There were sensational performances all through the England XV, topped off by the lock who had the game of his lifeThey say it used to take the great Japanese swordsmiths a year to forge their finest swords. Eddie Jones spent two and a half crafting the weapon he used to cut up the All Blacks. He had been working on it ever since they announced the draw for this World Cup back in May 2017, heating it, honing it till it had exactly the heft and sharpness it needed for this one specific job. This was the first time England had ever beaten New Zealand in a World Cup, yes, but also only eighth in over a century of Test...
Freddie Burns’s showboating blunder that cost Bath the match is a reminder to players to stop behaving like 12-year-oldsAt least Freddie Burns is in good company. Virtually every sport, at some stage, has produced a fall guy whose ill-advised showboating has gone viral and reminded us all of the value of humility. For Burns read Leon Lett of the Dallas Cowboys, guilty of a similar error in the 1993 Super Bowl, or the great American jockey Bill Shoemaker, who stood up in his stirrups to celebrate victory on Gallant Man in the 1957 Kentucky Derby only to be misjudge the finishing line and finish second.The word “showboat” came from the United States where gaudy river steamers used to act as...
Maro Itoje is not looking his freshest in the Six Nations and Mako Vunipola has also gone quiet after the exacting tour to New ZealandOne of the most interesting sequences in sport is threatening to repeat itself yet again. Every four years, during the Six (or Five) Nations season immediately following a British and Irish Lions tour, it is as if lead weights have been attached to the legs of one nation and restorative oxygen pumped into the dressing-rooms of the rest.Spot the common theme in the following list of champions in post-Lions years since the late 1960s: France, Wales, no winner, Wales, Wales, France, Scotland, Scotland, Wales, France, France, France, France, Ireland. It is necessary to spool back 55...
The head coach is rolling the dice with key personnel decisions, but starting Leigh Halfpenny and Maro Itoje on the bench are gambles that may backfireConsidering the form in which he finished the season – not to mention how he performed in New Zealand last summer – Liam Williams’s selection is hardly a huge surprise but it still came somewhat out of the blue seeing as he played all 80 minutes against the Chiefs. He has a running threat not posed by Leigh Halfpenny but still, the 2013 player of the series can count himself unlucky. Halfpenny has been rock solid so far – even if Gatland has repeatedly said he needs more than that from his back three to...
Itoje has proved a vital element in the Lions’ ‘pressing game’ and is key to trying to frustrate Beauden Barrett, so should start in the first Test against All BlacksThe British & Irish Lions sealed victory against the Maori All Blacks with a try that was spawned by their relentless defence which resembles the pressing game favoured by many of the top football clubs.Damian McKenzie – the Maori fly-half who is one of the most threatening runners in Super Rugby, where he operates mostly as a full‑back – received the ball in his 22 and was quickly closed down by the second-rows George Kruis and Maro Itoje 12 minutes into the second half, even though he was standing deep. Related:...