Investec Champions Cup huge for British and Irish Lions selection May 3, 2025 Not only is this a huge weekend for the Investec Champions Cup, but it is a mega couple of days for those British and Irish players hoping to get on the plane to Australia. With the squad to be announced next Thursday in London, the likes of Maro Itoje – unless head coach Andy Farrell [...]
Ease of Red Roses Six Nations run worries me ahead of Rugby World Cup April 26, 2025 England Rugby’s Red Roses have a problem: nobody looks remotely close to beating them in Europe at the moment. But this was the case ahead of the previous two World Cups and, in both instances, England lost in the final. This year, however, there’s no room for error, with the final set to be staged [...]
Rugby: The Henry hype is far from a load of Pollocks, he’s class April 18, 2025 I did laugh to myself when I saw the abuse Northampton Saints star Henry Pollock got for his celebration during his side’s Investec Champions Cup victory over Castres last weekend. I thought: “What a load of bollocks!” The 20-year-old has a swagger about him, he reminds me of a cross between Lewis Moody and Lawrence [...]
RC Toulon tough Investec Champions Cup path can be making of new Galacticos April 11, 2025 Dynasties rise and fall in sport, often taking years to reach their summit before fading into the darkness at pace. Between 2013 and 2015, RC Toulon were the “it” team. Probably the best club rugby team in the world. They won a Top 14 title in 2014 and were European champions three years in a [...]
Which English teams can win this weekend in the Investec Champions Cup? April 3, 2025 There’s always a fuzzy feeling when the Investec Champions Cup returns to the calendar, especially during the knockout stages. There are six French teams, five English sides and five URC outfits left in the competition but I do fear for the Gallagher Premiership contingent this weekend. Usually the five competing teams – Northampton Saints, Saracens, [...]
Who has played themselves into and out of the British and Irish Lions tour? March 21, 2025 If the Six Nations taught us anything it’s that picking a squad for this year’s British and Irish Lions tour to Australia is going to be very difficult. For some players a strong Six Nations has catapulted them from nobody to somebody, or from a fringe player into a starter. And for others it has [...]
Six Nations Super Saturday a perfect crescendo to tournament March 14, 2025 It feels like an age since rugby fans had the pleasure of watching a Super Saturday when all three games will be crucial to the outcome of the Six Nations. Ireland, England and France are all able to realistically win this year’s title heading into the weekend, while Scotland can mathematically do it, however unlikely. [...]
Six Nations needs France to beat Ireland before Super Saturday March 7, 2025 The recent clashes between Ireland and France in the Six Nations have all been superb occasions; whether it be in Paris or Dublin, the teams always serve up a brilliant match. And this weekend in the Irish capital it is the home side who are favourites. But for the good of the tournament it is [...]
Why rugby union should get its own Riyadh Season event February 28, 2025 One gripe I have with the 2025 Six Nations is the second rest week; it stifles interest and really damages the flow of the rugby tournament. As least, then, I had spare time to watch Chris Eubank Jr slap Conor Benn with an egg during their face-off ahead of their bout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. [...]
How can England beat Scotland in the Calcutta Cup? February 21, 2025 It may not be a fixture famed for deciding Rugby World Cups, nor a major intra-hemisphere clash, but the Calcutta Cup game between England and Scotland is, and will always be, a date for the diary. It’s the oldest international match in the world, dating back to the 1870s, and a real grudge fixture between [...]
