Danny Cipriani has made a timely return from injury and will start at fly-half for Gloucester on Friday night against Munster in a must-win European Champions Cup tie at Kingsholm. Gloucester will start the match at the bottom of the most closely contested of the five groups but they will finish it at the top…
Author: THEJOHNANTONIOBLOG
Ireland can repeat Chicago win over New Zealand, says Rory Best
Rory Best is confident Ireland can repeat their history-making efforts in Chicago by claiming a maiden win over New Zealand on home soil despite suffering more late injury dramas. Already without the Lions flanker Sean O’Brien, who broke his arm against Argentina last week, Ireland suffered another major setback on the eve of the match…
Local rugby clubs face losing ticket allocations in Six Nations resale row
Six Nations tickets that appeared on the resale website Viagogo for inflated prices were leaked via local rugby clubs, it has emerged, prompting warnings that unfettered resale poses a threat to the game’s grassroots. The Rugby Football Union told the Guardian that it sanctioned 57 clubs over ticket resale in 2018 alone and it is…
Concentration of Ireland rugby talent leaves English trailing in Europe
The Premiership goes into the final round of the European Champions Cup group stage this weekend hunting a first victory over an Irish province in this season’s tournament. Its clubs have three opportunities: Ulster travel to Leicester, Leinster are away to Wasps and, in the one contest that has an outcome for both teams, Exeter…
‘We are nowhere near our best’: Eddie Jones says England can get better
Eddie Jones says England’s stunning bonus-point victory in Dublin is merely a start in a year that culminates with the World Cup in Japan. England became the first team to win here in the Six Nations since 2013 in ending Ireland’s 12-match winning run at home and their 32 points was the fourth highest they…
George North: ‘I had to get back to my best. That meant being in Wales’
There are few more stirring sights in the game than George North in full stride, head back, with the ball tucked under his outside arm as spectators rise from their seats to watch a wing as fast as he is powerful leave a scattering of defenders sprawled behind him. There were fears last season that…
Eddie Jones steps up preparations for Japan by having a sushi night
Eddie Jones has stepped up his efforts to help his squad acclimatise to playing next year’s World Cup in Japan by arranging a sushi night as part of a week designed to prepare England for their first two fixtures of the 2019 tournament. While New Zealand have played two Test matches in Japan this autumn…
Ireland’s Joe Schmidt expects ‘spiky’ All Blacks encounter to decide world’s best
Test rugby is no place for the faint-hearted. With this in mind, Joe Schmidt has predicted another “spiky” clash with the All Blacks which will, in the visitors’ minds at least, decide the mantle of the world’s best team. In their past three drama-filled Tests only three points separate the All Blacks and Ireland, the…
Rugby won’t flourish as it should while its laws remain so twisted
Part of the allure of the ceaseless puzzle that is rugby union lies in its multiple possibilities. Sometimes the laws feel like a giant Rubik’s Cube which very few ever entirely solve. Erno Rubik is 74 now and prefers walking, sailing and gardening but rugby’s quest for structure and simplicity against significant odds would surely…