Peter Bills: Manawatu on cloud nine in Italian bubble

His name won’t strike a ready chord with you, but then, that won’t surprise him. Tim Manawatu knows he doesn’t exactly have a name as familiar as Dan Carter or Richie McCaw.
No matter, this young man’s life has been transformed since he got to Italy on his rugby odyssey; there really is no other way to describe it.
Originally from Kaikoura, part of the Canterbury region on the south island, Manawatu took a leap into the unknown several years ago and has counted his blessings every day since.
"After everything is paid for by your club, you then receive a salary. I played a lot of rugby in New Zealand and enjoyed it, but now I have a young family so I’ve got to make a living and save money. They look after their foreign players so well here you can really do that.
How do the Italian clubs manage it? "Most clubs have big major sponsors," he explains. "The team’s jerseys are covered in sponsors’ logos, sometimes up to 30 of them. Of course, soccer is the really big game in Italy but the Italians are passionate about any sport and many of them still follow rugby, especially in the local towns such as L’Aquila.
"It’s hard in New Zealand to be a professional player. You think you should be enjoying a terrific standard of living but the costs are high. Here, it’s so much easier to save money."
Manawatu drives for 80 minutes to reach the club’s training ground from Rome. He travels with four pals who also live near the capital, taking it in turns to drive which makes it easier for all of them.
"I have a nice house in Rome and it’s a wonderful city to live in. The first two years I spent in Italy I played for a second division club, Piacenza. That was a great place, too. I also played for Capitolina in Rome.
"All the clubs are family orientated and they treat you like their own. At L’Aquila we have another Kiwi plus a South African, Canadian, Argentinian, two English guys, and many local players. It’s a good mix."
Manawatu insists the standard of the Italian Super 10 league merits much respect.
"The top squads here could compete in the Air New Zealand Cup. The bottom teams would be similar to the New Zealand second division sides.
So will the allure continue to attract myriad numbers of players from all over the world? Manawatu certainly believes so. "This trend will continue as long as there is money here.
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Six Nations Hospitality

Local official will be on duty for Six Nations clash

ATHLONE-based rugby official Eddie Walsh has been selected to fill the role of Citing Commissioner at an upcoming high-profile RBS Six Nations Rugby Championship clash.
Walsh, who lives in Ballykeeran, Athlone, and is originally from Tullamore, Co Offaly, has been appointed to preside over the meeting of Wales and Italy at the 75,000 Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on March 20.
The Athlone official, who will be representing Buccaneers RFC, Connacht and the IRFU, was recently involved in a friendly match between Italy and Western Samoa in Ascoli, and is also pencilled in for a World Cup qualifier between Georgia and Spain in Tbilisi.Walsh, a regular appointment to Magners League and Heineken Cup games, becomes the first official from Connacht to officiate at a Six Nations match.
The Ballykeeran resident also has extensive experience of officiating at under-21 and A internationals, and acted as Citing Commissioner during the Leinster v Ulster Magners League match on St Stephen’s Day.
Walsh said: "In rugby terms this is a huge appointment and obviously I’m delighted about it. It’s a bit of a breakthrough for Connacht officials and will hopefully encourage fellow officials. I’m really looking forward to the game and it’s fantastic to be involved at Six Nations level. The Millennium Stadium is one of the greatest stadiums in world sport, so it’s great it’s taking place there. But obviously I’ve a big job to do and will have to be fully concentrated throughout."
In rugby union, a citing commissioner is an independent official – appointed by the competition organiser, the union in which the match is taking place, or the International Rugby Board – who is responsible for citing players who commit foul play which is not detected by the match officials.
Teams may bring offences to the attention of the citing commissioner for review. The citing commissioner may cite a player even if the referee has already dealt with the issue (except where he has ordered a player from the field).
When there is no citing commissioner, the teams participating in the match have the right to cite players, but may only cite a player for an infringement which the match officials have not dealt with. A player who is cited is called to a hearing to show cause why he should not be treated as having been sent off for the alleged offence. The player is entitled to be represented. The hearing usually takes place before three independent persons nominated by the union or the competition organiser, and is generally convened within a week of the match in question. If the offence is proven, the panel issues a penalty, usually in the form of a suspension for a number of weeks.

