World Rugby’s new directives for punishing high tackles come into effect this weekend, but in truth they have left it up to coaches and players to figure out for themselves how to adaptTo call it a law change is the first disingenuous step from World Rugby. This is actually a ramping up of punishment for an existing offence. The threshold for a high tackle remains the line of the shoulders. World Rugby has instituted two new categories for a high tackle – “reckless” and “accidental” – together with rhetoric that tries to define each. But a high tackle remains a high tackle, and both the reckless and accidental manifestations have long been penalised. Related: Newcastle host Bath under scrutiny of...
Welford Road club find themselves in Arsenal’s position in the Premier League’s post-Abramovich era, qualifying for Europe while living within their means“Happy new year to you all,” wrote Richard Cockerill in what turned out to be his final programme notes as Leicester’s director of rugby on Sunday. Less than 24 hours later, the club announced he had been sacked following the defeat by the Premiership club who have become as dominant this decade as the Tigers were in the 2000s, Saracens.Cockerill became the second director of rugby of a Premiership club to lose his job this season following Andy Robinson’s dismissal by Bristol and five sides are now under different management from last season, as are the relegated London Irish....
World Rugby’s decision to clamp down on high hits from Tuesday will free up the game for creative ball-carriers and try-scoring rates look set to soar even higherIn theory it is just another winter Tuesday. No big games are happening on 3 January 2017, no one will instantly sense the change. Could it be, nevertheless, that the date will one day be ranked among the most significant in modern rugby union history? Might it also be the moment the cork is removed from the old-school bottle and, in a spray of sparkling foam, it starts raining tries?World Rugby’s decision to tighten the tackle law with immediate effect and clamp down on high, dangerous “hits” is meant to be all about...
The problem for Leicester under Cockerill has been the club hitting the high notes only sporadically, with it being 15 years since they won the European CupAs recently as Christmas Eve Richard Cockerill was still convinced there would be a happy end to Leicester’s season. “I’m not sure it’s all doom and gloom,” he said, fixing his inquisitors with his trademark piercing stare. “We’re fifth at the halfway stage of the season and I’d back ourselves to be in the play-offs.” His latter prediction may yet come true but Cockerill will not be the coach who makes it happen.It is always slightly depressing when a loyal club servant reaches the end of the road. Like dogs and their owners, rugby...
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...