Private equity firms have been talking to the Guinness Pro14 board about investing in the tournament as part of their strategy to exploit untapped broadcasting income in sport. CVC’s Premiership bid may have been rejected but it could signal change | The Breakdown Premiership Rugby last week rejected a takeover bid by the equity firm…
Category: Rugby
Simply signing an All Black is not a golden ticket for European clubs
When Daniel Carter joined Racing 92 after the 2015 World Cup he was treated like rugby royalty. He arrived in Paris to a fanfare, introduced on a prime time television show not as the world’s highest paid union player, as he had become with a contract in excess of £1m a year, but as one…
Rugby Australia to consider Michael Cheika’s position as Wallabies coach
Michael Cheika’s fate as Wallabies coach will be determined at a high-stakes Rugby Australia board meeting in Sydney on Monday. But any announcement, or changes to Cheika’s wider coaching panel, are unlikely to be announced until Wednesday at the earliest as the governing body digests the Wallabies’ worst season in 60 years. A coach-less Wallabies…
Worcester’s Cornell du Preez unable to talk after throat injury
Cornell du Preez, the Worcester and Scotland back-row, has revealed he is unable to talk and must remain in hospital for the next four weeks as a result of the serious throat injury he sustained on the opening weekend of the Premiership season. Du Preez has undergone multiple operations after he was taken to hospital…
Richard Wigglesworth: ‘We should be pretty proud of the Premiership now’
When Richard Wigglesworth made his Premiership debut England were months away from winning the World Cup, Sir Clive Woodward was still plain old Clive and doing your extras meant one for the road. At a time when grand statements about the game are 10 a penny – some say it has gone soft, others that…
Tom Pincus snatches late try to lift Bristol and floor Newcastle
Newcastle go into the new year at the bottom of the table after finishing an oscillating game in the seasonally generous mood that they started it. If Bristol’s opening try after 75 seconds was down to a defensive misread in midfield, their winner three minutes from time owed much to a missed tackle by the…
Sam Underhill’s injury takes the edge off Bath’s victory over Leicester
All of sudden things are looking up for Bath. Back-to-back victories, the latest gutsy but every bit deserved, put them fifth going into the new year and with a spring in their step, even if Sam Underhill’s ankle injury ensures optimism must be tempered. Sale’s Steve Diamond embroiled in media fracas after win at Gloucester…
Northampton up and running as Dylan Hartley try helps beat Harlequins
Dylan Hartley gave the watching Eddie Jones some timely encouragement by scoring his first Premiership try since December last year to help Northampton secure their opening win of the new season. The Saints were also indebted to 17 points from the boot of Welsh fly-half Dan Biggar, which proved enough to stifle a second-half rally…
Former captain Will Carling to bring leadership qualities to England
It is precisely 30 years since English rugby first turned to Will Carling for fresh inspiration, and sporting history is repeating itself. England’s injury list is not quite lengthy enough to necessitate a playing recall for the former national captain but, as of next week, the 52-year-old will be joining Eddie Jones’s backroom team as…
England Women hope ‘revolutionary’ contracts will drive World Cup charge
It has taken a while but, for richer or poorer, the Rugby Football Union has finally taken the plunge and made a long-term commitment to its top female players. If the announcement of 28 professional 15-a-side contracts is not a strictly ground-breaking development, the implications are sizeable. Not for nothing did Simon Middleton, England’s head…