Racing 92 and Wasps know the double-seeking Chiefs will be relentless and intense but thwarting them is another matterBefore England played New Zealand in the 1995 World Cup semi-final in Cape Town, they did not pay too much attention to Jonah Lomu, the 19-year-old wing who was to reduce their defensive wall to rubble and reconstruct a game that was in the death throes of amateurism. “Nobody really knew much about him or his capabilities,” recalled the England No 8 that afternoon, Dean Richards, last year. “I do not think we did our due diligence on Lomu: we may have discussed him, but that was probably as much as we did do.”England preferred to focus on themselves, although in the...
The irresistible Anglo-French affairs of Racing v Saracens and Exeter v Toulouse are the pick of this weekend’s sport and can puncture myth international rugby is the only show in townOccasionally it is worth pausing for a moment and asking why people prefer to watch certain team sports compared to others. Football, for example, is easy to understand and truly global, its club game often more gripping and higher quality than its international counterpart. Cricket works well on television and has a range of formats to suit all tastes. Rugby – union and league – can be more compelling than either but is nowhere near as good at displaying the best of itself on a consistent basis.Partly it is cultural...
A fired-up Saracens will present a formidable test in Dublin but they may be the least of the Irish province’s problemsSuccess in rugby is generally mined from the painful depths of failure. Look at the most recent European champions and a glint of silverware has been the product of years of toil. Saracens, champions for three of the past four seasons, endured a three-year period when they regularly finished second in big knockout games. Leinster, currently seen as firm Champions Cup favourites, finished rock bottom of their qualifying pool only four years ago.It is almost as if all high-achieving club sides require a lengthy incubation period, with the exception of big-spending Toulon who remain one of only two teams –...
If governments are not aligned then the Champions and Challenge Cups risk being cancelledThe Pro14 resumes this weekend with a series of derbies that will not involve cross-border travel before the play-offs on the first two weekends of September. Whether it can be played to a conclusion will hinge on who makes it through and, if matches involve teams from different countries, whether government restrictions would involve the away team having to quarantine.That would mean game over and it is a problem the organisers of the European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup are grappling with one month before the knockout stages of the tournaments are scheduled to be played. Three countries are involved, the UK, France and Ireland as well...
Away sides and Irish kickers could be the beneficiaries if teams ever get back on the road to Marseille, where the final should have been this weekendThis should have been one of the grand weekends of the rugby year. The Champions Cup final was due to be staged in Marseille on Saturday and a quick check of the weather forecast is a reminder of just how grievously it will be missed. Unless, that is, you don’t much care for clear blue skies, temperatures of 25C and a glass of something chilled overlooking the Vieux Port.With party-loving fans from right across Europe all gathering beside the Mediterranean it had the potential to make the Monaco Grand Prix feel like a garden...