England Mike Brown 7/10 Much improved after an edgy display in Rome. Was more of an attacking threat and his usual safe self in the air. Anthony Watson 6/10 Followed his two tries last week with a solid display and stopped Gareth Anscombe from scoring a try. Limped off after break. Jonathan Joseph 6/10 Picked…
Month: March 2019
Leinster 15-12 Racing 92: European Champions Cup final player ratings
Leinster Rob Kearney 7 Not quite the attacking force he once was, but never afraid of a cute counterattack. Remains as solid under the high ball as anyone. Reassurance in a crucial position – Leinster all over. Jordan Larmour 5 We got a glimpse of the dancing feet early on, and he found a few metres, but…
Saracens pick Mako Vunipola despite mandatory rest period agreement
Saracens have named Mako Vunipola in their team to face Bath on Sunday despite being obliged to rest him according to an agreement between the Rugby Football Union and the Premiership. In a move that raises serious concerns over player welfare, Vunipola has been picked for the fourth week in a row following the Six…
Eddie Jones slams World Rugby for saying Anscombe’s try for Wales should have stood
Eddie Jones has criticised World Rugby for publicly admitting the TMO, Glenn Newman, was wrong to disallow Gareth Anscombe’s try during England’s 12-6 victory over Wales, suggesting that doing so shows a lack of respect towards the referee. World Rugby’s head of referees, Alain Rolland, rang Warren Gatland on Monday to say Anscombe’s try should…
Charlie Ewels grounds Gloucester’s hopes and inspires Bath to easy win
Kingsholm must wait longer for the credible team they used to know. If not now, when, they would have been within their rights to ask. All the stars seemed aligned for a tilt at the play-offs, another home fixture against a side of questionable motivation all that stood between them and a meaningful fixture in…
Warren Gatland warns Wales to stay grounded or face slip-up in Scotland
One of the differences Warren Gatland has made in his 12 years in charge of Wales is the way he has controlled emotions in a country where volatility used to breed inconsistency. There was a period when they were never more vulnerable than when they had beaten England, their oldest rivals, but the New Zealander…
Eddie Jones catapults Brad Shields on to England bench against South Africa
England have capped plenty of overseas-reared players over the years but none has had a shorter run-up than Brad Shields, their latest newcomer. If Eddie Jones’s team are half as quick to the breakdown against the Springboks as they have been in fast-tracking the 27-year-old Kiwi into their first-Test squad, their hosts will not have…
Jonny May stops England rot with decisive try in third South Africa Test
Cape Town’s water shortage is thankfully easing and so, at long last, is the English rugby drought. There was nothing remotely pretty about their display on a damp, blustery afternoon but, even with the series gone, the touring team finally have something to declare on their return to Heathrow. Instead of a fretful summer contemplating…
Ally Hogg’s late show for Newcastle leaves Leicester hoping for help
Leicester’s love affair with the play-offs looked to have come to an acrimonious end last night when Newcastle scored a disputed try by their No 8, Ally Hogg, with the final play of a game the Tigers had largely dominated. It took five minutes to review, with questions about the grounding, a double movement and whether…
I wouldn’t read too much into England’s Six Nations, says Stuart Lancaster
Eddie Jones’s predecessor as national head coach, Stuart Lancaster, has warned the England players and management to brace themselves for a challenging tour of South Africa and expects them to be under intense pressure from the moment the three‑Test series kicks off in Johannesburg on Saturday. Lancaster was in charge of the previous England touring…