Sam Simmonds and Jonny Hill named in British and Irish Lions squad for South Africa tour May 6, 2021 Warren Gatland has named Sam Simmonds, Jonny Hill and Bundee Aki in his British and Irish Lions squad for the tour of South Africa this summer. But despite expanding the party to 37 players, there is no place for Billy Vunipola, Kyle Sinckler, Johnny Sexton or Manu Tuilagi. Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones will skipper [...]
Ollie Phillips: Why I think Owen Farrell could be left out of the British and Irish Lions squad April 29, 2021 Picking a British and Irish Lions squad is a tough task even at the best of times. You have to condense the very best from four nations into one 36-man party, taking into account not just rugby ability and form but also which players can fuse quickly and who will be good for morale on [...]
Premiership rugby clubs issue warning to British and Irish Lions chiefs over scheduling after reaching player release agreement April 27, 2021 Premiership clubs have taken a swipe at British and Irish Lions chiefs after finally signing off the release of their players for this summer’s tour of South Africa. England’s top-flight rugby teams were unhappy at the Lions scheduling a pre-tour warm-up match against Japan at Murrayfield on 26 June – the same day as the [...]
Week in Sportbiz: The end of the Tiger Effect? Plus Olympic bid shake-up, drinks all round, Lord Coe’s scare and Eddie Jones’s debt to Van Gaal February 25, 2021 Tiger Woods survived a serious car crash this week, to the immense relief of the sporting world. But it might not be such good news for the fabled Tiger Effect, to the consternation of golf’s broadcasters and advertisers. While Woods may yet defy the odds once more and return to the sport he has redefined, [...]
How Covid is affecting sport in 2021: Will Premier League, Tokyo Olympics, England’s Test series in Sri Lanka and the Lions tour go ahead? January 5, 2021 The first wave of Covid-19 saw professional sport grind to a halt as countries across the world imposed lockdowns. With cases on the rise again, particularly in England, some sports – including football, rugby union, boxing and snooker – have already been disrupted. So how is elite sport in 2021 being affected by the pandemic [...]
Rhino boss Reg Clark on why rugby brand remains a good bet despite warehouse blaze and pandemic sales dip November 11, 2020 It is just as well Reg Clark, boss of rugby kit maker Rhino, is the level-headed type. Because 2020 has dealt the company the type of crunching blows that the world’s leading teams inflict on its scrum machines. Already braced for another dip in demand as many of its markets fell into second lockdowns, Clark [...]
It may not feel like it but the greatest year of sport is almost upon us October 26, 2020 As we fast approach the end of the year we should all allow ourselves to look forward to crawling out of the dark cloud of Covid-19 and into 2021, the greatest year of sport ever. Euro 2020, the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, Twenty20 cricket World Cups, the Women’s Euros, a Ryder Cup, a Rugby League World [...]