Barry John at 76, the first rugby superstar

The King. Barry John.

It’s now 50 years since the former Wales fly-half guided the Lions to their only series victory in New Zealand. Today (January 6) he celebrates his birthday.

Welcome home prodigal, O’Connor

O’Connor waiting in the wings for a chance at redemption. Photo: Patrick Hamilton, AFP

Yes, I know that James O’Connor has been a prat. An official at the ARU who had to deal with him all the time told me that O’Connor was the worst of the Three Amigos – O’Connor, Kurtley Beale and Quade Cooper.

He would encourage and lead his mates into trouble and then, somehow, slide away unscathed, while the other two copped the blame and the punishments.

Unions plot path to the TOP

Referee Chris Linwood from UAE during a match officials’ session at TOP in Stellenbosch: Photo: IRB

One of the key presentations at the IRB’s Talent Optimisation Programme (TOP) in Stellenbosch, South Africa, recently was entitled “Where is rugby going?” and it’s a safe bet that the simple answer to that question is “onwards and upwards”, in no small way thanks to courses such as this one.

The ninth edition of the TOP just concluded, hosted for the eighth time by the Stellenbosch Academy of Sport, about 50km east of Cape Town, and situated in an historic rugby centre. It targets coaches, trainers and match officials from unions that don’t have their own high-performance programme.

This year’s course involved 34 participants from countries as diverse as Canada, Fiji, Georgia, Japan, Kenya, Netherlands, Romania and Russia but it was also attended by delegates from Argentina and Scotland.

Krasnoyarsk, the heartbeat of Russian rugby

Arch-rivals Krasny Yar (in green) and Yenisey-STM battle it out for Krasnoyarsk’s bragging rights. Photo: IRB

The choice of England as the host nation for next year’s Rugby World Cup is a fitting one, as it is of course the birthplace of the game. There is a good sense of continuity after the 2011 edition in New Zealand, as the Land of the Long White Cloud is considered one of the sport’s great heartlands. There is a sense of the battle for the Webb Ellis Cup moving from one side of the world to the other.

The southern Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk may not be the geographical halfway point between Eden Park and Twickenham but it is not too far from it at nearly 8,000 miles from Auckland and almost 4,500 miles from London. So, perhaps it is apt that the Russian city is to play host to the Rugby World Cup 2015 qualifier between Russia and Zimbabwe with a place in the repechage final against either Uruguay or Hong Kong up for grabs.

Krasnoyarsk is a city that represents the love and passion for rugby outside the traditional strength of Europe’s Six Nations and the southern hemisphere hotbeds of New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Argentina. Irish rugby fans may be somewhat familiar with the city as it played host to Ireland in 2002 as part of the qualification process for Rugby World Cup 2003.

Super Rugby final favouritism: Surely it’s obvious?

Waratahs backrower Wycliff Palu attacks against the Brumbies last weekend. Photo: Roar

I have been genuinely surprised to read and hear suggestion that Michael Cheika’s team will start the Super Rugby final as anything other than favourites.

The Waratahs finished the season in top spot, scored the most tries by some margin, and conceded the second fewest in the competition.

They’ve comfortably been the best team in the competition in the back half of the season, too, and go into the final on an eight-game winning streak.

Speight was told to snub All Blacks

Henry Speight stands next to grandfather, the late Ratu Josefa Iloilo.

When Henry Speight finally pulls on the Wallabies jersey in September, Australian rugby must extend much gratitude to his late grandfather Ratu Josefa Iloilo, the former Fijian president.

“He was one of the most influential people in my life, he made me the person I am today,” Speight says.

Had it not been for the advice given to Speight by Ratu Iloilo, the superstar winger would be playing in New Zealand and likely sporting an All Black top.

To know Speight is to understand his childhood.

Folau, Beale should stay in union

Kurtley Beale and Israel Folau are making an impact in rugby union. Photo: AAP

When Israel Folau was spotted having a coffee with the NRL’s head of football Todd Greenberg last week, it fuelled speculation that a return to rugby league was on the cards for the dual international.

Combined with sightings of Bulldogs coach Des Hasler at a Waratahs match – reportedly to watch Kurtley Beale play – it had the rugby union community in a slight panic, fearful they may be losing two of their biggest drawcards, and best players, to the 13 man-a-side game.

Folau hosed down any rumours on Fox Sports’ Rugby HQ on Thursday night, proclaiming the coffee was merely a chance meeting, along with highlighting the fact that it was Greenberg’s birthday and the two know each other well.

Little gives ‘all Dewes respect’

Nicky Little was Fiji’s pivot in four RWCs tallying 125 points. Photo: IRB

As Fiji prepare for Saturday’s all-important Rugby World Cup 2015 Oceania qualifier against the Cook Islands Total Rugby catches up with one of the Island nation’s most famous players, Nicky Little, to hear about his new career in coaching and to look back on events in France 2007 when Fiji shocked the rugby world.

As a 71-cap Fiji international, New Zealand-born Nicky Little appeared in four Rugby World Cups and his tally of 125 points puts him eighth on the competition’s all-time list. Eighteen of those points came in Fiji’s famous 38-34 win over Wales at RWC 2007, when prop Graham Dewes crashed over late on to put the Islanders through to their first quarter-final for 20 years.

Little recalled: “At half-time, when we were four tries up, we looked at each other and thought, ‘what’s happened, man’? “Half of us were thinking that they (Wales) were going to be angry and the other half were like, ‘woo-hoo’ we have got this. Sure enough, they came back and scored four tries.”

Farewell to a Rugby World Cup legend

Jonny Wilkinson featured in four Rugby World Cups and will be involved in the next tournament as an ambassador for England 2015. Photo: IRB

Few players can claim to have had as big an impact on Rugby World Cups as England’s Jonny Wilkinson. Having racked up no fewer than 277 points, Wilkinson is the tournament’s all-time leading point scorer and can look back at a glittering international career that spanned four campaigns between 1999 and 2011, including a Rugby World Cup winner’s medal in 2003.

On 31 May, Wilkinson bid farewell to professional rugby after a fairy tale season with Toulon FC, which saw the French outfit crowned domestic and European champions. But for many, Wilkinson’s greatest achievements came in an England shirt and, in particular, on the Rugby World Cup stage.

Hurting the integrity of international rugby?

Bundee Aki wins Counties Manukau 2012 MVP. Is he following in All Blacks coach Steve Hansen’s footsteps? Photo: Rugby heaven

HAVE you heard of Bundee Aki? I hadn’t, at least not until last week. He may sound like a Cirque de Soleil trapeze artist, but instead he is a midfielder for the Chiefs Super Rugby franchise. He helped them to the title only last year.

Aki made the news recently because he announced that he is quitting the Chiefs and joining Connacht, which is an odd move until you realise that he has made it with the express intention of playing international rugby for Ireland. His connections with the Emerald Isle? Absolutely none, unless he has a fondness for the black stuff.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen acted like someone had poked him with a sharp stick. Hansen berated players on the fringes of the All Blacks for moving abroad for easy money and an easy life – having done exactly the same while coaching Wales.

The irony was noted even in the Kiwi papers, one of which recorded: “With hypocrisy coming from every word, the All Blacks coach fumed over players who take ‘easy options’ and ‘lack mental fortitude’.”