Ten Classic Rugby Quotes
(from Planet Rugby)
Planet Rugby brings you some classic quotes from the historical archives.
1. "Remember that rugby is a team game; all 14 of you make sure you pass the ball to Jonah." FAX to the All Blacks before the 1995 World Cup semi-final.
2. "I think Brian Moore's gnashers are the kind you get from a DIY shop and hammer in yourself. He is the only player we have who looks like a French forward." Former England prop Paul Rendall on his front row colleague.
3. "You've got to get your first tackle in early, even if it's late." Welsh hardman Ray Gravell explains his rugby philosophy.
4. "I played ten injury-free years between the ages of 12 and 22. Then, suddenly, it seemed like I was allergic to the twentieth century." Former England scrum-half Nigel Melville who spent most of the 1980s injured.
5. "We're going to tear those boys apart." Message pinned up on the changing room wall by England skipper Will Carling before his team ran out to face the All Blacks in the 1995 World Cup semi-final in Cape Town. It took at least 70 seconds for New Zealand to score their first try as they demolished England 45-29.
6. "Don't ask me about emotions in the Welsh dressing room. I'm someone who cries when he watches 'Little House on the Prairie'" Former Welsh second row Bob Norster remembers that special Dragons' atmosphere.
7. "There's no doubt about it, he's a big bastard" Gavin Hastings, master of the bleedin' obvious, on Jonah Lomu.
8. "The relationship between the Welsh and the English is based on trust and understanding. They don't trust us and we don't understand them." Former RFU supremo Dudley Wood on Anglo-Welsh relations.
9. "If you can't take a punch, you should play table tennis." Former French skipper and coach Pierre Berbizier illustrates his nation's attitude to on-pitch violence.
10. "A player of ours has been proven guilty of biting. That's a scar that will never heal." Bath coach Andy Robinson after his prop Kevin Yates was suspended for taking a chunk out of an opposing flanker's ear.