RUGBY UNION HIGH HOPE

Mark Cueto last night proved that whatever else England lack there is no issue with individual self-confidence.

Forty eight hours after the world's biggest and richest rugby union completed another dismal autumn campaign, Cueto tipped them to win the Six Nations rugby .

"I certainly believe we can win the title," he said. "I'm definitely looking for us to improve on last year when we won all our home games and finished runners-up.

"This autumn hasn't gone the way we wanted. There are areas we need to improve massively on. We've got to be more clinical.

"But a year ago our autumn campaign was terrible and come the Six Nations rugby we only lost by a point to Ireland, who won the Grand Slam, having played a quarter of the game with 14 men."

Right now it is easier to make a case for England finishing last than first. On form they will struggle to beat either Ireland or Wales even with home advantage.

They will also be underdogs in Edinburgh and Paris against Andy Robinson's resurgent Scotland and a French side coming off victory over world champions South Africa.

The questions are piling up over Martin Johnson's England. Where is the progress? Where is the adventure? Are England paying for appointing a head man with no coaching experience?

"If it gets more kids playing rugby then that's great, but certainly it means we can go into the Six Nations rubgy with confidence now."
They have not been helped by rugby's lawmakers killing rugby as a spectacle by giving every advantage to defence over attack at the breakdown.

"It's become ridiculous," said Cueto. "It isn't fun for anyone - not for those watching and not for us playing. It's killing the game.

"I have scored one try this season for England and Sale. It's the worst strike rate I've ever had. I find it so frustrating."

But it is the same for all teams and England must become more inventive.

Of the so-called golden generation, Shane Geraghty is in and out of the side, Danny Cipriani's in the wilderness and Ben Foden is back at his club.

"I'm pretty livid," said Foden. "I saw these (matches) as a massive opportunity for me, with Delon Armitage injured.

"There's been very little feedback from England. I like to take people on and run from my own line. If England don't agree with that style of rugby, then I'm not their man."

I like to take people on and run from my own line and, if England do not agree with that style of rugby, I am not their man." England may not be playing well, but their two home matches in next year's Six Nations hospitalityare already sell-outs and all the hospitality for the first game, against Wales in February, have been taken. Australia and New Zealand are not so fortunate commercially and they will express their concerns about the stagnancy of the game on the field at this weekend's gathering of the International Rugby Board's general assembly in Dublin, followed by a meeting of the council.

England's record in Six Nations rubgy winning the 2003 World Cup..

2004: 3rd behind France and Ireland

2005: 4th behind Wales, France and Ireland

2006: 4th behind France, Ireland and Scotland

2007: 3rd behind France and Ireland

2008: 2nd behind Wales

2009: 2nd behind Ireland

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Peel gets Wales nod after “raising tempo against Argentina”

DWAYNE PEEL has won the battle of the scrum-halves and will wear the No 9 jersey for Wales v Australia.


The Sale Sharks half-back has got the nod ahead of Blues rival Gareth Cooper for Saturday’s big Millennium Stadium showdown.

Peel came off the bench to replace Cooper midway through the second half of the comfortable 33-16 victory over Argentina last weekend.

“Dwayne has had limited time on the park but did particularly well in raising the tempo of the game when he came on last weekend,” said Howley.

“It’s an historic occasion as this is the first time the Blues have played as a region against an international side.

“We are more than happy with Gareth’s performances so far and it’s an opportunity to give Dwayne and Martin a run at number nine.

“Dwayne and Gareth are level at the moment (for the scrum-half spot) but the autumn Test series is an opportunity to give players a game.

“And Dwayne and Martin will have that opportunity on Saturday.”

I like to take people on and run from my own line and, if England do not agree with that style of rugby, I am not their man." England may not be playing well, but their two home matches in next year's Six Nations hospitalityare already sell-outs and all the hospitality for the first game, against Wales in February, have been taken. Australia and New Zealand are not so fortunate commercially and they will express their concerns about the stagnancy of the game on the field at this weekend's gathering of the International Rugby Board's general assembly in Dublin, followed by a meeting of the council.

Peel is one of only two possible changes to the Wales starting line-up to face the wounded Wallabies.

“We want to go into the Six Nations rugby with momentum and confidence.

