-
Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Stripe me! How can this Zebre side be Champions?
Zebre have lost their last four away matches by scores that could double up as opening stands at the T20 World...
-
Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: I see Italy becoming a real powerhouse of the North
Brendan Gallagher‘s feature on the future of Italian rugby last week got me thinking – and not just about the Azzurri...
-
Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Saracens have found the answer to repeated success
Having won the Premiership for the first time in 2011 and then not achieving much in the immediate season afterwards, a...
-
Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Senior men must take the blame at Ospreys
Ospreys held on for a good win at Newport Gwent Dragons on Friday night but it looks too little too late...
-
Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: James Haskell can add muscle to GB’s bid for Rio gold
Great Britain’s campaign to become the first team to win Sevens gold at the Rio Olympics is in such dire straits...
-
Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Good luck Conor O’Shea in saving Italy!
The great Sergio Parisse, and I use the word in its truest sense, was visibly outraged last week when the vultures...
-
Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Ravaged All Blacks offer hope to Wales
The striking similarities between Julian Savea and Nehe Milner-Skudder extend beyond the fact that each has scored eight tries in his...
-
Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Wales must believe they can upset the All Blacks
Flexing your muscles on the beach is one thing – doing it in the ring is quite another. I’m sure the...
-
Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Stuart Hogg’s a worthy winner but Sarries pair push him close
George Kruis did not get onto the shortlist for the Six Nations Player of the Year, but along with the runner-up,...
-
Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Treating players like men helped win Grand Slam
Reflecting on last week’s Grand Slam I can’t help thinking how much the team has changed from the latter days of...
-
Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain talks to Eddie Jones about the way ahead for his Grand Slam team
Eddie Jones clearly believes in the saying that “success starts on Monday”. No sooner had the England head coach returned from...
-
Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain picks his Lions team based on their Six Nations form
It may still be some 14 months before the British & Irish Lions leave these shores to take on the formidable...
-
Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Onfield revival is just one of many battles facing England
What a week for English rugby! Congratulations to Eddie Jones and his coaching team for completing England‘s first Six Nations title...
-
Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoHave Calders got answer for England’s twin peaks?
Brendan Gallagher says the Curry brothers may be chasing one international place but that precedent has been set by a pair...
-
Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Glen Webbe shows laughter is still the best medicine
Glen Webbe was the first black British player to appear in the World Cup and the first of any colour to...
-
Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: Lay off Joe Marler, PC brigade – boys will be boys!
When did the word gipsy, which has been used to describe Romany people in Britain for centuries, become non-permissible? To my...
-
Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s Six Nations review
Round One: Parisse’s moment of madness What so soon? My jacket pockets were still stuffed with World Cup ticket stubs and...
-
Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Straight-talking Eddie Jones has flicked the right switch
Eddie Jones has used his personality as an asset everywhere he’s gone, and it’s been the same since he took over...
-
Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson: Phew, a Grand Slam at last and not yet another grand shambles
And so ‘Fast Eddie’ has lived up to his name. A Six Nations Grand Slam at the first attempt made all...
-
Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams: It was great to see George North equal my try-scoring record
That’s more like it. After the nightmare of Twickenham it was great to see Wales putting that performance to bed with...
-
Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Sorry, Serge but you were a bit-part player in that try
Browsing through a bookshop the other day, I picked up a copy of The Sunday Times Great Sporting Moments of the Twentieth...
-
Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoSean Fitzpatrick: Lions will have the talent to test All Blacks
Sean Fitzpatrick and Jason Robinson come from different sides of the rugby spectrum in every sense, but this week the indestructible...
-
Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson’s column: Time is on your side, Ian, but are Wales?
As career records go, it surely stands supreme – three Six Nations’ tournaments, three Six Nations titles and two Grand Slams....
-
Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain’s column: Kurtley Beale’s hit jackpot, now he must deliver
Kurtley Beale has made a habit of unsettling Australia‘s rugby suits, and he was at it again this week with the...
-
Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher verdict: I’ve never seen a more brilliant 21-year-old than Maro Itoje
Maro Itoje is only 21 and on Saturday was just his second start in a senior England shirt but I’m struggling...
