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Posted 75 days ago
MIKE BROWN and David Strettle give each other plenty of stick in our latest behind-the-scenes video from the England training base while Dan Cole and Billy Twelvetrees look at lessons learnt from the France game and the squad try their hands at cooking…
Posted 76 days ago
The 1981 chart-topping song Stop the Cavalry may be a Christmas classic, but in truth it is a protest against war. Appropriate, then, that during the continent’s biggest celebration of rugby, the RBS 6 Nations, it could be the cavalry of fresh players lolloping over the horizon that help decide the rest of the championship.
Posted 76 days ago
NO ONE in the Scotland camp would ever say it, but they fear Wales running. Picking Duncan Weir at fly-half for the game at Murrayfield on Saturday could be seen as the result of a middle-of-the-road performance from Ruaridh Jackson, but in truth Weir’s selection is one designed to take the steam out of a Welsh side capable of singeing Scotland.
Posted 76 days ago
THE FIRST, fast, now ethos of modern media means that you are furnished with soundbites and breaking news at breakneck speed. However, aside from endless repetition and retweets, we are all at risk of forgetting anything more than a month back because we are always straining our eyes to look ahead.
Posted 81 days ago
“IF YOU any good ideas, give them to me,” said Philippe Saint-Andre in the aftermath of Saturday’s Six Nations defeat to England. The coach of France was responding to a question from a French journalist about the search for a No 10, the problem position for the Blues for the last couple of seasons. Actually, it’s been France’s problem position for years, decades, even. The evidence? Look at the all-time list of Test top points scorers – not one Frenchman in the top 20, the only nation from the Big Ten not represented.
Posted 83 days ago
AFTER A brief sojourn from the RBS 6 Nations, we were rewarded with three fascinating Six Nations duels in Round 3. England are now the only side capable winning a Grand Slam, but Wales and Scotland are still in the running for the title. We’ve picked our Lions contenders based on this weekend’s performance, but do you think we’ve got…
Posted 84 days ago
WALES’ GAME plan was executed perfectly in Rome – their territorially driven ‘kick chase’ was mightily effective in the wet Stadio Olimpico. Dan Biggar and Leigh Halfpenny were instrumental throughout the whole game. Biggar’s array of wiper kicks combined with Halfpenny’s high balls and deep clearances kept Italy pinned in their own half for large swathes of the game.
Posted 84 days ago
SOMETIMES THE stats do lie.
If you didn’t know the score at Murrayfield on Sunday and were just handed the match data afterwards, everything would suggest that Ireland had beaten Scotland and consequently joined Wales and England at having a shot at the Championship title. But as everyone knows by now, against the odds, it’s Scotland who earned that right.
Posted 84 days ago
ENGLAND TOOK a giant step towards their first Grand Slam in a decade with a 23-13 victory over France. The most important statistic is that Stuart Lancaster’s men found a way to win. They are getting very good at that. But it was a far from perfect performance. There will be much for the England management to address over the next fortnight.
Posted 84 days ago
ON SUNDAY there were so many numbers being thrown around, but the shock of it all was that it was Ireland, rather than Scotland, whose number was up. Heads spun as percentages and figures swirled. Scotland conceded 16 penalties, had 29% possession and made no linebreaks. Ireland had 71% of the ball, only had to bend for 44 tackles and offered up four searing line breaks.
