Can Wales beat All Blacks for the first time since 1953, will Eddie Jones continue to work his magic at Twickenham and how heavy will injury toll be for the competing nations?The last time it happened was in 1953, so don’t hold your breath. But Warren Gatland’s Lions have given everyone hope by losing only one of their three summer Tests and Wales, at the very least, should be fresh and competitive. Do not underestimate Shaun Edwards’s motivational influence when he has a point to prove. Related: Ellis Genge at home with England as face-off with Wales declared ‘a draw’ Keep an eye on Scotland v Australia. Scotland beat the Wallabies in Sydney in June and will be up for...
Our first power rankings since the 2015 World Cup mark two years to go until Japan 2019. England lead the chasing pack while Australia and Wales struggleBefore the All Blacks’ record 57-0 victory over South Africa, Steve Hansen felt the need to defend his side’s uneven performances in 2017. The response was emphatic. It used to be the case that the All Blacks peaked at this stage of the World Cup cycle but Hansen is adamant they will improve in the next two years. Twelve months ago they struggled to maintain their remarkable form through the autumn and as they have crammed five matches into their schedule this year, an upset is not out of the question. But if New...
Warren Gatland and the rest of the rugby union world will be in Kyoto on Wednesday when the groupings are determined for the 2019 tournamentEven Phileas Fogg would have struggled had he been involved in modern-day rugby union. One day Warren Gatland is in London talking up the Lions, the next he is en route to Japan for the 2019 Rugby World Cup draw. Next week he has to be back in Wales, the week after it is Ireland followed by a long wintry trek around New Zealand. If it is Wednesday, it must be Kyoto, in theory at least.There will be precious little relaxation at 39,000 feet either, if the pool draw takes on a deathly complexion once more....
As Irish fans have amply demonstrated there is a deep well of passion for rugby in the country which the sport’s premier tournament would do well to tap intoImagine, for a moment, it is 2023. People have had enough of politics and onrushing global warming and need something more fun to talk about than imminent Armageddon, assuming it has not already happened. What better than a Rugby World Cup, still relatively pure of heart compared with the football version held in Qatar the previous year? If ever there was a moment to showcase the sport as a force for good, this is it.Where, then, should this feelgood event ideally be held? Where will it not simply generate a few quid...
Eddie Jones’s glorious England revolution has come too late for this tour. Like Ireland and Wales, the Lions will seek territory and set-piece masteryJohn Kingston was in a state of shock when he was invited to stand in front of a camera last Friday night minutes after Harlequins had lost to Exeter at The Stoop. The club’s director of rugby wore the air of a man who, in the words of PG Wodehouse, had searched for the leak in life’s gas-pipe with a lighted candle.The match had been the most effervescent in the Premiership this season, fizzing with movement, daring, skill and the outrageous. Quins were at their most swashbuckling, one movement containing offloads from their props Joe Marler and...