Features Featured Therapist of the Week!!! *Special RWC Edition*

Well boys I hope we are all alive today, I for one have been in a world of trouble all day and I have heard through  the grapevine of a few Therapists in desperate need of a powerade. Nevertheless it was an occasion to celebrate and I hope an enjoyable time was had by all. The subject of this special RWC edition of Therapist of the Week, is a foundation Therapist and has represented the team exceptionally always, introducing to you Russell 'the love muscle' Keegan our tighthead prop/ hooker!

1)  Name? Russell James Keegan 

2)      Birthday? 09/03/1990 Stratford, New Zealand

3)      Hometown and Province? New Plymouth, Taranaki

4)      Physical stats? 1.70m, 87kg 

5)      Education? Francis Douglas Memorial College, Victoria University: BSc Geology, Geography

6)      Best rugby moment?Winning Lincoln cup (competition for large Taranaki primary/ intermediate schools) in my form 2 year at FDMC

7)      Best OBU Therapists moment? Any time pulling on the therapist strip/ the friday night out with the team after the Ories win

8)      Who is your all time Rugby hero? Christain Cullen, immensly talented fullback that could run through a team from anywhere on the field

9)      If you could invite 5 people to dinner who would you invite? Tiger woods, to teach me his ways, Randy Marsh, solid bloke who is an inspiration as a future geologist, Jake Heke, a New Zealand icon, Will Farrel, for a few laughs, Anne Robinson (the weakest link), she is good at what she does

10)   Who was your 1^st kiss? Don't know the name but it was with some girl by the river for New Years in Urenui 

11)   Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Its hard to see that far ahead but hopefully still enjoyng being a geologist, have found a nice girl, and bought a house as well.

12)   Who is your favourite fellow OBU Therapist? Jess "the Machine" Machin. turns up each week with his pre game can of creamed rice gives his all

13)   Nicknames? Keegan, Keegs, Crowbar, De Malmanche, fat calves

14)   What’s your favourite ‘I was hanging with the boys this one time and...’ story? Many to tell but one that springs to mind involves many of the current therapists. During our under 19s year, after prizegiving at the cambridge we decided to head back to ralphs flat at Mackenzies and have a few more drinks. What resulted was carnage running up the street, general hooliganism, people climbing over cars, being tackled through fences... good times had by all

15)   What was the cause behind your worst ever hangover? Would have to be after the school ball, drinking half a bottle of whiskey (a big achievement back then). Got sent home from work the next day for general drunkenness and spending most of the time in the bathroom spewing, rather than serving customers. The two day hangover took its toll.

16)   Worst job you ever had? Doing promotional work for a tampon company in wellington. Had to wear a large sign on my back and walk up and down lampton quay handing out flyers. You would be surprised how many people that you know, saw you looking like a dick

17)   What’s your ultimate hangover cure? I've always been a fan off having subway and a poweraid. During summer going for a swim usually works wonders as well.

18)   What’s your cooking specialty? Pasta Bake, simple and effective 

19)   What is your strategy when it comes to picking up the ladies in town? My stratigies have quite a low strike rate, but generally involves alot of alcohol and I forget how the rest goes

20)   What’s the one song you want to hear before you run out onto the field for the OBU Therapists? Your the Voice, John Farnham 

21)   Motto? work smart, play hard

CCheers Russ, you're a true champion. On another note good luck to you all of the boys who have exams and I truly hope we all have a sensational summer. 2012 will be the Year of the Therapist.

Building on RWC 2011

With one game left to play in RWC 2011 it is fair to say that the tournament has been a success with attendance targets met, a lot of interest in all the games played and some exciting rugby to boot. That said, for many New Zealanders RWC 2011 will only prove to be a success if our boys ensure the trophy doesn't leave on a plane for France this coming Sunday!

Looking to the future though there is still room for the International Rugby Board (the IRB) to improve the RWC, especially for the tier two teams who compete but in reality are just there to make up the numbers. The call has been made for the RWC to adopt the format seen in rugby sevens tournaments around the world where teams who get knocked out in pool play can still contest for the Plate, Bowl or Shield via a series of knockout games. Following the rugby sevens formula the losing quarter finalists would contest for the Plate, the teams that came third in their groups would contest for the Bowl and the fourth and fifth placed teams would contest for the Shield. I do realise that this deviates slightly from the current rugby sevens format. If we were to apply this to RWC 2011 here are the games that we would have seen. (please note I didn't use any formula to schedule teams)

The Plate

Game 1: Argentina v South Africa

Game 2: Ireland v England

Game 3: Game 1 Winner v Game 2 Winner.

The Bowl

Game 1: Tonga v Scotland

Game 2: Italy v Samoa

Game 3: Game 1 Winner v Game 2 Winner.

The Shield

Game 1: Canada v Romania

Game 2: Japan v Georgia

Game 3: USA v Namibia

Game 4: Fiji v Russia

Game 5: Semi Final

Game 6: Semi Final

Game 7: Final

For many of the tier two teams making the RWC is the entire focus of their international schedule. Whereas the tier one teams such as the All Blacks or England compete in prestigious tournaments such as the Tri Nations or the Six Nations in between RWC's there is very little in the way of regular tournaments for tier two/ three teams to compete in aside from RWC qualifying matches and then the RWC itself. It is hardly fair that they turn up to make up the numbers so to speak and then are discarded after pool play.

More than that, the Plate games could have been based in Wellington, the Bowl games in Hamilton and the Shield games in both Dunedin and Invercargill with the final in Dunedin. This would have prolonged the RWC 2011 experience throughout New Zealand, instead of all the action heading up to Auckland during the latter and most important stages of the tournament. The added games would have meant greater revenues for the IRB, not only in ticket sales but also in broadcast fees because they have a larger product on offer. The IRB could even use the additional trophies to honour some of the biggest names in the game, the Colin Meads Plate, the Danie Craven Shield etc.

It also would have offered the fans something a bit different to the rugby viewing palate than the usual fare on offer in the latter stages of RWC 2011. If you compare the RWC’s finalists from 1999, 2003 and 2007 you will not see a whole lot of difference.

1999

South Africa v England

Australia v Wales

New Zealand v Scotland

France v Argentina

2003

England v Wales

New Zealand v South Africa

France v Ireland

Australia v Scotland

2007

Australia v England

New Zealand v France

South Africa v Fiji

Argentina v Scotland

Including this tournament 10 teams have made the qualifying rounds since rugby turned professional in 1999, the first tournament that was played in the modern professional era of rugby union. While this is no bad thing the IRB could do a lot worse than to take steps to ensure that every team at the RWC is playing for something other than just making up the numbers.