Chapeau to you La Rochelle, it was a Champions Cup final for the ages May 21, 2023 You’d have been forgiven if, by the 12th minute of Saturday’s Champions Cup final between Leinster and La Rochelle, you’d turned over to Garden Rescue or Midsomer Murders because the match looked all but done and dusted. A brace from Dan Sheehan and a third try from Jimmy O’Brien gave Irish province Leinster a 17-0 [...]
Smart rugby ball all the range or unnecessary nuisance? May 20, 2023 Is there such a thing as too much technology in sport? Is there a desire to have every aspect of the game you love monitored by TV screens and officials anywhere but inside the stadium? Rugby was early to embrace of on-field technology, introducing a Television Match Official (TMO) at the highest level much earlier [...]
‘Top man Sergio Parisse deserves Challenge Cup title to retire with’ May 19, 2023 I really love Champions cup and Challenge Cup finals weekend. It doesn’t matter how each team got there, what’s important is that they’re in with a shout of winning one of club rugby’s big prizes. That said, I think both matches this weekend in Dublin will see wins for the traditional European powerhouses, Leinster and [...]
Wasps have Championship licence revoked, club sent to bottom of pyramid May 18, 2023 The Rugby Football Union have withdrawn Wasps‘ licence to play in the Championship next season in a major blow to the former Premiership club. A statement read: “The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has withdrawn the licence for Wasps to continue to play in the league structure. “This means that Wasps will not be able to [...]
Rugby World Cup Barometer: Ford wading way into England squad? May 18, 2023 | Sponsored In the lead up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup, City A.M. has put together a barometer in partnership with City Index to assess whose form is hot – and whose is not – in the race to be part of the tournament in France later this year. Player of the week: George Ford, England [...]
‘It’s not hard to imagine a future where the IPL simply is cricket’ May 18, 2023 As the ICC is set to change the way it distributes revenue, with India getting a significant portion, Ed Warner states that it is not hard to imagine a world where the IPL simply is cricket. The venality and self-interest that drive decisions in international cricket have been so well known for so long that [...]
O’Driscoll: Champions Cup double with La Rochelle can make O’Gara as coach May 17, 2023 A La Rochelle victory in the Champions Cup final would be the greatest moment in Ronan O’Gara’s coaching career, says his former Ireland teammate Brian O’Driscoll. O’Gara’s stock has risen monumentally since he took his first role as assistant coach at Parisian side Racing 92 a decade ago. After five years in the French capital, [...]
London Irish could lose spot in Premiership if funds cannot be proved May 15, 2023 London Irish could be kicked out of the Premiership if they cannot prove their potential new owners have the funds to keep the rugby club going. The Rugby Football Union has issued a statement confirming that the club have until 30 May to prove that a proposed takeover – led by Redstrike Group and former [...]
Sale Sharks into first Premiership final since 2006 with win over Leicester Tigers May 14, 2023 Sale Sharks reached their first Premiership final since 2006 yesterday with a 21-13 win over defending champions Leicester Tigers at the AJ Bell Stadium. In front of a capacity crowd of 12,000 on the outskirts of Manchester, Jimmy Gopperth, 39, put the visitors 6-0 ahead with to early penalties before man of the match George [...]
Northampton Saints are defensively woeful, but semi against Saracens will suit them May 12, 2023 The only statistic that truly matters at the end of a domestic Premiership rugby season is a club’s position in the table. But a considerable number of other figures can tell us everything we need to know about how they got there. Northampton Saints are no strangers to the Premiership play-offs, with tomorrow’s semi-final against [...]