All Black and all back - Barnes
Stuart Barnes feels Jonah Lomu's comeback was the highpoint of a weekend which saw England's No 1. club brought down to earth.
Toulouse v Edinburgh (7.30pm)
Friday, Sky Sports 2, 7pm
Saracens v Ulster (1pm)
Bourgoin v Leinster (3pm)
Saturday, Sky Sports 2, 12.30pm
Munster v Dragons (5.15pm)
Saturday, Sky Sports 1, 5.15pm
Ospreys v Leicester (1pm)
Wasps v Scarlets (3pm)
Sunday, Sky Sports 2, 12.30pm
It may not have been the most spectacular comeback but all of rugby will be delighted that Jonah Lomu made it through for a full hour in Italy last Saturday.
Lomu has stated that his target is to make the All Black squad for the 2007 World Cup. That is a tall order but if Lomu regains even 75% of his form of old, it may not be beyond him.
The camera will monitor his every move when Cardiff face Calvisano at home on Saturday. It won't be until the further tests of Leeds and Perpignan that we see how far Lomu must travel, however.
All of rugby union - bar his opponents to come, of course - will be hoping that one of the true legends of recent times makes a successful return to the game. It will be good for rugby, Cardiff and Lomu himself.
Another notable name to come back last weekend was that of Gavin Henson. By his own admission he was not at 100% but in the Ospreys' defeat to Leicester, there were enough flashes to suggest his return to the top will not be such a long and arduous journey.
The Ospreys were always going to struggle at Welford Road. In the week before Christmas, with a large crowd in Swansea to cheer them on, Henson's home comeback could see life made very awkward for the Tigers.
It is a game that Leicester need to win after Stade gained the first away victory in this pool when they beat Clermont Auvergne. That match will be the highlight of the Anglo-Welsh fixtures from an English perspective.
From the Welsh perspective Llanelli Scarlets' attempt to complete a double over the waning champions of England, Wasps, will hold the attention of all of west Wales.
The Scarlets were good value for their home win last week against a Wasps team drained of inspiration. It wasn't only the Wasps players who struggled either; for the first time in a while the management team was less than decisive.
The decision not to start with Mark van Gisbergen, the best goalkicker in England, when Wasps needed the win seemed strange. Even more bizarre was the decision to substitute Stuart Abbott after an hour when the England centre was the only Wasp of any penetration.
Ian McGeechan and Shaun Edwards know that the Heineken Cup is all but over for their team, but they will be under scrutiny this weekend to see whether they can give them the steady hand that was so evidently lacking.
Eyes will also be upon Lawrence Dallaglio and Matt Dawson, both of whom struggled to make any sort of impact in west Wales.
With Martin Corry and Harry Ellis both performing well for Leicester, England watchers will be fascinated by Sunday's action. Rugby watchers in general, as ever, will be fascinated by the Heineken Cup from Friday through to Sunday.
NOW TO THIS WEEK'S EMAILS...
As a member of the Bath team who used to be involved in titanic games against Leicester (you broke my heart in my first ever rugby match as a spectator Leicester v Bath, Pilkington Cup Final 1989), I would be intrigued to know who you think is the man to replace Pat Howard this year? There has been the usual rumour-mongering amongst Tigers fans because of the crumbs of information we are given by the club, who are understandably keeping their cards very close to their chest. At the minute there appears to be three potential candidates - Scott Johnson, John Kirwan and Jim Malinder. Personally I would like to see Scott Johnson take over. Pete Willis
STUART SAYS: I think Scott Johnson has proved himself a coach of vision and originality with Wales, but there is a big difference in being an assistant coach with responsibility for attack and being the head man of a club like Leicester where success is demanded week in, week out. John Kirwan is an interesting one, yet the step from Italy to Leicester is not necessarily gong to be any easier for Kirwan than it would be for Johnson. I think Jim Malinder would be the ideal pick if the Tigers could prise another member of the coaching academy away. Malinder understands the Premiership, would be able to continue the good work Pat Howard has done behind the scrum and would be shrewd enough to find an experienced set-piece coach to continue to supply Harry Ellis and Andy Goode with the requisite ball. All these contenders have plenty going for them, but Malinder has the strongest case. If I was a Leicester fan, I would be keeping my fingers crossed for the ex-Sale man.
