In every title-winning campaign there is an unsung hero, a player who is largely unheralded yet integral to success. For Bath this year, the under-the-radar star has been Carl Fearns. Though…
Charlie Morgan
Analysis: What Dave Ewers would bring to England
The much-scrutinised practice of selection in sport boils down one essential equation: known quantities against potential– proven performers against untried talents. In the coming months as the Rugby World Cup encroaches…
Aviva Premiership: Team of the season
15. Alex Goode (Saracens) A consummate, classy operator who never seems to get the credit he deserves. Offers calm authority and precise positioning in defence and hits the line nicely in…
Analysis: Five reasons Leicester Tigers beat Wasps
If ever an 80-minute performance epitomised a club – its values, ethos and ingrained traditions – it was Leicester Tigers’ 26-21 defeat of Wasps at the Ricoh Arena on Saturday.…
Analysis: Giteau, Pocock and Mitchell – Wallabies emerging from the wilderness
The Rugby World Cup narrative has already taken so many intriguing twists and turns that December 3, 2012 – when each nation discovered their group-stage opponents – feels like a…
Analysis: What do Armitage and Kvesic offer at the breakdown?
The number seven is almost as sacred in modern Test rugby as it is at Old Trafford, Manchester United’s theatre of dreams. Thanks to a lineage of eye-catching, influential players…
Premiership analysis: Four moments of Wasps magic
As a glorious Sunday afternoon for Wasps extended into evening, news broke that the club would be launching a retail bond listed on the London Stock Exchange. According to chief…
The six contenders for Aviva Premiership glory
Intrigue, excitement, outrage, indignation – the current domestic campaign in this country has encouraged just about every emotional reaction from a captive audience. With three regular season rounds to go, six teams remain in…
European Champions Cup analysis: Maro Itoje, Saracens
European Champions Cup analysis: Maro Itoje, Saracens The re-signing of a 20 year-old academy graduate rarely registers on the public consciousness. When news of Maro itoje’s “long-term” deal at Saracens…
Tackle by tackle: How Jacques Burger stopped Clermont
If Saracens are the comic villains of European rugby – and one prominent Irish blog has rather wittily christened them Globo Gym after the muscly-but-dumb badguys in Ben Stiller’s boisterous movie…