Ollie Phillips: Home nations within reach of rugby history July 15, 2022 Let’s be frank: the quality of rugby we have seen across this month of internationals hasn’t always been high – it’s been stop-start, mismatched and controversial at times – but it has been competitive. Heading into the final round of their Test series, Ireland are level with New Zealand, Scotland are equal with Argentina, England [...]
Competitive rugby and global calendar shouldn’t come at cost of player welfare July 12, 2022 If you were to assess the hopes of the Home Nations as they crossed the equator to play their annual summer rugby series, you’d have been forgiven for suggesting they weren’t too high. But two thirds of the way through each of the tours – Ireland in New Zealand, England in Australia, Wales in South [...]
Ollie Phillips: England must solve Smith-Farrell conundrum July 8, 2022 Tomorrow’s match against Australia is a must-win for England, having been well beaten in the opening Test of the series in Perth last weekend. They were on top for the majority of the game but just failed to capitalise in the moments where it was pretty even – their two late tries saved face in [...]
Jones and England on the back foot after Australia loss in Perth July 3, 2022 As the sun set in the Western Australian metropolis of Perth on Saturday, hopes of Eddie Jones’ England team repeating their astonishing 3-0 whitewash of the Wallabies in 2016 faded into the night. Two late tries from Henry Arundell and Jack van Poortvielt ensured the 30-28 losing scoreline was slightly more palatable than it looked [...]
Ollie Phillips: Eddie Jones’ England 23 a good balance between styles July 1, 2022 The 23 England head coach Eddie Jones has selected for tomorrow morning’s first Test against Australia is a very exciting one. We’re seeing a balance of experience in the starting XV and some inexperience and excitement on the bench – and it should make for a really interesting battle with the Wallabies. A lot has [...]
Champions Cup offers London clubs chance to shine on greatest stage June 29, 2022 At a swanky Dublin event yesterday afternoon the best and brightest of European, and South African, rugby discovered their fate in next season’s Champions Cup. In a recent shake up in format, there are no longer six pools of four but instead two pools of 12. Teams now play a team from the other two [...]
Ollie Phillips: My Premiership Rugby awards June 24, 2022 The season is over, Leicester Tigers are champions and I have enjoyed it completely. The lack of relegation has created new interest for me, and we’ve seen some real bolters, like Henry Arundell, earn an international chance on the summer tours. But now that all has been said and done, here are my Premiership awards. [...]
Ed Warner: Wimbledon shows that the Lawn Tennis Association gets too much money June 23, 2022 If you want to know what’s wrong with tennis in Britain, look no further than Wimbledon. Blame the Championships for being such a phenomenal success that they bequeath the Lawn Tennis Association more money each year than it appears to be able to handle effectively, while simultaneously raising the public’s hunger for the LTA to [...]
Eddie Jones’ squad: In with the old as England head Down Under June 20, 2022 England depart for their final overseas summer tour ahead of next year’s World Cup this week off the back of another mediocre Six Nations performance and Sunday’s record loss under head coach Eddie Jones to the Barbarians. Yesterday, Jones named his 32-man squad for the three-Test series in Australia, starting in Perth on 2 July. [...]
Big Freddie Burns moment personifies great game of rugby June 19, 2022 What constitutes a great game? Is it a record amount of points, tries upon tries and showboating rugby? Is it gripping, tense and decided in the final 20 seconds with a drop goal? Saturday’s Premiership final between Leicester Tigers and Saracens ended in the manner of the latter. It wasn’t a record-breaking points haul like [...]