The sport needs every week to be a super Saturday, not a one-off extravaganza, if it is to broaden its appealIf Super Saturday truly lives up to its billing it will be bittersweet. On the one hand, we have three teams still in with a genuine chance of winning the title and the real possibility of a feast of attacking rugby in pursuit of bonus points. If it does turn out that way, though, it leaves me asking why it doesn’t happen every week.If England and Ireland – less so the current France team because they are more built that way anyway – can flick the switch and approach these matches with an attacking mindset we may just have a...
Underdogs turned the rugby world upside down to beat the odds-on All Blacks and create one of the greatest games in the history of the tournamentIn these dark days the unscripted drama of live sport feels more important than ever. The second World Cup semi-final at Twickenham in 1999 seems like yesterday to me even though Émile Ntamack, France’s left-wing on that autumn day, now watches his son play for their country. No one in the stadium will ever forget it. At the end, and I kid you not, I turned round from my seat in the East stand press box and grown men were actually weeping.Context is all. This wasn’t just an astonishing spectacle. It came, like so many...
Punches flew and the crowd bayed for blood on that fevered day in Paris when England rode the storm to a famous victoryFrance v England in the quarter-finals of the 1991 Rugby World Cup wasn’t really rugby: it was an 80-minute history play, a piece of pure malevolent theatre.Some might say that’s over the top. They might be right but they can always ask Will Carling, the England captain that fevered day. I did, via email. Related: The Forgotten Story of … France v England, 1992 Continue reading...
Scotland’s win over France hands England a chance for the title – while Ireland wait in the wingsLeaving aside Manu Tuilagi’s red card and Joe Marler’s bizarre piece of handiwork England had reason to be quietly encouraged by their last Six Nations outing for the foreseeable future. They started well, imposed themselves up front and showed the kind of defensive appetite, in the face of a physical Welsh challenge, that distinguishes the best teams. If this was the last Twickenham hurrah for George Kruis and his long-time lineout guru Steve Borthwick, they went out in style; Tom Curry, Courtney Lawes, Maro Itoje, Kyle Sinckler, Ben Youngs and George Ford all had good games and the absence of Billy and Mako...
The scoreline at Twickenham flattered Wales, while France were pragmatic in pursuit of bonus points rather than chasing the grand slam as the clock wound down at MurrayfieldMuch was made in the build-up of the intention of both sides to play with an edge, but from the opening minutes it was clear England were sharper and hungrier. When the ball bounced loose, the Wales captain, and talisman, Alun Wyn Jones prepared to fall on it. He was beaten to it by Maro Itoje and that set the tone for the afternoon. Wales kept banging into a white wall while England, never moving the ball for the sake of it, waited for their moment. The home side defended with power and...