Ollie Phillips: The Premiership is by far the best league in the world September 16, 2022 Last week’s Premiership action further convinced me that the English Premiership is the best league in the world. Other than Worcester Warriors’ loss at London Irish, where the troubled away side were understandably rusty, I really couldn’t have called which way the other matches would go. How Gloucester turned around a 21-point deficit was astonishing, [...]
Worcester face suspension from league at 12 noon over financial woes September 15, 2022 Worcester Warriors have been handed a deadline of noon today by the Rugby Football Union to prove they have sufficient funds to stage matches safely – or face suspension from all men’s and women’s competitions. The troubled Premiership club could be thrown out of the English top flight and other competitions as a result of [...]
Rugby’s shadow expeditions: The second string sides heading on tour September 15, 2022 Rugby is set in its traditions, rightly and wrongly, and it takes an enormous shift in will for anything new to seep into the sport. But when Irish province and last year’s losing European finalists Leinster announced earlier this week that they would be playing a fixture against an All Blacks XV during November, it [...]
Premiership sees opening-round attendances fall to a six-season low September 13, 2022 Premiership rugby’s opening-round attendances have fallen to a five-season low. Since the start of the 2016-17 season, and not including the pandemic-affected 2020-21 season, the percentage of seats filled by punters in England’s top division during the first round has never been lower than last weekend. The opening round saw 59 per cent of seats [...]
Premiership rugby is back with a bang after false start September 12, 2022 Having been delayed by a day, Premiership rugby finally got going on Saturday as 12 of the 13 teams began their campaigns on a weekend dominated by events outside of sport. The reigning champions lost on the road, the finalists enjoyed a week off and one club overturned a record half-time deficit. Here are four [...]
Danny Care on Harlequins, England and Premiership derby days September 9, 2022 England and Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care is already looking beyond his team’s first Premiership match against Newcastle tomorrow and towards the second-round London derby against Saracens. A major criticism of last year’s otherwise competitive season was the placement of the biggest derbies in the league – Northampton Saints versus Leicester Tigers, Quins versus Saracens and [...]
Cricket, golf, horse racing and rugby union suspended following Queen’s passing September 9, 2022 Friday’s second day of play in the deciding Test between England and South Africa at the Oval has been postponed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. It is among several sporting fixtures to be called off following the monarch’s passing, including in golf, horse racing and rugby union. Other sports could follow suit. The [...]
Sport tribute: Her Majesty was a fan of sport like the rest of us September 8, 2022 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, like so many of us, had a fondness for the adrenaline rush, the highs and lows and unrivalled joy that sport can provide. Whether her influence on sport is remembered in the famous scenes as she handed England’s Sir Bobby Moore the World Cup trophy in 1966, or her humorous [...]
Ed Warner: Kicked off, tipped off, switched off September 8, 2022 One of the joys of writing Sport inc. is the flow of suggestions from readers of subjects to cover. In the past week alone: the highly leveraged balance sheets of Premiership rugby clubs ahead of the new season, the continuing scandal of the lack of financial support for Britain’s international basketball teams, the prohibitive cost [...]
Phil Dowson: ‘Academy players will always be key to Northampton Saints’ September 7, 2022 Northampton Saints’ incoming director of rugby Phil Dowson has stressed the importance of his club continuing to be a side with a core of local players as the former back row gets set for his first season in charge of the east midlands club. Dowson takes over the top spot from Chris Boyd, who is [...]