Best and worst of rugby in 2009

The end of year rugby awards have been rolled out by the Guardian and I thought I would add my two pence worth too with a very strong New Zealand bias (of course).

Best player
Guardian: Shane Williams (Wales). Harsh on Richie McCaw and Dan Carter but Williams deserves recognition for proving conclusively that height and weight are not the sole measure of a rugby player's worth.
ruggerblogger: Absolutely Richie McCaw.

Best coach
Guardian: Robbie Deans (Australia). Warren Gatland, Graham Henry and London Irish's Toby Booth were all in the frame but the post-World Cup improvement of the Wallabies has been a credit to Dean's tactical acumen.
ruggerblogger: Warren Gatland for reviving Wales after their simpering exit from the World Cup in 2007.

Best young player
Guardian: Luke Fitzgerald (Ireland). Even in a losing Leinster side at Castres on Friday night he showed class, skill, composure and fortitude. I'd ink him into my British and Irish Lions squad now.
ruggerblogger: Welsh fullback Lee Byrne. That guy looks slippery and dangerous.

Best match atmosphere
Guardian: Guinness Premiership final, Wasps v Leicester, Twickenham. A world-record crowd for a club match and a significant milestone in the history of the professional game in Britain.
ruggerblogger: Well of course, it was the New Plymouth test match for the All Blacks V Samoa. Although the crowds at Croke and Munster for the All Blacks grand slam were even better.

Quote of the year
Guardian: "My England man put rampant rabbits to shame" — Angel Barbie gives the lowdown on England's ill-fated "Pony Club" visit in Auckland.
ruggerblogger: “I second my fellow Kiwis who advise that most of New Zealand regard the NZRFU as a conga line of bumbling **: a motley collection of provincial oxen, who glower at the world from a thicket of cauliflower ears, protruding foreheads, homespun jumpers, and dark mutterings about bloody PC gone mad, the rest a pack of failed businessmen, opportunists, and strategically shaved chimpanzees, conspiring to reduce the All Blacks to a 'Brand', and sold like a Big Mac Happy Meal.” – BBC message board - bjammin187

The Oliver Postgate memorial award for biggest clanger
Guardian: The manner of Brian Ashton's removal as England head coach did the Rugby Football Union absolutely no credit.
ruggerblogger: The Auckland Four and their mishaps.

Unsung hero
Guardian: Step forward Al Baxter, the much-maligned Wallaby prop. He deserved his sweet moment of revenge against England at Twickenham.
ruggerblogger: Richie McCaw. Ok, ok, he's not unsung. But captaining an All Black team to a 19 - 0 win over South Africa in South Africa, completing another grand slam tour in the UK and Ireland where all the Northern teams remained tryless, a hard fought Bledisloe win, Captain of the winning Crusaders in the Super 14, leaderhip and influence, not to mention picking yourself up after the humiliation of 2007. What more did he have to do to get IRB player of the year?

Ugliest aspect of modern rugby
Guardian: Tediously protracted bouts of aerial ping-pong between two mediocre kickers.
ruggerblogger: The greedy British and French clubs. Too much money and not enough skill, still.

Best overseas signing
Guardian: Still early days but Quins' purchase of Nick Evans looks a better bet than, say, Newcastle's investment in Carl Hayman.
ruggerblogger: I always said we’d miss Nick Evans. Carl Hayman just needs to come back home.

Forgotten man
Guardian: Phil Christophers (Castres). Feels a long time ago since he played for England, doesn't it?
Forgotten man: Andrew Sheridan. He was once the great white hope. What happened to him this year?

Best referee
Guardian: Nigel Owens (Wales). By his own admission it can be tough being a referee, let alone an openly gay one. Deserves respect for his honesty and, more often than not, his officiating as well.
ruggerblogger: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa). Let’s the game flow and doesn’t get too whistle happy.

Media man of the year
Guardian: Alastair Hignell, who hung up his microphone in May. An inspiration to his many friends and still toasted — often repeatedly — around the hotel bars of the world.
ruggerblogger: Why does it have to be a man?

And one of my own:

Biggest mystery: Why - if the All Blacks are the biggest money spinners when it comes to rugby - does the NZRFU not have any money?

Check out Total Flanker for his best of 2009 awards

Tribute: John Drake ex All Black and Sky Sport Commentator

It was a shock to everyone in rugby circles (I’m not in a rugby circle strictly speaking – unless you count me and my Dad watching a test match in front of the telly as a ‘circle’ - but I was shocked too) to hear of the passing of John Drake, ex All Black and rugby commentator for the NZ herald and Sky sport.

Drake was one of the few All Blacks that was in a world cup winning team. He was also a very good commentator and brought a lot of insight into his commentaries – a responsibility he had no choice but to shoulder when he was stuck calling a match with Tony TJ Johnson or Nisbo. I think I”ve sometimes criticized Drake in this blog but most mainstream rugby commentators in this country and abroad get the ruggerblogger treatment from time-to-time.

That doesn’t take away that he was a very good rugby player and an expert on one of the most complicated games on the planet. At 49, he was too young to die. My sympathies are extended to John’s family and whanau, his colleagues and friends.

Carl Hayman returning to New Zealand from Newcastle?

By pure guess work I pondered nearly two months ago that Carl Hayman might think about returning home to New Zealand after Northern Rock – the bank that sponsors his UK club Newscastle – had to be bailed out by the UK government during these last few turbulent months of the credit crisis. Now it looks like my speculation might actually turn into reality.

Although Hayman’s return isn’t confirmed – the speculative news gets unbelievably better for rugby supporters in Taranaki. It looks like the big man might be planning on signing up with his home province and returning back to Taranaki – with a super 14 contract extended to the Hurricanes.

Great news indeed, although it’s all still up in the air at the moment so we can’t completely count our chickens. Unlike Richard Reid - Otago chief poobah - who was quoted as saying on Hayman’s possible return to Taranaki:

"I don't think it is accurate, Carl may be interested in returning to New Zealand but I think it is drawing a long bow to say that he would settle in a place like New Plymouth." Erm note to Richard – sometimes blood turns out to be thicker than water. We’ll just see eh?

Meanwhile up North, apparently Hayman has not exactly had the most successful time of it. Plagued by injury and not with the same calibre of players and coaches that surrounded him in the back shirt; it would be easy to understand why his form has probably dipped.

However, a quick skim of the BBC message boards and you would think that the strength of the Northern hemisphere forward packs have been too much for him. Here’s a delightful little quote from ‘Jagdiver’ who writes of Hayman’s ability:

“I've never seen him do anything special - best TH in the world - cobblers!! Done nothing for Falcons but trouser his pay. Hopefully the first of many overpaid under abilitied (sic) foreigners to clear off and allow some of the excellent British & Irish players in the lower leagues to step up.”

It seems people of Jagdiver’s ilk have short term memories indeed. Wasn’t it only a couple of weeks ago that the English rugby team got beaten soundly, again, by all top three sides in the Southern Hemisphere?

Two weeks fly by and all of sudden everyone up north gets a case of amnesia and starts hammering on again about how they’re just so superior in strength, forward play and not to mention – an oh so superior club competition. Same story – different year. Yawn.

And sorry – but the real greed? It’s not players like Hayman. Of course you’re going to take the money if it’s offered to you. You’d be a fool not too! The real greed comes from the European clubs that are not only killing the game at national level for their own countries, but also managing to make it grossly unfair when they drain players from countries that don’t have the financial prowess to keep up with them.

Could it be that this global credit crisis might actually do the world of rugby some good in the long run? I hope so.