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Hand of Henry has no impact on Six Nations: Lievremont

There will be no fallout when France hosts Six Nations titleholders Ireland despite their footballing counterparts’ notorious World Cup clash, French coach Marc Lievremont said overnight.
The 41-year-old former France international flanker said the storm caused by Thierry Henry’s infamous handball, which set up William Gallas’s crucial goal in the World Cup play-off last November, will not be an issue when the French take on Ireland at the same Stade de France venue on February 13.
"Of course the Irish team the football one were entitled to be angry and as a nation as well," said Lievremont.
"They deserved fairer treatment. However, football is not the same sport as rugby union. Football does not share the same qualities or values as rugby."
Indeed Lievremont, who is seeking his first Six Nations title success in his third campaign, was left singularly unimpressed by the whole match which put France in the 2010 World Cup finals and broke Irish hearts.
"I along with the France rugby squad and the Samoans who they played later that week at the Stade de France sat in the stands watching," he said at Wednesday’s Six Nations launch.
"I have to say that all of us to a man – and I speak for the Samoans as well – were extremely bored and just wanted it to finish."
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Andy Robinson urges Scotland to bring chaos to Six Nations

Andy Robinson is a highly organised man – he would not otherwise have risen so far up the rugby ladder – but he wants his Scotland team to introduce a little old-fashioned chaos and confusion to the 2010 Six Nations. Wreaking havoc and making off with the spoils, now there is a game plan to gladden most Scots’ hearts.

"We operate very well in chaos, in fact Scotland always thrive when there is chaos and confusion on the pitch," said Robinson, who will be masterminding his first Six Nations campaign as the Scots’ coach.
"Scotland is a nation of instinctive and very passionate rugby players, and the team flourish when things happen at speed and the unexpected occurs.
"One of the reasons I put my hand up and applied for the job as national coach when Frank Hadden left was that I had been so impressed by what I had seen in Scotland."
"That came home again very forcibly to me on Monday morning when I attended Bill McLaren’s funeral in Hawick and what an emotional, sad but also very inspiring day that was.
"That’s an incredible store of rugby knowledge and excellence in that trio alone and later just about all the other Scottish greats were there at the funeral. Scotland have a very proud and distinctive rugby heritage, the great teams played in a certain way and we need to try to honour that."
Typically, Robinson has been hard at work on the first part of the formula. "Making that happen is down partly to a state of mind but you also need to be exceptionally fit and that is something we have been working on since the autumn.
"Luckily we have two excellent conditioning teams at the Edinburgh and Glasgow sides and Scotland have been working very closely with them. It takes a big commitment from the players but they are all prepared to put the work in.
"Fitness and staying power can help bring consistency. Scotland haven’t scored back-to-back wins in the Six Nations since 2001 and even that is misleading because one of those games was the September match against Ireland after foot and mouth disrupted the tournament in the winter.
"You have to go back to Scotland’s last Championship winning year in 1999 to get genuine back-to-back wins. That is the first big hurdle we need to clear," said Robinson, whose team open their Six Nations campaign by taking on France at Murrayfield on Sunday week.
"I actually thought in terms of quality of performance we did back up against the Pumas, we were creative and dangerous in attack but we didn’t take our chances and eventually lost. We have to take that next step."
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O’Driscoll has eyes on repeat Grand Slam showing

