What's new in this season's English top flight?
Rugby World
The players missing openers in the Aviva Premiership and Pro12
THE WAITING is almost done. We are just over a week away from the opening days of the Aviva Premiership and the RaboDirect Pro12 and already we are condemning some…
Top 14: Hook ready to lead Perpignan to new heights
TIMES, THEY are a-changin’ at Perpignan. Who would have thought just a few years ago that arguably the most parochial of French clubs would have a Welshman for a captain?…
Minis: How to play Circle King
LAST MONTH we featured the sumo version of King of the Ring, where two players work to push the ball-carrier out of the ring, or steal the ball from him.…
Rugby Rant: ‘Forwards rugby’ a drab spectacle
THE SIGHT of two colossal packs throwing the proverbial kitchen sink at each other is becoming all too common in the northern hemisphere. This year’s Six Nations was far from…
Last ride for RaboDirect
THIS SEASON is the last the Pro12 will have the title sponsor, RaboDirect. The bank have opted not to renew its sponsorship contract with the league, meaning that just as…
Diary of a new academy recruit in NZ – Part Three
SINCE MY last blog on my stay at the Inside Running Academy, a huge amount of things have happened in a very short amount of time: finals, gym sessions, tough…
England’s back-row headache for Stuart Lancaster
By Alan Dymock IT’S NOT long until the Aviva Premiership season starts and we’ve only just stopped nursing our British and Irish Lions hangovers. However, with the start of the…
Top 14: Clash of the big spenders with Toulon v Racing
By Alan Dymock AS CLASHES go, Toulon versus Racing Metro draws more attention that John McCririck’s wardrobe. The two superstar-stables do battle in the second round of France’s Top 14…
Rugby Championship: Minimal changes for Round 2
By Alan Dymock AS INEVITABLE as the front of the newspapers showing flaxen-haired teenage girls jumping for joy on school-results day, the big guns have made almost no changes for…