Owen Farrell’s relationship with referees became an issue when he led England in South Africa in the summer, hectoring rather than cajoling. Making him co-captain with the more persuasive Dylan Hartley yielded a dividend at the end of a match in which England led by a point despite being pummelled as rarely before in front…
Cipriani misses out but Morgan earns call-up for England’s autumn Tests
Danny Cipriani has been omitted from England’s squad for next month’s autumn internationals but Eddie Jones has handed a recall to Ben Morgan amid his back-row crisis and taken the surprise step of naming Dylan Hartley and Owen Farrell as his co-captains. The head coach has opted against calling on Cipriani, who started England’s most…
Tommy Seymour bags treble and Scotland score eight tries in rout of Fiji
Gregor Townsend believes Scotland will have to improve on their performance in the eight-try demolition job on Fiji if they are to stand any chance of halting South Africa next week. The Scots were utterly ruthless as they blew the Pacific Islanders away 54-17 at Murrayfield. Tommy Seymour grabbed a hat-trick and Allan Dell, Fraser…
England 12-11 South Africa: how the players at Twickenham rated
England 7 Elliot Daly Kicked long too often in the first half but landed long-range penalty and then began to show his full array of skills. Maybe should have put May away though. 6 Jack Nowell Busy, as is always the case, but maybe not enough to keep hold of his place next week with…
Owen Farrell dismisses ‘hothead’ claims before Dublin Six Nations opener
Owen Farrell is a man of many talents according to his teammate Mako Vunipola. In addition to leading England and being a world-class goal-kicker it now emerges he is good at barbecues. “He loves them,” Vunipola said. “He’s got a very nice one with a lot of compartments and you can control the temperature via…
Burden of expectation the only obvious banana skin for England in Le Crunch
As Eddie Jones plots the second instalment of his side’s Six Nations programme against France at Twickenham on Sunday, he has deleted a recording of the victory against Ireland, which was probably his greatest triumph since he took over at the end of 2015. As they say in the head coach’s native Australia, “a rooster…
Johnny Sexton set to end career in Ireland after signing contract extension
Johnny Sexton has signed a contract extension with the Irish Rugby Football Union until the end of the 2020-21 season which is likely to see him end his playing career in Dublin. The Leinster and Ireland fly-half has enjoyed a stellar 2018 for his province and country and was crowned World Rugby Player of the…
Danny Cipriani to return for Gloucester in Champions Cup against Munster
Danny Cipriani has made a timely return from injury and will start at fly-half for Gloucester on Friday night against Munster in a must-win European Champions Cup tie at Kingsholm. Gloucester will start the match at the bottom of the most closely contested of the five groups but they will finish it at the top…
Ireland can repeat Chicago win over New Zealand, says Rory Best
Rory Best is confident Ireland can repeat their history-making efforts in Chicago by claiming a maiden win over New Zealand on home soil despite suffering more late injury dramas. Already without the Lions flanker Sean O’Brien, who broke his arm against Argentina last week, Ireland suffered another major setback on the eve of the match…
Local rugby clubs face losing ticket allocations in Six Nations resale row
Six Nations tickets that appeared on the resale website Viagogo for inflated prices were leaked via local rugby clubs, it has emerged, prompting warnings that unfettered resale poses a threat to the game’s grassroots. The Rugby Football Union told the Guardian that it sanctioned 57 clubs over ticket resale in 2018 alone and it is…