Nathan Hughes has been named in England’s starting lineup to face Scotland in the only change made by Eddie Jones for Saturday’s Calcutta Cup match. The No 8 has played only 23 minutes since sustaining a knee injury in December but slots into the void left by Sam Simmonds, who is sidelined until next month….
Month: March 2019
Saracens’ Alex Lozowski ready to step in for Farrell as Leinster tie looms
Click:LC Adapter Alex Lozowski is ready to lead the Saracens backline against Leinster in the European Champions Cup quarter‑final in Dublin on Sunday should Owen Farrell fail to recover from a leg injury. Farrell, who finished England’s Six Nations campaign at fly-half after four matches in the centre, missed Saracens’ 24-11 Premiership win against Harlequins…
Harlequins hoping to take final steps to glory under Gary Street
There can be few better qualified to pass judgment on the current state of women’s rugby than Gary Street. England’s head coach for their World Cup triumph in 2014, Street’s abrupt departure from the Rugby Football Union was at the time mystifying but since then he has climbed back to the top of the club…
Newcastle’s Vereniki Goneva wins Premiership player of season award
Newcastle Falcons’ achievement in reaching this season’s title play-offs has been rewarded with two major accolades at the Aviva Premiership Awards. The Fijian winger Vereniki Goneva has been named player of the season while Dean Richards picked up the best director of rugby award at this year’s ceremony in London. Newcastle Falcons flying high in…
England’s Denny Solomona eager to move on from bans and booze
Denny Solomona’s rugby union career is only 18 months old but it has, to put it mildly, been eventful. He has scored 21 tries in 28 Premiership matches for Sale after terminating his contract with rugby league’s Castleford, which cost the Sharks a reported £300,000 in compensation and legal fees, marked his debut for England…
Saracens head to Exeter with more than just revenge on their minds
For Jackson Wray and his Saracens team-mates, Sunday’s trip to Exeter could be viewed as an opportunity for payback against the team that knocked them out in May’s play-off semi-finals with a last-minute try. But after last Sunday’s 28-20 defeat by Leicester at Allianz Park, the team’s focus is more in the moment. “We were…
Ireland to face Italy at Soldier Field as part of Chicago November triple-header
Ireland will return to Soldier Field in Chicago, the scene of their first and only win over the All Blacks, to face Italy on 3 November. Washington DC team to enter Major League Rugby ‘no later’ than 2020 The game will be part of a triple-header at the same venue, supported by a women’s international…
Johnny Sexton hails Ireland’s ‘incredible’ defence under Andy Farrell
Ireland were forced to cancel their planned homecoming in Dublin on Sunday because of the adverse weather but it will take more than that to dampen the celebrations after securing only a third grand slam in their history. For the defence coach, Andy Farrell, the manner in which it was achieved makes it all the sweeter….
Dan Biggar’s oxygen chamber regime to breathe new life into Wales
Dan Biggar has clambered out of an oxygen chamber to try to breathe life into Wales’s Six Nations title challenge. The Northampton-bound fly-half has made an earlier than expected return from a shoulder injury to face Ireland in Dublin on Saturday. Biggar will be up against Johnny Sexton, his Lions colleague in New Zealand last…
Springboks rejuvenated before England tour after Rassie Erasmus shake-up
The Springboks’ 2007 World Cup winning coach, Jake White, wrote a recent column in which his optimism over South Africa’s series at home to England was clear. He concluded: “Now the braai talk is: ‘Why didn’t Adriaan Strauss get picked?’ which is a big change from: ‘Why did we pick Adriaan Strauss!?’” It may seem…