Ex rugby player with occasional catching problem! Scored winning drop goal in 03 RWC final! Now Commentator and living in ad world! instagram - benkayrugby
As Rob Baxter (very classily) admitted in the clubs post match interview straight after game, the wider angle of simmonds conversion shows he does take a small step towards the ball before stopping again
When I think of the reasons I properly fell in love with both codes of rugby in my teens this guy would be about top, I reckon, devastating
#VaigaTuigamala
In an era of no self policing - Deliberate hair pulling should be an automatic red - a bald ref would have gone red, believe me hair don’t grow back!!!
Just the worse news to get this morning. Fair to say it has sent shockwaves through his Leicester Tigers team mates. One of the most popular characters I ever played with. RIP
Munster Rugby are devastated to learn of the passing of Tom Tierney.
A former Munster player, Tom is our National Talent Coach & previously coached Ireland Women,
@GarryowenFC
&
@CorkConRugbyFC
.
Thinking of his wife Mary, daughters Isabel and Julia and wider family & friends 🌹
Anyone grow up up with Rugby Special as a big part of their life?
Nigel Starmer-Smith is battling dementia & his son
@charliessmusic
has written a song for him to raise awareness of this cruel disease. All proceeds to
@alzheimerssoc
Download it here:
Quite poignant having the privilege to commentate on such an enjoyable game and coming out of the stadium and hearing of Murray Walker’s passing. One of those who made me fall In love with sport growing up, along with the great Bill McLaren. Oh and
@andNickMullins
obviously.
Today
@LeicesterTigers
have 9. Youngs 33yrs, 10. Pollard 28yrs, 11. Potter 25yrs, 12. Gopperth 39yrs, 13. Scott 32yrs, 14. Ashton 35yrs, 15. Brown 37yrs -
@Stu_Farmer
is this the oldest back line in
@premrugby
history
This is a really good use of social media by
@EnglandRugby
you may not agree with all the sanctions out there but least you’ll be more informed of the process when you are arguing
I played in this fellas 1st Tigers game. He was a centre then, broke his leg & refused to come off for another 10 mins - we knew he was wasted as a back. He’s been the glue that held things together in exceptionally trying times at the club & for him personally
#legend
#Tommy200
📹
Ahead of his 2⃣0⃣0⃣th appearance for Leicester Tigers tonight, we asked those closest to him to share a special message for
@TomYoungs87
in celebration of his milestone achievement.
#Tommy200
Hugely saddened & alarmed by yesterday’s reports but vital that there’s balance in this story or there’ll be a few thousand people sitting at home convinced they’ve dementia cos they can’t remember a name or where they left their keys which will create a whole new set of problems
Not sure when I first started commentating in 2010, I would have predicted I’d be calling a game in 2023 with Mike brown, Chris Ashton and Jimmy Gopperth in the back line for tigers!
@LeicesterTigers
v
@Saracens
on
@btsportrugby
from 2pm
“would it help if we got someone in to look after your social media stuff? Just so we don’t have any PR issues?”
“No don’t worry, I like to do all that stuff on me Jack Jones…..or as we say in the Free State ‘my Jaco Johans’!”
Very privileged to see the Billy Whizz magic with a better than front row seat. A man who could simultaneously take 80,000 breaths away and you could genuinely hear the gasp on the field as the ball was kicked to him
🗓 𝟏𝟕-𝟎𝟐-𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟏
Twenty years ago today,
@Jason15Robinson
made his
@EnglandRugby
debut 🌹
🏆 World Cup winner, England captain, British & Irish Lion and a legend of both codes, but his journey to the top was against all the odds.
This is Jason’s story in his own words.
Over last few weeks I’ve become a firm believer that in the current shift in
@WorldRugby
approach to head contact - rewarding the choke tackle has to go! Encourages upright tackling but more importantly encourages ball carrier to dip head to ground more than should be needed 1/2-
I’m such a big fan of Big Faz and his team but the Ireland attack’s razor sharp ability to create line breaks has a lot of influence of the Leinster coaches and their work at the face of the defensive line. Taken Ireland to a new level.
Bloody disrespectful to the competition of Montpellier only picking 7 internationals and a French squad member in their pack! PSA hasn’t picked the same team 2 weeks running all season and they seem to be doing ok?
All at Newcastle Falcons are deeply saddened to learn of the death of our friend and former colleague, Steve Black.
Blackie, you were a true one-off. A Falcons legend who will never be forgotten.
Rest in peace.
This was so good - hope they can sort some more Friday night games, they’ve got a huge potential market of supporters in the area, all the local pubs were full of after work drinkers as we drove in - great stadium
The club is deeply saddened by the news that Bleddyn Jones, a familiar face and unmistakeable voice around Leicester Tigers for more than half a century, has died at the age of 72.
Obituary 👉
Hey William, this is fantastic - well done - good luck with the rest of your runs and let’s hope you can put all that extra fitness you’ve earned to good use by tearing it up when you can get back to playing rugby
So excited to be ‘working’ on another Rugby World Cup. France was amazing last time we were there with Bill 🏆 . Paris/Marseille/Bordeaux my first weekend 🎙️ Coupe du monde
@ITVSport
Will be keeping an 👁 on events at Rossett Park later while working
@btsportrugby
dreaming of Fish Chips from George & Angela’s on College Road. Go head
@MarineAFC
⚓️
#Crosby
massive!