The belief that hallmarked Ireland’s progress through 2009, their year of great rugby triumph, was underlined yesterday as Brian O’Driscoll willingly contemplated the holiest of Holy Grails.
Back-to-back Grand Slams in the Six Nations championship.
It was a measure of the growing conviction within this Irish squad that the idea alone was not dismissed out of hand. O’Driscoll, speaking at the launch of the 2010 Six Nations in London, said: “Back-to-back Grand Slams? That is all new ground to me. You would have to ask someone who has done it what it feels like. I just go with the flow. But we won’t look at things any differently and we won’t treat it any differently.”
Ireland’s captain demonstrated the calmest of personas yesterday in confronting a battery of media cameras, microphones and notebooks. He offered an image of a man increasingly at peace with himself and there is little doubt that the achievements of 2009 have left a deeply satisfying feeling within the soul of O’Driscoll.
“I enjoyed all the trappings that came with it (the Grand Slam success). The winning itself, the celebrations; small things such as the general feeling in the country. If we can do that again, why not? It’s much better than not doing it again.
It was clear that the topic of the French is already looming large in Irish minds. O’Driscoll’s side meets them on the second weekend of the championship and it is a game that might be crucial in determining the eventual winners.
“We are not that good a side that we can look ahead to certain matches and take others lightly. If we are in any way off the mark against Italy (on Saturday week at Croke Park), it will be a very long, difficult afternoon.”
Yet having said, even Kidney was prepared to look as far as Paris and February 13. “It will be daunting. But that is the reason you get into sport, these are the challenges you want to face.
“Our last trips to Paris have been quite difficult — as an understatement — because France are one of the benchmarks of world rugby. Last year, they beat New Zealand in New Zealand and South Africa at home so they are one of the standard bearers for world rugby. They continually achieve and they have done very well in this tournament in the even years.
“France are less dependent on injuries because they have such a big pool of playing talent.”
O’Driscoll was quick to remind his audience that Ireland have won in France just once in the last 38 years. Typically, he did not mention that it was his own hat-trick that propelled the Irish to that rarest of victories.
But he warned: “The margins between success and failure are so tiny.”
Alas, if only expectations in Ireland were as small. “The Irish people don’t do middle ground. They are either at the very top or the bottom. But it’s definitely a nicer feeling at the top so you want to stay there as long as you can,” he added.
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Steve Borthwick retained as England captain

Steve Borthwick will be England’s captain going into the RBS Six Nations.
The Saracens lock has been skipper in every game since Martin Johnson took over as England manager in 2008.
Johnson initially named his Six Nations squad without a captain but has now decided on Borthwick, despite criticism of the player’s performances.
England, who open their Six Nations campaign against Wales at Twickenham on 6 February, are expected to name their side on Tuesday, 2 February.
England, who are currently in Portugal to begin their Six Nations preparations, have won only six of their 14 matches since Borthwick was appointed captain.
Yet Johnson has decided to stick with Borthwick for the time being, although he may make a change during the tournament.
Saracens chief executive Edward Griffiths says the retention of Borthwick is a good move, describing the 30-year-old as an "absolutely outstanding character and an outstanding captain for England".
"Within the club there is a general sense of bewilderment with the criticism that Steve sometimes gets at international level," Griffiths told BBC Radio 5 live.
"He is massively admired, not only on the field where his form has been brilliant this year, where the number of contributions during a game is far greater than any other member of the team, but also away from the field.
"But as England’s results improve, and we all hope they will, he will start to be properly appreciated at international level."
Meanwhile, England blind-side flanker James Haskell is waiting for the results of a scan on a knee injury he sustained at the weekend while playing for club side Stade Francais.
Five players have been called up as injury cover, with Worcester loose-head prop Matt Mullan and Leicester tight-head Dan Cole replacing Andrew Sheridan and Julian White respectively.
At least one of the 22-year-old front-rowers, who have been selected ahead of the more experienced David Flatman and Duncan Bell, are likely be named in the match-day squad for the opening game against Wales.
Wasps loose-head Tim Payne and Bath tight-head David Wilson are the other props in the squad.
Wasps number eight Dan Ward-Smith and Harlequins flanker Chris Robshaw are cover for Tom Croft and Joe Worsley respectively, while scrum-half Ben Youngs fills in for Leicester team-mate Harry Ellis.
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Wales sweats over Lee Byrne ban for England game

