There was a lunch meeting last week about the Varsity Match, held in a hospitality box at Twickenham stadium. At its conclusion, the affable convener Rob Cole, a director at…
England
Aviva Premiership: Let’s look after home-grown tightheads
FIVE. That’s a number to remember and come back to. With Premiership Rugby announcing that they will be extending the salary cap to £5.1m plus an additional £400,000 ‘Home Grown…
James Simpson-Daniel: My five career highlights
Kingsholm bow My first choice is my home debut at Kingsholm against Rotherham (March 2001). I came off the bench and scored a try. I got the ball on the…
Rugby and royalty combine at Invictus Games
GREAT BRITAIN beat the USA to win the wheelchair rugby title at the recent Invictus Games and a few more familiar faces kept the crowd entertained when playing an exhibition…
Premiership player analysis: Will Fraser, Saracens
One of rugby’s weirder nuances is that sometimes it is better not to have the ball. Every so often, relentless aggression in defence, allied to only a few attacking ambushes,…
Saints and Sinners: The weekend’s talking points
The Saints 67 reasons to be cheerful Rugby fans in the British Isles who have been missing their domestic rugby fix over the summer were treated to a try-fest as…
Start of season talking points
Gloucester to pack a punch Gloucester simply weren’t at the races last season, with a porous defence leaking 60 tries and finishing a lowly ninth. It served to be the…
The Championship preview: Bristol and Worcester firm favourites
The Championship raises the bar They came from all points west: Chris Morgan, of the Pirates, stayed overnight in Ipswich to break the seven-hour journey from Cornwall. Plymouth’s Iain Grieve…
Aviva Premiership: Five young Englishmen to watch
The ravenous pursuit of television viewing figures means just about every tournament in professional sport is accompanied by marketing hyperbole these days. Even so, this Aviva Premiership season does feel…
Rugby must build on Women’s World Cup
Rugby must make the most of this opportunity to grow the women's game