Plans are still afoot to make a feature film of Eddie Jones’s finest tactical masterclasses. Even Saturday’s Twickenham blockbuster cannot hope to match Japan’s 2015 Rugby World Cup win over South Africa, the Brighton-based thriller starring England’s current coach. Not since Jaws, the posters will proclaim, has there been a movie based on a more…
Wales gladiator Alun Wyn Jones rages against the dying of the light
Some statistics in rugby are barely worth collating. The “most carries” column, for example, does not necessarily reveal whether a player had a good or even a moderate all-round game. “Metres made” does not show the speed or subtle angles at which they were covered. The number of passes a team makes matters less than…
Eddie Jones can plot an upward curve for his stirring English patient
Perhaps the easiest way to sum up England’s autumn is to grab a sheet of paper and half a dozen coloured pens. Then draw a graph plotting the potential growth in each of world rugby’s leading teams between now and next September. Which nation’s line is rising the steepest and how many rivals might they…
Champions Cup pool-by-pool preview: Leinster’s Johnny Sexton out injured
Pool One Defeat by Toulouse at the RDS would leave holders Leinster needing to be one of the best three runners-up to qualify for the knockout stage. They are without five Ireland internationals for the visit of the club whose record of four European Cup final victories they equalled last season. Fly-half Johnny Sexton is…
Wales break losing run against Australia with late Dan Biggar penalty
When a losing run is as long as this, any old win will do. Wales, after 13 consecutive defeats against Australia, finally managed to beat them. That the score was 9-6, a throwback to rugby union’s bad old days, did not matter a jot to a raucous crowd. Nor should it, but to the neutral…
Warren Gatland: ‘England don’t know which Wales team is going to turn up’
Wales’s opening performances in the Six Nations have been enough to produce hard-earned victories away to the weakest two sides in the tournament, France and Italy, but no more. Warren Gatland believes it could work to their advantage against England in Cardiff on Saturday because their opponents’ analysis will be of little practical use. “I…
England sweat on Mako Vunipola scan result in build-up to Wales eliminator
England were on Monday waiting on the result of a scan on Mako Vunipola after he suffered an ankle injury against France on Sunday. The loosehead prop damaged it in the 44th minute of the thumping victory over the French and his fitness is a concern with their grand slam eliminator against Wales coming up…
Bledisloe Cup classics, a Maradona unveiling and a Barry Chuckle tribute
1) It’s the first Bledisloe Cup match of 2018 between New Zealand and Australia so let’s begin with this utterly ridiculous Christian Cullen try from 2000, with significant input from Jonah Lomu and Tana Umaga. Cullen, again, this time going it alone in Dunedin in 1997. Stirling Mortlock waltzing through the All Black midfield before…
Rugby union: talking points from the final round of autumn Tests
1) England positive but Wallabies a pale shadow England’s autumn ledger reads as follows: P4 W3 L1; tries scored 10, tries conceded six. They have looked both excellent and sluggish at times but the overall end-of-term report has to be a positive one. If the Vunipolas return fit and firing, Manu Tuilagi and Joe Cokanasiga…
Worcester’s Nick Schonert: ‘You can’t be a one‑trick pony. England want the complete package’
It was a footnote to Manu Tuilagi’s latest injury but Nick Schonert’s withdrawal from England’s training squad last month was a bitter blow for both the Worcester prop and Eddie Jones. The 27-year-old South African tighthead has been on the periphery of the England setup for a while, doing enough to “get in the room”…