For rugby union in America, nothing is ever simple. The Rugby Weekend in Chicago is no exception. Ireland v All Blacks is pick of autumn feast with strong World Cup flavour | The Breakdown On Saturday at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, the USA women kick off a fascinating triple-header against the New…
Month: March 2019
Japan plot fast route to ‘emotionally smash’ Eddie Jones’s England
If you are looking for a little hint of Eddie Jones’s lingering influence on Japanese rugby, have a read of what the flanker Masakatsu Nishikawa had to say about the England pack he will be playing against on Saturday. Nishikawa said he was not too familiar with the two rookie back-rowers, Mark Wilson and Zach…
England’s Underhill and Te’o opt not to wear ‘uncomfortable’ rainbow laces
Members of the England team have opted not to wear rainbow laces for the match against Australia amid claims they cause too much discomfort, after the Rugby Football Union left the decision to the discretion of the players. The RFU has selected Stonewall as the nominated charity for Saturday’s match and, as was the case…
England have the force to see off France and show Dublin was no fluke
France could not have picked a worse weekend to be heading for Twickenham. The weather forecast for Sunday is unsettled, England have not felt so jauntily confident for almost two years and the bookmakers foresee only one outcome. That makes the visitors potentially dangerous but there is even less Gallic optimism around than there is…
It was tough on Sam Underhill, but England try was rightly disallowed
Sam Underhill may be one of England’s youngest, least experienced players but he reacted to one of the biggest disappointments of his senior career with a mature detachment. “If the referee says the grass is pink, then the grass is pink,” he said when asked about his disallowed try five minutes from time against New…
Ellis Genge hoping to be the man with a dragon tattoo
Heard the one about the England player hoping to get a Welsh dragon tattooed on his foot? Those who say rugby is short on characters have clearly not met Ellis Genge, the Leicester loosehead prop, whose taste in inspirational body art is putting the boot into Six Nations convention. To mark significant English Tests and…
John Mitchell and Warren Gatland forget friendship for Cardiff evening
Just occasionally in sport there is no escaping one’s past. Once upon a time Warren Gatland and John Mitchell were house-mates in Hamilton, sharing car rides to training and much else besides. Little did either of them guess they would one day be reunited as rival coaches in the cauldron of a Six Nations Wales-England…
Nathan Hughes could miss England’s autumn campaign after citing for punch
Nathan Hughes is facing the prospect of being suspended for all of England’s autumn internationals campaign after he was cited for punching Lewis Ludlow in the head during Wasps’ defeat by Gloucester on Saturday. Hughes’s absence would be a significant blow for Eddie Jones, whose options at No 8 have already been depleted by Sam…
Super W set to take place at top table of Australian women’s sport
The 2019 Super W season kicks off this weekend amid great anticipation, given the success of the inaugural series 12 months ago. Rugby Australia has reported a 20% increase in female participation in the XVs form of the code, but it may still sit in the shadow of other women’s sport codes, considering the continuing…
New Zealand’s Twickenham scouting mission goes under Eddie Jones’s radar
New Zealand undertook a scouting mission at their own expense on Saturday, with the All Blacks attending Twickenham and seemingly without Eddie Jones’s knowledge. It is understood New Zealand paid for their tickets rather than receiving any complimentary hospitality from the Rugby Football Union, with the advanced party of 23 players – who arrived in…