The Championship blog – Week 18 round-up

ANY THOUGHTS of prematurely engraving the name of Newcastle Falcons on the Championship silverware were put firmly on hold when Bedford came within seconds on inflicting a first defeat on…

sean maitland scotland

IT WOULD be easy –and indeed lazy –to suggest that the referee was solely to blame for Scotland’s loss to Wales. Yes, Craig Joubert’s performance was one every referee in…

brian o'driscoll

JUST LIKE his French counterpart Kidney is a man under pressure. At the beginning of the tournament, it was expected the fourth round in Dublin would be a defining moment…

Dan Biggar

WALES HAD a tackle completion rate of 98% against Scotland. That’s right – 98%. They only missed two tackles in 80 minutes and completed 83. It was a sensational display,…

WALES AND Scotland, like two prize fighters slugged out a first-half bereft of quality and punctuated by a constant penalties given by whistle-happy referee Craig Joubert. The only highlight, if…

Sergio Parisse

THERE IS a lot of love in the air. Not the kind of sickly sweet love, where champagne with strawberries is a must and a handmade card has to be…