Rugby’s ‘A’ games hidden gems in Autumn Nations Cup period October 25, 2024 Rugby’s ‘A’ games are crucial for development and capture, and are the hidden gems of this year’s Autumn Nations Cup period. This weekend, when Japan and New Zealand clash in Yokohama, marks the start of the rugby’s Autumn international period. The majority of major southern hemisphere teams travel to Europe to face the best of [...]
Is Pat a Lam to the slaughter at Bristol Bears? Not quite October 4, 2024 It’s not an official law of rugby, but as a rule of thumb you should not score 41 points and still lose a game. And that’s exactly what Bristol Bears did against Gloucester last Friday in round two of the Premiership. Sure, defence was optional for both teams in the West Country derby that finished [...]
Premiership Rugby 5 things: Bonus points more vital than ever September 30, 2024 Each Premiership side has now played a match at home and one on the road, so what have we learned from the early rounds of domestic rugby? Well Gloucester’s new attacking style started to reward them with results while Saracens and Bath remained the only unbeaten sides. Here are five talking points from round two. [...]
Bath to win Premiership rugby title, Falcons to finish bottom September 20, 2024 It feels as though Northampton Saints only just lifted the Premiership trophy but we’ve already reached the eve of this year’s campaign. We’ve got a new coach in Leicester Tigers boss Michael Cheika, who I worked with at Stade Francais, and renewed ambitions. And we’ve also got the chance of seeing a sixth different winner [...]
EPCR Investec Champions Cup and Challenge Cup pool draw in full July 2, 2024 This morning in Cardiff the draws were completed for the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup. The European competitions will see 42 teams battle it out for two trophies, with this year’s finals taking place in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. Teams will play two teams in their pool at home and two teams away. Teams [...]
‘Premiership run-in is great. It is a shame about Gloucester and Newcastle’ May 17, 2024 It’s incredible – there are only 80 minutes left of the regular Premiership season and barely anything is decided. We know Northampton Saints are guaranteed a home semi-final, but they’re not yet confirmed as regular season champions. Saracens are definitely in the play-offs but aren’t sure of whether they’ll be home or away in the [...]
Ollie Phillips: Premiership top four play-off predictions May 10, 2024 The next two weeks of Premiership action will decide who makes the end of season play-offs. Eight of the 10 teams can still make the top four, and most of those can still earn a home semi-final. As it stands, Northampton Saints are four clear of Saracens at the top of the table. Bath are [...]
Premiership rugby: Top four race shows product deserves off-pitch stability April 21, 2024 When Joe Carpenter won an 82nd minute turnover against the run of play to hand his Sale Sharks side a 37-31 victory over Harlequins, it catapulted the Mancunians from eighth into sixth in the Premiership table and reduced the deficit to the play-off spots to just three points. With Northampton Saints five points clear of [...]