“We beat them 21-18 last year and we go into the game knowing we need to find another level if we are to repeat that.”

Meanwhile, Howley underlined the importance of Shaun Edwards to the Wales set-up yesterday.

The future of England defence coach Mike Ford has been the subject of much speculation with reports linking him to the vacant position of England rugby league coach.

But Edwards, who signed a deal with Wales until the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, would be the favourite to replace Ford.

The former Wasps head coach met Martin Johnson, the England manager, only days after he had agreed his deal with Wales following Grand Slam success in 2008.

Edwards, who was the Lions defence coach and is widely regarded as the best in the world, has made no secret of his desire to coach England at some point during his career.

“I have been a player under Shaun and his emotion and technical and tactical knowledge of the game is immense,” said Howley.

“The one thing, in terms of this coaching set-up, is pure honesty. That is what you get from Shaun.

“He made a statement when we first came into the Wales set-up two years ago, he told the players: ‘You miss a tackle, I miss a tackle’.

“Everybody is aware of their roles and responsibilities in defence and there is no doubt that when Shaun came on board we were leaking too many tries.

“It has certainly been a benefit to have Shaun on board with Wales and long may that continue.”

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Welsh try 'concern' for Williams

The Welsh have touched down just once in their two November Tests and have scored only two tries at home this year with Leigh Halfpenny scoring both.

Williams, Wales' record try-scorer, said: "It is a little bit of a concern, we are creating things but we're just not finishing off tries at the moment.

"We haven't hit the panic button yet as we have players behind the scrum who score tries week in, week out for fun."

Halfpenny scored in Wales' 23-15 victory over England at the Millennium Stadium in the Six Nations rugby and the Cardiff Blues wing also scored in last Friday's 17-13 win over Samoa.

But the once prolific Welsh failed to cross the line in defeats to Ireland and New Zealand.

Wales, though, scored seven tries on the road in the Six Nations rugby while an under-strength tour party scored eight tries in summer tour Tests against Canada and United States.

The Welsh are renowned for their attacking rugby, but the lack of a cutting edge is worrying Williams and his coach Warren Gatland.

His men created almost a dozen try-scoring opportunities against Samoa on Friday but Wales hope to convert chances into scores in their Saturday's showdown with Argentina in Cardiff.

"In Test match rugby you don't often get many chances," Gatland said. "And if you do, you have to take them.

"We created a huge amount of chances against Samoa and could have scored four or five tries.

"And of the two autumn games, we played more rugby than the opposition as they kicked the ball more.

"We are a little bit frustrated ourselves that we haven't scored more tries in the two matches but the defence has been good.

"We are creating opportunities and we need to finish them off."

Wales conceded just two tries in their 2008 Grand Slam triumph when the free-scoring Welsh touched down 13 times in their second clean-sweep in four years.

Williams' six tries in five Six Nations rugby matches - equalling Will Greenwood's Championship try-scoring record - earned him the player of the tournament award.

The Ospreys star scored nine tries in 2008 and was honoured with the IRB International Player of the Year accolade.

Wales, however, have lacked a killer instinct recently but Williams says creating chances is not the problem.

"We certainly showed against Samoa that we can create things," said the 32-year-old who boasts a prolific strike-rate 46 tries in 66 caps.

"We made 11 line breaks and just one try - from a kick as well. Maybe the Welsh public expect a bit more.

"There is a little bit more pressure on the outside as we all know Welsh supporters expect tries and expect great games - but it isn't always the case.

"We've got to take ownership of individual errors which didn't allow us to capitalise on the hard effort and work we put it in," said Wales captain Ryan Jones.

"We made 11 line-breaks and scored just one try which is unusual for us. We've always thrived on that small opportunity or on an opposition mistake - and that, for whatever reason, is something that has gone out of our game."

But Stephen Jones, the Lions fly-half, insists the scores will come.

I like to take people on and run from my own line and, if England do not agree with that style of rugby, I am not their man." England may not be playing well, but their two home matches in next year's Six Nations hospitality are already sell-outs and all the hospitality for the first game, against Wales in February, have been taken. Australia and New Zealand are not so fortunate commercially and they will express their concerns about the stagnancy of the game on the field at this weekend's gathering of the International Rugby Board's general assembly in Dublin, followed by a meeting of the council.

