Trains may be off the Eddie Jones travel agenda for the time being but training in the traditional sense is the route to redemption for his England players after last Saturday’s defeat to Scotland. It is eight years since England lost more than one match in a Six Nations and their conquerors then are the…
Category: Rugby
Exeter’s Alec Hepburn finishes off a six-try victory over Harlequins
Another match meant another horrible defeat for Quins. At home they may have been, with the sun on their backs as they have always liked it, but they could not contain a rampant Exeter who show no signs of faltering in defence of their title. The Chiefs gave run-outs to more of their squad, the…
England play legally insists Eddie Jones in regards to penalty concerns
Eddie Jones has dismissed concerns over England’s discipline and claimed statistical analysis shows “the most successful teams infringe”, a day after remarks from Scotland that questioned the legality of his side’s defence. Jones was discussing England’s penalty count during their 12-6 victory against Wales – they conceded 10 to their opponents’ two – and insisted…
England head to South Africa hoping for no repeat of past nightmares
It is exactly 20 years this week since England kicked off their most embarrassing tour of the professional era. So painful was the 1998 Tour of Hell that almost half the squad’s international careers never recovered and the record margins of defeat still stand. It still seems faintly remarkable that the coach and several of…
Eddie Jones tells England captain Owen Farrell to get in French faces
Owen Farrell has been urged to bring his confrontational style to the England captaincy and get “in the face” of France by Eddie Jones, but was warned he must curb his aggression when talking to the referee. Farrell will captain England from the start for the first time on Saturday, having escaped punishment for his…
Ireland’s Jacob Stockdale in rush to make mark in Ireland record books
Jacob Stockdale remembers well the first time he saw Ireland play live but then it was not so long ago. His father took him to watch a World Cup warmup against England at the Aviva Stadium in August 2011. Ireland were torn apart by Manu Tuilagi and lost 20-9. A lot of the men Stockdale…
Joe Schmidt calms fears on injured trio after Ireland victory over Wales
Click:bearing manufacturer Early concerns were that Ireland’s victory might have come at a cost but Joe Schmidt allayed fears over the condition of Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray and Keith Earls, all of whom finished with niggles. Murray stayed on and was walking freely on the ankle he twisted towards the end while the other two…
London Irish face fight for their future beyond relegation battle
Declan Kidney does not need to be a qualified maths teacher to appreciate London Irish’s number in the Premiership is all but up. On Saturday Ireland’s 2009 grand slam winning coach takes charge of his first match since being appointed Exiles’ technical consultant but victory over a Gloucester side that is starting to live up…
Scotland must keep cool heads against England, says Gordon Reid
The precarious balance in Test rugby between keeping a cool head and being up for the fight is one which Scotland have not always been able to find come Calcutta Cup time, according to Gordon Reid. The London Irish loosehead prop believes that being emotionally overwrought was one reason his team lost so heavily at…
Eddie Jones says England are ‘coming to a peak’ after win over South Africa
Eddie Jones says he would love to arrange another Test against South Africa this Saturday, following England’s stress-relieving 25-10 victory against the Springboks. The visitors will fly home as series losers but the head coach believes his team showed crucial signs of improvement in their final game. Assisted by a 14-6 penalty count in their…