As Paul Ackford pointed out in his typically forthright column in Saturday’s Times, three of the five men to captain their country to a Rugby World Cup victory have been…
European Champions Cup
European Rugby: Weekend’s talking points
Sarries need that final step The 46-6 demolition job that Saracens did on Clermont Auvergne in last April’s Heineken Cup semi-final felt like a seismic shifting of Europe’s tectonic plates. It…
Lawrence Dallaglio: Twickenham the right venue for European Champions Cup final
In the November issue of Rugby World there is a Big Debate: were EPCR right to award the European Champions Cup final to Twickenham? In the feature it is contested by…
Rugby statistics: can trends identify the first European Champions Cup winner?
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss? The Heineken Cup is no more, has ceased to be, is an ex-tournament. Instead we enter the new era of the…
Five things we learned in the rugby world in September
Slipping giants It was reported last week that global tiger populations have stabilised. This will come as little consolation to the people of Leicester, as their Tigers are in a…
Rugby statistics: Are yellow cards really that bad for you?
There is a common belief that a team receiving a yellow card will be punished by an average of seven points during the following sin-bin, but is that actually true?…
Wales: WRU and RRW are finally in agreement!
The War of the Daffodils was brought to an end with the signing of the Rugby Services Agreement (RSA). The new agreement brings to an end a highly damaging period…
Five things we learned from the Heineken Cup Final
With Bakkies Botha and Danie Rossouw lurking menacingly on their front line, Toulon were never going to be scared of the wolf-pack. In the end though, the manner in which…
Saints and Sinners: The weekend’s talking points
The Saints The legend How could Jonny Wilkinson not be the number one Saint this week? England’s ultimate hero – and world rugby’s most magnificent role model – played his…
Toulon’s steps to Heineken Cup success
Toulon retained the Heineken Cup with a 23-6 victory over Saracens in the final at the Millennium Stadium. So how did they do it?