Pat Sanderson - The PRA Q&A

Pat Sanderson answers your questions in the PRA Q&A.

PRA Q&A
October 2005 - Pat Sanderson

Every month PRA - the Professional Rugby Players' Association - is giving you the chance to quiz a top player from the game.

Hot on the heels of PRA Chief Damian Hopley in September, this month your questions are answered by England and Worcester flanker Pat Sanderson.

Read on to find out about fighting with his brother Alex of Saracens, feeding stingray and life after rugby.

In November, as England builds up to the autumn internationals, it will be Pat's England team-mate Danny Grewcock's turn. So send in those questions by clicking on the link below.

Email Danny Grewcock here

 
I play rugby in Wales for a local village side and a friend of mine, who has not played for a while but has just started back playing after eight years, is overwhelmed by the physicality of the game and he feels like quitting now. In your experience do you think it's harder to get into the game now than it was five or six years ago? I play hooker, I find it tough but I'm used to it. So do you agree it's difficult for people who haven't played for a while? Thanks Dylan Morris, Swansea.

Pat Sanderson: Rugby is a tough game and always has been and I think it does depend on what level you play at. The higher you go the harder it gets and every year the bar gets raised as the players get bigger, fitter and faster. If I compare this year to last year it is definitely tougher.

Pat, it must be extremely frustrating for you and all the players with the ongoing club versus country row hanging over the game. Surely you must hope they sort it out quickly so that the focus can be placed back on the action on the field? Alex, Kew.

PS: From the players' point of view we have good people representing the players and there are good people working on behalf of the clubs and the country. For that reason the players can largely leave it alone and get on with what we do and be confident that the PRA will get our point across. I don't think it has really affected the players, obviously in the public eye it is a major story but the players just get on with it and I think that shows the way they turn out every weekend.

Hi Pat, What is your view of foreign players in the Premiership?  My feeling is that the top players can bring a great deal to the competition but that the majority are mediocre at best.  Is it time for the RFU and the clubs to look at bringing our own talent through, rather than bringing in foreign imports? Maybe a system such as the county cricket rules on foreigners? Chris, London.

PS: Well I think there are certainly incentives in place to bring our young players through which certainly is important. I certainly don't think the balance is out of sync, there are some very good foreign players playing over here and it certainly is a joy to play against the likes of Carlos Spencer and Justin Marshall. We have some good youngsters coming through so I don't really see the problem.

If you and your brother had a fight, who would win!? Graeme, Tyneside.

PS: We don't fight anymore; we got to the stage where we were starting to hurt each other and decided that we were too big for this! He is a bit injury prone, so I would go for one of his weak spots. 

As a Quins man, I was saddened to see you leave the club but delighted for you that your move has gone so well, but why did you really leave Harlequins? And secondly, (and applying some modesty!) who would you appoint as the next England captain? Regards, Phil O'Neill.

PS: A lot of reasons really; some personal, some work-related and I was trying to get the balance right. It was time to move on and a sometimes a fresh environment is good for people and it certainly was for me. I enjoyed my time at Quins and have friends there still.

Andy Robinson has chosen Martin Corry as the next England captain and I am certainly not going to argue with that.

  If you weren't playing rugby, what do you think you would be doing? Liam Mills (13), Worcester.

PS: Probably building houses. I like that. I was good with Lego as a kid.

Pat, I am always mystified by the following play:  the attacking side gets awarded a penalty 5/10 metres from the line and they decide to kick it into touch and thereby get the throw in. My question is why don't they tap the ball and drive on with their pack? With the lineout there is always the chance that they can lose the ball by knock on, not straight etc. If they tap it and drive there is no possibility of losing it! Do you know why this has become the norm or maybe I have missed out on a new rule! Robert.

