The end-of-season encounter with the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday will be no frolic for Eddie Jones. The England head coach is smarting from a Six Nations campaign that started positively before three successive defeats dumped the champions into fifth place, their lowest finish in the tournament. The slump has not persuaded Jones that his…
Author: THEJOHNANTONIOBLOG
Brumbies defy Cheika and pick Wallabies as stars caught in row
The Brumbies have defied Wallabies coach Michael Cheika by naming three star players at the centre of a tug-of-war between club and country to play this weekend. David Pocock, Scott Sio and Allan Alaalatoa are in the starting XV for Sunday’s Super Rugby match against the Sunwolves at GIO Stadium. The ACT team has been…
Leinster target Pro14 final win over Scarlets for Irish triple crown of titles
Two weeks after winning the European Champions Cup, Leinster have the opportunity to complete a green sweep. Victory over the Scarlets in the Pro14 final at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday would deliver a triple crown after Ireland’s Six Nations grand slam. Leinster defeated the Scarlets even more comprehensively than the 38-16 scoreline…
David Pocock returns to tackle crucial change in ruck law
David Pocock will face his greatest challenge when he makes his comeback for the Brumbies against the NSW Waratahs in the Super Rugby game in Canberra on Saturday night. Yet Pocock’s test will not be his head-to-head clash with Waratahs openside flanker Michael Hooper or any other member of the NSW backrow, but the new…
England women’s grand slam dreams shattered by France in Six Nations
England’s dreams of a second successive grand slam were shattered at Stade des Alpes last night. The team, led again by Sarah Hunter, can still win the Six Nations title in Coventry on Friday night but France secured victory with a last-minute try by their outstanding full-back Jessy Tremouliere. The crowd of 17,434 in Grenoble…
Cautious CJ Stander keeps Ireland’s Six Nations champagne on ice
CJ Stander could be forgiven for mislaying the plot on Ireland’s history with the grand slam. In his excitement over being on the verge of the championship’s top prize he reckoned this kind of opportunity comes along once every 40 years. In 2009, when Ireland won their last – and second – clean sweep Stander…
Wales pluck Rhys Patchell from the wilderness to hunt Pumas
Rhys Patchell makes his first start for Wales since his uncomfortable evening at Twickenham in February when the swagger he had shown against Scotland the week before melted into uncertainty after the fly-half had been verbally targeted by the England head coach, Eddie Jones. Dan Biggar and Gareth Anscombe have each twice worn the No…
Wales’ new defeat of Argentina prompts Warren Gatland to scorn England
Warren Gatland rubbed salt into England’s wounds by claiming they and Wales are “poles apart” after his side jumped above Eddie Jones’s team into third place in World Rugby’s rankings. England under Jones have lost their past six matches and are in disarray both on and off the field with only 15 months before next…
Northampton deal a big blow to Leicester’s top-four hopes
Northampton’s coaching consultant, Alan Gaffney, wondered before the match whether some of his players had switched off early: as early as last October, it could be argued, given their wretched form since then. But the sight of their oldest rivals, together with the incentive of only a second Premiership double over the Tigers, enlivened a…
South Africa call up Schalk Brits from retirement to add to England’s concerns
With England having just slipped to a disappointing first Test loss and in danger of sliding further down the World Rugby rankings, the news that a snake handler was invited into camp to help boost squad morale following their 42-39 defeat felt more than a little ironic. The deadly mambas, cobras and tarantulas proved a…