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 world’s top rugby union teams at the moment are those who can strike the right balance between risk and rewardEven when they lose England’s cricketers are making everyone sit up and pay attention. Their one-run second Test defeat in New Zealand after enforcing the follow-on is merely the latest compelling example of their determination, win or lose, to make things happen. How good it is to watch international players exhibiting so little fear, trusting their instincts and, where possible, having some fun.In rugby union, the same is presently true of Finn Russell and the now-injured Ange Capuozzo but not a whole heap of others. The orthodoxy, as underlined by the Wales v England game in Cardiff at the weekend,...
The former Wasps flanker has had a rough couple of years but roared back with a standout performance at TwickenhamNearly two and a half years ago England claimed a dominant victory here against Georgia in the best-forgotten Autumn Nations Cup. It was a match memorable for little other than England handing first Test starts to Jack Willis and Ollie Lawrence and proceeding to maul their opposition to death. So much has changed in the ensuing years and months – not least both players losing their jobs – yet equally, there are considerable parallels to this victory over Italy that represent a smallish step in the right direction for England under Steve Borthwick.Both Willis – who was making his first start...
Dave Rennie made 12 changes from the narrow loss in France but the head coach would have expected more from his sideDave Rennie embarked on this five Test European tour with some key questions that needed answering. One, perhaps the most important one, concerned the depth of his squad. Winning would always be a key performance indicator, but bolstering a team capable of mixing it with the best at next year’s World Cup would always loom largest in the Wallabies coach’s in-tray.They were second best for much of their match against Italy in Florence and rightly ended on the losing side. Debutant Ben Donaldson, who had only been on the pitch for five minutes, had the chance to change the...
Squad strength in depth and open-minded coaches have led to the grand slam and now the biggest prize awaitsLet’s start with Ange Capuozzo’s break, one step, two steps, a swerve, a curve, a burst, 10, 20, 30, 40m and more past one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine flailing Welsh defenders. You knew Capuozzo must be good just from the look of him when he came off the bench to make his debut against Scotland the previous week –a man that small and pretty must have something about him to get ahead in Test rugby – but it’s been startling to watch him this past fortnight, when he has scored two tries and set up one of the...