Always a Wasp

Toulouse v Quins (KO 3.00pm Sunday) live on ITV 1.

Will choose whether them or TNT based on how bad the co-commentators are!

Roughly the same from The Telegraph -


Jack Willis turns to Marcus Rashford?s performance psychologist to reach next level

Toulouse?s gain is England?s loss as Willis revels in the pressure of taking his team to a Champions Cup final
Charlie Morgan, Senior Rugby Writer 2 May 2024 ? 6:00pm


    European Rugby Champions Cup, Toulouse FC, Marcus Rashford, England Rugby Union Team


Jack Willis is on a voyage of self-improvement in Toulouse that has already seen the 27-year-old enhance his ball-carrying and learn the language. A more relaxed mind-set on the pitch is the latest development.

Willis, poised for a Champions Cup semi-final against Harlequins on Sunday, credits Katie Mobed at The Prime Clinic with helping him to harness the pressure of big games. Mobed, a performance psychologist who worked with Team GB at three Olympic Games in 2012, 2016 and 2020, has also co-authored two books with Marcus Rashford. Willis believes that the collaboration clears his head from undue distraction and stress.

?I think I?ve learned to give it everything I can on the training pitch and during the week, but probably take a little bit of pressure off myself,? he says of the biggest lesson that his Toulouse stint has taught him so far.

?It probably got to a point where I was putting a lot of pressure on myself daily, which can get quite exhausting, and probably bog you down a little bit. I feel a lot freer mentally, I?ve been doing some work with a psychologist as well, which has been incredible.

?I can name drop her because she?s great at what she does; Katie Mobed, she?s brilliant and a big support to me. I think it frees me up going into games, and that?s quite important.

?If you feel bogged down mentally that does make a big difference. I?m not saying I was in a bad headspace at all, but I think you just have lots going through your mind, and you need to organise things correctly. And I certainly feel a lot freer on the pitch.?
?Pressure feels like a positive thing rather than a negative?

Willis, who has recovered from a stomach bug that kept him out of last weekend?s league game against Racing 92, won the Top 14 title in his maiden season across the Channel. Toulouse have looked irresistible during their current Champions Cup campaign, dispatching Cardiff, Harlequins, Ulster and Bath in the pool stages before ousting Racing and then surging past the defiant Exeter Chiefs with a dominant second-half display.

?I certainly feel I enjoy [the pressure] now,? Willis adds. ?I probably went through a phase of not enjoying it so much. I think now the pressure feels like a positive thing rather than a negative. And I?m looking forward to seeing what I can do out there each weekend and just trying to be the best version of myself for the club.?

The best version of Willis is evolving, which one might expect of a player sharing a squad with luminaries such as Emmanuel Meafou, Fran?ois Cros, Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack. He was never a mug with ball in hand, but Willis has challenged himself to be an attacking asset for Toulouse. His performance against Exeter was a huge endorsement in that regard.

Willis surged 30 metres to score in the first half, clattering through Harvey Skinner in the process, and made more strong carries in the build-up to second-half tries from Dupont and Pita Ahki. The benefits of drilling his leg-drive in contact, as Willis is doing weekly with a small group of Toulouse colleagues, are there for all to see.

Exeter also found the most celebrated area of Willis? game, jackalling, to be in fine fettle. Harlequins are bringing their own exponent in Will Evans, a scavenger whose reputation precedes him.

??Wevs? is a great player, incredible over the ball and certainly dangerous to the way we want to play,? Willis acknowledges. ?We want a flowing attack and to look after the ball when we?ve got it in our possession. He?s obviously a big threat to that and we?ve got to make sure we nullify that as much as possible to get a good foothold in the match.?


Willis expects Marcus Smith and co to ?bring all sorts of tricks? to Le Stadium. A helter-skelter quarter-final victory over Bordeaux-B?gles reinforced that, against Harlequins, ?if you give them an inch, they will take a mile?. Back to Evans, then, is there a jackaller?s collective to supplement the front-row union?

?There?s a mutual respect, I?d say so,? Willis grins. ?Whenever I?m watching games, I?ll keep an eye on players like him. I am always pretty happy when I see a nice turnover or two? not trying to be too much of a nause, but that?s true!?

