The full-back Leigh Halfpenny will not be considered by Wales for their crucial Six Nations match against England in Cardiff next weekend after his planned comeback for the Scarlets at Treviso on Saturday, three months after he suffered concussion, was aborted. Halfpenny returned to full training last week and was released to the Scarlets by…
Category: Rugby
Hamed v Eubank, Nani mocks Rio, and Jossy’s Giants cameos
1) On Saturday, James DeGale and Chris Eubank Jr will finally settle their longstanding beef: who was made to look sillier by George Groves? On which point, Naseem Hamed delivered a brilliantly withering assessment of Eubank’s performance against Groves, so withering that it required a second stanza; perhaps he was avenging this absolute rinsing he…
Chris Ashton: ‘A year ago I’d never have thought I’d be playing France’
It does not take long in Chris Ashton’s company to get the feeling he is still pinching himself. Since returning to the England fold last autumn he has won four caps, made two starts and scored one try but still he speaks of how surreal it is that only 12 months ago the closest he…
Steven Luatua commits to Bristol and draws line under All Blacks career
Steven Luatua has given up any hope of playing again for the All Blacks by signing a two-year contract extension with Bristol in the belief that the Bears will soon challenge for the Premiership title. Matt Symons: ‘I was eligible to play for New Zealand but I am English’ The other end of the table…
Bristol Bears’ success key to future of promotion, says Nigel Melville
Bristol’s first season back in the Premiership is likely to have a significant bearing on whether the top flight is ring-fenced, according to the Rugby Football Union. The big-spending Bears begin their campaign against Bath on Friday and the RFU’s director of professional rugby, Nigel Melville, believes an immediate return to the Championship would push…
Leicester sack head coach Matt O’Connor after first match of the season
The season is barely one game old but Leicester have already seen enough to persuade them to part company with their head coach, Matt O’Connor. The Australian has left Welford Road with immediate effect in the wake of the Tigers’ 40-6 opening weekend mauling at Exeter. Even by the increasingly brutal standards of professional sport…
No limit to height Ireland can reach after historic win against All Blacks
Officially the rankings say otherwise but right now Irish rugby is on top of the world. Even more impressive than Saturday night’s historic first home win over New Zealand in 113 years was the manner of it: tactically brilliant, precision engineered and physically relentless. It is hard to think of a more complete performance by…
Eddie Jones’s England formula looking good despite All Blacks defeat
Eagerly awaited Tests do not always live up to their billing. This was different: a belter from start to (another) contentious finish, a sporting event to nourish the soul. Both sides deserved credit for rising above the sodden conditions and contributing to an occasion as rich, in every sense, as any the old cabbage patch…
Christian Wade’s exit hints at a future where only bulk will matter
Click:Pyramid tea bag machine People love rugby union for different reasons. Some relish the contact, the physical challenge, the survival-of-the-fittest mentality. Others cherish the ethos of unselfishness, the camaraderie and the dressing‑room humour. Spending an entire 80 minutes with one’s head, for example, wedged between two large pairs of buttocks encourages a perspective about fellowship…
Andy Farrell can make England wince when Schmidt’s era ends for Ireland
For the Rugby Football Union every syllable of the press release announcing Andy Farrell as Ireland’s next head coach will sting indefinitely. Had England not crashed out of their home Rugby World Cup in the 2015 pool stages, Farrell would probably still be at Twickenham and modern rugby history might look very different. Talk about…