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The most glaring omission from the squad announcement was the lack of cover at fly-half
Posted 51 mins ago
By Alan Dymock
BEFORE THE compression socks are rolled on and the squad head towards a long-haul Monday flight to Hong Kong and the British and Irish Lions, the Barbarians have the small task of facing England at Twickenham.
Coach Dai Young has selected a side to match the plucky, inexperienced England team and while they have opted for experience and caps…
Posted 4 hours ago
By Alan Dymock
“AMBUSH AT the Allianz” could be a way of describing the Aviva Premiership semi-final between Northampton Saints and Saracens.
That would do a disservice to Saints, though, who maintained an impressive level of defence, breakdown abuse and thumping counter-runs in order to topple the clear favourites at their own patch. Tactically they did exactly what they needed to do…
Posted 4 hours ago
By Alan Dymock
STAYIN’ ALIVE by the Bee Gees was a late 70s sentiment so powerful that it generated an eponymous follow-up movie to Saturday Night Fever in which John Travolta hustles to become a Broadway star.
Fast forward through a few decades and the funky lines of “Feel the city breakin’, and ev’rybody shakin’, and we’re stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive” could…
Posted 6 hours ago
By Yasamin Asrari
RUGBY SEVENS is known for its pace and excitement and now it is attempting to steal the limelight away from its bigger 15-man rival by being part of Rio Olympics in 2016 after the sport’s absence of a century from the Olympic movement.
Brazil took their first bow in the 2012/2013 HSBC World Sevens Series in Hong Kong. They made…
Posted 3 days ago
WHAT’S ALL the fuss about? Or put another way: what’s so different about what Delon Armitage did to Clermont’s Brock James from what Josh Lewsey did to Damian Traille during the 2007 World Cup semi-final? Remember that? England’s erudite winger dotted down in the second minute, exploiting the Frenchman’s inexperience at full-back.
Posted 3 days ago
GREEK THEATRE is fabled for its two set genres of play, the tragedy and comedy. In sport, as in life, though, there can be both elements coming together in a beautifully sweet moment during an incredibly sad time. In Scotland the hope could well be that the super serious and the chortle inducing come together in their rugby structure.
Posted 3 days ago
THE PRESSURE on Will Genia and James Horwill may be great as we slide towards the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, but not for the reasons many would expect. On Saturday, as the Waratahs crashed against the wild Brumbies of Canberra in the Super 15, Test hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau took a knee with a broken forearm.
Posted 4 days ago
THE NAMES of yesteryear’s Lions heroes roll off the tongue with consummate ease. Way before the latest promotional offering, when they stepped aboard a galleon set sail for Australia, dressed in late-19thcentury attire, JPR Williams and Willie John McBride became synonymous with the British and Irish Lions.
Posted 7 days ago
DUBLIN WILL be a certain shade of yellow or red come Saturday evening after two very familiar French foes do battle in the Heineken Cup final. If Clermont Auvergne’s more outspoken players are to be believed, the drawn game between Clermont and Toulon in April was one that Toulon were lucky to keep a grip on, despite the fact that the Vulcans fielded a second-string.
Posted 7 days ago
DESPITE THEIR illustrious history, their garish attire and their hunkier than thou personnel, Stade Francais are undoubtedly the underdogs going into tonight’s Amlin Challenge Cup final in Dublin.
The runaround at the RDS not only represents a chance to win a European trophy for the first time in the Parisien’s history, but also offers the 2007 Top 14 champions an opportunity to make it into the Heineken Cup next season.
Posted 7 days ago
TO COMMEMORATE yesterday’s 70th Anniversary of the famous Dambusters story, the RAF Spitfires Rugby 7s team visited the iconic Derwent Valley Reservoirs and Dam on their way to the London 7s last weekend.
The stop-off was a welcome relief during a gruelling 500mile charity cycle. The team that were named after the iconic spitfire aircraft rode from Glasgow to Twickenham to…
Posted 8 days ago
IT’S A funny old game, rugby, as Jamie Noon will testify. Son of Yorkshire, servant of Newcastle and now stalwart of Brive, the former England centre brings down the curtain on his professional career on Sunday, in Bordeaux of all places, about as far removed from Goole as you could wish to find. True, they’re both ports, but there’s not much sun, and even less wine, in the Yorkshire town where Noon was born 34 years ago.
Posted 10 days ago
ON SUNDAY the Australian public will know the initial 25-man squad for the Test series against the British and Irish Lions. Understandably the timbre of some hollering Wallaby fans may weaken in the days building up, their voices wobbling thanks to unfolding events down under.
Posted 10 days ago
YESTERDAY, AMONGST the luxurious trappings of the Syon Park in the west of London, the 2013 British and Irish Lions had their first meeting. Like lucky competition winners 36 of the 37 tourists queued up for their issues of stash, expecting kilos of kit and flip flops.
Posted 10 days ago
LEEDS FAILED to end Newcastle’s bid to bounce back into the Aviva Premiership at Kingston Park on Sunday. After 160 minutes of rugby The Falcons, although out-scored two tries to one by the resurgent Yorkshiremen, progressed to the final by virtue of a 34-30 aggregate scoreline.
