Author: Liam

Warren Gatland is Wales Rugby Team’s head coach who has been honored with the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for the remarkable services he has offered to the sport- rugby.

Gatland (New Zealander) received the OBE at a ceremony that took place in Windsor Castle on the 2^nd of October, 2014 and the Duke of Cambridge bestowed this honor upon him.

After receiving the award, he thanked each and every support staff members, managers and coaches he has ever worked with and said that he was very touched by this honor. He was thrilled by the fact that a Kiwi received such a privileged award in UK.

When Gatland was asked as to how nervous he was before the investiture ceremony, he said he was as nervous as he was before any major rugby match.  According to him, the feeling of nervousness in both the situations was quite similar.

Prince William and Warren Gatland even discussed things related to rugby especially about the preparations related to the World Cup, during the investiture ceremony.

Irish rugby player- Brian O’Driscoll had been removed from the Irish Lions for the Australia tour of 2013 by Gatland. This had created a lot of bad blood between the two. However, Gatland made it clear that now things are fine with O’Driscoll. He even said that O’Driscoll sent him a card during Christmas and he sent one to O’Driscoll as well.

Reportedly, Brian O’Driscoll had claimed that he would not send a card during Christmas to Gatland but it seems he ultimately sent one to Gatland.

Some other people who received honors during the same ceremony were John Barrowman (actor best known for his role in Torchwood) and Sir Anthony Seldon (who is Wellington College’s head teacher). Barrowman was honored with the MBE and Seldon was honored with a Knighthood. Prince William also discussed rugby with Seldon.

The women’s team of England Rugby is making each and everyone proud in the World Cup. They put up a stellar performance to beat Ireland in the semi finals and seal their berth for the finals. This will be fourth time in a row that the women’s national team will be representing England in the finals. It was a display of guts and maturity as the English woman stood up strong against the spirited Irish who had taken an early 7-0 lead. Players like Rochelle Clark, Kat Merchant, Kay Wilson and Marlie Packer came to the party in order to score a number of tries and take the score up to 40-7. Earlier in the World Cup England had drawn 13-13 with Canada which resulted in the elimination of New Zealand. This was probably the biggest shock of the tournament as the defending champions crashed out after being beaten 17-14 by the Irish team. Emily Scarratt the English centre player remarked that New Zealand’s defeat provided an impetus to the dream of England Rugby in the Women’s World Cup and they had a fair chance of winning the same as far as her opinion is concerned.

The semi final matches included England and Ireland on one side whereas Canada was facing France on the other half of the draw at the same location of Stade Jean Bouin. Gay Street believed that the job was only half done as far as the English rugby team was considered and the players had not done enough justice to their potential till the group stages. However the dominating performances of the players resulted in a resounding victory for the English rugby team much to the delight of the fans. The nation is now looking forward to enhance the glory by winning the most coveted prize of the Rugby world.

Any kind of rugby story is incomplete without mentioning about the New Zealand national men and women’s team. The sport is embedded in the very culture of the nation. For over 140 years the people in the country have voiced their humongous support for the team wherever they have played. Each household is either directly or indirectly connected with any kind of successful rugby story. The home of Rugby is considered to be Nelson which is at the northernmost tip of the nation. The first Rugby game was played in May 1870. The popularity of the game soon spread across the country which finally led to the establishment of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union in 1892. The first team that was formed succeeded in defeating the New South Wales in a convincing manner.

Any rugby superstar that have featured in major competitions for New Zealand can be identified as one of the most successful ones in the history of rugby. Names like George Napia, Brownley brothers, Colin Meads and Don Clarke feature in any of the lists for all time greats of rugby. Richie McCaw is the present New Zealand captain and he inspires his team by alluding to the examples of these legends. The Rugby World Cup has been witness to the greatest number of All Blacks triumph. Starting from the inaugural one to those of late, almost all the generations of players has tasted glory at least for once. Zinzan Broone, Michael Jones, Grant Fox, John Kirwan, Jeff Wilson. Jona Lomu is some of the few superstars whose popularity crossed all bounds because of their performances in the World Cup. The Women’s team is also one of the most dominant forces of the game. They have been able to maintain their position on the top of the rankings for quite a few numbers of years.