Warren Gatland and the rest of the rugby union world will be in Kyoto on Wednesday when the groupings are determined for the 2019 tournamentEven Phileas Fogg would have struggled had he been involved in modern-day rugby union. One day Warren Gatland is in London talking up the Lions, the next he is en route to Japan for the 2019 Rugby World Cup draw. Next week he has to be back in Wales, the week after it is Ireland followed by a long wintry trek around New Zealand. If it is Wednesday, it must be Kyoto, in theory at least.There will be precious little relaxation at 39,000 feet either, if the pool draw takes on a deathly complexion once more....
New Zealand remain the yardstick but their flaws feed Lions’ hopes for next summer even though the settled order of the Six Nations is in need of a shake-upThe All Blacks remain at the top of the world rankings by a comfortable margin, but their defeat by Ireland in Chicago, which ended a record of 18 consecutive Test victories, gave the Lions succour before the tour next year. New Zealand’s next Test is against the Lions on 24 June in the first of three and if they remain comfortable favourites to win the series, Ireland showed in two matches against them that they can crack under pressure. Related: Ireland clinch first ever win over All Blacks to end New Zealand's record...
Ireland’s latest bruising win shows they are the real deal, England’s set-piece strength will be key against Australia, and New Zealand are human after allWhen Ireland beat New Zealand on 5 November, and the All Blacks returned the favour two weeks later in Dublin, there was a sense that the two best teams in the world were slugging it out. But in that second game, Ireland were not just beaten, but beaten up, left bruised and bloodied by the brutal All Blacks. They were forced into three early changes, with Johnny Sexton and Robbie Henshaw ruled out of the clash with Australia. Simon Zebo had a knock, and CJ Stander overcame a head injury. On matchday morn, Sean O’Brien joined...
A year after the then captain and his team were booed at the Rugby World Cup there is respect for his doggedness and not only because of their winning runOdd little memories stand out crystal clear from the great mêlée of Saturday’s match, which was otherwise one long blur of flying bodies, boots and balls, reset scrums, rolling substitutions, red and yellow cards. One is from 25 minutes in, when Facundo Isa leapt to catch Ben Youngs’ box kick. Isa spilled the ball forward and it landed slap in the lap of Chris Robshaw. He puffed out his cheeks, punted it 30 yards downfield and set off in pursuit. Robshaw galumphed along like a happy labrador chasing a stick on...
Victory over Argentina in a thrilling and brutal encounter was further proof that England have been transformed under the leadership of Eddie JonesLate on Saturday afternoon a brilliant red sunset settled over south-west London, making a fitting backdrop for a bloody match at Twickenham. It was a game that contained, as Eddie Jones said, more drama than your average EastEnders omnibus. It was bracketed by two red cards, one for Elliot Daly four minutes from the start, another for Enrique Pieretto four minutes from the finish. In between, including all the extra time at the end of the first half, there was an 80-minute melee, which looked, at times, like one of those cartoon bust-ups in which everything is a...