It has rarely paid to dismiss a team coached by Warren Gatland. Ten years after his side confounded expectation by winning at Twickenham for the first time in 20 years in his first match as head coach, the manner of Wales’s victory against a Scotland side that for once went into a Six Nations campaign…
Month: March 2019
Scotland make six changes for France clash after drubbing by Wales
Gregor Townsend believes it was not the “true” Scotland who were well beaten by Wales in their Six Nations opener and he is backing his players to salvage their hopes in the competition at home against France on Sunday. Townsend’s team were expected to mount a serious bid in the Six Nations this year after…
Wily Warren Gatland talks up England after naming unchanged Wales side
If Wales show the same composure and quick thinking that Warren Gatland displayed during his team announcement for Saturday’s match at Twickenham, England’s six-year home unbeaten record in the tournament will come under threat. After the head coach had said the decision to keep faith with the side that had started the 34-7 victory over…
Wales 34-7 Scotland: how the players rated in the Six Nations game
Wales Leigh Halfpenny 6/10 The full-back had not scored a try for Wales for five years but crossed the line after 11 minutes and again just after the hour. Flawless place-kicking and 24 points in total. Josh Adams 7/10 The Worcester wing has been a prolific try-scorer for his club and, although he will come…
Richard Wigglesworth shows benefit of age with focus on England future
The last time Richard Wigglesworth won a cap for England it coincided with “one of the worst weeks of my life”. Several of the squad preparing to face Uruguay in Manchester in the autumn of 2015 knew their team’s premature World Cup exit might abruptly curtail their international careers and the scrum-half was among the…
Six Nations spin-off in America involving home nations in pipeline
A Six Nations spin-off that would see the home nations play in the United States could be in the pipeline, according to the tournament’s chief executive, John Feehan. The American broadcaster NBC will show all 15 matches of this year’s competition live after a historic agreement was announced in October, and while Feehan ruled out…
Six Nations to review HIA protocol from France versus Ireland match
Another Six Nations match in Paris, another breathtaking finish. And another game overshadowed by controversy regarding head injury assessment protocol. In March last year France snatched a dramatic victory against Wales under suspicion of the most cynical abuse of the HIA system; this time they succumbed to Ireland. To describe Johnny Sexton’s 45-metre drop goal…
‘The day we almost outfoxed England’: an oral history of Italy’s cunning ruse
It was Brendan Venter’s idea, to begin with. In the early spring of 2017, Venter was Italy’s defence coach and like his boss, Conor O’Shea, this was his first Six Nations in the job. They had already been beaten 33-7 by Wales and 63-10 by Ireland. Now they had a fortnight before they played England,…
Cheika’s intent to resign begins race to replace Wallabies coach
Michael Cheika has always been a gypsy. That is why it was not surprising to see him flag his intention to resign as Wallabies coach if Australia does not win the 2019 World Cup in Japan. “The way I see it is like this – we came second in the last one and you have…
Johnny Sexton’s stunning drop goal snatches win for Ireland over France
The sheer nerve. If Ireland were wanting to brandish their championship credentials, they did so with an extraordinary win at the death. For 70 minutes in the Parisian drizzle the game seemed to be meandering to a drab victory for Irish composure over French indiscipline, when suddenly France struck with a brilliant counterattacking try by…