@adrian_maddison
See this is absolutely the shit show that is Twitter! didn’t say ST doesn’t have a problem I said it needs balanced reporting or it’ll create further problems because like I do, people will worry that normal lapses are definitely down to head contacts - we know so little
No surprise
@FalconsRugby
game
@gloucesterrugby
delayed til 7pm - would be fair to say that the number 2’s will have been doing number 2’s this morning at the prospect of chucking the darts in this wind! Nearly as much as me and Oz every time we involuntarily change lanes 😬
2/2 Ireland had success early on v England with choke tackle & Billy V dips into contact - Bundee Aki red carded. Also negatively impacts openness of game as players priority is definitely being able to get to ground rather than risk shaping body to offload & keep ball alive.
@davidflatman
…And “Freed from Desire” is a banger! Loved seeing your moves mate your so flexible for a big un- loved sharing a stool and a mic with you - great fun
.
@Jamiehuwroberts
and
@BrianODriscoll
walk through a demo of the finer details of manipulating an opposition defence and combining as a centre-partnership 🔍
You can still see the chemistry 🤝
“He has knobbly knees, and turned-out toes, And a poisonous wart at the end of his nose." Where are you meeting him? Just here, we don’t have to travel far, there’s a man with those features next to daddy in my car!
Can’t begin to tell you how much fun this car journey was, chatting with a superstar…and her dad. More stories with Koha & the Care family tomorrow night.
Had to talk about the RWC 03 Semi final at event last night, so thought I’d read a report to refresh the memory - found timeline of the game from the guardian - think the game has changed a bit recently!
Just flicked on Living with Lions ‘97 - watching the faces you know so well racked with raw anxiety in the pre match meetings has actually caused a physiological response. It’s rugby’s Pavlovs Dog for an ex player. I’m well and truly drooling!
#LionsRugby
from 4pm on
@talkSPORT
𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦! 🦁
What a Test series we’ve got ahead 🔥
✅ Our star studded coverage begins this Saturday with the massive series opener.
Every match is exclusive to us on radio.
Get our app and never miss a second.
Great to be teaming up with the
@talkSPORT
crew for another 🦁 tour - looking forward to seeing who we’ll be following
@lionsofficial
announcement tomorrow
We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Lion
#387
, Alan Ashcroft.
Neddy, as Alan was affectionately known, made 18 appearances for the Lions, scoring 2 tries on the 1959 Tour. He will be sorely missed.
Fair play Springboks brilliant second half total game management results in dominance. Maul, kicking game, aerial battle, scrum - all squeezed life out of lions and when they had their red zone opportunities. Lot to sort out but this is what’s great about lions tours
Calling all England Rugby fans, less than 2 weeks till kick off! 🌹
Remember that unforgettable day 20 years ago when the 2003 Squad clinched the cup? Relive the magic with the entire squad at Eventim Apollo this November. Don't miss out, tickets still available.
A massive thank you to
@alzheimerssoc
for funding this research in such challenging times for charities. Really hope the research can provide some important indicators for how we tackle (excuse the pun) this problem for the entire population.
This news hit really hard. So many fantastic memories from our
@lionsofficial
tour to New Zealand in 2017 - the nicest guy you could meet, even when you’re sliding off the road on an icy mountain on a 4x4 tour. Rest easy Russ x
We’re deeply saddened to tell you that Russell Hargreaves has passed away.
Russ was a talented commentator, news reader and reporter for our network.
But he was much more than that. A much loved friend and colleague to so many.
We’re devastated by his passing.
RIP, Russ.
Got sent a set of this
@ZerofitUKIRE
stuff, no expectations to post anything about it but having used it on a few outside broadcasts can genuinely say if you work/play/watch or spend time outside in the cold, it is a game changer at keeping you warm
Disclaimer - This is NOT my Premiership team of the season so far! It is my one from every club XV of the year - give it a go it’s tough to fit your favourites in
🏉 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝙎𝙤 𝙁𝙖𝙧
Next up, Ben Kay! Remember, 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 Premiership team must be represented.
What do you think of this XV overseen by Pat Lam? 🤔
#GallagherPrem
A big thank you to
@charliessmusic
for continuing his fantastic fundraising with his latest song, Tonight! 🙏 And massive congratulations on the new single!🎉
Read more about Charlie's story at: .
Congrats to
@alexmitchell97
fully deserves this shot. On paper a decent team let’s see how the change in psychological dynamics of a World Cup affects performance, hopefully for the better! Looking forward to calling this on
@ITVSport
Bon Chance Les Rosbifs!
It's here... Your England team to take on Argentina in our opening match at the Rugby World Cup on Saturday (20:00 BST kick-off; live on ITV)
#ENGvARG
|
#RWC2023
Everyone warns don’t fly
@Ryanair
but they really are crap - took 3 bags they charged us £60 each per flight for off plane for no reason, lost them for 3 days despite being at airport we flew from - now been at faro airport 17 hours without being delivered
@loveholidays
@KaiHorstmann
I don’t see why you change it? It’s always been the case, I always thought the interpretation was that all kickers could move and get into position get set but then when they paused and settled the next step movement was the trigger to go?
@andNickMullins
Quite good except you’ve picked 3 number 8’s and 2 full backs. How can they be the best 6,7&14 if they haven’t been picked there once? Just when I was beginning to trust you again. You always have to cheat and ruin things!
Excellent question - it’s because to look for mitigation to reduce sanction from starting point of 🛑 on a head hit with force, the attempted tackle/clear out has to be legal - because both KB & JW did not attempt to wrap arm it was deemed always illegal - therefore no reduction
@thepaulwilliams
😂 steal away Paul, though beginning to feel a little too like military language in light of this week’s events! Hope you have a lovely rest of the week apart from Saturday 😉
To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of
@EnglandRugby
's World Cup victory, all 31 squad members will reunite for the first time on 22nd November for a one-night-only event.
Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10am, you can sign up for pre-sale access now 🎟️