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The Roar

Nicholas Bishop

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Joined January 2016

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Nick Bishop has worked as a rugby analyst and advisor to Graham Henry (1999-2003), Mike Ruddock (2004-2005) and most recently Stuart Lancaster (2011-2015). He also worked on the 2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia and produced his first rugby book with Graham Henry at the end of the tour. Three more rugby books have followed, all of which of have either been nominated for or won national sports book awards. Nick’s latest is a biography of Phil Larder, the first top Rugby League coach to successfully transfer over to Union, entitled “The Iron Curtain”. He is currently writing articles for The Roar and The Rugby Site, and working as a strategy consultant to Stuart Lancaster and the Leinster coaching staff for their European and Pro 14 playoff matches. Leinster achieved the double of European Champions Cup and Pro 14 league winners in 2018. They repeated their Pro 14 win in 2019 and finished runners-up to Saracens in Europe.

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I don’t recall there being one, no Mach. 😢

The problems with the Waratahs' spine

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Yes he’s much too old now to make the Wales team, so he’d have to go on the staff instead 😊

The problems with the Waratahs' spine

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Wouldn’t dispute that the NSW forwards aren’t up to much currently, but the 9 can still do a lot to make it better or worse for those behind him…

The problems with the Waratahs' spine

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Hairless Harry and Naughty Nick 👍

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Yep that’s what I remember too Ed.

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Yep they should be brash, loud and very very ugly, mind you Mike Phillips did some modelling work in his spare time IIRC 😂

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Sure, ofc he can… 😊

The problems with the Waratahs' spine

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Thanks for that update Uli… Gats may well find a role for Jamie Roberts, but he won’t be able to justify a spot in the playing squad, so he’d have to be part of the backroom staff.

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Like players, they need distractions, and VERY understanding family support. Graham Henry’s wife Raewyn globe-trotted with him to every new role – but it ain’t easy!

The problems with the Waratahs' spine

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True Peter – although they might need a whole new player at tight-head… not just an up-skilled one!

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Tough one to call Fin, both sides are hard to judge right now. England very moody like their coach, Ireland still largely an unknown quantity under Faz. Poss Ireland narrowly, but I won’t be dipping into my pocket for a flutter 😊

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My bad Geoff, I’m always cherry-picking my stats to annoy Kiwis 😂

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Thanks AH – he sounds Rodzilla sized!

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I’ll keep an eye out for Malolua, Geoffrey – cheers!

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😂

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Bring Ella from 1984 to 2020. Build him to make him resistance strong in the 2020 mould of strength training, nutrition & sports science, but allow him to retain the intuition & skills he grew up with up to 1984.

Now we have Ella on a level playing field. He will break defences with the same regularity in 2020 that he did in 1984.

He might well be able to break defences as well as he did in days of yore with the body of a ‘new Ella’ Sheek… His handling skills were that special in any era.

Would he be able to manipulate modern defences without a big improvement in his kicking game, and would he be able to function as an extra full-back on defence as is the modern requirement?

These are the real questions, which are impossible to answer!

The problems with the Waratahs' spine

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Any footage of him AH? Related to Paddy?? 😂

The problems with the Waratahs' spine

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Wilson’s a comer, but he needs more experience of senior rugby before he gets his WB shot AH…

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Yes add in JOC with a bigger centre like Tevita or Petaia (were he available) and you have a good mix.

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Looking forward to seeing what Jantjies can produce in 2020 H.

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Yes if they can get his scrum right he has a lot to offer as a ball-carrier, for sure!

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God forbid Fin! Even if he is a New Zealander. Why would a guy who’s only coached 130 Test matches (and on three Lions tours) have anything to offer?

The problems with the Waratahs' spine

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Good qualification Paul, finding someone to play 3 is arguably more important.

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Great bench 9 H.

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Smuth

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