Steve Borthwick England squad: Three Champions Cup bolters to watch January 14, 2025 This morning England manager Steve Borthwick names his squad for the Six Nations, with a trip to Dublin up first next month. Last weekend’s Investec Champions Cup action, then, was the very last chance for players to give a good account of themselves before today’s announcement. But it wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies for hopefuls [...]
Investec Champions Cup: Leinster, Glasgow and Toulon secure home ties January 13, 2025 There may be a round of Investec Champions Cup matches to go but for some clubs their future has already been decided. For South African side the Bulls, it’s done and dusted with the Pretoria-based outfit unable to reach the round of 16 in April, no matter how good or bad their result against Stade [...]
Leinster, Munster and Ulster need to end Irish Champions Cup drought January 10, 2025 Of Ireland’s four rugby provinces, the three in this year’s Investec Champions Cup share seven titles between them. Dubliners Leinster have won the competition four times and featured in eight finals, Munster have won two from four showpiece matches and Ulster are one win from two finals. But all is not well on the Emerald [...]
Champions Cup: Le Showbizz Racing 92 must rediscover je ne sais quoi January 9, 2025 For all of the pizzazz, grandeur and elegance that comes with saying you’re a Racing 92 player, there’s little to show for it in the trophy cabinet. In the professional era the Parisian powerhouse have won just one major trophy, a 2016 Top 14 final against Toulon, and have lost three Investec Champions Cup finals [...]
Lions will smash Aussies and England will win World Cup in 2025 January 3, 2025 Happy New Year one and all! The upcoming 12 months are going to be filled with brilliant rugby moments but the Lions and England Women top the billing for me. Because 2025 has a lot going on, but the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia in July and the Women’s Rugby World Cup headline [...]
Youngs and Cole: For The Love Of Rugby duo look to 2025 December 28, 2024 Leicester Tigers duo Ben Youngs and Dan Cole review at 2024, look ahead to 2025 and discussed their podcast For The Love Of Rugby. The last 12 months has been an incredibly interesting time for rugby union for a number of reasons. Steve Borthwick’s England had a rough back end to the year but took [...]
Ollie Phillips: Dupont leads my 2024 rugby union awards December 20, 2024 For my last rugby union column of 2024 in print it’s only right that we hand out a couple of awards covering the last 12 months. Rugby has seen an Olympic Games sit front and centre of the calendar while there have been some surprises in terms of domestic winners. It wasn’t easy but I’ve [...]
Vannes shows Top 14 and France are doing it right. England should learn December 17, 2024 Matt Hardy went to Vannes this December and saw exactly why French rugby and the Top 14 is exactly what every league should aim for. Rounding a grand piano in the courtyard of a music school to reach the turnstiles at the Stade de La Rabine is not something you’d expect – posh boy stereotypes [...]
Saracens eye last 16 as English clubs mount a French resistance December 15, 2024 Saracens took another major stride towards the last 16 on Sunday with a hard-fought win at Stade Francais as English clubs put on a much-improved showing in round two of the Investec Champions Cup pool stage. After Premiership sides mustered a feeble two victories from eight games in round one of European rugby’s premier club [...]
Quins boss reveals he almost didn’t pick star man in thrashing of Stormers December 15, 2024 Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson admits he almost scuppered Alex Dombrandt’s man-of-the-match display in their 53-16 win over the Stormers in the Investec Champions Cup. England No8 Dombrandt ran in three of Quins’ eight tries at the Stoop but Wilson revealed afterwards that he considered leaving him out of the team over fitness concerns. “I [...]