France have a back-row who makes even Maro Itoje appear sluggish, while another brilliant Leinster product can shineSekou Macalou (France): Pretty much everyone has given up on French rugby. Even when they are not sacking their national coach or having their national training centre raided by police investigating the alleged activities of Bernard Laporte, president of the French Federation, Les Bleus are still widely seen as a shambles. And yet, when it comes to promising young players, France possess two of the most dazzling diamonds in the tournament in the form of Matthieu Jalibert, their new 19-year-old whiz-kid of a fly-half, and Sekou Macalou, a 22-year-old back-row who makes even Maro Itoje appear sluggish. The gifted Jalibert has the full...
Eddie Jones’s side are well placed to chase down a third successive title, despite missing a number of LionsThe Six Nations launch was a story of the sick nations. Between them they had 57 players either doubtful or unavailable for at least the opening round, a figure that was added to the following day when the Wales scrum-half Rhys Webb was ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury.England led the way with 14 absentees, followed by Ireland on 11 and Wales, together with Scotland, on 10. The new France coach, Jacques Brunel, is without nine players, although such is his rush to airbrush out his predecessor, Guy Novès, that he would probably have overlooked most of them, and...
Orderly change has rarely been Twickenham’s strong point but with the Australian staying until 2021 the union has a clear post-World Cup planThe marriage between Mr Edward Jones of Sydney and English rugby has been so formidably successful that the surprise renewal of vows was easy to understand. Short of slipping a ring on Jones’s finger and wheeling in a cake, the Rugby Football Union could not be more delighted to be snuggling up to its favourite Australian for two further years beyond 2019, even at the cost of forsaking all others. Related: Eddie Jones signs contract extension as England coach until 2021 Related: Eddie Jones: ‘I want England to be the best. You should never be satisfied’ Continue reading...
Eddie Jones’ side could suffer knock-on effect as Pro14 teams teach wealthier English and French rivals a lesson in the European Rugby Champions CupAmid all the myriad European pool permutations and head-scratching arithmetic it can be easy to lose sight of the bigger picture out on the wintry fields. This has been a Champions Cup season of vivid, gripping contrasts in which the Pro14 sides are teaching their wealthy English and French league counterparts an increasing lesson in humility.Even if the Premiership sides, in particular, stage a last-gasp resurrection they are already scrabbling for quarter-final crumbs. It could be that England has only one representative – or possibly none – in a last eight that could contain five Pro14 sides....
The England coach’s choice of captain remains controversial but, as Sam Warburton and Gareth Edwards have proved, great leadership is about much more than what happens on the pitchA captain leads but is not always a leading player. Eddie Jones attracted scorn when he suggested some players were poor at club level but outstanding on the international field and vice versa, but history suggests he had a point.Jones was explaining why he intended to retain Dylan Hartley as his captain despite the hooker’s lack of form for Northampton and the perceived greater individual qualities offered by Saracens’ Jamie George. If his choice of language was suspect – anyone who was a poor club player would not stay in the first...