England V France Hospitality by Corporate Hospitality Group

England has won this championship on 25 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in the tournaments history. England also compete for the Calcutta Cup with Scotland as part of the Six Nations. They are ranked sixth in the world by the International Rugby Board as of 21 June 2010. England won the Rugby World Cup in 2003 and finished runners-up in 1991 and 2007.

France rugby team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. Rugby was introduced to France in 1872 by the British. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams.

France is one of the strongest rugby nations in Europe and are currently the highest ranked Northern Hemisphere team, being forth in the world as of 19 July 2010.

In new season on Six Nations 2011 a struggling match is between

England V France at Twickenham Stadium London, United Kingdom on Sat Feb 26, 2011 (17:00)

Corporate Hospitality Group has provided England V France Hospitality with best prices. For more information visit at www.corporatehospitalitygroup.com

England V France Hospitality

Former England coach Brian Ashton returns to Fylde

Former England head coach Brian Ashton has agreed to return to his old club Fylde as a coaching consultant.

“Fylde helped me in launching my playing career in the 1960′s,” Ashton told BBC Radio Lancashire.

Ashton, who received an MBE in 2007, spent seven years at the Woodlands between 1966-73, playing alongside club stalwarts Bill Beaumont and Malcolm Phillips.

He later went on to coach England despite never having represented them at playing level.

Ashton was part of the coaching set up at Bath between 1989-1997, during their most successful period in English club rugby, before he returned to The Rec for a second spell in 2006.

England V France Hospitality

France V England Hospitality

His preference for expansive attacking rugby saw him recruited as England assistant coach under Sir Clive Woodward in 1998 and his is largely credited with transforming his country’s style of play.

He almost guided them to success in the World Cup final in 2007 before narrowly losing 15-6 to winners South Africa despite a shaky start in the early stages of the competition.

But he believes returning to his roots is just as important and is relishing the chance to improve Fylde’s fortunes.

“Things are substantially different,” said Ashton. “They now play in a league which we never did and the whole environment has changed, although in essence a lot of things are still the same.

“I’d like to think that one or two of the guys that I know there have retained some of the essential amateurism of the game in terms of playing an enjoyable game of rugby and challenging themselves.

“I would like to stress that director of rugby Mark Nelson is the man in charge.

“I’ll support him and do whatever I can to help the players and team develop in an environment of freedom and make it enjoyable.”

Buy online Six Nations Hospitality Packages with the best prices available! We are covering in Six Nations 2011 Hospitality and Tickets

England V France Hospitality

France V England Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality

Stuart Barnes’s Big Game:France V England

Robinson, the former England head coach, has yet to secure a victory in this year’s competition while England under Johnson are yet to come anywhere near answering the critics with a performance of any imagination or intelligence. So, yes, Ireland and Wales could be the best game of rugby this weekend but this one should have the drama.
Telfer made his assertion based on the opinion that England is no longer much of a team. Johnson can dismiss former players and journalists as having "an agenda" but it is more telling coming from the man who coached him on the successful 1997 Lions tour of South Africa. He cannot snarl and say "what do you know?" because Telfer knows an awful lot and is surely one of the more respected rugby thinkers in Johnson’s eyes.
They were not bad at home to France but were easily beaten and, true, they played close to their limit against Wales and but for injuries would have surely won in Cardiff. Then they went further than even an inept England and lost in Rome with the Scottish forwards banging around one-dimensionally on the Italian line, giving a passable imitation of all the failings Robinson displayed as England’s head man.
They beat Australia, but Australia did everything in their powers to inflict defeat upon themselves. Australia beat themselves before Argentina, who England beat in a desperately dull game that autumn, won in Edinburgh. The theory that Scotland should beat England is difficult to justify.
What is tantalising, however, is the other side of the coin. The argument that England should beat Scotland is an equally unjustifiable assertion because away from home Johnson’s team cannot be banked to win anywhere but in Rome.
The old vices are back with a vengeance. Possession is not a problem but, as in the bad old day’s pre-Clive Woodward, the lions’ share of it was insufficient at home to Ireland. England win ball but it is so slow and static that the backs do not know how to use it. When they do produce quicker service, the back line is far too deep, far too regimented and far too unimaginative.
The quest for a team shape has left them forgetting the importance of having an individual with the ability to break a defensive pattern. England have a great deal to prove but the management, even more than the players, are in the firing line. If the players lack belief or the players are simply the wrong ones, the problem begins and will not be solved until the management is fixed. England’s management will not be changed but they may still be running out of time with the fans.
Defeat in Rome was a desperate disappointment for England but it probably makes life tougher for them. Scotland are not that good a team but they have enough about them to respond to the panic induced by that awful loss to Italy.
Robinson’s role is to channel that desperation. If he achieves that, England are in for a fight. The Scottish scrum is improved and the back row is a proper unit. The Scotland coach will fancy taking advantage of Johnson’s decision to select the hard-tackling Joe Worsley and omit a genuine openside flanker in Lewis Moody to compete with the burgeoning John Barclay. Scotland will not wilt in the set-piece and could outflank England at the breakdown. If they do, the Scottish half backs know what to do.
Chris Cusiter has the defensive capacity to rattle Danny Care, while Dan Parks has the advantage over Wilkinson in the distance and accuracy of his tactical kicking. Should Scotland establish a platform and maintain position it is hard to see where England’s tries will come from.
Whatever the quality of the individuals involved the conservatism that has emanated from the management will not make it easy for England to cast off their shackles and play, like high-class professionals, what is in front of them.
France V England Hospitality
Six Nations Hospitality

