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...
Eddie Jones’ side make case for defence against the Pumas before taking on Michael Cheika’s Australia and Six Nations has edge over Rugby Championship Related: England and Owen Farrell dig deep to win 14-man battle with Argentina Related: Eddie Jones sets his sights on Australia after ‘outstanding performance’ Continue reading...
England under Eddie Jones are nothing if not purposeful, New Zealand can’t be blamed for their physicality and Scotland could profit from Argentina’s travails Related: England hint at attacking riches to rival pomp of Woodward era in defeat of Fiji Related: Ireland nurse wounds after New Zealand prevail in bruising encounter Related: Japan serve up warning to Wales in advance of South Africa challenge Related: Wallabies question scrum tactics despite bruising win over France Continue reading...
Wayne Bennett’s side were beaten by Australia at the weekend and again miss out on a Four Nations final – with little prospect of improvement if the status quo is maintained“It’s an easier job than I thought it would be,” admitted Wayne Bennett with perhaps the most surprising comment following yet another failure for England at international level. And that is what it was: failure. Hope sprang eternal for English rugby league fans with Bennett and Sam Burgess heading up a brave new era. Ultimately, it was the same old result.Has Bennett taken England backwards? Are England in a stronger position to win the World Cup than they were 12 months ago? Can rugby league’s “master coach” inspire a turnaround...
England have put their World Cup travails firmly behind them, Australia have a mountain to climb and Wales coach Rob Howley faces some tough decisions It is remarkable how quickly sporting fortunes can swing. A year ago, England were failing to escape their World Cup pool on home soil while South Africa were just two semi-final points away from reaching the final. Twelve months on, the Springbok team is a very different, more vulnerable animal. The simultaneous loss of several long-time stalwarts has coincided with a continuing player exodus to Europe and Japan, while the politics of transformation further complicate Allister Coetzee’s task. The Boks should overcome Italy this weekend but, longer-term, the outlook looks highly uncertain. England, on the...