RUGBY MATTERS

TIME waits for no man. As the World Cup recedes in the rear-view mirror and we concentrate on the Premiership it’s slightly alarming to register that for the majority of teams their League season is already 30 per cent done. This weekend we complete round five of 18 at which point, obviously, only four teams will then proceed to the play-offs. They always used to say the League was a marathon not a sprint, but this season it feels more like a middledistance race and you hang around at the back at your peril. And the windows to appreciate the action are slim an...