The Times - UK (2020-07-28)

56 2GM Tuesday July 28 2020 | the times

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would not be allowed into the

Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

England were due to play November

Tests against New Zealand, Argentina,

Tonga and Australia.

World Rugby has come up with an

alternative autumn plan because travel

restrictions and the need to reschedule

the Rugby Championship will prevent

the All Blacks, Australia, South Africa

and Argentina from touring Europe.

The proposal, which has upset

Premiership Rugby, is to double the

three-week Test window so that it runs

from October 24 to December 5, allow-

ing for the Six Nations to be completed.

The plan will go to a vote on Thursday.

Ireland would play their postponed

game against Italy on October 24, the

same day as the Gallagher Premiership

final and 24 hours before England play

the Barbarians at Twickenham.

Premiership Rugby unhappy with extended window

The Six Nations title would be decid-

ed on the traditional “Super Saturday”

on October 31, with France playing host

to Ireland, England travelling to Rome,

and Wales playing Scotland, potent-

ially at Twickenham.

The eight-team tournament would

begin after a week off, with group

matches to be played on the weekends

of November 14-15, 21-22 and 28-29,

with a finals day on December 5

pitching the winner of pool A against

the winner of pool B, second in pool A

versus second in pool B, and so on.

One of the finals is scheduled to be

held at Twickenham, guaranteeing that

the RFU will stage at least three Test

matches plus the Barbarians game this

autumn, with a maximum crowd of

28,000 expected to be permitted for

each game.

Meanwhile, the All Blacks, Australia,

South Africa and Argentina would be

playing the postponed Rugby Champi-

onship over six weeks in New Zealand.

World Rugby’s plan is opposed by the

French and English clubs. Premiership

Rugby wants World Rugby to scrap the

rest week in the middle of the autumn,

thereby asking England to play five

Tests on consecutive weekends.

“Premiership Rugby and its clubs

have already offered compromises and

agreed to stretch the international

window from four weekends to six,

offering a solution that would

allow the completion of the Six Nations

tournament, accommodate an extra

game with England v Barbarians, and

allow for the four international match-

es in the November window,” it said in

a statement.

“The Premiership has also agreed to

start the 2020-21 Gallagher Premier-

ship Rugby season during the 2020

international window, on November

20, to allow the campaign to be com-

pleted before next summer’s Lions tour.

“So a further temporary amendment

to regulation nine, which governs

player release for Test matches, for

weekends in December, would have a

further impact on the Premiership and

needs to be avoided.”

The Lions will be sponsored by

Vodafone on their tour to South Africa

after striking a deal with the telecom-

munications firm that is believed to be

worth £6.25 million plus bonuses.

The deal represents an uplift on the

2017 tour when Standard Life is

understood to have paid £6 million plus

bonuses to be the Lions’ lead partners

for the series against New Zealand that

ended in a 1-1 draw.

To have secured an improved shirt

sponsorship deal despite the global eco-

nomic impact of the coronavirus is said

to underline the power of the Lions

brand. “The market for premium spon-

sorships like the Lions shirt will always

be strong,” an industry source said.

continued from back Autumn fixture list

October 24

Gallagher Premiership final

Six Nations — Ireland v Italy

October 25

England v Barbarians

October 31

Six Nations — Wales v Scotland, Italy

v England, France v Ireland

November 7-8

Week off in Europe

November 7-December 12

Rugby Championship

November 14-December 5

“Six Nations Plus” competition,

including Fiji and Japan

w/e November 20-22

New Gallagher Premiership season

begins

With Cipriani out of the picture,

there is a gulf in experience behind

Ford and Farrell. Umaga joined

Marcus Smith, the Harlequins play-

maker, in being invited into camp by

Jones, while Joe Simmonds at Exeter

Chiefs is growing in stature and

maturity.

Umaga has been more of a slow

burner. As well as being the son of

Mike Umaga, he is the nephew of

Tana, the former All Blacks captain,

and came through the academy at

Leicester Tigers before making the

move to Wasps.

