France will win the Six Nations but round 1 will be key January 31, 2025 It is here, the greatest annual international sports tournament in the world. The Six Nations has it all and I expect this year to be closer than ever. Ireland are on good form but below their recent best, Scotland continue to build but the championship remains elusive, Wales are desperate for a win, England are [...]
It’s a shame Premiership Rugby stars aren’t playing this weekend January 24, 2025 Off the back of two brilliant weeks of Champions Cup rugby and just a week away from the start of the Six Nations, it is a shame that this week’s Premiership fixtures will be devoid of all England players set to feature in the looming international championship. Having seen the league drop from 13 teams [...]
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 [...]
Six Nations tickets: How much will the tournament cost you? January 12, 2025 We’re just days from the Six Nations getting underway in Paris when France host Wales with tickets for this year’s competition all but sold out. The Stade de France in Paris, Allianz Stadium in London, Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh and Stadio Olimpico in Rome will [...]
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: My Autumn Nations Series end-of-term report for home nations November 29, 2024 With just one fixture remaining of this year’s Autumn Nations Series it is fair to say that the four home nations have had varied results. While strong performances on the continent from France, and even Italy at times, show growth across the Channel it appears that back home the four teams – whose players are [...]
Borthwick vows to push on after England end losing run November 24, 2024 Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie scored two apiece in a resounding nine-try win.
Cheer up England rugby fans, you could support Wales November 22, 2024 England may be on a bad run, but Wales are looking as if they’re looking into a deep abyss. Ollie Phillips writes that sacking Gatland, however, is not the answer. You’ve got to go back to 1973 to find an England rugby team who lost four home matches on the bounce. Steve Borthwick’s team have [...]
Itoje calls playing for England ‘Mecca’ amid LIV-style breakaway plans November 18, 2024 England international Maro Itoje has said that playing for his country is the “Mecca” amid reports that a LIV Golf-style breakaway league could draw players away from representing the Red Rose. The plan is said to be backed by US investors and could recruit 200 of rugby’s top players for a 2026 launch. The Rugby [...]
Time for England’s wilting roses to blossom against Boks November 15, 2024 When penning this column the niggling thought in my mind is that there’s no possible way that England beat the Springboks. Steve Borthwick’s wilting roses are struggling across the board, and shipped a record points total against a southern hemisphere side at home under his tenure in last week’s loss to Australia. Meanwhile South Africa, [...]