The ‘In the black’ Award – New Zealand The marketeers at Adidas have their work cut out rebranding a black shirt, and this year they came up ‘the Blackest Shirt…
England
Autumn International player analysis: Chris Robshaw, England
A trivia question to start, so no cheating if you do not know the answer. Here you go: who said this about whom last week? “He’s an absolute pest. Last year…
Saints and Sinners: The weekend’s talking points
The Saints Biggar the better He didn’t create any tries with breath-taking passes or scything runs, he didn’t kick any points as he had Leigh Halfpenny to do that job,…
Doping in rugby: a Rugby World investigation
IN MAY 2013, during a Scottish training camp in the lead-up to the Junior World Cup, Melrose fly-half Sam Chalmers was pulled in for a random drugs test – his…
Autumn Internationals: Week four report
IN A NUTSHELL England 26-17 Australia Swing Low reverberated around Twickenham as England ended their autumn with a win over Australia. It wasn’t a convincing performance, but a try in…
Billy Twelvetrees on his first England start of the autumn
BILLY TWELVETREES will make his first start of the QBE International series against Australia tomorrow, as England look to secure a win that would go some way to salvaging a…
The rise of Exeter Chiefs
AS CHRISTMAS rushes towards us, what are the standout stories in this season’s Aviva Premiership? No one expected London Welsh to be so utterly out of their depth, and those…
Behind the scenes with England before they meet Australia
ENGLAND SLIPPED up at the start of this year’s QBE Internationals, but they’ll be hoping to get right back on track when they meet Australia in their final Test match…
Varsity Match: A special occasion
By Alastair Hignell What’s the Varsity Match about? Not so long ago, the question didn’t need to be asked, or answered. The annual encounter between Oxford and Cambridge was a…
Rugby statistics: World Cup combinations
England head coach Stuart Lancaster has been frequently reminded this month that time is running out to nail down a preferred side for the World Cup. The theory that experience…