email protected] Continued on page 2 TOUCHLINE – MAY 2017 1 Continued from page 1 ENGLAND’S DEBORAH GRIFFIN RE-ELECTED ARGENTINA TOUR “We are looking forward to going to Argentina and winning 2-0,” said England head coach Jones. “The squad have a great opportunity to represent their country and win for England. There are a few new faces in the set-up so every training session and team meeting will count. “The Pumas are a physically aggressive side and they have become very good at playing unstructured rugby; we need to make sure we control the structural part of the game and our defence will play an absolutely crucial role. “Dylan Hartley will lead the side again having captained the team excellently during the RBS 6 Nations and will be supported by vice-captains Mike Brown, Danny Care and George Ford.” Deborah Griffin has been re-elected as the women’s and girl’s competition structures are there. I want to make sure that representative on the Rugby Football Union Council, with her over the next three years we really look at how we create those appointment confirmed at April’s RFU Council meeting. The competition structures, that we grow with the game. We have to news comes at an important time for the women’s game, with take that momentum forward.” interest and participation in the sport at an all-time high. Griffin believes that the awarding of professional contracts to Having been involved in women’s rugby since the late 1970s, England Women players has made a big difference. Deborah was a founding member of the Rugby Football Union “Professional contracts became necessary with sevens for Women (RFUW) and chaired the organisation committee of becoming part of the Olympics. We could not really compete the first Women’s Rugby World Cup in Cardiff in 1991. Captain of without becoming professional. And for the past three Women’s TWICKENHAM’S the first English women’s club side at Finchley RFC in 1984, she World Cups a lot of players either gave up their jobs or went part went on to play at Richmond Ladies for a further seven years. time. Now it’s brilliant that they have the time to prepare for the She joined the RFU Council in 2010 while chair of the RFUW, World Cup without having to worry about supporting themselves. TWO NFL which integrated fully into the Union in 2012. She has served as “I believe that England should get to the final and that will be a the women and girls’ representative since then, while separately tremendous catalyst for growth. We will not only have girls and being a member of the RFU Board of Directors and was awarded women saying ‘I want to be part of that’ but clubs’ chair people FIXTURES an OBE in 2012 for services to women’s rugby. She became seeing what a great sport it is, how well it’s played, and wanting Twickenham Stadium’s two 2017 National Football League secretary of the Cambridge University RFU in 2014. to be part of it too. That’s the main reason for wanting to see (NFL) fixtures and kick off times have been confirmed. Arizona Looking at the changes to the women’s and girls’ game over England win from my perspective!” Cardinals will play LA Rams on Sunday 22 October, 6pm. almost four decades she is most impressed by “the growth Griffin believes that over the coming years the women’s game Minnesota Vikings face the Cleveland Browns a week later on in numbers, the number of women and girls playing and the in England will see a tipping point in numbers. Sunday 29 October, 1.30pm, following the success of the NFL’s number of clubs with women’s sections. “It’s tremendously exciting and constantly amazes me. That inaugural game at Twickenham last year, in which the Giants “I think in 1991 when we had the Women’s Rugby World critical tipping point is almost there in terms of participation and beat the Rams 17-10. Cup there were 70 sides in England and, given that many were if I could wave a magic wand my number one wish would be to The partnership between the RFU and the NFL was announced university teams, there were probably only around 35 club sides, see everyone being able to play women’s and girls’ rugby at their in November 2015 and allows the NFL to play a minimum of three compared with with over 300 rugby clubs across the country now local club. regular season games at Twickenham Stadium over a three-year hosting women and girls’ teams.” “But if the interest is there, local clubs need to have the right period. The agreement also gives the NFL the opportunity to stage Griffin is also impressed with the number of young female structure to grow women’s and girls’ rugby and to sustain that two additional games over the same period. players. “What you have got now is girls playing in schools and growth. The coaching and development has to be as good as for “Hosting the NFL at Twickenham for the first time last year clubs at age group levels. There is still room for more players boys and men. was a huge success and provided us with a great opportunity to and there are still pockets of the country where it’s difficult to “Ultimately, having women’s and girls’ sections will benefit the showcase the stadium as the adaptable and world-class venue that get games but a huge amount has been achieved by CBRE All clubs who will gain in terms of new revenues, new players but it is,” said RFU Chief Executive, Ian Ritchie. Schools, with something like 50% of the schools having girls also more volunteers. I constantly hear from clubs who say they NFL UK’s Alistair Kirkwood said he was looking forward to playing and going on to play in local clubs. have two or three women on their committee now and it is so welcoming the teams to London, three of which have yet to play in “There is so much growth now that we need to ensure that much better.” the UK.