Duncan Weir is not a fly-half who illuminates matches with eye‑catching moments but he is what Worcester have long needed. Apart from Andy Goode at the start of the decade Worcester have lacked a No 10 who could play off the back foot, put his forwards in the right areas and minimise mistakes. Last season, they…
Category: Rugby
Black Ferns rout Wallaroos in women’s rugby union Test
New Zealand women’s rugby domination over arch rivals Australia continued with the all-conquering Black Ferns overwhelming the Wallaroos 31-11 in the Bledisloe Cup curtain raiser in Sydney. The five tries-to-one rout at ANZ Stadium extended the Kiwis’ winning streak to 16 over their trans-Tasman foes, with Australia yet to savour victory in 14 years of…
Wales’s 1969 wing wizard Maurice Richards: ‘I scored the tries but forwards won it’
They used to say the wind blew hardest at Cardiff Arms Park when it was trying to catch Maurice Richards. It had no more success than the England team that arrived in the Welsh capital 50 years ago chasing a share of the Five Nations title but left resembling the rubble where the north stand…
Wales’ Ellis Jenkins heads for knee surgery and may miss rest of season
Ellis Jenkins will require surgery after being hurt in the dying seconds of Wales’ victory over South Africa and the flanker may miss the rest of the season. Cardiff Blues confirmed he suffered “a significant knee injury” during last Saturday’s 20-11 win over the Springboks. Rugby union power rankings: Ireland overtake New Zealand to be…
England’s dilemma: undermine Eddie Jones or risk scramble for a top coach
The start of the World Cup is nine months away but countries are already thinking about their next coach. Wales are sorted, appointing Wayne Pivac in the summer knowing Warren Gatland would be off after his side’s final match in Japan, as are Ireland, with Andy Farrell to take over from Joe Schmidt. In New…
Jamie George’s late try seals victory for Saracens over Cardiff Blues
Click:Poly bag making machine A year ago this weekend, Saracens slumped to their seventh successive defeat, a run so out of kilter with the norm it was like going back in time to find Henry VIII supping with the Pope. The Premiership champions arrived here nursing a 21-match unbeaten record stretching back to April Fool’s…
Jimmy Peters: race pioneer of English rugby who emerged from the circus
A century later the truth of exactly what happened to Jimmy Peters is just out of reach. One can find little scraps of it, titbits, facts and hints. In the last few years different writers, historians and academics have tried to stitch it all together but the story is thin and full of holes no…
Rugby union: talking points from the European Champions Cup
Pool 1: Robson offers Wasps some consolation Dan Robson’s performance for Wasps was one of the few shining lights on what was a difficult day for the home side, even if they avoided the thrashing they received in Dublin. He looks back to the kind of form he began the season in before the injury…
New Zealand’s Portia Woodman ‘more influential’ than All Blacks counterparts
Black Ferns winger Portia Woodman has made the top 10 of a list of rugby union’s most influential people, ahead of any of her male All Blacks counterparts and two spots below All Blacks coach Steve Hansen. Woodman comes in at ninth on the list, which is published biannually by respected magazine Rugby World and…
Manu Tuilagi: ‘I’m feeling better and better … I know I’ll get there’
Even on the worst of days Manu Tuilagi never completely gave up hope. “Mentally I always think I will get back to where I was, no matter what,” he murmured on Wednesday, reflecting on the multitude of injuries that, latterly, have ruled him out of England contention. “I always think there will be a light…