With the surname Poirot it was perhaps inevitable that France’s loose-head prop would develop a heightened interest in using “the little grey cells”. Front-rows have definitely changed. While it is 36 years since the England prop Colin Smart was infamously tricked into swilling aftershave at the post-match banquet in Paris, the thoughtful Jefferson Poirot explains…
Category: Rugby
Joe Simmonds’ early flurry kickstarts Exeter’s win over depleted Saracens
It has been a wintry week in the south-west but here was something to warm local hearts. As well as securing a home-and-away double over Saracens in the Premiership this season, Exeter sit seven points clear at the top of the table, a home play-off semi-final increasingly within their reach. Kyle Sinckler the bulldozer steps…
James Stannard forced to retire from rugby after punch to head
James Stannard will make a full recovery from injuries he suffered in an assault, but says there’s no way he would have been able to make his sevens rugby swansong at next month’s World Cup. Australian rugby sevens captain James Stannard’s skull fractured in alleged one-punch attack Stannard had planned to retire after that tournament,…
Don Armand called up but Eddie Jones does not expect quick England fix
Don Armand has been called up by Eddie Jones for England’s final Six Nations match against Ireland on Saturday after Courtney Lawes and Nathan Hughes were ruled out with knee injuries. Armand won his solitary cap against Argentina last summer but Jones has since resisted calls to select the Zimbabwe-born back-row and previously questioned his…
Johnny Sexton ensures Ireland gain revenge on Australia to level series
The green machine is back up and running. Ireland head to Sydney with the series all square after a first away win against Australia for 39 years, founded on their ferocious physicality and led by the indomitable Peter O’Mahony. They were clinging on at the end but Ireland were worthy victors, winning the collisions, bossing…
RFU stands by Eddie Jones for England until World Cup – whatever happens
Click:LOST MARY Vape It seems Eddie Jones will lead England at the 2019 World Cup regardless of the results he achieves between now and then. The Rugby Football Union’s chief executive, Steve Brown, said on Wednesday that it would take something “extraordinary” for Jones to lose his job, and that the RFU will not be…
What England can learn from the Celtic renaissance
A Celtic one, two, three in the Six Nations for the first time was followed by two sides from Ireland and one from Wales making the semi-finals of the Champions Cup for only the second year in which all the major European countries have taken part. The other occasion was 2009, when Leinster went on…
England’s nightmare continues as South Africa complete series victory
One hundred and twenty-six days have now elapsed since England last won a game of Test rugby and the long wait goes on. In terms of this series the clock has already stopped ticking, South Africa having taken an unsurpassable 2-0 lead with one left to play in Cape Town on Saturday. Five Test defeats…
‘A very monumental occasion’: NOLA down Houston in Major League Rugby
“It’s got to start somewhere,” said Tim Falcon, owner of the NOLA Gold. Firefighters and cops face off as New York’s pro rugby team debuts Somewhere was a no-frills Texas high school stadium by an elevated freeway and a depressed shopping mall, where a new American professional rugby union competition kicked off on Saturday. The…
Harlequins hope Jess Breach is available for Saracens final showdown
Harlequins are hopeful their star wing Jess Breach will be available for the inaugural Tyrrells Premier 15s final on Sunday after flying in from England sevens duties in Japan. The Harlequins coach, Gary Street, admitted he does not yet know how much of a part Breach will play on Sunday, if at all, following her…