Lions humbled by best side ever

Brendan Gallagher looks back on the harsh reality of Clive Woodward’s 2005 Lions tour to New Zealand Broken ankle: Lawrence Dallaglio...

Maiming of O’Driscoll was cynical, the cover-up was simply shameful

Anatomy of an assault: Long after the ball has gone Tana Umaga and Kevin Mealamu spear tackle Brian O’Driscoll, who is...

Judgement Day – for the regions … and Wales

Wales can’t afford to let this summer’s tour pass without blooding some youngsters – and that’s why Judgement Day is going...

Mugford aims to prove Sale were wrong to dump him

FRUSTRATED fly-half Dan Mugford insists he still has a Premiership future despite the disappointment of being deemed surplus to requirements by...

Evans: These backs can test my All Blacks

Nick Evans tells Neale Harvey the areas in which the Lions can dominate Harlequins flyhalf Nick Evans never bets against the...

Malins on Farrell trail thanks to mentor Shanahan

By NEALE HARVEY ENGLAND U20s and Saracens fly-half Max Malins has hailed the influence of Old Albanians head coach James Shanahan...

Easter tuition puts Mat back on track

By GARY FITZGERALD MAT Luamanu has thanked Nick Easter for helping to get his career back on the straight and narrow...

We’re locked and loaded in forwards

THE giants of the second row have always loomed large in the folklore of the Lions as the driving force behind...

Hopper jumps ship for sojourn in France

FORMER England Saxons centre Matt Hopper, 32, is set to leave Harlequins at the end of the season and move across...

Springbok star on Diamond wish list

SALE SHARKS are lining up a move for Springbok scrum half Faf De Klerk and his fellow countryman Stade Francais back...

Warriors step up pursuit of ace Steyn

WORCESTER have held more talks with Stade Francis fly-half Morne Steyn in an effort to persuade him to move to Sixways...

ON THE BLINDSIDE

BY NEILFISSLER Follow me on Twitter: @neilfissler WASPS are in talks with former South Africa centre Juan de Jongh about moving...

ROOM 101

THE ENGLISH-BORN CANADA FLY-HALF TAKES US THROUGH HIS PET HATES FROM THE RUGBY WORLD AND BEYOND ROBBIE POVEY 1. Disturbed sleep...

Biljon fury as Jersey face Friday night Cup fiasco

By NEALE HARVEY FRUSTRATED Jersey rugby director Harvey Biljon has blasted B&I Cup organisers for turning what should be his club’s...

Munster make it six in row over Scots

By DARAGH SMALL MUNSTER kept pace with leaders Leinster as they backed up their Champions Cup form with their fourth win...

Warburton limps off as Ulster strike late blow

By RONAN O’BRIEN Ulster …24pts Tries: Jackson 11, pen try 28, L Marshall 69 Conversions: Jackson 12, 29, 70 Penalties: Jackson...

Dragons complete a year of misery on the road

By ROB COLE Zebre…29pts Tries: Ruzza 14, Minnie 30, Padovani 50, Meyer 52 Conversions: Canna 30, 50, 52 Penalty: Canna 5...

It’s Byrne’s night after Biggar kick flies wide

By JAMES CANDY Ospreys …19pts Tries: Davies 5, Tipuric 61 Conversion: Davies 62 Penalties: Biggar 8, 40 Leinster …20pts Tries: Cronin...

Scarlets do enough to keep playoff dream alive

By ROB COLE Scarlets …51pts Tries: Van der Merwe 5, 16, 67, S Evans 9, 36, Owens 25, Price 43, Davies...

Valiant Edinburgh fightback falls short

Edinburgh…19 Connacht …22 CONNACHT just about held off a brave comeback from Edinburgh to edge a tight victory at Myreside. Having...

Lockwood looking forward to Falcons reunion with Graham

By JON NEWCOMBE NEWCASTLE prop Sam Lockwood has backed Gary Graham to shine among the Premiership’s big-hitters. Like Lockwood the year...

Chiefs thrive on defying the odds says Steenson

By NEALE HARVEY EXETER fly-half Gareth Steenson reckons Rob Baxter’s ability to outwit bigspending Premiership rivals in the transfer market is...

Italy should stage finals

NOBODY is keener than me to see rugby gain an even firmer foothold in Spain and I don’t doubt that next...

There’s never been another like England fly-half Karen

THIS week marked the 30th anniversary of the first women’s rugby international between Wales and England which was staged at Pontypool...