I have just read with much interest that Clive Woodward felt the Australian RFU were wrong to sack Eddie Jones. Surely the type of rugby he was coaching his players to play is the reason why their results have been so poor and he must be accountable for results. They, in my opinion, have been living on a degree of luck for some time. I know from watching The Rugby Club that you have been critical of the Oz front five, but if that is their main weakness, and it does appear so to me, a coach on form should recognise that. Maybe I am being to simplistic. What are your thoughts on the subject? Graham Watson, Northampton.
STUART SAYS: Eddie Jones has lightened up international press conferences throughout the world. He is a tremendous character, a decent guy and I will miss him from the world stage. But in this professional day and age, it is hard to divorce the personality from the performance, and most of your comments are extremely pertinent. Eddie did not adequately fast-track a front five to keep Australia at the front of the world game. I know it is not solely his fault, but I do think for many years that Eddie was more interested in trying to de-power the scrum by turning that aspect of the game into something like a rugby league feed rather than finding a way for Australia to compete within the laws. Also, it may be harsh to say this but did Eddie Jones really take Australia on from the Rod McQueen era? It seems to me that too often Australia reverted to the same template McQueen came up with and took the Wallabies to World Cup glory in 1999. And, when without Stephen Larkham, Australia regularly played multi-phase rugby without instinctive width or intelligence. Eddie is not a bad coach but nor was he a visionary and in the end a dreadful run of results made it hard for a proud sporting nation to do anything else. The manner of his sacking is another matter. For me the decision of the ARU seems logical. Clive Woodward's animosity towards it could be taken as a display of mate-ship, something Jones probably appreciated even coming as it did from his old sparring partner.
The stand taken by several Premiership clubs, notably Bath, not to release their England squad members from club commitments on the 'free weekends' between the 6 Nations' Internationals, once again makes it imperative that the RFU, the European Rugby set-up and the Premiership clubs agree to a better balance to the season. It is entirely understandable that Andy Robinson should want to keep his squad together throughout the 6 Nations, as not only will this avoid the risk of injuries to players it will ensure a level playing field with those sides which do keep their squads throughout the period of the championship. At the same time, it is equally understandable that the clubs want to have their best players available for crucial matches. They must be entitled to that. It's the same old question but can anything be done to resolve this? If not, I fear for the future of the international game, certainly so far as England are concerned. Toby Woolrych, Velez, Malaga
STUART SAYS: The wrapping is different but what we are basically talking about is the same as ever - the problem between club and country, the problem between professional clubs and an RFU with different priorities. In this instance one has to sympathise with the professional clubs - the RFU cannot be party to creating a new tournament with a high-profile semi-final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and expect Wasps, Bath, Sale and Leicester to release their players. I have been fascinated to read much about this club v country battle but I haven't seen much written about the impact it would have on Powergen. Sponsorship is a massive part of the game and though sponsors and corporate interests should always be secondary to the playing of the game, the RFU would not be doing themselves any favours if a long-term partner like Powergen is snubbed because England have a determination to grab more time with their players than any other nation has with theirs. I'm interested to hear you mention a level playing field. In terms of finance and facilities, there is no level playing field - England have always been at the top with the rest of the world looking up to them. England's problem is not the amount of time it gets players for; it is about the coaches getting the best out of them. Once again this whole issue comes across as a massive smokescreen. England were awful under a new management last season. This season there has been more shape to what they are trying to do, but still there was little width and originality and the shape lacked fluidity. It is not Bath playing the week before England face Wales that the RFU should be worrying about; it is a management team that seems incapable of getting the best out of the players that is the real concern.
