Maro Itoje is set to miss England’s Six Nations matches against France and Wales and may be out for the rest of the tournament, because of knee ligament damage. In better news for the head coach, Eddie Jones, Manu Tuilagi is clear to face France on Sunday after escaping a citing for a shoulder charge…
David Strettle try helps Saracens back to the top of the Premiership
Saracens needed a bonus-point win to retake their position at the top of the table, so that was what they took. For the majority of the match a bonus point, at least of the attacking variety, was the farthest notion from any of the minds assembled here in Barnet. Indeed, with an hour gone, Saracens…
Rugby union: talking points from the first round of autumn internationals
1) Mitchell works his magic on England’s defence Owen Farrell escapes being cited over André Esterhuizen tackle New Zealand are heading to Twickenham where they will bump into a familiar adversary. John Mitchell was the All Blacks head coach at the 2003 World Cup but, as England’s new defence coach, now finds himself in charge…
Six newcomers to watch during the 2019 Six Nations
Tom Curry, England Curry has five caps but has never before appeared in the Six Nations after missing out last year with a long-term wrist injury. He began the autumn in the No 7 jersey but was injured again in England’s opening match and such was Sam Underhill’s form thereafter that it is hard to…
England seeking a box office display to beat All Blacks’ A-listers
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
Click:wps下载 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…
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…