Rarely has one team dominated their rivals the way Pau have this season in ProD2. Crowned champions of France’s second division a month before the end of the regular season,…
Countries
Saints and Sinners: The weekend’s talking points
The Saints Diamond chip The most delicate of dinks created the solitary try of Saturday’s European Champions Cup semi-final between Clermont Auvergne and Saracens. Clermont No 10 Brock James popped…
European Champions Cup analysis: Maro Itoje, Saracens
European Champions Cup analysis: Maro Itoje, Saracens The re-signing of a 20 year-old academy graduate rarely registers on the public consciousness. When news of Maro itoje’s “long-term” deal at Saracens…
European Champions Cup semi-finals: A statistical preview
Ahead of this weekend's Champions Cup semi-finals, Jack D'Arcy takes a look at the key statistics from the tournament to date
Tackle by tackle: How Jacques Burger stopped Clermont
If Saracens are the comic villains of European rugby – and one prominent Irish blog has rather wittily christened them Globo Gym after the muscly-but-dumb badguys in Ben Stiller’s boisterous movie…
Rugby statistics: Is the Aviva Premiership the most competitive league in Europe?
After the European Champions Cup quarter-finals, Wasps’ director of rugby Dai Young suggested all stats point towards the Aviva Premiership as being the most competitive league in Europe. Is that…
Clermont’s Jamie Cudmore on wine and winning
Clermont lock Jamie Cudmore looks ahead to the European Champions Cup semi-final against Saracens and talks about his new wine label
Premiership analysis: Ollie Devoto, Bath’s World Cup bolter?
Ollie Devoto is only 21, but it already feels as though he has been waiting in the wings for a fair while. Strangely, that feels slightly frustrating. The Bath back…
Letter from South Africa – April
Apologies for Shark’s third red card Sharks chief executive John Smit took to social media to apologise to fans this month after a third franchise player was red-carded and suspended…
Quel combat! The political battle that will determine the future of French rugby
The successor to Philippe Saint-André will be announced next month, but that decision will have only a limited bearing on the long-term fortunes of the national team. The crucial selection…