Manu Tuilagi needs more time to recapture his best form while Wales’s Josh Adams is at the top of his game and will deserve a first Six Nations call-upBecause it is Manu Tuilagi, the question had to be asked, but if he were picked for England now it would be more on faith than form, notwithstanding the cheeky and acrobatic manner in which he leapt over a writhing mass of bodies to score Leicester’s third try in their victory against London Irish at Welford Road on Saturday. Tuilagi had also played a part in their second try, but that was more in the vein of a Keystone Cop. “We need to have a realistic view of Manu,” said Matt O’Connor,...
Of the five Champions Cup groups, Pool 5 looks like going down to the final weekend – with one point separating the top three: Bath, Toulon and ScarletsTake nothing away from Wasps’ hugely impressive victory against La Rochelle but the absence of Victor Vito, Levani Botia, Pierre Aguillon and Jason Eaton from the starting XV must be taken into consideration. Wasps certainly learnt from their mistakes of seven days previous however, were far more physical in the collisions and had Danny Cipriani in fine fettle at fly-half. It is not so long ago that Wasps were in somewhat of a crisis, languishing down towards the foot of the Premiership table amid a terrible run of injuries. Elliot Daly may yet...
England clubs suffered their worst set of results in European history but Bath, Leicester, Saracens and Wasps have the chance to lead a reversal of fortunesOK, so it looks bad. Seven European defeats for England’s seven Champions Cup representatives was their worst return in European history. Given four of the games were at home, it bodes ill for the reverse fixtures this weekend. Fair play to their Pro14 and Top 14 rivals but hang on; are we saying Bath have no chance at home to Toulon, that Leicester are doomed when they entertain Munster at Welford Road and that La Rochelle are guaranteed to win at Wasps? All are potentially competitive fixtures, all could still go either way. Even if...
Saints must avoid appointing a coach on the rebound – as happens on football’s managerial carousel – and focus on someone who can stimulate a club in declineFlying high in September, Jim Mallinder was shot down in December. Northampton led the Premiership after their bonus point victory over Harlequins in the fifth round, but five successive league defeats since then saw them drop to 10th.That run, together with three Champions Cup defeats out of three with 124 points, and 18 tries, conceded despite two of the matches being at Franklin’s Gardens, prompted the Saints’ board to call time on the Premiership’s longest serving director of rugby. Related: Dan Biggar pledges loyalty to Northampton after Jim Mallinder’s exit Related: Jim Mallinder...
Danny Care continues to improve for Harlequins (and England), Northampton are on the ropes and Exeter are really hitting the high notesThe rivalry between England’s two leading scrum-halfs, Ben Youngs and Danny Care, is becoming every bit as intense as that between Matt Dawson and Kyran Bracken in the side of the late 90s/early 00s. If that was England’s last great team, the vim of warring No9s is as strategically a valuable a dynamic as any. To date Care has been seen as the sparky game-breaker, with Youngs the game-shaper, but Care’s all-round game continues to develop. “Everyone’s going to remember him as a fantastic rugby player,” said John Kingston, Quins’ director of rugby, “but I’ve talked to him about...