Home nations under the hammer: rugby largely flopped in UK this autumn November 28, 2022 While England’s failures this month have been well documented, the other home nations experienced a range of fortunes during the Autumn Nations Series. In the rugby world rankings, European pair Ireland and France have maintained their hold at the summit while New Zealand have jumped South Africa for third. Beyond that, Wales have plummeted from [...]
England coach Eddie Jones is on the ropes but he will be at the World Cup November 27, 2022 Lacklustre. Monotonous. Embarrassing. Those were some of the non-explicit words that were uttered as thousands of England fans left Twickenham on Saturday evening – many of them before the final whistle. England’s 13-27 humiliation at the hands of a brilliant South Africa outfit condemned head coach Eddie Jones to his second loss in this month’s [...]
Red Roses needed win to silence naysayers, but hope remains November 14, 2022 Sport is cut-throat, and England’s Red Roses rugby team learned that on Saturday in their 34-31 World Cup final loss to New Zealand in Auckland. Down a player for 60 minutes, after winger Lydia Thompson was red carded for making contact with the head of Portia Woodman, Simon Middleton’s England were put on the back [...]
England 29-30 Argentina: Pumas pounce for first win at Twickenham since 2006 November 6, 2022 England head coach Eddie Jones bemoaned an error-strewn performance after his side handed Argentina a first win at Twickenham for 16 years on Sunday. The match turned on two Pumas tries in the space of four minutes early in the second half, first from Emiliano Boffelli and then Santiago Carreras. Joe Cokanasiga and Jack van [...]
England finally have their axis, but Ireland and France the ones to watch November 4, 2022 Here it is – the day has finally arrived: England are set to field a 10,12,13 axis against Argentina on Sunday of Marcus Smith, Owen Farrell and Manu Tuilagi. This is the kind of backline team sheet we thought we’d see early on in Jones’ tenure – albeit a different No10 would have been in [...]
Can Argentina announce decisive arrival and pounce on England? November 3, 2022 They’ve always been the fourth team in the southern hemisphere behind the World Cup winning trio of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, but Argentina – boosted by a significant number of players playing in Europe – are primed to embark on a 12-month period that could shock the rugby establishment. When Los Pumas reached [...]
Ed Warner: English football of all levels penetrating hyper-commercial US sport November 3, 2022 Does anyone in England call the Premier League the EPL? I ask because I had a random encounter at Heathrow last week with one of a group of five Crystal Palace fans headed to Selhurst Park for their “first EPL game”. The Ted Lasso effect maybe? I only hope they made it to the Clifton [...]
Red Roses remain favourites for World Cup, insists former winner Burford October 28, 2022 Former England centre and World Cup winner Rachael Burford has insisted the Red Roses remain favourites to win the showpiece rugby tournament in New Zealand despite being ranked third seeds for the quarter-finals. Though unbeaten in the pool stages, England sit behind hosts New Zealand and Canada in the ranked table and will face Australia [...]
Red Roses ranked third in Rugby World Cup last eight October 24, 2022 England’s rugby union women have, unsurprisingly, reached the last eight of the Rugby World Cup. They were, and remain, overwhelming favourites for the tournament – yet they’re only ranked third out of the eight quarter-finalists. Ahead of them are New Zealand and Canada, who topped their respective pools, with the rankings handing Simon Middleton’s Red [...]
Ollie Phillips: Premiership turmoil, Bangkok and Russell finished? October 20, 2022 I have steered clear of talking about Premiership clubs Wasps and Worcester Warriors thus far given the uncertainty surrounding the futures of the players, but I feel like I should offer some thoughts. Look at the talent across the two clubs: Ollie Lawrence, Jack and Tom Willis, Alfie Barbeary and the rest. The players are [...]