Hosts ride a wave of patriotic fervour inside the Stade de France to recover from dismal start and stun New ZealandFrom the top deck of the Stade de France came a tricolor, a shimmering butterfly of red, white and blue, floating through the sultry Paris night, catching the disco lights as it fell to earth. Then another. And another. Then – a little less poetically – a can of Coke Zero, spraying little droplets of brown liquid across a dozen rows. The air was thick with joy and sweetness. Nobody was leaving. In an unfathomable September heatwave, France was having a scorching summer party, and even though the game was over, all eyes were on the dancefloor.Damian Penaud, the man...
Eddie Jones maintains loss to France doesn’t mean anything for Rugby World Cup but noble defeat is becoming a habit for this teamThey lost again. They improved again. They fired some shots but often into their own feet. They dominated possession but didn’t convert it to points. They created lots of chances but squandered plenty of opportunities. They were mostly brave and occasionally stupid. Again.Australia’s 41-17 loss to France piles more pressure on a side already labouring under a 0-5 start to the season. But the coach maintains this latest pummelling doesn’t mean much in the grander scheme of the Wallabies’ World Cup campaign starting on 10 September. Defeat, Eddie Jones says, isn’t another nail in the coffin, it’s another...
If Eddie Jones’s young team can challenge the World Cup hosts, Australian rugby may just get the ‘historic reset’ it needsThe French invented the amuse-bouche and aperitif to prime the palate before a great feast. The Wallabies will be of similar service when they whet local appetites for the Rugby World Cup in the one-off warmup Test against host nation France on Monday.The Stade de France clash is the fruit of a deal hatched over lunch between the RA chair, Hamish McLennan, and former French rugby boss and World Rugby vice-chair Bernard Laporte in 2021. On the menu in Saint Germaine that day was hare-in-hare-blood-gravy. But the rabbit in the headlights this weekend is Eddie Jones who needs to improve...
A record 91 tries, a match for the ages, Italy’s ‘Florence Dallaglio’ shining, and an England side who ‘weren’t good at anything’France may not have won the title but, once again, they possessed the best player in the tournament. Antoine Dupont was so good against England it was almost laughable: sharp, clever, strong, able to kick off both feet … if he looked slightly weary at the start of the championship, he was back to his best by the end of it. Damian Penaud, Jonathan Danty, Hugo Keenan and Caelan Doris also deserve honourable mentions. Continue reading...
The fly-half debate will rage on after Marcus Smith failed in conditions that George Ford would have been better suited forThere is something very English about fly-halves being hung out to dry in the rain. England did not lose this match because of Marcus Smith, rather they were thumped by a fabulous France team who ruthlessly exposed the limits of Steve Borthwick’s side and gave an exhibition in how to handle the heavens opening. Still, the cold hard facts are that Smith did not deliver the statement performance he was expected to and England’s fly-half debate rages on. The biggest call of Borthwick’s tenure to date can unequivocally be called the most damning of failures.All the more so when you...