With that in mind, would Willis like to see Steve Borthwick take a punt on a groundhog like Evans for England?

?Yeah for sure,? Willis continues. ?Will?s a great player and to have an attribute like he does and to perform as well as he does each week, I think it?s only fair that he gets an opportunity, but I don?t pick the team!?

The performances that Willis is producing for Toulouse must be bittersweet for Borthwick ? and, indeed, England supporters ? to witness given the Rugby Football Union?s current selection policy. From the sounds of it, if a clear head is aiding these efforts, Willis knows it is no use fretting about matters beyond his control.

RFU and Premiership agree landmark ?264m PGP deal in principle to align English rugby

Exclusive: ?Truly historic? agreement includes new hybrid contracts for England players aimed at stemming exodus to France
Gavin Mairs, Chief Rugby Union Correspondent 29 April 2024 ? 2:29pm
 


A landmark professional game partnership (PGP) has been agreed in principle between the Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby, Telegraph Sport understands.

The deal, which will be worth more than ?264 million to England?s leading clubs over the next eight years, is currently going through legal procedures and checks to iron out the final details, and, without any last-minute hitches, an official announcement is expected ahead of the June deadline, when the current eight-year deal expires.

The deal will include confirmation of the introduction of new England hybrid contracts, first revealed by Telegraph Sport last October, with up to 25 enhanced elite player squad (EPS) contracts to be offered to players next season.

    Game-changing deal could solve club-v-country dispute

It had been hoped that an agreement would be in place by December of last year. England captain Jamie George and Maro Itoje have already signed contract extensions with Saracens after being offered, in principle, enhanced EPS deals, which replace the ?20,000 match fee system with a guaranteed lump sum of around ?160,000 per season.

The additional upfront salary is designed to help keep players in England ? and eligible for international selection ? with a growing number leaving the Premiership to play in France, including Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi and Kyle Sinckler.

The deal will also overhaul the management of the players, with England head coach Steve Borthwick and his coaching team able to lay out long-term strength and conditioning and skill development programmes for the players, and they will also have a final say in medical decisions as part of a new integrated approach.

Ellis Genge, the England prop, and former national team-mate Jonny May last week expressed doubts about the progress of the hybrid contracts, while Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall called for clarity on the situation.

However, it is understood that an agreement has been reached which will now allow for the final details of those contracts to be thrashed out between the RFU and Team England Rugby Ltd, the body that split from the Rugby Players Association, with Borthwick set to confirm the enhanced EPS contracts ahead of the autumn Tests as originally planned.

?This will be a truly historic moment,? said one source. ?The last deal was purely transactional. For the first time, this feels genuinely like a joint venture. The RFU and the Premiership clubs have never been this aligned before.?


Game-changing deal could solve English rugby?s longstanding problem

By Gavin Mairs

The negotiations began in the dark days of the financial catastrophe created by the pandemic, but it now appears that the sunlit uplands of a ?historic? solution to the club-versus-country dispute that has undermined English rugby for three decades is finally in reach.

?It is all about trust and a collaborative approach that was not there during Eddie Jones?s tenure,? said a senior club source. ?The goal is to create a shared vision for the performance aspect of elite rugby.?

For that to happen, both sides have conceded ground to some extent. The clubs are giving England more control of the management of their players, but the backstop will come in the form of a new beefed-up professional game board, that will include an independent chair and independent directors to hold Steve Borthwick to proper account rather than the lip service that was paid to post-tournament reviews by his predecessor Jones.

It may not go as far as the central contract model that has underpinned Ireland?s success in the last decade, but for the first time, sources say club and country will be aligned to improve the national team?s performance.

Underpinning the new deal and providing a level of security and stability for the Premiership clubs will be an enhanced financial package worth about ?132 million (?33 million per season) from the RFU to the 10 clubs for the first four years.

It represents a major uplift to the current level of funding (a share of the RFU revenue, which falls significantly in a World Cup year) and will offset the five per cent (?5.5 million pro rata) fall in broadcasting revenues with the new two-year deal with TNT Sports next season. The previous deal is thought to have been worth ?110 million over three years.

It had been hoped that the agreement would have been reached before last Christmas, but one of the key sticking points of the final round of negotiations was funding for the second half of the agreement.

