Kingsholm must wait longer for the credible team they used to know. If not now, when, they would have been within their rights to ask. All the stars seemed aligned for a tilt at the play-offs, another home fixture against a side of questionable motivation all that stood between them and a meaningful fixture in…
Category: Rugby
Eddie Jones catapults Brad Shields on to England bench against South Africa
England have capped plenty of overseas-reared players over the years but none has had a shorter run-up than Brad Shields, their latest newcomer. If Eddie Jones’s team are half as quick to the breakdown against the Springboks as they have been in fast-tracking the 27-year-old Kiwi into their first-Test squad, their hosts will not have…
Warren Gatland warns Wales to stay grounded or face slip-up in Scotland
One of the differences Warren Gatland has made in his 12 years in charge of Wales is the way he has controlled emotions in a country where volatility used to breed inconsistency. There was a period when they were never more vulnerable than when they had beaten England, their oldest rivals, but the New Zealander…
Ally Hogg’s late show for Newcastle leaves Leicester hoping for help
Leicester’s love affair with the play-offs looked to have come to an acrimonious end last night when Newcastle scored a disputed try by their No 8, Ally Hogg, with the final play of a game the Tigers had largely dominated. It took five minutes to review, with questions about the grounding, a double movement and whether…
Jonny May stops England rot with decisive try in third South Africa Test
Cape Town’s water shortage is thankfully easing and so, at long last, is the English rugby drought. There was nothing remotely pretty about their display on a damp, blustery afternoon but, even with the series gone, the touring team finally have something to declare on their return to Heathrow. Instead of a fretful summer contemplating…
Drop looms for London Irish after narrow defeat at Gloucester’s hands
The English game is languishing in its own inertia, apparently. Some people should watch it occasionally. This was an extraordinary encounter in a season that has had its fair share, however dispirited the national team may seem. Saracens’ problems reflect those of England with Irish shadow looming | The Breakdown How London Irish are not…
I wouldn’t read too much into England’s Six Nations, says Stuart Lancaster
Eddie Jones’s predecessor as national head coach, Stuart Lancaster, has warned the England players and management to brace themselves for a challenging tour of South Africa and expects them to be under intense pressure from the moment the three‑Test series kicks off in Johannesburg on Saturday. Lancaster was in charge of the previous England touring…
Don Armand ready to turn on England power supply against Ireland
Belatedly summoned by Eddie Jones after consecutive defeats and further injuries in the back row, Don Armand has a straightforward answer to what has been identified as England’s number one problem. “If you can’t hit a breakdown, the fundamentals of rugby are things that you’ll struggle with,” he said. “Being in rugby it has to…
Paddy Jackson joins Perpignan after release by Ulster
Paddy Jackson, the controversial former Ulster and Ireland fly-half, has signed a two-year deal with the French side Perpignan. Jackson had been seeking employment after his contract with Ulster and the Ireland Rugby Football Union had been terminated following his acquittal on rape charges in April. He had been linked with another French club, Clermont…
Warren Gatland says ‘terrible mistake’ by TMO cost Wales against England
Warren Gatland cursed what he called a “terrible mistake” by the television match official at Twickenham as Wales suffered a fifth successive Six Nations defeat by England. Wales were 12-0 down in the first half when their full-back Gareth Anscombe looked to have won a race to the ball over England’s line. The New Zealand…