The former England skipper writes for The Northern Echo during the RBS 6 Nations.

England now have a couple of weeks to regroup and prepare for the mustwin game against France at Stade de France.
The destiny of the championship is, to some extent, still in their own hands. If England can beat both Scotland and France in their final two games then points difference could be crucial.
Ireland’s ability to score tries, three to be precise, was a shining example for England, if ever they needed one, of where they are falling short.
Jonny Wilkinson will always be able to keep the score ticking over with his boot, however the indents that penalties make need to be supported by the greater blows inflicted by tries.
Indeed, Wilkinson was the best of England’s backs on Saturday and their performance was benefited by the introduction of the lively Ben Foden in the second half.
It was good to see a player in an England jersey whose first instinct was to attack and his incisive play should be rewarded with a greater opportunity against Scotland.
I presume his replacement Paul Hodgson was brought on to shore up the defence, but unfortunately that never happened. Care seemed to have grown into the game by the time he was taken off but perhaps his industrious afternoon in muddy conditions had caught up with him.
While England are now looking at another twoweek hiatus, I’ve strapped the lycra back on for the penultimate stage of the Dallaglio Cycle Slam. A tricky 410km ride from Twickenham to Fishguard via Cardiff’s Millenium Stadium will set up the final leg, but there is a lot of pedalling to be done before I can even begin to think about the finish line.
In total I’m cycling 2,800km from Rome to Murrayfield, taking in Paris, Twickenham, Cardiff and Dublin along the way.
A crazy idea I know, however it’s all in aid of Sport Relief and the Dallaglio Foundation, so well worth the physical challenge.
Follow my progress on www.dallagliocycleslam.com I’ll look ahead to the game with Scotland in next week’s column.
England will have to bounce back quickly to keep their championship hopes alive but one thing’s for sure, the fat lady hasn’t sung just yet.
France V England Hospitality
Six Nations Hospitality

Brian Moore: England’s backs go missing in action against Ireland

The Twickenham agnostics, are metaphorically starting to hum this refrain after Martin Johnson’s claim that England’s narrow loss to Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday showed "there is still obviously a lot more in us".

The responsibility for this inability to score tries, or make repeated openings, has been laid squarely at Jonny Wilkinson’s feet, but this game showed that the defect is far from his sole
responsibility. Riki Flutey’s contribution from No 12 is the key to taking the right options during open play and whatever creative light he possesses it was hidden so far under the bushel as to be virtually invisible. He was simply missing in action.
When you add to this the failure of Mathew Tait to demand the ball, the continued non-communication between the back three and the technically-flawed service of his scrum-half, you see that Wilkinson is shouldering much of the criticism for what is a systemic failure of England’s backs.
It is unfair and inaccurate to single out the No 10 when there are a multitude of other contributory factors: Toby Flood, for example, would have done no better last Saturday. Moreover, even if Wilkinson had played flawlessly, the refusal of nearly all his fellow backs to accept their responsibility to think clearly and act accordingly would have rendered his contribution worthless.
The most damning aspect of England’s loss, however, was the one problem that has been highlighted so often that it has almost become accepted as a natural state of affairs; something intractable, criticised only by those who are fatally out of touch with the essentials of the modern game – slow ball. How many times does this point have to be made before it is addressed properly? The body positions of players taking the ball into contact, their delivery of the ball when going to ground, the failure of clearing players to go beyond the ball – all these remain clear. Without a solution to this malaise, England cannot progress properly and it is time someone was held to account.
Fortunately the French have been almost single-handedly showing that, sporadically, northern hemisphere rugby is capable of matching its southern counterpart. Their first-half dismantling of the Welsh was as clinical as was their mistaken tactical decision to sit back and play for territory in the second half, which merely ceded ball to a struggling opposition who gleefully accepted the implicit invitation to attack.
In making this mistake the French showed they are not immune from the muddled thinking that passes as ‘the game today’. What remains ineluctable is that without the ball you cannot score and kicking the ball long means you do not have the ball. Perhaps the simplicity of this notion renders it unacceptable to modern thinkers who insist on cloaking everything in jargon.
The seismic change in the French attitude to defence has underpinned every success they have achieved in the last two years and if they can rid themselves of even a modicum of inconsistency, they have the chance to mount a serious World Cup challenge.
The Scots have been handed a similar lecture, albeit that theirs has come at the other end of the spectrum; it takes only one period in which you dominate, but do not score, to see you scrapping for the wooden spoon.
This Six Nations rugby has been distinctly average, although it still produces the unexpected and has provided several tight finishes; in this at least it continues to demonstrate its worth.
France V England Hospitality
Scotland V England Hospitality
Six Nations Hospitality