Rugby Hospitality: For this match sports hospitality is available form corporate hospitality group. Corporate hospitality introduce a variety of Corporate hospitality Packages. They provide 100% security and privacy to customer Information. You can reserve your rugby hospitality with confidance and with fear.


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Jones turns in vintage performance

Wales boss Warren Gatland likened fly-half Stephen Jones to "a good red wine" after he guided his team to victory over Argentina.

While wing Shane Williams lit up the contest with two tries in a record 33-16 win, Jones' tactical assurance built a solid platform for victory. The 31-year-old Scarlets number 10 contributed 17 points, including his first Wales try since the 2006 Six Nations rugby, as Wales ran out comfortable winners.

"Stephen is like a good red wine, he gets better with age," said Gatland. "We are pleased with that performance, it was a step up from the first couple of games (in the autumn). We played some good rugby, there were a lot of positives."

Williams has now scored 48 tries for Wales, while Jones claimed an opportunist effort, running 30 metres unopposed to Argentina's line after opting not to kick for goal from a penalty and catching out the Pumas' defence.

Wing Leigh Halfpenny chipped in with two penalties while centre Martin Rodriguez scored all of Argentina's points, including a try.

Gatland added: "We still feel there is another level in us and it is about improving game by game, week on week.

"The next step is try to get our percentage of wins up to 75%, but we are pleased with the progress we are making. It's about putting pressure on ourselves.

"We went out there today and played some really good rugby hospitality."

Gatland also had words of praise for current world player of the year Williams, who scored his first tries at the Millennium Stadium since November last year.

"Shane is such a talented rugby player," said Gatland. "It's great if you have got two, three or four players in your team with the x-factor, and we are lucky to have some of those."

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Sports 'should be free-to-air'

Welsh Six Nations rugby and Wales football championship qualifiers are among sport to be protected for free TV channels if recommendations are backed.

They are among the recommendations of a review of free-to-air listed events announced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan said the move would allow fans to enjoy the excitement of international matches.

But it would "devastate the finances" of Welsh rugby, said the Six Nations.

If the recommendations are adopted, England's home Ashes Tests would return to free-to-air television from 2017.

Home and away football qualifiers for the home nations would be listed, along with Wales' home and away Six Nations rubgy matches, Wimbledon tennis and the golf Open.

"I came to Wales, to the land of my fathers, and I was confronted by the outgoing First Minister of Wales, Rhodri Morgan, who said to me: 'Dai bach, your responsibility is to save Welsh rugby for the next generation by making sure live Six Nations rugbyis protected,'" he said.

"Moments later the chief executive of the Welsh Rugby Union told me I would be personally responsible for decimating Welsh rugby if it was protected, so that is the dilemma that the government ultimately is going to have to decide on."

"This secures sporting events such as the Six Nations rugby, qualification matches in the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Football Championships and the Ashes home matches for the maximum size of audience and allows all fans to enjoy the excitement of our international games.

"The affect of this will be to allow today's outstanding sports stars to inspire the up and coming generation to develop their potential for representing Wales to the full in future."

A spokesperson for the Six Nations said it was reading the review and all its comments but that its initial response was: "If the

Welsh international rugby hospitality in the Six Nations hospitality are included in any final list from this draft recommendation, it will not only devastate the finances of the Welsh Rugby Union but also significantly affect all rugby unions within the Six Nations and rugby in the Northern Hemisphere in general."

Executive chairman Michael Grade said: "The support of David Davies' panel for the continued protection of free-to-air coverage of major sports events is good news for UK viewers."

Under the recommendations, the Winter Olympics would no longer be protected for free-to-air TV.

The Epsom Derby, and rugby league's Challenge Cup final have also been removed.

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Pre-register now for 2010 RBS Six Nations Hospitality

Wales rugby fans can pre-register for hospitality to the 2010 RBS Six Nations hospitality matches at the Millennium Stadium from today (Saturday, 21 November) at the Welsh Rugby Union official website - and Wales captain Ryan Jones has urged supporters not to miss out.

Fans can now register their interest for Wales against Scotland (February 13), France (February 26) and Italy (March 20) at http://www.corporatehospitalitygroup.com/Six-Nations-Hospitality/and join a priority list for access to any hospitality the WRU has for release prior to public sale.

