Exodus of players to France is bad for the Premiership but the boys will thrive January 27, 2023 The amount of brilliant rugby players fleeing England for France and South Africa should be of extreme concern to those in charge of the domestic game here. But the reality is those players heading for pastures new – as I did when I joined Stade Français from Newcastle in 2009 – will have an incredible [...]
England squad can give the Six Nations a good go January 20, 2023 I’m not saying I didn’t expect it from a coach like Steve Borthwick but it’s great to see an England Six Nations squad picked on form at the moment. There are a few choices and calls I disagree with but off the back of what I read on Monday, I think England can give the [...]
Ollie Phillips: My hopes for rugby over the next 12 months January 13, 2023 The next 12 months have the potential to be game-changing for rugby. It’s a World Cup year and domestic leagues are becoming ever more competitive, so here are my three hopes for the coming year. Nothing to lose My main hope for 2023 is to see England give the Six Nations and World Cup a [...]
Ollie Phillips: My Premiership team of 2022 December 30, 2022 While many have taken the final week of the year to look at their best Premiership XV of the season so far, I have used this week to ponder over my XV of the entire calendar year. The last 12 months have seen Leicester win the Premiership, Saracens surge back into contention and some traditionally [...]
Ollie Phillips: My 2022 awards from year of incredible rugby drama December 23, 2022 The time has come to dish out a couple of gongs. My awards will take a look at the year that was and take into consideration all things 2022. We’ve seen records broken, world firsts take place and witnessed brilliantly encapsulating moments. Next week you’ll see my Premiership team of the calendar year but this [...]
Ollie Phillips: European rugby, McGuigan and Laporte December 16, 2022 The opening round of European Champions Cup action left me slightly confused; there were some cracking matches but also some really disappointing results. The SA Sharks’ win over Harlequins down in South Africa was proper entertainment, as was Lyon’s loss to the Bulls on the African continent. But Leinster’s demolition of Racing 92 was disappointing [...]
Ollie Phillips: Loss of Eddie Jones gives England Rugby mega opportunity December 9, 2022 Well last week I said I didn’t think the Rugby Football Union had the bottle to sack head coach Eddie Jones despite me saying that he should go. How wrong I was. I do think the call to sack the Australian has come a couple of years late – he himself has said previously about [...]
Ollie Phillips: I fancy England to beat an All Blacks team lacking leaders November 18, 2022 The All Blacks are the only team in rugby to transcend the sport so, for many of England’s squad, tomorrow’s match will feel bigger than the visit of world champions South Africa next weekend. When the All Blacks are in town it’s more than about 80 minutes of rugby; it’s the heritage, the history, the [...]
Ollie Phillips: Pace on the menu as Eddie Jones tweaks England recipe against Japan November 11, 2022 England’s team selection for tomorrow’s match against Japan tells you that Eddie Jones wants much more pace in his side. They looked lacklustre when losing 30-29 to Argentina in their opening Autumn Nations Series fixture last weekend but the inclusion of Jack van Poortvliet and Sam Simmons in the starting XV should add much-needed tempo. [...]
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 [...]
