Gregor Townsend will hand a Test debut to the 25-year-old Glasgow centre Sam Johnson at home against Italy on Saturday. Gary Graham, the Newcastle flanker previously called up by England, and the Leicester hooker Jake Kerr could also win their first caps off the bench. The Edinburgh full-back Blair Kinghorn will start on the left…
Author: THEJOHNANTONIOBLOG
Premiership Rugby aiming to finalise £230m CVC deal by Christmas
Premiership Rugby hopes to conclude a £230m agreement with a private equity firm before Christmas after a board meeting on Tuesday failed to tie up a few loose ends. When the 13 shareholders in Premiership Rugby, made up of the 12 clubs in the top flight plus London Irish, first discussed the proposal in September…
Brad Shields piles on the pounds and prepares for belated Wasps debut
As understatements go, Brad Shields describing his whirlwind summer with England as “unusual” takes some beating, for there was nothing ordinary about the circumstances in which the 27-year-old made his much-publicised Test debut in June. But if it was all a bit of a blur for the New Zealand-born flanker, perhaps the debilitating food poisoning…
Owen Farrell’s kicks and hits help England overcome South Africa
Owen Farrell’s relationship with referees became an issue when he led England in South Africa in the summer, hectoring rather than cajoling. Making him co-captain with the more persuasive Dylan Hartley yielded a dividend at the end of a match in which England led by a point despite being pummelled as rarely before in front…
Cipriani misses out but Morgan earns call-up for England’s autumn Tests
Danny Cipriani has been omitted from England’s squad for next month’s autumn internationals but Eddie Jones has handed a recall to Ben Morgan amid his back-row crisis and taken the surprise step of naming Dylan Hartley and Owen Farrell as his co-captains. The head coach has opted against calling on Cipriani, who started England’s most…
Tommy Seymour bags treble and Scotland score eight tries in rout of Fiji
Gregor Townsend believes Scotland will have to improve on their performance in the eight-try demolition job on Fiji if they are to stand any chance of halting South Africa next week. The Scots were utterly ruthless as they blew the Pacific Islanders away 54-17 at Murrayfield. Tommy Seymour grabbed a hat-trick and Allan Dell, Fraser…
England 12-11 South Africa: how the players at Twickenham rated
England 7 Elliot Daly Kicked long too often in the first half but landed long-range penalty and then began to show his full array of skills. Maybe should have put May away though. 6 Jack Nowell Busy, as is always the case, but maybe not enough to keep hold of his place next week with…
Owen Farrell dismisses ‘hothead’ claims before Dublin Six Nations opener
Owen Farrell is a man of many talents according to his teammate Mako Vunipola. In addition to leading England and being a world-class goal-kicker it now emerges he is good at barbecues. “He loves them,” Vunipola said. “He’s got a very nice one with a lot of compartments and you can control the temperature via…
Burden of expectation the only obvious banana skin for England in Le Crunch
As Eddie Jones plots the second instalment of his side’s Six Nations programme against France at Twickenham on Sunday, he has deleted a recording of the victory against Ireland, which was probably his greatest triumph since he took over at the end of 2015. As they say in the head coach’s native Australia, “a rooster…
Johnny Sexton set to end career in Ireland after signing contract extension
Johnny Sexton has signed a contract extension with the Irish Rugby Football Union until the end of the 2020-21 season which is likely to see him end his playing career in Dublin. The Leinster and Ireland fly-half has enjoyed a stellar 2018 for his province and country and was crowned World Rugby Player of the…