Having played for England Under-

20 above his age grade, Umaga took

himself to New Zealand in 2018. He

won the National Provincial

Championship with Auckland and

was coached by Graham Henry.

“The whole experience was

unbelievable,” he said. “It really

helped me to develop. I was stationed

at full back quite a lot of the time but

I was still part of the decision-making

group and that helped me.

“Graham Henry said, ‘You have all

the talents in attack, but you need to

work on your defence’, so I did a lot of

one-to-one work with him. I was

really tempted to stay.”

If Umaga returned home somewhat

begrudgingly, he has made it into the

right decision, guiding Wasps to fifth

in the Premiership after making the

No 10 jersey his own.

With Lima Sopoaga deployed at full

back, he was trying to implement

some of the lessons he had picked up

in New Zealand and with England.

Lockdown came at the worst possible

time. “I learnt a lot around those

[England] guys. The main thing was

the amount of kicking that happens

in international rugby. In the

Premiership you hold on to the ball

and you can score from it. In

international rugby, whoever wins the

kicking battle wins the game. I tried

to implement it back at Wasps.

“To experience what a winning

culture was like in Auckland, it is kind

of ingrained in you. I try to keep

those high standards.”

Umaga senses that same culture

developing at Wasps. The challenge is

to pick up where they left off in the

Premiership — and for Umaga, he

needs to upgrade that used car for a

premium motor that will earn him

another England call in the autumn.

I

t is almost a rite of passage for

any promising newcomer in the

England squad. At some point

they will be called in for a

meeting with Eddie Jones, or

grabbed for a quick chat on the

touchline, and the head coach will

serve up his unique brand of

feedback.

Famous are the tales of Maro Itoje

being told that he needed more battle

scars on his face (code for “up the

aggression”) and of Ben Youngs being

thrown a bag of sweets (code for “get

fitter”). Jacob Umaga, the Wasps fly

half, has his own such story.

The 22-year-old, who was included

in England’s Six Nations training

squad, had to wait for his second

conversation with Jones before being

hit by a stinging observation from the

head coach.

“He said, ‘You have got the body of

a used car that wouldn’t get sold’,”

Umaga told The Ruck, the rugby

podcast from The Times and

Sunday Times.

Except that it did not

sting. Umaga, who had

been called into the

England set-up as a

development player for

experience and so

Jones could get a

handle on his character,

recognised the challenge

and embraced it.

“It was one of the best

quotes I have ever heard. I loved it,”

Umaga said. “He was obviously

referring to the shape I am. Those

guys are in peak physical condition

and I am a bit smaller than some of

those guys so I was in for the extra

weights. I am known at Wasps for not

being the biggest lifter.

“When I came back to Wasps they

were saying, ‘Make sure you are

getting in the gym’.

“When lockdown

came I was lucky

because my dad [Mike

Umaga, the former Samoa

international] works at a

university, Bishop Burton. There was

a little gym we could use and I was in

there with him throughout

lockdown.”

There are two or three fly halves

jostling for position behind George

Ford and Owen Farrell in the

England pecking order. Danny

Cipriani is the only other fly half to

have won a cap under Jones.

‘Eddie Jones told me I had the body

of a used car that wouldn’t get sold’

The aspiring England

fly half Jacob Umaga

tells Alex Lowe he was

not offended by head

coach’s stinging rebuke

Umaga leads a break against London Irish in March but his more recent focus has been on his defence

HENRY BROWNE/GETTY IMAGES

17

Days until the restart of

the Premiership season —

Wasps are away at

Northampton, one place

above them in fourth,

in their first

match

THE RUCK

Listen to a longer version of

Alex Lowe’s interview on

our weekly rugby podcast

Download from your podcast provider

Exeter discuss name change

Exeter Chiefs’ board will meet

tomorrow to discuss a rebranding

that could result in the Premiership

club losing their Native American

badge and mascot. An Exeter

supporters’ online petition has

gathered more than 3,500

signatures, stating that the club’s

“harmful imagery and branding” is

disrespectful to Native Americans.

Washington Redskins, the NFL

club, have dropped their badge and

branding, taking on the temporary

name of Washington Football Team.