Around 50,000 people went to a rugby event last Saturday. They all seemed to have a ball, cheering, singing, drinking and eating. It would be a surprise if a thousand knew more than a couple of the players and many would have been hard pushed by the end to tell you any of the scores….
Pressure mounts on England’s Eddie Jones to rediscover his touch
Losing the odd game of rugby is an occupational hazard but, as Eddie Jones knows all too well, it can become a habit. Thirteen years ago Jones led Australia to eight defeats in nine games, including two in eight days at altitude against the Springboks, and duly lost his job. England’s barren stretch has yet…
Owen Watkin swaggers into Warren Gatland’s free-running Wales reboot
Mum has not been the word in the Wales camp in the build-up to Sunday’s Mother’s Day match against Italy at the Principality Stadium, a sideshow involving the also-rans or, in the case of the Azzurri so far, nonstarters. “I would like to think we could win quite comfortably,” says the Wales centre Owen Watkin,…
Pressure increases on Australian women’s sevens team after 46-0 hammering by Kiwis
Click:cnc shops near me Leaders Australia face major soul searching ahead of the women’s Sevens World Series finale after being on the end of a record 46-0 thrashing from arch-rivals New Zealand in Canada. Both teams went into the final on Vancouver Island unbeaten but the Kiwis ran riot, scoring eight tries and scarcely allowing…
State of the rugby nations: Guardian writers’ verdicts on the June Tests
(World rankings as of Mon 25 June; ups and downs calculated from Mon 28 May) 1 New Zealand ◀ ▶ Lethal in the second halves of the first and third Test but on the surface hard to gauge considering the hands France were dealt. Julian Savea’s confirmed move to Toulon (he is out of favour…
Dylan Hartley the latest doubt as injury-hit England prepare to face France
England have been hit by multiple injury problems before their Six Nations match against France on Saturday with doubts over Dylan Hartley’s fitness chief among them. The captain has a tight calf and will be continually assessed before Eddie Jones names his team on Thursday but his absence would be a considerable blow for England,…
Eddie Jones reveals he was abused by fans on train after England defeat
England’s head coach, Eddie Jones, says he no longer feels safe using British public transport after being verbally and physically abused on a train and at a station following his side’s Calcutta Cup defeat on Saturday. Jones has also criticised jingoistic comments made by Scottish rugby figures which he feels helped to fuel an unsavoury…
Ben Ryan: ‘I felt no joy in my last final with England … I was completely flat’
“I much preferred Fiji – even with a dictator in charge, a boss who was convicted for manslaughter, my phone being bugged, the bankruptcy and black magic – than my last year at the RFU,” says Ben Ryan, as he sips on a double espresso and reminisces about an extraordinary journey that culminated in him…
Maro Itoje back on form as Saracens ease past sluggish Harlequins
England’s struggle this season has, as ever, generated debate about the fault line in the professional game in a country where the first loyalty of players is not to their national team but their employers, the clubs. Eddie Jones has been accused of flogging his squad in training but the only time he has control…
Professional rugby in England gets clean bill of health on drugs
No player involved in professional rugby in England failed an anti-doping test in 2016-17 for performance‑enhancing drugs but there is concern banned substances are a problem in schools. The Rugby Football Union published its anti-doping report on Thursday which showed 623 samples were taken at professional level last season, with 87% of the tests coming…