As this first edition of BAMLife hits your inbox or door mat, rugby’s
greatest stage, the Rugby World Cup 2015 will be in full swing. It is
being hosted on home turf for the first time in 16 years. Thirty-two
nations have been competing for the Webb Ellis Cup with the pool
games being held in the far reaches of the land from Exeter to
Brighton to Leeds and Milton Keynes. The knock-out stages have been held in the bigger
stadiums including Twickenham, the Millennium Stadium and the Olympic Park.
CCompetition has never been fiercer between the Northern Hemisphere, Six Nation sides (England,
Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy) and the Southern Hemisphere teams of Argentina, South
Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Plus the big hitting Pacific Island teams of Samoa, Tonga and Fiji
have all posed strong opposition. In fact one noticeable factor of this World Cup has been the
performances of the so-called second tier nations who have threatened upsets from the start after
Japan beat the Boks.
My first experience of the World Cup was in South Africa in 1995 where I followed Scotland and also
watched Scotland and then England get smashed by mighty Jonah Lomu. The atmosphere of this
World Cup has been incredible with exciting matches throughout. It has been tough to see an all
Southern Hemisphere semi-final line up and hopefully our young teams will benefit from the
experience and older teams will rebuild. Win or lose it will still be about rugby fans from around the
globe coming together to enjoy the banter, competition and a few jars.
Rich, Editor
RUGBY WORLD CUP 2015
SHOWCASING RUG
We caught up with World Cup winner and TV pundit,
Maggie Alphonsi MBE, to get her opinion of RWC 2015.
Tell us a bit about your memories of World Cup(s)
In 2006 it was my first RWC and we got to final
against New Zealand. It what was an intense physical
battle, which we lost 25-18. In 2010 we got to the
final again against New Zealand. All the expectation
were on us to win the tournament being the host
nation and we lost 10-13, which was very painful.
Then in 2014, we won finally the tournament to
become World Champions. From all of the RWCs
winning the last one was amazing but the best world
cup for me was in 2010. Having the home crowd at
every game really did lift us as a team.
What is your involvement with rugby now? What
is life after rugby?
Currently I remain a close part of the Saracens
women section, helping to support and grow the club.
I am also a patron/ambassador for a variety of rugby
charities including England Rugby 2015.
How excited are you about this World Cup on
home soil?
I am very excited. I want this World Cup to emulate
the euphoric atmosphere that we saw captivate the
nation at the 2012 Olympic Games. I believe the
home crowd support has been incredible for the Home
Nations often being that 16th person on the pitch.
Sadly England did not make it through a tough pool
stage and despite heroic performances from teams
like Wales and Scotland we have not had any home
nations make it through into the semis, the first time
in the history of RWCs.
How do you feel about the Home Nations team
performances?
I think Wales played incredibly well especially with
injuries and losses to some key names and were
possibly feeling the effects of their injuries as the
game against South Africa just seemed a step too far.
They will be one to watch for the Six Nations. Ireland
had such a strong side with much depth but were
cruelly robbed of key players including Johnny Sexton
and Paul O'Connell for the quarter finals and
Argentina took their chances well. Scotland took a
while to find their form but really provided a stern test
Life after rugby for me has been all about developing
my expertise in the media as I love working in the
media. Luckily for me ITV Sport have signed me up to
cover several Rugby World Cup games and in doing so
I will become the first ever former female player to
commentate on a men’s RWC. Now that is exciting!