1990 Grand Slam match ‘only a game’

RUGBY legend David Sole has criticised claims Scotland’s 1990 Grand Slam victory over England was more than just a game.
In a letter in today’s Scotsman, the man who captained Scotland to that historic 13-7 victory says it was not a question of "settling scores, of getting ‘one over’ on the English or of putting political wrongs right".
It was, he said, just a great sporting moment.
Earlier this year, former England rugby hooker, Brian Moore, belittled Scotland’s victory, claiming anti-English bigotry and hatred of the poll tax were behind the historic success.
In his autobiography Beware the Dog, Moore claimed the Scottish victory in the winner-takes-all Five Nations decider was fuelled not by superior skills and tactics, but by hatred over the imposition of the poll tax by Margaret Thatcher’s government, as well as anti-English fervour.
Moore’s view that the match was more than just the clash of two rival sides is echoed in Scotland of Sunday chief sports writer Tom English’s new book The Grudge: Scotland vs England, 1990, in which Moore repeats his belief that Scotland saw the England side as "Thatcher’s team".
The book also includes comments by the then England captain, Will Carling, who said that in the run up to the game he had been branded by the media as "Thatcher’s captain".
However, Sole dismisses claims of a political or anti-English dimension in the Scottish team’s phenomenal performance on the day. He said there was already a bond of friendship between both teams that had been formed during a tough British Lions tour of Australia the year before.
"Friendships were forged that remain to this day but above all, a mutual respect grew amongst the squad of players – respect that carried over from 1989 to the Five Nations Championship of 1990," he said. "It was not a question of settling scores, of getting ‘one over’ on the English or of putting political wrongs right. It was simply a game of rugby – the only difference was that there was a Grand Slam at stake.
"It is a shame that the victory has been interpreted by some as something more than that, but if that is the belief that they hold, then that is their right, but to do so diminishes what the game represented for many others.
"To continue to hold such xenophobic beliefs is not healthy for Scotland as a nation. We should continue to be fierce rivals of England, but in my view that rivalry should be no different to any other nation that we compete against. Let us be proud of our achievements – and I shall be extremely proud of the Grand Slam of 1990 – but let us view them for what they are – great moments in sport, no more, no less."
Over the years, alternative explanations have been given for the Scottish team’s fervour on the pitch. They include tales of commemorative "England Grand Slam 1990" T-shirts and ties being on sale in Edinburgh before the game.
France V England Hospitality
Scotland V England Hospitality
Six Nations Hospitality

Rooney signs for Warriors

Worcester have moved to fill the vacancy that will be left by Chris Latham’s departure later this year by signing former Australian rugby league star Luke Rooney.
Rooney, 26, will move to Sixways from French club Toulon, where he is currently a team-mate of England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson.
Rooney, who is English-qualified through his parents, has agreed a two-year contract with the Warriors, starting next term.
Latham, the second-highest try scorer in Australian Test rugby history, has decided not to take up a third-year option on his existing Worcester contract and will head home at the end of this season.
Rooney previously played for Penrith Panthers, helping them to the 2003 National Rugby League title when he scored two tries in the final against Sydney Roosters.
He switched codes and joined Toulon in 2008, and scored five tries in 16 games during his first season of Top 14 French Championship rugby.
He said: "I have been watching the competitive English league closely over the last few seasons, and I am really excited to now become a part of it.
"My long-term goal is to represent England – that has been a major motivating factor in my move to Warriors.
"I’ve really enjoyed my time in France with Toulon, both on and off the field, and would like to thank the fans and my team-mates for such a wonderful experience.
"The chance to switch to rugby union and test myself in a new environment has really seen my game move up to a new level and I know that will only continue with Worcester."

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.

For upcoming sports information please visit Corporate Hospitality Events
Book your Six Nations Hospitality Six Nations Hospitality