I could almost hear the sigh of relief from the others when the World Rally Championship in Wales was assigned to me.  The remote locations, the wind, the rain and the mud have given it a reputation as ”challenging”. Now after experiencing it for myself and standing in all the above for extended periods, I can confirm that this reputation is richly deserved.

On Day One I took a long walk to a spot recommended to me by one of the co-drivers where the cars hit a jump in top gear at over 100mph. Even through the viewfinder of a camera it was an incredible sight to behold see cars flying for 20 or 30 metres.  

 
Bizarrely, rally stewards who under normally circumstances love nothing more than ordering people about and getting in your way, appeared oblivious to the the cluster of photographers and TV crew just a few metres away from where the cars were landing.  

On Day Two I  chose a location which promised to give me clean action shots as drivers took a steeply sloping bend. Unfortunately for Norway’s Andreas Mikkelsen the bend was trickier than he thought. He hit a boulder which flipped the car over and sent it tumbling down the slope.

This time however I was shooting on a long lens at a very safe distance so even when the car was absolutely filling my frame my only thought was for the brand new camera I was using as a remote directly in line with where the car was heading. Photographers closer to the action had to make a split second decision to either keep on shooting or make a run for it, but the car rolled one last time onto its three remaining wheels and stopped. Happily the driver, co-driver, photographers and my remote camera all emerged unscathed.  

One man’s misfortune is another man’s luck, but as much as I’d like to take the credit for being in the right place at the right time, those drivers must each take a thousand corners every day and my being there was pure concidence.   

Here, on a straight stretch of road without bolders or spectators is a man who stayed dry and upright all the way through Wales,  World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb of France. 

RUGBY WORLD CUP 2007.

I have been seven weeks in France and now everything could depend on one split second. That was certainly the case four years ago when Kieran Doherty took this picture of Jonny Wilkinson’s  winning drop goal for England in the last minute of the 2003 Rugby World Cup final against Australia in  Sydney.

Kieran’s insight into the game was crucial to the making of this picture. He knew that a drop goal from either side would win the match and as the seconds ticked away and England drove deeper into Australia’s half, the ball was passed to Jonny and the moment was captured perfectly.

This weekend’s final in Paris will be no different. In pursuit of that special moment, once again, all angles will be covered, whether it’s the winning try, penalty or a drop goal. Five photographers will be at ground level and two in elevated positions. One of them will need a head for heights as he will be in the roof structure almost directly over the pitch, an angle which can make interesting images like these by Philippe Wojazer.

 With  a tournament this long a lot of days are spent shooting pictures on the training ground.  The teams are very keen to practise their moves in secret so we are allowed only 20 minutes at the start of a session to get the pictures that will hopefully illustrate the story of the day. Doing the same warm up session has certainly tested the imagination of the Reuters photographers here, but they seem to come up with the goods.

Having followed England since September 2 and watched some distinctly average performances in the early  games, it’s  a pleasant surprise to see them make the final against South Africa.  It represents the culmination of years of hard graft, honing special skills and being driven by the will to win. I imagine it is pretty important for the players too.

Training pictures by Eddie Keogh, Bogdan Cristel and Eric Gaillard. Match action pictures by Eddie Keogh, Eric Gaillard and Eddie Keogh.