Willie wasn’t a wonker – he just got it wrong

Don’t blame Willie Le Roux or Danny Cipriani for that matter. Wasps’ humbling defeat at Leinster went much deeper than an...

Play-off bid still alive insists Dickens

BACKS coach Allan Dickens insists Northampton can still reach the Premiership semi-finals but they must win all their games to do...

Gopperth demands a big reaction to Dublin fiasco

By NEALE HARVEY PREVIEW… Wasps v Northampton Today. Kick-off 3pm. Ricoh Arena FRUSTRATED Wasps centre Jimmy Gopperth is desperate to exorcise...

Soft tries getting annoying – Gold

GARY Gold was frustrated by his team’s display and refused to believe that they are safe from relegation. “Mathematically, it’s not...

Gap widens on Bristol as Sharks edge 9-try spectacular

By COLIN NEWBOULT Sale Sharks…36pts Tries: James 7, 28, Haley 39, McGuigan 64, B Curry 77 Conversions: MacGinty 8, 29, 40,...

European Cup bid still alive – Deano

NEWCASTLE boss Dean Richards insists Champions Cup rugby is still there for the taking after this dramatic victory closed the gap...

Scrum boys give Joel his shot at redemption

By JOHN RILEY Newcastle …16pts Tries: Socino 22 Conversions: Delany 24 Penalties: Hodgson 46, 65, 81 Gloucester …14pts Tries: May 37,...

Baxter: Mistakes gave us problems

EXETER head coach Rob Baxter, relieved that his side have twice hit back from 14 points down to take ten points...

Slade’s slip-ups give Bristol hope of upset

Exeter…38pts Tries: Woodburn 1, Parling 40, Whitten 41, Waldrom 52, 77 Conversions: Slade 1, 40, 41, 52; Steenson 77 Penalties: Slade...

Ackermann will give Gloucester some steel

ON the face of it Gloucester’s appointment of Johan Ackermann, below, as their new head coach for 2017-18, seems a shrewd...

Stimmo learns a painful lesson

OLD men really should know better. Tim Stimpson is paying the price for taking me on at football in a Bet...

Lions need tough guy at ten

MA’A NONU may not be around to scare the life out of defences anymore, but you can bet that the All...

Ford’s a top 10 in Europe but he needs proper pack

MATT O’CONNOR returned to these shores this week to resume command of the club he left in 2013, which begs the...

Kingston: Now we need big response

DUNCAN Taylor claims Sarries are hitting their peak at the right time after they crushed Quins to clinch a playoff place....

Saracens start their long sprint for home

Saracens…40pts Tries: Ashton 16, Brits 23, Rhodes 73, Goode 77 Conversions: Farrell 17, 24, 73, 78 Penalties: Farrell 34, 42, 61,...

French in farce over prop swap

THE Six Nations inquiry into allegations of French cheating against Wales ought to expose a farcical flaw in head injury procedure...

Ace Evans may quit Harlequins year early

By SAM JACKSON CHRIS Ashton scored his fifth try in four games as Saracens hammered Harlequins at Wembley in what could...

‘I was close to being an LA drop-out’

Monster hooker Joe Taufete’e has been a massive hit at Sixways but it was not so long ago that the huge...

Young Gun: Jamie Barden – Cranleigh School

A broken leg cost him his place in the Harlequins academy but Jamie Barden proved he is full of resource by...

Peter Jackson: Tale of two rugby cities could not be starker

On a wintry Friday night by the Clyde, Glasgow Warriors and Newport Gwent Dragons played out a 16-all draw. So few...

Jeremy Guscott: Clash of Titans? No longer, but it’s still a crucial game

The concept of ‘The Clash’ appeals to me, with an expected crowd of 60,000 at Twickenham to watch Bath against Leicester...

Lions watch: tightheads and hookers

New Zealand have the highest strike rate off set piece possession in the world game. That is why it is imperative...

Cohen comes out fighting in defence of Mauger axe

Leicester chief executive Simon Cohen has defended the sackings of Richard Cockerill and Aaron Mauger, claiming both decisions were “robust” and...

Room 101: Will Spencer – Worcester lock

1. Hesitation at roundabouts I get frustrated when people come to a stop at roundabouts regardless of whether there’s any traffic...

Brendan Gallagher remembers the 1993 Lions tour

The last truly amateur tour in Lions history ended up as just about the perfect metaphor of everything that had preceded...

Shane Williams: Warburton still the pick of captaincy candidates

The clock is ticking in the run up to Warren Gatland‘s Lions squad announcement, but for me there’s only one man...