Joe Cokanasiga will bring bulk to England’s backline and Billy Vunipola does the game a good turnAlready it seems likely Joe Cokanasiga will win his first England cap this autumn and the smart money would be on him doing so against Japan in the third match of the series. He has impressed since his move to Bath and Eddie Jones has been eager to add size to his backline for a while now, taking Cokanasiga on the 2017 summer tour of Argentina. Against Exeter on Friday, Cokanasiga showed how devastating he can be when finishing a second‑half try, albeit ruled out, but the 20-year-old’s inexperience was also exposed by Exeter, particularly for Don Armand’s try. England do not want for...
Nathan Hughes mars a fine display with a swinging arm, Morgan Parra’s injury causes head injury assessment concerns and Jonny May lifts Leicester to the topNathan Hughes was voted man of the match for Wasps and rightly so for a fine showing, full of aggressive running. Eddie Jones was in attendance to see his performance and the national No8 jersey is in effect his, considering Billy Vunipola’s long-term injury. Both – along with Joe Marler whose yellow card may well have been red – may have an uncomfortable wait for the citing commissioner’s report however, following a swinging arm to the head of Marcus Smith. It was an ugly moment and one that could mean Hughes faces further repercussions. It...
Fly-halves are becoming an endangered species, Matt Toomua’s upswing continues apace and Jim Mallinder has a tough decision to makeIt has taken a series of injuries to highlight it, but there would appear to be a paucity of fly-halves in England at present. Bath have a headache there with Rhys Priestland injured and Freddie Burns almost certainly suspended following his red card in his first start for his home-town club against Worcester. Wasps, meanwhile, had to move Rob Miller in from full-back, with both Jimmy Gopperth and Danny Cipriani injured, and Dai Young admitted that finding anyone available to bring in at short notice would not be easy. The growing injury rate is alarming but if it is indeed down...
All Blacks’ success cannot mask the fact that, as players have moved to big-money northern hemisphere club deals, so international standards have fallenNew Zealand won the Rugby Championship last weekend. Again. They did so with one-third of their matches still to be played. Again. The last time the All Blacks failed to win the title in a non-World Cup year was 2009 when South Africa were on the high of a successful Lions series.Since then, and excluding 2011 and 2015 when New Zealand mixed and matched with the World Cup in mind, they have lost one match in six campaigns, to a long-range penalty by Pat Lambie one minute from the end against South Africa in 2014. Related: Premiership players’...
Matt O’Connor’s Tigers are evolving fast, Bath’s fledglings offer hope for the country and Quins’ Kyle Sinckler is at the mercy of the law bookThe Tigers are changing their stripes. A side which for years built its foundation on set-pieces, an all-enveloping back row, controlling half-backs and immovable defence has evolved into one that can thrive on less than 50% possession. The midfield partnership of George Ford and Matt Toomua allows Leicester to react quickly in broken play and, after all the upheaval of the last few seasons, continuity has been a theme this season. Five rounds into the Premiership the director of rugby, Matt O’Connor, has made just one change in his back line, and that was enforced when...