After the sterile Autumn Nations Cup, low-risk rugby union has to be ditched in order to win over fresh convertsThe Six Nations starts less than two months after the conclusion of the kick-and-chase festival that called itself the Autumn Nations Cup. The sterile environments in empty stadiums stripped heat and passion from matches, but the general unwillingness to run from deep was not a symptom of Covid-19 but the continuation of a trend towards defence and low risk.Even the Scotland head coach, Gregor Townsend, who as a player was known for his daring and invention, said he did not think style was important and that the best way to give supporters a lift was to win. He felt the lack...
Centre won only 17 caps but was the architect of the attacking style that came to symbolise Les Bleus after the first world warGabriel Ibitoye, who last summer joined Agen from Harlequins, was asked recently whether he felt he had made the right move in swapping England for France. The wing is likely to be elsewhere next season with his club bottom of the Top 14 without a win in 14 rounds and 20 points away from safety, but he will take some tempting back to the Premiership.“English rugby, in my opinion, is more structured,” he said. “Here, when I get the ball, I look up and think what the defenders are doing and how do I beat them. Players...
The Six Nations champions found a way to win but must now focus on expanding their game to deal with stiffer challengesIt was a beautiful day, a glorious game, and a great occasion. After a long, torpid sort of autumn when Test rugby has seemed, at times, pretty dull and bloodless, here was a glimpse of the best of the game, and in it there was the promise of better, brighter days ahead. Related: Boring rugby? Wait and see: the sport deserves a break after a difficult year | Ugo Monye Continue reading...
Lack of clarity about what will happen at the end of the season is unfair to clubs, players and spectatorsAnyone who watched the Premiership game between London Irish and Leicester on Sunday would have been struck by a few things. The first was the venue: how good it is to see the Exiles in their brand new home in Brentford, playing with a renewed sense of purpose. Even their snazzy green kit felt like progress, in contrast to Leicester’s away strip, which has prompted fans to ask if it was designed by a child with a set of crayons.Equally uneasy on the eye was Leicester’s modus operandi. Even in the closing moments, with possession in their own 22 and the...
A climate in which flair is seen as too risky bodes ill for England v France, and the game cannot afford another turkey Common ground is hard to find these days. Whether it be politics, the climate crisis or sport, there is generally a hardcore prepared to argue that, actually, black is white or down is up, even if overwhelming evidence exists to the contrary. The exception is rugby union, where creeping unease about the game as an uplifting spectacle is now virtually universal.Take the Autumn Nations Cup, conceived as a means of cheering everyone up in the absence of the usual November Test schedule. From the Covid cancellations to the stultifying defence-obsessed “action” it has largely had the opposite...