Ollie Phillips: I fancy England to beat an All Blacks team lacking leaders November 18, 2022 The All Blacks are the only team in rugby to transcend the sport so, for many of England’s squad, tomorrow’s match will feel bigger than the visit of world champions South Africa next weekend. When the All Blacks are in town it’s more than about 80 minutes of rugby; it’s the heritage, the history, the [...]
Ed Warner on the sporting year that was December 22, 2022 And so we reach the end of a year of sporting excess, or at least an excess of sport. Sunday’s FIFA World Cup Final was the calorific dessert that may well have caused you to come over all Mr Creosote, exploding under the temptation of just one more dish of must-see sporting competition. While we [...]
European rugby returns with a smidge of South African summer December 11, 2022 England may have lost to the French in the football but in the weekend’s European Champions Cup rugby the English sides won five matches while the French could muster just four. Here are some talking points as the two European rugby competitions returned – this time accompanied by five South African teams. THE BIG EUROPEAN [...]
What sport is on the TV this weekend? March 24, 2023 This weekend in sport sees cricket, rugby, football, golf and horse racing grace our screens. Here’s what you need to watch. Cricket: Women’s premier League eliminator – Friday The inaugural Women’s Premier League, the sibling of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket has been a smash hit on the subcontinent with thousands turning out to [...]
Six Nations: Ireland vs France lived up to the Goliath vs Goliath hype February 13, 2023 It was billed as a clash of titans, Goliath versus Goliath, world No1 against world No2, and Saturday’s Six Nations showdown between Ireland and France lived up to every single ounce of hype thrown its way. A 32-19 win for the home side ended France’s hopes of repeating the Grand Slam but, perhaps more importantly, [...]
Ed Warner: My trip to the Paralympics taught me that sport is bad for your health September 5, 2024 Our sport business columnist on the danger of watching the Paralympics, dynamic pricing, election season in Olympic land, and Scotland’s Commonwealth Games dilemma. Watching sport is bad for your health. Or can be. I’m glad I wasn’t strapped to a heart-rate monitor during the wheelchair rugby in Paris over the past week or I would [...]
Roman Ryder Cup could be battleground for future of golf February 2, 2023 Next Thursday sees the 2023 edition of golf’s unironically-sponsored Waste Management Phoenix Open, where last year exuberant beer tossers halted play when celebrating a hole in one. Ever since, it’s the golfers not spectators who’ve been bringing the sport into disrepute. Tantrums and flung tee pegs, meltdowns about Twitter birthday snubs and playground name-calling have [...]
Champions Cup offers London clubs chance to shine on greatest stage June 29, 2022 At a swanky Dublin event yesterday afternoon the best and brightest of European, and South African, rugby discovered their fate in next season’s Champions Cup. In a recent shake up in format, there are no longer six pools of four but instead two pools of 12. Teams now play a team from the other two [...]
Ed Warner: Is Saudi’s goal of using sport to boost GDP by 1.5 per cent achievable? September 28, 2023 John Maynard Keynes argued for government spending – any spending – to stimulate economies in recession, even paying people to dig holes and then fill them up again, given the multiplier effect when they spend their wages. Saudi Arabia may not be facing such an economic challenge, but the sports investments pursued by its Crown [...]
Saracens announce four-year stadium and shirt sponsorship deal with StoneX and City Index January 10, 2021 Saracens have announced a major new sponsorship deal with financial services company StoneX Financial and its subsidiary City Index. The four-year agreement will see the club’s north London home named the StoneX Stadium. Trading platform City Index will appear on the front of the shirts worn by both Saracens’ men’s and women’s teams. Saracens’ men’s [...]