Ollie Phillips: Danny Cipriani and Dan Robson need to be on England’s radar for South Africa tour March 22, 2018 Rumblings of the same old Eddie Jones – really impactful in the first couple of years before losing his way – are well and truly underway following England’s fifth-place Six Nations finish. Fantastic results and quality performances over the past two years have brought an expectation and that pressure will be weighing heavily upon Jones [...]
Injury to scrum-half Conor Murray could be terminal to Ireland’s chances against Grand Slam-chasing England March 16, 2017 Injury to Munster scrum-half Conor Murray is a real game-changer and alters the whole dynamic of Ireland’s tactics when they come up against Grand Slam-chasing England on Saturday. The British and Irish Lion is excellent and absolutely vital to Joe Schmidt’s side. Murray has failed to recover from the shoulder problem incurred during his side’s [...]
This is the best Scotland side for more than a decade, but they’ve no chance of beating England March 9, 2017 This is the best Scotland side we’ve seen for well over a decade, yet I don’t give them any chance of beating England on Saturday and recording their first victory at Twickenham since 1983. Scotland are playing some good rugby, will pose stern questions and I don’t think for a second that it’ll be a cricket [...]
Elliot Daly is a must for England, but also a big British and Irish Lions contender March 2, 2017 Amid all the “ruckgate” chaos of England’s Six Nations clash with Italy at the weekend, Elliot Daly underlined that he is a player who continues to grow. He’s excellent and fast becoming one of the first names on Eddie Jones’s teamsheet. More than that, the 24-year-old has firmly put himself in contention for this summer’s [...]
England have shown mental fortitude in defence, but if they want to be world No1 we need to see more attacking prowess February 23, 2017 England scaled new heights in many ways against Wales in Cardiff. They were up against it, on the ropes getting battered, but had the mental fortitude to answer those questions. What they need to show now is greater attacking prowess. That offensive flair, which was so apparent during the autumn with the number of free-flowing [...]
Six Nations 2017 predictions: Ireland will give England serious competition for the championship, Ben Youngs set for a big year February 3, 2017 It will be a grand finale at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin when England take on Ireland for the final game of the Six Nations next month. England have gained momentum since their 2015 World Cup humiliation, and will have some tricky games in the shape of Wales in Cardiff in particular. But all eyes [...]