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Posted 723 days ago
ENGLAND’S first Six Nations title for eight years was a strange affair, for rather than build towards their best performances they fizzled out. The Calcutta Cup game made painful viewing while Ireland blew them away so violently that England’s title feat was seriously tarnished.
As if proof were needed that England did indeed score more tries and points than anybody else,…
Posted 728 days ago
For matt stevens, life at Saracens this season started with a chocolate-eating contest and will end, he hopes, with a return to the England set-up for next month’s Churchill Cup.
The former Bath prop arrived at the London club in January after serving a two-year ban for testing positive for cocaine following a Heineken Cup match against Glasgow in 2008.…
Posted 729 days ago
In most years the Churchill Cup is little more than a development event, with little at stake, writes Paul Morgan. But in 2011 everything has changed with the competition becoming a trial for England’s squad to go to the World Cup.
Usually played in North America, the Churchill Cup arrives in England this year with matches at Sixways, Kingsholm, Esher and…
Posted 736 days ago
Scotland legend Craig Chalmers gives us the inside track on life north of the border as they towards a World Cup, where they are grouped with England.
Chalmers says: “THE WORLD cup is still a few months away so I found it very strange that Andy Robinson, after the Six Nations, chose to rest five Scotland players – Kellock, Gray, Barclay,…
Posted 736 days ago
Former England No 8 and captain Lawrence Dallaglio offers his thoughts on the current state of the England team.
“I think the 2011 World Cup is a bit too early for this generation of England players and New Zealand will be strong favourites to win the tournament. England have made huge strides in the past 12 months, but to win a…
Posted 738 days ago
I’d encourage anyone who’s a late starter in rugby to believe they can make it. I didn’t pick up a rugby ball regularly until my mid-teens as I was more interested in playing football. Javelin was another sport that I enjoyed. I threw for Ulster Schools and it’s something I might have continued with before rugby came along.
Posted 739 days ago
Welsh rugby faces a tough couple of years. Regions are struggling financially but still the media and the WRU demand success, writes Paul Turner.
It annoys me when I read articles in the Welsh press asking, ‘Why haven’t we got a team in the last eight of the Heineken Cup?’ I’ll tell you why: because we can’t compete with bigger clubs…
Posted 747 days ago
Something all young players learn quickly is that injury is a big part of the game. It can rule you out of playing at the most inconvenient of times. But one man’s cloud is another man’s silver lining, and when the England U18 squad suffered some injuries to their pack, Newcastle Academy second-row Joe Robinson was promptly called up to…
Posted 747 days ago
Scotland U20 coach Peter Wright believes 18-year-old Mark Bennett is one of the most exciting young talents he’s seen in years. The centre has recently returned from a short spell with French Top 14 champions Clermont Auvergne and the sojourn clearly worked wonders because a couple of days after his return, Bennett scored one of Ayr’s tries in their semi-final…
Posted 748 days ago
WHITGIFT’S 45-24 defeat of Oakham in the Daily Mail-RBS U18 Cup final clinches the Team of the Month award for the Surrey school coached by Chris Wilkins.
They lost three close games in the course of the year but reeled off eight successive wins to retain the cup, which they won in 2010 by beating RGS Newcastle 34-10.
There were tough ties…