Capacity crowds flocked to the Millennium Stadium when Wales kicked off the 2009 RBS Six Nations rugbywith a victory over England on Valentine's Day and for a nail-biting clash with Ireland in the tournament finale.

Warren Gatland's Wales are expecting bumper crowds at next year's tournament and Jones wants the fans to take advantage of the pre-registration system that launches today.

"This is a great opportunity for our supporters to get hold of any hospitality that are available for public sale at corporatehospitalitygroup/sixnationhospitality

"There is nothing better than a full-house of Welsh fans at the Millennium Stadium and the team always look forward to the roar of the 74,500 strong crowd. With three home fixtures at the 2010 Six Nations hospitality, fans should act fast and sign up for this exclusive opportunity,"

WRU Head of Group Compliance Julie Paterson said: "The system of pre-registration has gathered momentum with our fans over recent years and allows us to ensure any hospitalitywe have for public sale are offered to our core fans first prior to release.

"Throughout the pre-registration period for this year's Autumn Series, we received over 10,000 applications and many of these fans snapped up hospitality for the popular Wales v New Zealand fixture - hospitality which were otherwise not released for public sale.

"We are delighted to offer this opportunity to the fans of Welsh rugby for the 2010 RBS Six Nations."

Further information can be found at www.corporatehospitalitygroup.com Pre-registration for 2010 RBS Six Nations Hospitality is also available on hospitality packages and information can be gathered via email to: sales@corporatehospitalitygroup.com

Rugby Hospitality: For this match sports hospitality is available form corporate hospitality group. Corporate hospitality introduce a variety of Corporate hospitality Packages. They provide 100% security and privacy to customer Information. You can reserve your rugby hospitality with confidance and with fear.


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Anglo Irish Bank moves to sell corporate box at Croke Park

STATE-OWNED Anglo Irish Bank is trying to sell its corporate box at Croke Park in Dublin in an attempt to reduce the lender’s overheads as part of its cost-cutting strategy.

The bank has had the box for about nine years, using it to entertain clients during GAA matches and Six Nations rugby games.

Anglo is hoping to sell its box before the lease expires as there is a waiting list for boxes and current owners have the right to renew. A spokesman for the bank declined to comment. The nationalised bank, which has so far received €4 billion in taxpayers’ money, cancelled all corporate sponsorship after it was taken into State ownership last January.

Among the high-profile sponsorship deals to be cancelled was the bank’s support for the Novice Hurdle at the Cheltenham racing festival in England. Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said earlier this year the bank would not be involved in any further corporate sponsorship.

The bank decided not to host any events in its corporate box at the Ireland-England Six Nations rubgygame at Croke Park on February 28th after public criticism for entertaining guests after the nationalisation of the bank at the GAA football league game between Dublin and Tyrone on January 31st and at the Ireland-France rugby game on February 7th.

A spokeswoman for the bank said at the time that the bank was “particularly mindful of the current economic conditions” and that the new board of the bank would review its corporate hospitality.

“The bank’s activities in the area of corporate hospitality take into account several factors, including the value of clients’ relationships with the bank, the form and costs of such hospitality, as well as the bank’s existing arrangements and the subsequent responsibilities to our suppliers,” said the spokeswoman.

Anglo offered some of the most lavish client entertainment of any Irish company, hosting customers at various domestic and international sporting events, including English Premier League games and American football and baseball games, as well as on golf and skiing trips.

I like to take people on and run from my own line and, if England do not agree with that style of rugby, I am not their man." England may not be playing well, but their two home matches in next year's Six Nations hospitalityare already sell-outs and all the hospitality for the first game, against Wales in February, have been taken. Australia and New Zealand are not so fortunate commercially and they will express their concerns about the stagnancy of the game on the field at this weekend's gathering of the International Rugby Board's general assembly in Dublin, followed by a meeting of the council

The GAA has said that it remains upbeat about the ability of companies to renew their hospitality suites, despite some corporate boxes being empty at rugby games this year. The organisation is optimistic about the timetable of renewals over the next five years as boxes will become available in descending order of popularity, with the most sought-after suites in the Hogan stand due next year, the Cusack in 2012 and the Davin in 2014.

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