-
Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams’ verdict: Wales were simply terrible
There were times at Twickenham on Saturday when I just could not believe my eyes. I thought, maybe, I was having...
-
Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott’s verdict: Savvy England were not the one-man band Wales expected
The big difference in the past is that England have lost decisive games like this, but this time they produced when...
-
Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher feature: Georgia have success at Japan 2019 on their mind
Georgia might have been mobbed at Tbilisi airport at some ungodly hour on their return from RWC2015 and, yes, a week...
-
Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Lineout is looking strong again under George Kruis control
With the wheels now firmly back on the chariot, the dream of Grand Slam glory can at last be whispered. England‘s...
-
Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: Cage this monster by downsizing the game
The biggest monster facing the healthy future of Rugby Union is the ‘Nanny State’, and it is far more dangerous than...
-
Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Come on Wales, try and give us a thrill
Wales will bring their Iron Curtain to Twickenham next week and defy England to find a way through. They will man...
-
Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Get smart, Wales, and you’ll win the big one
It doesn’t matter if you’re a new cap or a veteran international, facing England is the game that gets the blood...
-
Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: England will need to crack the Shaun Edwards defence code
This game between England and Wales is winner-takes-all, because, whichever side win, they will almost certainly win the 2016 Six Nations...
-
Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher feature: No matter what your nationality, you can’t beat a good singsong
We are slap bang in the middle of the rugby anthems season – official and unofficial – but where do they...
-
Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain talks to Quins’ Aussie hard man James Horwill
James Horwill is part of an Aussie invasion that has taken English rugby by storm this season. However, the big former...
-
Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Revert to 15-man game to reduce walking wounded
Injuries, injuries and more injuries. What is it about today’s game that is causing more and more players to miss game...
-
Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Why France are at sixes and sevens over David Smith
There was a time when rugby enjoyed a titter at football’s expense over their nationality laws and the amusing case of...
-
Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: No prizes for tact, but Eddie Jones was honest about Jonny Sexton
The attempt to bracket the Eddie Jones comments about Jonathan Sexton over the fitness of the Irish fly-half to play Test...
-
Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott comment: Billy Vunipola must be at his best to halt charging cousin Taulupe Faletau
It’s a shame we didn’t see more expression from the Welsh team but the win overrides that and momentum is all...
-
Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher comment: That tackle by Jack Nowell embodies new spirit
Eddie Jones threw plenty of verbal punches before yesterday’s game and, for the record, I thought bringing Jonny Sexton’s parents into...
-
Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams’ verdict: Livewire Gareth Davies is the Welsh gamebreaker but he must learn quickly it’s not all about try glory
Gareth Davies sums up Wales right now – plenty of effort but lacking that final crucial touch. Davies was named man...
-
Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Let’s ban the booze – at least during the match
Wales opened their wondrous new stadium to a fanfare of fancy features, not least its capacity to pour alcohol in record...
-
Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: Nothing Super about these new franchises
It’s the start of the new, expanded Super 18 season next weekend, but the rumblings of discontent south of the equator...
-
Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn: Let’s hope the rugby gets better as Six Nations goes on
As we take a break in the Six Nations, it gives us all a chance to evaluate how everybody is doing....
-
Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoEddie Jones – We’re playing with the big boys now
The second division instalment of the Six Nations is over, and, despite away wins over Scotland and Italy, England have done...
-
Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Maro Itoje can match Ireland’s energy in the back-row
If Joe Schmidt is under pressure in Ireland, that’s pretty unjust. It would be based only on the World Cup, and...
-
Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher feature: A phone call from Eddie made Dan Cole king again
Fortunes can change very quickly in sport as Leicester prop Dan Cole has good reason to ponder one way or another....
-
Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Stand firm up front and put Jamie Roberts on rampage
Hopefully Jamie Roberts is reading this while he is wrapped in cotton wool, being fed grapes and fanned with feathers, because...
-
Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher: It feels like a minor classic is waiting for us in Cardiff
No sign yet of the ‘beautiful game’ that Guy Noves had Toulouse playing in their heyday but that was a massively...
-
Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: James Bird swoops into pole position with Eagles
Goalkicking fly-halves turned out mob-handed for the opening round of the Six Nations, all nine of them. How wonderful to report...












