There is a sick feeling in the stomach and English rugby will need to identify genuine applicants to assist the clubs in crisisWe should be casting our eyes over the runners and riders, perusing the comings and goings, drawing up our projected finishing orders, semi-finalists, winners. We should be arguing with alacrity over all of the above, dismissing each other’s opinions as worthless. Have you ever actually played the game? You don’t know what you’re talking about. All the usual brickbats any self-respecting sport rings out with at this time of year.Instead, we approach the new season of English rugby, 25 years after the Premiership was minted, with a sick feeling in the stomach. We cannot even predict with any...
Beat the world champions again this week and the Bledisloe Cup is looking good against an out-of-sorts All Blacks outfitOut-muscled by England last month and out-coached by Argentina a fortnight ago, the Wallabies restored pride in the old gold jersey at the weekend, rebounding from their recent 48-17 shellacking in San Juan to whip the world champion Springboks 25-17 in Adelaide. With Los Pumas upsetting the All Blacks 25-18 in Christchurch, Australia’s window to the Rugby Championship and a first Bledisloe Cup in two decades remains tantalisingly ajar.Hope can be a dangerous thing for Wallabies fans. But Saturday’s performance instilled it. After losing the first 25 minutes of their last five starts, Australia began well for a change, racing to...
Dave Rennie’s Australia have big issues to address as they reset for Rugby Championship clashes with South Africa and the All BlacksAfter a golden week atop the Rugby Championship ladder, the Wallabies are back in the doldrums after their 48-17 walloping by Michael Cheika’s Pumas on Sunday. On the strength of their courageous comeback win in the opening round, Australian rugby fans had dared dream the men in gold might repeat the dose in San Juan before marching over South Africa (as they did in 2021), then vanquishing a sickly All Blacks.But the fumbling nature of their game in San Juan and the brutality of the scoreline has snuffed that hope and now, yet again, there is only tunnel at...
The pressure is enormous as ailing New Zealand face South Africa at Ellis Park on Saturday after three defeats in four TestsEndless threats and yet the All Blacks cannot find a way to ignite them despite sacking their attack coach, Brad Mooar, with embattled head coach Ian Foster assuming that brief for the South African tour. This year’s first Test victory against Ireland, when the All Blacks created space by using wider forward runners and feasted on mistakes to launch counterattacking strikes, seems a lifetime ago. Continue reading...
We know from American football that a storm is heading rugby’s way. The governing bodies must act now As the arguments rage about how best to recognise and treat brain injuries in rugby, clouds are gathering in the distance. There was fury during the summer tours when Johnny Sexton was picked for Ireland’s second Test against the All Blacks, a week after he had been withdrawn with such an injury in the first match. Meanwhile, England adopted a more conservative approach, withdrawing Tom Curry, Sam Underhill and Maro Itoje from their tour of Australia. Still those clouds gather. The appropriate treatment in the here and now of players with manifest brain injuries is non-negotiable, but it does not begin to...