The perfect draw It has been said that a draw is like kissing your sister. If that is the case, the third test was like kissing an adopted step sister…
Paul Williams
Lions Second Test: Five things we learnt
Lions glory. But a black elephant remains in the room The Lions beat the All Blacks by 24-21, levelled the series, and achieved something that few professional rugby players will…
New Zealand v British and Irish Lions – First Test analysis
The manner of defeat will concern Warren Gatland The British and Irish Lions’ 30-15 defeat in the first test will obviously concern Warren Gatland. But the manner of the defeat…
Rugby’s talking points from May
Northampton Saints can’t feel hard done by over Picamoles The poaching of Louis Picamoles to Montpellier has resulted in some rather aggressive teeth-grinding in English rugby. But it is worth…
Five of rugby’s big talking points from April
European player drain killing Australian and South African rugby The fact that wage inflation in the Top 14 and Aviva Premiership is affecting domestic rugby in other countries isn’t exactly…
Five things we learnt about rugby in March
Beauden Barrett’s brother no longer March has seen Beauden Barrett’s brother go through a defining stage in his career. Not as important as the one where he will inevitably become…
Six Nations: France 20-18 Wales – Five things we’ve learnt
Scrums weren’t the culprit BBC’s new Saturday afternoon drama was quality viewing. Running at nearly 100 minutes, instead of the advertised 80 minutes, the plot had everything that any seasoned…
Six Nations: Wales 22-9 Ireland – Five things we learnt
Wales win using the whole pitch During the past three to four seasons under Warren Gatland, the only time that the Welsh players have been allowed to use the wider…
Scotland 29-13 Wales: Five things we learnt
Wales are struggling to ‘handle’ change Wales’ 29-13 defeat, to yet another irrestistible performance from Scotland, proved that despite a clear intent to move on from Warren Gatland’s attritional game…
Six Nations: Five things we’ve learnt – Wales 16-21 England
The little things Despite a rugby landscape dominated by 105kg wingers, fleets of Cryo-chambers and salaries approaching 1 million euros a season, rugby remains a game decided by the little…