PS: Well it is really easy to bring it down before you can get some real momentum. If you tap and set up a drive, it is very easy to send one guy in to tackle round the legs and bring the whole thing down. It is really difficult to do that in a lineout; also if you are ten metres out and kick for touch, you get five metres closer and get the throw in. At a lineout everyone knows their jobs and their roles so it is easier to set up the drive. From open play, it could be any number of people trying to do something which is much harder to get a structured drive.

 Pat, I know you're not a front row forward, but why is there still a 'charge' at scrums? Ninety per cent of the neck damage to a prop comes at the first impact, which while good and macho, doesn't actually mean much any more, because refs nearly always make it settle before feeding. I know the props probably wouldn't admit it, but I've played for years on the flank, and witnessed the carnage close up. It wouldn't lessen the contest between the front rows, and may increase it, to eliminate the charge. What do you think? Regards, Pete.

PS: I think an awful lot of props would disagree with that. The scrum is still an incredibly competitive part of the game and it is very well reffed and well controlled. The amount of neck injuries that happen from a scrum are not that massive although there are the exceptions and they are tragic. Rugby is that sort of sport and it is very hard to avoid everything.

What effect do the crowd at Sixways give the guys? Regards, Mark Gibbs (East Stand season ticket holder).

PS: They are such a great crowd, and without doubt they are the best crowd about. They are a massive boost to us and long may it continue.

Pat, you appear to be a born leader - not only as captain - but in the way you play the game. Do you see yourself going into coaching when you hang up the boots? If so, do your ambitions stretch as far as becoming a future coach of England? BB, Yorkshire.

PS: No and no, I enjoy playing rugby and I love playing at Worcester but I don't think coaching is for me and there are certainly other options that I would explore first. There is certainly a lot more to life than just rugby although sometimes it certainly doesn't seem that way. Maybe I would come back to it as that is where my heart is, but there are certainly other avenues I would consider first.

Pat, whenever I watch a southern hemisphere game such as the recent Tri-Nations thrillers, and then return to watching Northern hemisphere rugby, I always notice a large difference in the speed of ball retention at the breakdown. Teams like New Zealand seem to distribute the ball at a far quicker pace - resulting in their world class attacking rugby. The home nations often frustrate me in this area - why do you think the gulf exists? Ben, Otley.

PS: I think it is hard to compare the two styles. I don't think there is a gulf and you cannot say there is just because of what happened over the summer. There might be a dip in form or a change in the team make-up and structure. What there is is a different style of play. Largely that happens at the breakdown, if you watch the southern hemisphere, I think they are a little less organised there, there is a larger emphasis on attacking than there is here. They will think we have the ball what are we going to do with it, and as a result they play some wonderful attacking rugby. But that is only half the game and I think here in the northern hemisphere our defence is much better organised.

First you captain England in the Churchill Cup, then you are not in the Elite Squad, now you are in the autumn international squad. It must be difficult with all the coming and going. Damo, England fan.

PS: I think the goals in rugby are pretty simple. You train hard to play well for your club, you play well consistently and hopefully off the back of that you get your rewards. I was in the position where I was playing well for Worcester and hoped something came of it, but if it didn't, I still wanted to play well for Worcester. That is the only thing you can do and for me that was the safest way to look at it.

Who do you rate as the best openside flankers in the world? Ian W.

PS: There are a few around, but I think Richie McCaw is the in-form player at the moment, but that will probably change as someone else steps up their game. Lewis (Moody) is also a world class player.

Who's the hardest player you have ever come up against? Tim, Shepherds Bush.

PS: That is a tricky one. The hardest player I have played with was David Wilson, he just took a lot as he put his body on the line in slowing the ball down and Andre Vos is very similar to him too. As far as playing goes, Budge Pountney was always a nuisance and I was not too sad to see the back of him!

What is the craziest thing you have ever done? My mate says he was with you when you fed stingray in the Cayman Islands? Anon.

PS: That was quite a surreal experience! I cannot really think of the craziest thing I have ever done off the top of my head - I certainly have done plenty of stupid things in my time, but it's best we don't mention those!








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