England have been dealt a double injury setback before the new season with Anthony Watson a serious doubt for the start of next year’s Six Nations and Jonathan Joseph ruled out of November’s autumn internationals. Watson was forced to undergo surgery on his torn achilles for the second time last month after the first operation…
Category: Rugby
Neath’s sad decline laid bare as they face judgment day in court
Back in the day spectators used to clamber up the floodlight pylons at the Gnoll to get a better view because the terraces were so packed. Now, as Neath faces a winding-up order on Thursday for failing to repay a £30,000 loan taken out to cover wages, the lights may go out for good on…
Ronan O’Gara: ‘There’s no secret to the All Blacks but no one believes that’
Those who attended this week’s World Rugby Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Rugby, across the road from William Webb Ellis’s old playing fields, were fortunate indeed. To listen to the former All Black great Bryan Williams, France’s masterful Pierre Villepreux and Wales’s long-serving lock Liza Burgess was a pleasure; to eavesdrop on casually brilliant…
Rachael Burford expecting bigger things for Harlequins and Premier 15s
The feeling of a new season approaching must be intense, with the knowledge that something so demanding of your physical and mental resources is just around the corner. When that season comes in a fledgling competition, the feeling must be also be cut with a sense of trepidation. Or, as Rachael Burford describes the return…
Sam Underhill eager to make up for lost time after torrid start for Bath
On the face of it Sam Underhill endured a torrid first season at Bath. He managed only eight matches for the club, two starts for England and each time he found his form and fitness another injury setback arrived. As he had been identified, perhaps a little hastily, as the solution to all England’s openside…
Freddie Burns shows the way forward in Bath’s fruitful trip to Wasps
Redemption for Freddie Burns, relief for Bath. A run of only one win in 12 matches came to an end thanks to this hard-fought victory with Burns the standout performer after scoring his first try since his desperate mistake against Toulouse and all the flak that followed. There can be no doubting Burns relished his…
Dylan Hartley excited by fresh approach of new Northampton coach
Dylan Hartley expects to start the season with Northampton after taking the summer off to recover from concussion and the England captain is confident the Saints will mount a title challenge after a couple of seasons when they have floundered below the top four. Danny Cipriani faces ban after RFU ignores calls to drop charges…
Saracens’ Mark McCall wants solution to ‘complicated’ high-tackle situation
The Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall, has suggested the introduction of a sanction in between yellow and red cards as a possible solution to the debate currently raging over high tackles. Will Spencer’s red card and subsequent four-week ban for a dangerous tackle during Leicester’s defeat by Wasps last Sunday has polarised opinion between…
Ben Earl leads Saracens’ resurgence after Blues threaten unbeaten run
Saracens march on with another half-century, another seven tries and another demonstration of how determined they are to reclaim the Champions Cup trophy. If there was any surprise, it took until the introduction of the 20-year-old back-row Ben Earl early in the second half to turn the match in their favour but, all be told,…
Charlie Sharples strikes twice as Gloucester rally to sink Bristol
Unbeaten Gloucester clambered to the top of the Premiership after coming from behind to defeat promoted Bristol who made a point even if they returned home without one. The Bears were ultimately undone by their own adventure, conceding two late tries after abortive attacks from their own line, but they had far more about them…