The 2016 deal, worth ?225 million, fixed the first four-year payment to the clubs at ?112 million, with the second four-year payment based on a percentage of the RFU?s revenues. It proved costly for both parties, with over-optimistic revenue forecasts forcing the RFU to shed jobs in 2018, while the collapse of revenue during the Covid years hit the club finances.

A compromise has been reached now with the second four years moving to a split of the RFU?s profits, with the guarantee of a minimum return to the clubs, to underscore the motivation for the clubs and governing body to work together. Projections for the governing body?s revenues are expected to rise with the establishment of the Nations Championship in 2026.

?Everyone will be incentivised to ensure the RFU is in good financial health and delivering a commercial plan,? said another source.

We have, of course, been here before. Those of us old enough to remember the ?Leicester? and ?Mayfair? agreements in the late 1990s and ?Long Form? agreement of 2000, all of which failed to bring peace between the two warring factions, will no doubt regard with a dose of scepticism talk of a mutually beneficial collaboration.

The last two eight-year deals (Heads of Agreement in 2008 and Professional Game Agreement in 2016) promised as much but flattered to deceive, with RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney admitting two years ago that ?everyone is fed up? with the current English structure.

It must also be stated that the RFU and Premiership Rugby have yet to resolve their differences with the Championship clubs, particularly over removing the barriers to restoring the genuine possibility of promotion and relegation and the future structure of the second tier.

Yet the devastating impact of Covid, and the subsequent loss of four professional clubs, appears to have provided the fertile ground for a genuine reset in relations between the RFU and the Premiership. The dire financial reality, aggravated by England?s poor performances on the pitch, forced everyone?s hands.

Even so, when the negotiations first began two years ago, such a collaborative approach was far from guaranteed.

?I have sat in meetings where owners of certain clubs have said that our biggest competitor is the RFU,? said another source. ?One of the positives of this process is that sentiment has dropped away and it does seem as though there is genuine alignment that will allow elite rugby to thrive in the future.?

It is said the intervention of the Government last September acted as a catalyst for agreement to be reached, although it is understood that hopes of restructuring of the Covid loans will not be applied to all 10 clubs.

?In the last year real trust has been built,? said a senior club source. ?I think people have realised that the only way for England and the clubs to be successful is to work together.?

Key to this transformation has been Simon Massie-Taylor, the Premiership Rugby chief executive who was previously chief commercial and marketing officer at the RFU and his relationship with Sweeney, who has dedicated his tenure to driving the deal to improve the national performance systems and English structure. The pair also worked together previously at the British Olympic Association.

Phil Winstanley, the rugby director at Premiership Rugby, is also said to have played a key role along with his RFU counterpart Conor O?Shea, in visiting all the clubs to establish the core principles of the new deal, while Borthwick is also said to have had a key input in raising the areas of improvement required to enhance England?s elite programme.

Sources say Bruce Craig, the Bath owner, Chris Booy, the Bristol chair and Semore Kurdi, the Newcastle owner, have also been key influencers in the negotiations.

All club chief executives and directors of rugby are said to have had at least three face-to-face meetings on an individual club basis around the core principles while the RFU council has been regularly updated.

Those involved believe the new deal will be a game-changer, both improving the performance of England and the Premiership clubs, while making the domestic game more attractive to investors.

That remains to be seen, but for the first time since the game turned professional in 1995, the collaboration between club and country finally appears to be genuine.

Quote from: InBetweenWasp on April 29, 2024, 10:24:49 AM

So far on our little on-the-road-tour of watching rugby post-Wasps, Bath and Saints have to be our favourite venues.  Still trying to work out getting out to see Toulouse and Pau play.

If the weather is fine, The Rec is comfortably the best place I have been to watch Premiership Rugby

IF - seem to remember Wasps always attracted wetness!

Many papers covering this. Had to be tasered twice to put him down.

But should Dickson, a Quins Player before retirement, have been the referee for such a high profile match.

you mean this?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz5d6me8dy1o

There are two pieces on their board - one by a female basically reading out a statement (sounds like) and the second is a bloke talking and kind of answering questions - both BBC people.

Looks like, generally, a compilation of various articles. Might be a new Kenny interview with him pulling together various threads.