After his side snatch a 21-16 win over Wales, England’s coach admits adopting Spanish practices used by Portuguese manager in bid to catch up All BlacksThis year’s Six Nations has yet to reach the halfway mark but already the old tournament has a renewed sense of verve. When a game matches the occasion in Cardiff there is no finer place in the world to watch rugby union, even if the lurching late twist in England’s favour made it a bittersweet Welsh symphony.Carry on like this and rugby will migrate from the back pages to the front as it did a decade and a half ago, scooping up numerous agnostics en route. Great sport played out before a glorious backdrop still has...
The trip to New Zealand, despite the schedule, can restore faith and the Six Nations is shaping up nicely but with the professional era now more than 20 years old, the sport’s administrators must show conviction in the next 12 monthsThe most pertinent rugby quote of 2016, inevitably, came from Eddie Jones. “There’s only pressure when you don’t know what you’re doing,” murmured England’s head coach shortly before guiding his adopted country to their 13th Test victory of a perfect calendar year. As a short, sharp Twitter-friendly summation of how and why the Australian guru has turned English fortunes around, it was inch-perfect.What would England’s national cricket and football teams do for a milligram of Jones’s self-assurance right now? Maybe...
Lions coach named Andy Farrell, Steve Borthwick and Rob Howley in his backroom team but also has a few fascinating elements in place for the New Zealand tourThe beauty of every British & Irish Lions tour is the delicious uncertainty, despite the rather limited shock factor created by the announcement of Warren Gatland’s three assistant coaches.Gatland continues to believe the odds can be overturned in New Zealand and, together with his lieutenants Andy Farrell, Rob Howley and Steve Borthwick, has been busy incorporating some fascinating elements into his plan for next summer. Related: Warren Gatland names Steve Borthwick and Andy Farrell in Lions coaching team Continue reading...
England and Ireland dominate and there is room for plenty of All Blacks while Stuart Hogg and Justin Tipuric fly the flag for Scotland and WalesFull-back Stuart Hogg (Scotland)The lovely individual try Hogg scored against Georgia in Kilmarnock earns him this award, a 70-metre solo effort which required a neat chip and regather in addition to pace and vision. Rob Kearney and Mike Brown both have their warrior qualities and Ben Smith enjoyed a great Rugby Championship but Hogg is in pole position to be the Lions Test full-back in New Zealand. Related: Autumn internationals 2016 verdict: Guardian writers' highs and lows Related: Magic moment from Mako Vunipola set England’s unstoppable train in motion | Andy Bull Continue reading...
New Zealand remain the yardstick but their flaws feed Lions’ hopes for next summer even though the settled order of the Six Nations is in need of a shake-upThe All Blacks remain at the top of the world rankings by a comfortable margin, but their defeat by Ireland in Chicago, which ended a record of 18 consecutive Test victories, gave the Lions succour before the tour next year. New Zealand’s next Test is against the Lions on 24 June in the first of three and if they remain comfortable favourites to win the series, Ireland showed in two matches against them that they can crack under pressure. Related: Ireland clinch first ever win over All Blacks to end New Zealand's record...