Problems with scrum and lineout were punished ruthlessly by Jonny May as Ireland were manhandled out of the gameA first glimpse of a future without Ireland’s longstanding think tank at half-back, a first glimpse of a side that cannot quite summon the fury of recent times – and it reveals a work in progress with much still to accomplish. This England team were in the World Cup final a year ago and are Six Nations champions, but if that is the standard to which Ireland aspire, which it must be, Andy Farrell found much to ponder at Twickenham, his team manhandled out of this contest to a degree surely inconceivable to recent iterations in green.Much was familiar. Ireland made England...
A one-sided encounter on a cold, wet afternoon illustrated just how much international rugby is missing fansThere is an old story about a rugby correspondent at a local paper who began his report of a particularly dull game by giving the score and mentioning there were a couple of hundred people at the match, then went on to list them all by name until he had filled the space on the page.Sadly, there were so few people here on Saturday that it would be a struggle to make it halfway down this particular page if we tried it again. Related: Jamie George makes history with hat-trick in England demolition of Georgia Related: England 40-0 Georgia: Autumn Nations Cup – as...
Two untaxing wins meant the corporate behemoth arrived quietly – but the smart money says it’s here to stayIf Amazon Prime Video was hopeful its maiden foray into rugby coverage would be the main talking point of the weekend’s international Test match action, its thunder was unceremoniously stolen mere hours before its first broadcast by Sky Sports. After Sky’s viewers were spoiled by the unprecedented sight of Argentina beating the All Blacks in the Tri-Nations, a laboured Scotland win over Italy and routine England rout of Georgia in our own comparatively mundane autumnal jamboree, the Nations Cup, could never hope to compete.“Amazon delivers the rugby,” it told us, the pre-match graphic featuring rampaging and hulking household names carrying brown parcels...
Don’t expect Barbarians rugby against Georgia – Eddie Jones wants more versatility in quest to make his players the bestWith 30-odd matches to go until Eddie Jones names his squad for the 2023 World Cup, Saturday marks the start of the next phase for this England team. There’s a degree of experimentation in terms of personnel – and if I were Ollie Thorley I’d be frustrated to miss out – but supporters should be keeping a closer eye on the collective. Related: Eddie Jones picks 'flipping tough' Jack Willis for England debut against Georgia Team to face Georgia at Twickenham, 14 November Related: State of the nations: how the Autumn Nations Cup contenders shape up | Robert Kitson Continue reading...