All eyes turn to Europe as rugby’s Champions Cup gets underway December 6, 2021 Come winter every season, European rugby halts its domestic competitions and looks towards the Champions Cup – the premier international club rugby competition in the world. This season, in a revised format, it’s imperative that teams get off to a flying start. Here’s what to look out for. Fast Start Last season saw a new [...]
Wales Women can shine in future rugby games after copying England April 22, 2022 Wales are a team on the up as they prepare to meet France in the penultimate round of the Women’s Six Nations. Having not won for three years prior to the tournament, they take two victories from their three matches at this championship into the clash with title challengers France. Such a turnaround would have [...]
Jones impressed with England’s character following autumn internationals November 23, 2021 The international season is done for another year, the roars of Twickenham have ceased and the party is over. But how has England coach Eddie Jones assessed the autumn? Three wins from three for Jones’ England this Autumn. A rout of Tonga was expected, as was the edging-out of Australia, but the scalp of the [...]
Mako Vunipola interview: ‘England can win the Grand Slam’ February 3, 2022 He may currently not be part of Eddie Jones’s Six Nations squad, but Mako Vunipola still thinks England will go undefeated this year. The experienced loosehead prop concedes that France “look strong” but believes key absences will make it hard for Wales to defend their title. “England can get the Grand Slam, yes,” Vunipola told [...]
Owning it: Why triathlon’s new PTO Tour is giving equity to athletes like Alistair Brownlee July 20, 2022 Athletes including Britain’s Alistair Brownlee taking part in this weekend’s Canadian Open, the first event proper on triathlon’s new PTO Tour, will have an extra incentive to perform. Because as well as earning prize money they are also part-owners of the body running the tour, the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO). It means they stand to [...]
Ollie Phillips: The squad is exciting but it’s still classic Eddie Jones January 21, 2022 When I saw the England squad Eddie Jones had named for the Six Nations on Tuesday evening, I was actually pleasantly surprised. It is good to see head coach Eddie Jones picking in-form players this year, though I must say the squad seems rather predictable. The return of Owen Farrell is no surprise. Jones is [...]
Ed Warner: The European Super League isn’t dead yet – and it’s because of the Premier League February 16, 2023 “Laughable”, “all hot air”, “flimsy”, a “walking corpse”. So has English football, on a mostly unattributable basis, dismissed the attempt to breathe new life into the European Super League concept which unraveled so swiftly and spectacularly two years ago. But sat on this side of the English Channel, we would say that, wouldn’t we? Is [...]
Rugby, Avengers Endgame, and Article 50: What trended on Google in 2019? December 11, 2019 Rugby, cricket and Game of Thrones topped Google searches in both London and the UK, as Google released its 2019 Year in Search lists today. Google also revealed the most popular people, events, and topics searched in London and the UK. England’s run to the final of this year’s Rugby World Cup propelled the event [...]
Leinster set to appeal fixture cancellation after widespread postponements December 19, 2021 Leinster Rugby are set to appeal the cancellation of their round two Champions Cup fixture after swathes of other matches were called off due to Covid-19. The Irish province had their fixture with Montpellier cancelled by governing body EPCR despite being able to field a match-day 23. The 23 completed four rounds of PCR testing [...]
Ollie Phillips: England’s next two matches can make or break their Rugby World Cup hopes November 22, 2018 England’s autumn has gone well so far, with a lot of the negativity surrounding Eddie Jones and the team dissipating, yet they have been fortunate and cracks have, for now, just been papered over. They were very lucky to edge out a South Africa team who pummelled them in the first half; downpours played into [...]