England have been preparing for the Six Nations showdown against Wales on Saturday with a training drill designed to combat the tactic of stripping the ball in contact, with Eddie Jones highlighting Scott Williams as a key threat. Wales have troubled England with the tactic in the past and during the match in Cardiff last…
Category: Rugby
Women’s Six Nations: England not taking Wales lightly
England are taking nothing for granted as they prepare for their first home match of their Women’s Six Nations campaign. Simon Middleton has named a strong XV to face Wales at The Stoop, making just two personnel changes from the side that eased to a 42-7 win away to Italy last Sunday to lay down…
Frenzied Wales v relentless England promises to be Six Nations classic
Two minds and a few dozen bodies will collide at Twickenham on Saturday when Warren Gatland aims to inflict a first home defeat on Eddie Jones. A fixture that at the start of the month looked a probable home win has become more intriguing after the manner of Wales’s victory against Scotland. It was against…
Sarah Hunter hat-trick provides highlight of England’s win in Italy
The England captain, Sarah Hunter, scored three tries as the defending champions defeated Italy 42-7 in their Women’s Six Nations opener in Reggio Emilia. After the teams went in at half-time at 7-7, the Italians having replied to Sarah Bern’s early try through a Valentina Ruzza effort, England powered to a bonus-point victory by crossing…
Six things to look out for in the 2018 Six Nations
Fast start for France? More than a quarter of the initial Lions squad will miss the opening weekend of the Six Nations owing to injury. It is a startling statistic and it does make you wonder whether players such as Courtney Lawes, who has played an awful lot of rugby already this season, will last…
South Africa sack Allister Coetzee after two years of struggle
South Africa have sacked coach Allister Coetzee after a difficult couple of years in charge. The 54-year-old becomes the first Springboks coach to be dismissed while still under contract since Rudolf Straeuli following the 2003 World Cup. Rugby and the rainbow nation: can 2023 World Cup heal South Africa’s wounds? Coetzee took up the role…
Six Nations: Ben Youngs ruled out for season with knee injury
England will continue their pursuit of a record-breaking third consecutive Six Nations title without Ben Youngs after the scrum-half was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. Youngs was taken off on a stretcher 10 minutes into England’s 46-15 win against Italy on Sunday and a scan on Monday afternoon…
Joe Schmidt tells Ireland ‘we can’t rely on Johnny Sexton to keep saving us’
A relieved Joe Schmidt hailed his Ireland team for dragging themselves out of a hole it had appeared for 70 minutes there was no danger of them tumbling into. “It’s pretty hard to explain how you feel when you think you’ve let the game slip and then suddenly you’ve grabbed it,” he said. “I felt…
Jonathan Joseph replaces Te’o in England team to face Wales
Jonathan Joseph has been recalled to the England side to face Wales on Saturday with Eddie Jones also handing a start to Danny Care at scrum-half. Joseph comes in for Ben Te’o – as predicted by the Wales head coach Warren Gatland – while Care is selected in place of the injured Ben Youngs in…
Wales stoke Six Nations tension by warning England against ‘scrum-fest’
Wales left for London on Thursday afternoon with a dig at the three-figure price of tickets at Twickenham, promising fans that they would entertain and not let a match that has become verbally acrimonious in the buildup become bogged down by reset scrums. Little more than an hour after the England head coach, Eddie Jones…