British and Irish Lions fever is beginning to descend. The 2016/17 domestic seasons begin in the home nations this weekend and whilst players’ attentions will be solely focused on performing…
Countries
Can Argentina break into the world’s ‘top three’?
Times, they may be a changing. The traditional triumvirate of power in the Southern Hemisphere – New Zealand, Australia and South Africa – is no longer the all-powerful force it…
Analysis: New Zealand blindside Australia for Bledisloe victory
August 16, 2014 – precisely two years and two weeks ago – saw Australia hold New Zealand to a 12-12 draw at a sopping wet ANZ Stadium in Sydney. Neither…
Blackadder prefers to look to Bath’s future rather than past glories
If you can work out what the next number in this sequence is then you should probably get a job writing a horoscope column in a newspaper or apply for…
Top 14: Boudjellal chases the American Dream
Mourad Boudjellal spent his summer vacation in Florida and it seems he was doing more than just lying on a sun lounger. “Boudjellal and the American Dream” was the headline…
Southern hemisphere stars of the future
By Alex Shaw The All Blacks’ 42-8 demolition of the Wallabies in Sydney was exquisite, only further expanding the gulf in quality – both technically and mentally – between themselves…
Round One: The Rugby Championship highlights
The Rugby Championship got off to a thrilling start. Just hours after a bugging device was said to have been found at the InterContinental hotel on Sydney’s picturesque waterfront, the…
Eddie Jones sets sights on Springboks to arrest losing run
When England met up at their recent training camp in Teddington, so the story goes, Eddie Jones walked into the room and told the 40-plus blokes there that none of…
French rugby enjoys a popularity boom as it looks to the future
The Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) launched its ‘strategic plan’ on Tuesday, outlining its vision for the sport in France up to and including the 2023 World Cup. Before president…
The phoney war is over, as the Rugby Championship prepares for lift off
By Alex Shaw The Rugby Championship kicks off this weekend, with Australia hosting New Zealand and Argentina travelling to South Africa, and the phoney wars that are part and parcel…