Barbarians hark back to less serious times, says David Flatman June 17, 2022 Sunday sees the curtain fall on the rugby season in England as an Eddie Jones XV takes on the globetrotters of oval ball in the Barbarians. The side are put together with little preparation and aim to please the masses, and former England international David Flatman says this year will be no different. “The pure [...]
Ollie Phillips: Leicester versus Saracens final rounds off great season June 17, 2022 South west London will be the centre of the rugby world this weekend when one of the most competitive seasons of Premiership action reaches its climax. You’ve got Leicester Tigers, buoyed by brilliant home form this year, and have a serious amount of off-field emotion in tow. And you’ve got Saracens who are hated by [...]
Simon Shaw interview: ‘Addressing concussion is for the here and now’ June 15, 2022 It was a project hatched over a pre-arranged dinner, but the cogs that were left turning once the bill had been settled have spearheaded innovation into understanding concussion in and out of sport, and provoked questions as to why it continues to take so long to implement change. Simon Shaw is a former Wasps rugby [...]
Barmy Barbarians’ rugby against England will set Twickenham alight June 13, 2022 Rugby union is a sport in which traditions are constantly debated and continually evolving, but one element of the oval ball sport that has remained untouched since the late 1800s is the Barbarians. Almost a World XV, the Barbarians are a group of players cobbled together under – usually – an existing international coach who [...]
Leicester and Saracens final offers far more than first versus second storyline June 12, 2022 For the sixth time in the last seven seasons, the Premiership final will be contested between the sides who finished in the top two places in the table. In Leicester Tigers and Saracens, English rugby is set to witness a clash between historic giants of the league and the newer dynasty from the capital. Saracens [...]
Ollie Phillips: Saracens have the ability to defeat champions Harlequins June 10, 2022 Should Saracens beat defending champions Harlequins in their Premiership semi-final this weekend, they’ll be the first team to reach the showpiece Twickenham final at the first attempt following promotion from the Championship. Mark McCall’s men have come back into the top flight with a vengeance this season. And while they’ll be disappointed to have missed [...]
Leicester legend Moody backs former club to win East Midlands semi-final June 9, 2022 Premiership rugby semi-finals come around twice a year, but an East Midlands knockout match comes around far fewer than that. The last time Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints faced off in an end-of-season top-four clash nearly a decade ago, it was the Black, Green and Golds who came out on top. But tomorrow, in the [...]
Average Premiership attendances fall compared to pre-pandemic figures June 8, 2022 Regular season attendances in English rugby’s top flight Premiership competition are, on average, 1,000 down on pre-pandemic levels. In data crunched by City A.M. – and taking into account a series of factors – attendances in England’s top flight have fallen from 12,636 in the 2018-19 season, the last full season before the pandemic, to [...]
Jones picks exciting squad ahead of England showdown with Baabaas June 6, 2022 In Eddie Jones’s 35-man England squad for the upcoming uncapped match against the world famous Barbarians team, the Australian head coach has picked a group of largely young, exciting talents. With his player pool drained due to an inability to pick from the four Premiership sides who are in this weekend’s semi-finals, Jones has had [...]
La Rochelle: Coastal Atlantic outpost to European Champions May 30, 2022 “Ici, ici, c’est Stade Rochelais.” “Here, here, it’s La Rochelle.” The chanted hymn of the French outpost on the Atlantic coast – now European champions. From their humble beginnings, La Rochelle have risen through the ranks and, after promotion to France’s Top14 in 2014, have never looked like a side likely to slip up. They [...]