Financial woes and player welfare concerns abound but rugby union remains a compelling spectacle when everything clicksEvery now and again on social media a video clip will emerge of a lonely surfer trying to catch a skyscraper-high wave off the coast of Portugal. Time it right and the long ride down is truly epic. Get it slightly wrong and the consequences of that misjudgment do not bear thinking about.In many ways the 2022-23 Premiership season feels broadly similar. Increasingly there are jagged financial rocks everywhere and the game’s physicality continues to make it unsuitable for the faint of heart. Continue reading...
London Irish full-back qualifies for England, Scotland and Wales. Will Eddie Jones invite him to tour Australia?Welcome to The Breakdown, the Guardian’s weekly (and free) rugby union newsletter. Here’s an extract from this week’s edition. To receive the full version every Tuesday, just pop your email in below:A few months ago, Eddie Jones turned up at an England Under-20 camp to run an eye over the next generation. Every national coach dreams of finding a teenage gem, someone with a little bit of genuine X-factor, so Jones asked the assembled coaches if they reckoned there was anyone potentially good enough to feature at the 2023 Rugby World Cup. If there’s one who might, came the reply, it’s that dark-haired lad...
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...
As the Exiles sealed their Premiership return, Richmond offer a reminder that there must be more to the sport than money“Two nations; between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets.” Benjamin Disraeli was writing about the rich and the poor, but his words could also apply to the gulf that has grown between the Premiership and the Championship.London Irish sealed their return to the top flight last week on a very good Friday for the Exiles. They beat Richmond 46-7 at the Athletic Ground, a facility that looks pretty much as it did in the...
Cool-headed Exeter shone without setting hearts racing, as Saracens and Wasps slipped while injuries dominatedFinal league position: 1st Related: Premiership team of the season: from Henry Trinder to Donncha O’Callaghan | Robert Kitson Related: Saracens turn focus on recapturing Premiership title from Exeter | Robert Kitson Continue reading...