HANGING-OFF cliff faces, dodging bullets and zip-wiring down air vents may seem like a Mission Impossible, but even Ethan Hunt would think twice about taking on Warren Gatland's Lions coaching…
Owain Jones
Scots fail by playing Springbok games
SOMETHING WAS wrong. It did not sit right. Scotland were heading into a game off the back of a colossal All Black drubbing and they were...confident. While South Africa sent…
England 14-20 Australia: The Verdict
ENGLAND WENT into this Test against a supposedly dispirited Wallaby squad full of confidence. Sadly, when the whistle went, the roles had been reversed, with England, not so regal, in…
Scotland v South Africa: The Preview
TWO YEARS ago, Scotland went into a Murrayfield Test against South Africa on the back of a 46-point defeat by New Zealand and upset the odds to win 21-17. Last…
England v Australia: The Preview
AUSTRALIA HAVE made the short hop over the channel after their heavy loss to France still talking the talk, yet negativity seems to follow them like a bad odour at…
France’s toughest battle with themselves, not the Pumas
THE GREATEST challenge facing France on Saturday in Lille isn’t the Pumas – strong as they’ll be - but the French themselves. “We will see if we’re capable of stringing…
England 54-12 Fiji: The Verdict
By Owain Jones, Rugby World Editor In a nutshell England performed a satisfactory, if perfunctory job on an underprepared and underpowered Fiji side. The hosts got off to a sluggish…
Scotland outclassed by peerless All Blacks
MURRAYFIELD MAY have hosted the world famous All Blacks, but the only way to see the game properly was in a pub where the sounds of the football drowned everything…
Ireland need to get back to winning ways
I CAN'T begin to imagine the impact on Ireland's pysche having come so close to beating the World Champions on their own turf, and then suffering a record defeat the…
Wales v Argentina: Five things we learned
WALES’ 12-26 defeat to Argentina seems to have come as a shock to many. To those who analysed the Pumas performances in the inaugural Rugby Championship, it hasn't. Argentina may…