Paul Rees looks ahead to the Champions Cup semi-finals where Quins and Saints are facing an uphill battle BEFORE this season’s Champions Cup started, there […]
SERGE Blanco, the finest full-back ever to grace the union game, spent his entire club career at Biarritz. So did the celebrated loose forward Michel […]
In the course of wheeling their way into the Challenge Cup quarter-finals last weekend against the Cheetahs, the Michelin Men of Clermont brought a somewhat […]
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Andre Boniface, who died earlier this week aged 89, and his younger […]
ON THE BLINDSIDE Veteran scrum-half Danny Care is set to snub lucrative offers from France and sign a contract extension at Harlequins. Care has received […]
Montpellier are leading the chase for Munster centre Antoine Frisch, who has declared his allegiance to France over Ireland. Born in Fontainebleau, France, Frisch qualifies […]
FRENCH COLUMN – JAMES HARRINGTON France’s Ligue Nationale de Rugby hopes to pocket more than half-a-billion euros, after launching a call for tenders for Top […]
ON THE BLINDSIDE LEICESTER have signed Australia centre Izaia Perese for the 2024-25 season on a ‘multi-year’ deal from Sydney-based Waratahs. The 26-yearold former rugby […]
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TOULON coach Pierre Mignoni earned something of a reprieve this weekend, as his side’s 54-7 win over Montpellier at Stade Mayol […]
England’s Manu Tuilagi will leave Sale Sharks, and likely bring an end to his more than a dozen-year international career, to join French club Bayonne […]
By JON NEWCOMBE PREVIEW… Georgia vs Portugal Today. Kick-off 8pm, Stade Jean-Bouin, Paris Eddie Jones has coached three national teams, South Africa have won two […]
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Oyonnax manager Joe El-Abd promised last week that his side would ‘fight to the end’ following their so-near-so-far 35-39 home defeat […]
By LUKE JARMYN Alex McHenry scored Jersey’s third try against Exeter in September, yet eight days later was selling nearly all his possessions and left […]
By PAUL REES PREVIEW…France vs Italy (Today. Kick-off 3pm, Decathlon Arena, Lille) IT does not come any more demanding in the Six Nations than visits […]
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The afternoon after the Friday-night chastening Six Nations defeat in Marseille before, a subdued French rugby audience tuned in to the […]
Six Nations team-by-team previews: Italy Brendan Gallagher predicts new coach Gonzalo Quesada could just be a very good appointment SO what next for Italy? What […]
Dafydd Jenkins’ yellow card last week for Exeter against Bayonne has caused much debate with most people agreeing that is was almost physically impossible for […]
JAMES HARRINGTON In a league featuring the likes of Racing 92 and Toulouse, Toulon and La Rochelle, Bordeaux and Stade Francais, there’s a ‘big match’ […]
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED HERE’S a little brain-teaser, just to make sure you’ve been paying attention at the back of the class: since 2014, when […]
By PAUL REES Norhtampton are doing everything they can to persuade Courtney Lawes to carry on at Franklin’s Gardens, but should the former England captain […]
NICK CAIN Northampton are playing attacking rugby which combines skill, speed, flair, and precision, and their hammering of Bayonne on Friday night at Franklin’s Gardens […]
Northampton defence coach Lee Radford cites simplified structure as the key to his side’s turn in fortunes this season. In recent years, Saints were top […]
The 2023/24 Champions Cup resumes with an eagerly anticipated third round of pool-stage matches. English teams have performed exceptionally well up to this point, with […]