The Premiership goes into the final round of the European Champions Cup group stage this weekend hunting a first victory over an Irish province in this season’s tournament. Its clubs have three opportunities: Ulster travel to Leicester, Leinster are away to Wasps and, in the one contest that has an outcome for both teams, Exeter…
‘We are nowhere near our best’: Eddie Jones says England can get better
Eddie Jones says England’s stunning bonus-point victory in Dublin is merely a start in a year that culminates with the World Cup in Japan. England became the first team to win here in the Six Nations since 2013 in ending Ireland’s 12-match winning run at home and their 32 points was the fourth highest they…
George North: ‘I had to get back to my best. That meant being in Wales’
There are few more stirring sights in the game than George North in full stride, head back, with the ball tucked under his outside arm as spectators rise from their seats to watch a wing as fast as he is powerful leave a scattering of defenders sprawled behind him. There were fears last season that…
Eddie Jones steps up preparations for Japan by having a sushi night
Eddie Jones has stepped up his efforts to help his squad acclimatise to playing next year’s World Cup in Japan by arranging a sushi night as part of a week designed to prepare England for their first two fixtures of the 2019 tournament. While New Zealand have played two Test matches in Japan this autumn…
Ireland’s Joe Schmidt expects ‘spiky’ All Blacks encounter to decide world’s best
Test rugby is no place for the faint-hearted. With this in mind, Joe Schmidt has predicted another “spiky” clash with the All Blacks which will, in the visitors’ minds at least, decide the mantle of the world’s best team. In their past three drama-filled Tests only three points separate the All Blacks and Ireland, the…
Rugby won’t flourish as it should while its laws remain so twisted
Part of the allure of the ceaseless puzzle that is rugby union lies in its multiple possibilities. Sometimes the laws feel like a giant Rubik’s Cube which very few ever entirely solve. Erno Rubik is 74 now and prefers walking, sailing and gardening but rugby’s quest for structure and simplicity against significant odds would surely…
England will not risk Tuilagi against Australia but drop Care and Lozowski
Eddie Jones says he will not risk Manu Tuilagi’s fitness against Australia this weekend but is still hopeful the Leicester centre can transform England as an attacking force at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Tuilagi has not featured in any of this month’s Tests at Twickenham and is described by the head coach as “very…
Rugby union: talking points from the third round of autumn Tests
Click:aluminum CNC machining 1) Townsend need not lose heart in defeat Scotland continue to dazzle in attack while being susceptible at the breakdown and in defence. Huw Jones embodied both traits in their 26-20 defeat by South Africa at Murrayfield, laying on a try for Pete Horne but being stripped of possession for one of…
Japan’s spiritual home of rugby can’t wait to host World Cup
While Japan’s players celebrated their stunning 34-32 victory over South Africa at the last World Cup, the cameras briefly cut to a middle-aged man, swathed in a Japanese flag, shedding tears of joy and disbelief that his compatriots had just pulled off the biggest upset in the tournament’s history. As the Brave Blossoms return to…