Premiership play-offs: Bath and Leicester to set up old school final June 6, 2025 The final day of the Premiership was a brilliant advert for English top-flight rugby, but this weekend’s play-offs will turn that up another notch. On Friday night runaway league leaders Bath take on local rivals Bristol Bears while, on Saturday, Leicester face Sale Sharks in the East Midlands. The Premiership semi-finals are always a series [...]
France real winners out of Bordeaux Champions Cup success May 26, 2025 Sometimes it takes a Bordeaux to come along and remind you why the Investec Champions Cup is the most prestigious competition in club rugby. A couple of years ago you wouldn’t have even put Bordeaux in the mix to reach the knockout stages of the competition, then they started to build a ruthless machine that [...]
Bordeaux to edge Northampton in Cardiff Champions Cup thriller May 23, 2025 It’s that time of year again when rival fans pack into one of Europe’s great stadiums to watch the Investec Champions Cup final. This year it is Northampton Saints and Bordeaux Begles in the superb Principality Stadium in Cardiff. And what a final we’re in for. It’s an Anglo-French battle, a classic match-up from days [...]
Danny Care: Harlequins No9 a brilliant player May 17, 2025 Harlequins No9 Danny Care has been a brilliant servant to the Premiership and he will be missed from the English top flight, writes Ollie Phillips. “It’s been a really tough decision, but I think it’s the right time for me, and it’s the right time for the club. I’ve been so lucky to wear this [...]
Premiership run-in: Saints and Bath will impact top four May 9, 2025 Look at the Premiership table and you’ll see that the top team and Challenge Cup finalists Bath are 15 points clear of second-placed Leicester Tigers, and Champions Cup finalists Northampton Saints are 17 points safe from dropping out of the top eight. And with just three games remaining for each team, and a maximum of [...]
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, [...]