WALES are waiting to see if Lee Byrne will be banned for the Six Nations rugby opener with England after the Lions full-back was hit with a misconduct charge.
Byrne and the Ospreys will appear before a European Rugby Cup Ltd disciplinary hearing in Dublin tomorrow to answer Leicester complaints following the weekend’s 16th man fiasco at the Liberty Stadium.
The English giants upped the ante in the big Heineken Cup row by revealing they have appointed Manchester United’s lawyers to deal with their case and their demand for a replay.
Leading sports law specialists Brabners Chaffe Street, who are headed up by famed Old Trafford director Maurice Watkins, have been brought on board as a result of their expertise in dealing with a number of high profile cases down the years. Among disciplinary hearings Watkins has fought are those involving Eric Cantona and his infamous kung-fu kick, Roy Keane over controversial comments made in his autobiography and Swansea City mascot Cyril the Swan, who was charged by the FA of Wales for entering the pitch without authority.
Watkins’ company have also acted at the highest level for the Professional Rugby Players’ Association and the England and Wales Cricket Board and the Games Council for England.
Byrne, who appeared briefly as a 16th Ospreys player on the pitch during his team’s 17-12 victory over Leicester, was informed yesterday he must attend the disciplinary hearing in Ireland.
It spells potentially bad news for Wales coach Warren Gatland, with the mouth-watering Six Nations opener with England just nine days away.
There is a possibility Byrne could be banned from the Twickenham showdown and further Six Nations matches.
Gatland is desperate to get his first choice full-back back in his starting XV after Byrne missed the entire autumn campaign with injury.
The Ospreys, who have also been charged with misconduct, will be left sweating on a possible fine, or worse – a points deduction.
“There is a potential for a conflict of interest if there is anything less than a full, open and thorough investigation and hearing of the matter.”
“A fine would not do it as far as we are concerned. The only fair thing is for the game to be replayed.”
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Brian O’Driscoll: ‘Winning the Grand Slam has only lifted my ambitions’

After ending his country’s 61-year wait for Six Nations glory, the Ireland captain is hungrier than ever. As this year’s hostilities loom, Chris Hewett hears him launch the opening exchanges.
The Six Nations Championship found itself deep in phoney war territory yesterday. A week and a half shy of the opening match, there was a nervous edge to the formal tournament launch in London, with the England manager, Martin Johnson, and his two principal rivals from the British mainland, Warren Gatland of Wales and Andy Robinson of Scotland, shadow-boxing their way around the big issues. Marc Lièvremont of France sounded bold enough – "There are green lights everywhere," he pronounced, "so this could be our year" – but no one could quite decide whether he was being serious.
It was left to two men from opposite ends of the Six Nations spectrum to serve up the most nourishing food for thought: a phlegmatic Nick Mallett, coach of Italy, and an equally philosophical Brian O’Driscoll, captain of Ireland. Their teams will set the ball rolling in Dublin on Saturday week, and while the world and his maiden aunt expect the home side, reigning champions and 2009 Grand Slammers, to lay waste to the reluctant holders of the wooden spoon, both men appeared at ease in the face of contrasting pressures.
"Unusually, I’m in the position of being judged on performance, not results," said Mallett. "Traditionally, the Italians support only winning teams, and in football, it’s still the case that a coach can be chucked out after three or four defeats. Yet it seems the sporting public there is finding that the values of rugby – its unselfishness, its dignity, its sportsmanship, the huge courage of its players – are things than can be adhered to in life. Last November, we had 80,000 people in the San Siro in Milan for our match with the All Blacks, and it was one of the great spectacles of the year. There were three police wagons there. When Bari play Napoli at football, there are more police than spectators.
"So the interest is building and I can say that, while the Italian team has had its disappointments, there has been no falling off of enthusiasm among the players. If they had taken a negative attitude, they would have opted out of the Six Nations a long time ago. They are a positive, ambitious group who are keen to improve, and while an opening fixture against Ireland is asking a lot of us – we gave them trouble in Dublin two years ago, but that Irish side wasn’t as happy or organised or well-structured as this one – I expect us to be competitive."
O’Driscoll, the nearest thing to a great player in the European game, expects something similar. "We know Italy are capable of claiming a scalp," he agreed. "They may not be in a position yet to win four or five games in succession, but a one-off is far from beyond them. It’s why we cannot afford to look beyond this opening game. Certainly, I’ll approach the tournament the way
Having celebrated his 31st birthday last week, O’Driscoll has little choice but to accept the elder statesman role. He is, however, a benign ruler of all he surveys. "There are younger guys who don’t really know about the 10 years of struggle some of us experienced in getting where we are now, but I don’t want to burden them with it," he remarked. "It’s better for them to go with the flow of the mentality as it is now, which is what I’m doing.
"I’m enjoying living in the moment, rather than looking too far ahead or putting a date on when I’ll finally stop playing. It’s a simplistic approach, but I’m basically cracking on from here. I certainly don’t want to be caught up in any thinking about the next World Cup, which is 18 months away. In international rugby, that’s a long, long time."
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Wales rugby seek forward edge against England

