The Saints Tame Tiger Measured and diplomatic are not words you might readily associate with the Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill. A fiery player in his day, he…
Tournaments
European Champions Cup: Bath and their offload skills bring a wow factor
English clubs had a field day in the European Champions Cup last weekend and, though they look destined to dip out on the quarter-finals, Bath were responsible for round three’s…
Saints and Sinners: The weekend’s talking points
The Saints What a score! European Champions Toulon came to Welford Road having won their last nine games but Leicester Tigers put a stop to that run thanks to a…
Challenge Cup: What you may be missing
Welcome domestic break for key clash You don’t have to go far back into the annals of European competition to find Cardiff Blues and London Irish mixing it with some…
A letter from South Africa: Things go from bad to worse for Springboks
The Springboks’ autumn tour to Britain, Ireland and Italy went from bad to worse, bookended by two unexpected losses to Ireland and Wales, with the latter compounded by a potentially…
European Champions Cup: five epic clashes
ROUNDS THREE and four of Europe’s elite club competition sees teams play the same opponents in successive weeks – so it’s a chance to either turn the tables or hammer…
Rugby Rant: European rugby letting down minnows
Last year, one team in eight in Europe was from outside the three professional leagues. This year, it’ll be one in 20. At the most. Another day, another disappointment, as…
The Top 14 and the death of l’esprit de clocher
There’s a revolution underway in French rugby, one that is having ramifications for the home nations. We’ve already seen evidence of it in October when Toulon, Toulouse and Racing Metro…
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,…
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…