Time for England’s wilting roses to blossom against Boks November 15, 2024 When penning this column the niggling thought in my mind is that there’s no possible way that England beat the Springboks. Steve Borthwick’s wilting roses are struggling across the board, and shipped a record points total against a southern hemisphere side at home under his tenure in last week’s loss to Australia. Meanwhile South Africa, [...]
Borthwick needs to learn not to pull substitution trigger November 8, 2024 For so much of their 22-24 defeat to New Zealand England looked solid and like a team who could topple the All Blacks. That’s not to say they enjoyed a free run at a win or that they were the dominant team for the full 80 minutes, but they were in it at the end, [...]
Autumn Nations Series: How will England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales get on? November 1, 2024 The Autumn Nations Series can be a super tonic for the sport as titans clash from both hemispheres across Europe, writes Ollie Phillips. November internationals are always an odd time of year: you have neither the bitter rivalries the Six Nations and Rugby Championship generate over their own two hemispheres, nor is there the excitement [...]
How long do Exeter Chiefs back Rob Baxter for? October 25, 2024 Exeter Chiefs are 80 minutes away from going the entirety of the first block of Premiership Rugby games without a win. At home they’ve fallen to Leicester Tigers and Bristol Bears – Pat Lam’s West County side were 32-12 down before coming back to win – and Northampton Saints, Saracens and Newcastle Falcons away from [...]
No surprises England squad wastes precious opportunity October 18, 2024 It is very sensible, that England squad, isn’t it? There are no thrills or spills, no rogue actors or dazzling potential debutant. It is very Steve Borthwick. And that is no bad thing. This 36-man training squad will be tasked with taking on the southern hemisphere’s big three nations in New Zealand, Australia and South [...]
Derby weekend can ignite spark in Premiership October 11, 2024 This weekend Premiership Rugby has deliberately created drama with the continuation of derby weekend, where all five fixtures are focused on local rivalries. Sale Sharks play Newcastle Falcons, Gloucester host Bath, Northampton travel to Leicester, Exeter Chiefs take on Bristol Bears and unbeaten Saracens head south to Harlequins. Derby days are always special days as [...]
Is Pat a Lam to the slaughter at Bristol Bears? Not quite October 4, 2024 It’s not an official law of rugby, but as a rule of thumb you should not score 41 points and still lose a game. And that’s exactly what Bristol Bears did against Gloucester last Friday in round two of the Premiership. Sure, defence was optional for both teams in the West Country derby that finished [...]
‘Michael Cheika suits the Premiership, he just gets stuck in’ September 27, 2024 I remember when I was a player at Stade Francais in Paris, Michael Cheika wanting to get involved with training at an authentic level. He got absolutely smashed by former French lock Pascal Papé and Italian legend Sergio Parisse, leaving the Aussie at the bottom of a ruck. “F**k yeah, f**k yeah,” the former Wallabies [...]
Bath to win Premiership rugby title, Falcons to finish bottom September 20, 2024 It feels as though Northampton Saints only just lifted the Premiership trophy but we’ve already reached the eve of this year’s campaign. We’ve got a new coach in Leicester Tigers boss Michael Cheika, who I worked with at Stade Francais, and renewed ambitions. And we’ve also got the chance of seeing a sixth different winner [...]
Rugby needs to look to USA and other wild ideas September 13, 2024 When I read this week in City A.M. that Premiership rugby clubs are keen to head to the United States again I was pleased, if not too surprised. It didn’t really take off in 2016 and 2017, when clubs from the Gallagher Premiership last went across the pond, but that’s not to say rugby cannot [...]