Wales seem certain to target England‘s novice front row as they try to dominate the scrum when the teams meet for next week’s Six Nations opener at Twickenham.
Warren Gatland, the Wales coach, is on course to select an all-British and Irish Lions front row of Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees and Adam Jones.
The Test-hardened trio could find themselves up against an inexperienced combination of Tim Payne, Dylan Hartley and possibly the uncapped Dan Cole, with injuries currently depriving England of Phil Vickery and Andrew Sheridan among others.
"We will target certain areas, depending on who they pick up front," Gatland said at the Six Nations media launch in London on Wednesday.
"I am happy with our experience in the front five. Games are won up front, and it is important that our tight five fronts up," the New Zealander, himself a former hooker, added.
Wales are aiming for only their second victory at Twickenham in 22 years but the return of Jones is an undoubted boost to their hopes of making a winning start to this season’s Six Nations.
The 28-year-old was in fine form for the Lions during last year’s tour of South Africa before a shoulder injury in the second Test cut short his participation.
Jones missed all four of Wales’s Tests in November as a result but looked back to somewhere near his best during the Ospreys’ European Cup victory over English champions Leicester last weekend.
"It is good to have Adam back," said Wales captain Ryan Jones.
"You cannot win Test matches without a set-piece, and Adam brings a certain stability to our scrum."
Meanwhile Gatland was relishing the prospect of playing England at their headquarters ground.
"It is a great game to be starting with," said the former Ireland coach.
"I just hope it will be the catalyst it was two years ago, which gave us the confidence and momentum for the rest of the championship.
"Both teams are very similar, and whoever wins will go in with a bit of confidence for the rest of the championship.
"The two sides will be desperate to win and both sides realise how important it is to win the first game.
"But the pleasing thing, both against Australia and New Zealand, was our territory and possession increased from the previous year.
"We had them under pressure," Gatland insisted.
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Lievremont expects better

Marc Lievremont has painfully recalled France’s Twickenham capitulation against England last season, labelling it "a slap in the face".
Les Bleus launch their RBS 6 Nations campaign against Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday week, with many pundits predicting a two-horse title race between France and reigning champions Ireland but their ability to self-destruct has also surfaced, most recently when England ran riot last year in recording a 34-10 success.
"England is always the match," said France coach Lievremont. "And that is more so this season because of the huge slap in the face we got at Twickenham last year."
He added: "Nothing worked for us that day – it was a disaster. Some losses you can make something out of but not that England one.
"The only positive to come out of that match was the spirit of the players afterwards to put things right."
After a testing opener at Murrayfield, France then host Ireland before travelling to Wales and then finishing with two games in Paris against Italy and England.
Lievremont’s preparations, though, have not been helped by a round of French Championship fixtures this week, in contrast to uninterrupted player access enjoyed by the likes of rival Six Nations bosses like England manager Martin Johnson, Wales coach Warren Gatland and Ireland’s Declan Kidney.
"The summary of our season to date is that we win one and then we lose one – it never seems to be two or three in a row for us," he added. "But, then again, very few teams manage more than that. We need to focus on the continuity of the French team.
"It is a rarity for me to have nine days to prepare for the first match. When we played South Africa in the autumn, the players had played two club games in close proximity before that match.
"It is crazy in modern rugby to have such constraints and this explains our results a little bit."
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