In the minutes before kick-off, the All Blacks’ Steve Hansen handed over a wodge of notes to Ireland’s coach, Joe Schmidt. What was it Steve? A card? A letter? A contract? No, Hansen explained later, it was €760. He had needed a few extra tickets for the game and the only way to do it…
Month: March 2019
Doddie Weir Cup gives Scotland extra incentive, says Gregor Townsend
The social media storm generated this week by the decision of the Welsh and Scottish unions not to make a direct donation to the motor neurone disease charity set up by Doddie Weir ensured maximum publicity for a match that would otherwise have generated little attention outside the two countries. Warren Gatland’s Wales in no…
Eddie Jones hand grenades will not faze us, says Wales’s Neil Jenkins
Wales are ready for a war of words in the buildup to their match against England in Cardiff a week on Saturday, with Eddie Jones making an early start on Sunday by declaring he does not see the Principality Stadium as a fortress. The Welsh coaching setup believe the salvos will count for little once…
Dylan Hartley will miss remainder of Six Nations due to upcoming knee surgery
Dylan Hartley will play no part in England’s Six Nations campaign after it emerged he will undergo knee surgery on Tuesday. The England co-captain has not appeared in the tournament so far and will be out of action for at least a month. Hartley has not played since 21 December because of what Eddie Jones…
Leader Owen Farrell the foundation of Eddie Jones’s new-look England
They have gussied up Twickenham, building a new swooping facade on the back of the old East Stand and a pair of wrought iron gates with the words to Jerusalem stencilled into them around the other side of the ground. It looks a little awkward, all these pretty little frills on those brutal old pressed…
Black Ferns’ dominance of Wallaroos continues with second Test rout
The Wallaroos played second-fiddle to the world champion Black Ferns for a second straight week, losing their women’s rugby Test 45-17 in Auckland. A well-drilled New Zealand scored seven tries to three at Eden Park and pulled away in the second spell, having led 19-10 at halftime. As with last week’s 31-11 loss in Sydney,…
RFU in turmoil after chief executive Steve Brown’s shock resignation
Increasing disquiet about the Rugby Football Union’s financial position has triggered the abrupt departure of Steve Brown as chief executive. Brown will leave the world’s wealthiest union next month after less than 15 months in the role amid claims by one of his predecessors, Francis Baron, of financial mismanagement at Twickenham. The former England captain…
Rugby union: talking points from the second round of autumn Tests
1) England on the way back up In 2012 England also went 15-0 up on New Zealand at Twickenham and went on to win 38-21. This time they could not score a point after the 25th minute, instead allowing the All Blacks to snatch a 16-15 victory in a classic encounter of its type. Which…
England’s Eddie Jones seeking display of ‘real steel’ against Wales
Not for almost two decades have England headed for Cardiff sounding as quietly confident as they have done this week. It guarantees them nothing, of course, but it is years since a visiting Six Nations coach came across as more expectant than Eddie Jones on the eve of a fixture that has haunted England so…
Michael Cheika seizes back control of Wallabies as Stephen Larkham exits
Click:EPCOS B43564-S9488-M1 Capacitor There were no bland euphemisms to describe Stephen Larkham’s departure from the Wallabies coaching staff just eight months out from the World Cup in Japan. In a statement released by Rugby Australia on Monday, Larkham was straight to the point about his broken working relationship with head coach Michael Cheika: “We have…