Who takes the awards in a year when Eddie Jones revived England, Ireland beat the All Blacks and Beauden Barrett filled New Zealand’s Dan Carter void?And so 2016 nears its end, the year of England’s revival, Ireland’s victory over the All Blacks, Saracens’ domination of Europe and Cinderella Connacht, who had a ball in the Pro12. It was also the year when the authorities tried to find space on the pitch by telling referees to flourish yellow and red cards like an overzealous traffic warden slapping tickets on parked cars. Related: Conor Murray: ‘You can usually process death. But I feel Axel should be here’ A year ago, it was the northern hemisphere that was trying to locate its navel...
The decision not to sanction Northampton for the botched handling of North’s injury is further evidence that while there is an increasing crackdown on the slightest on-field indiscretions, no one is ever at fault behind the scenesThis is supposed to be the season of wise men but rugby union, just at the moment, has lost its marbles. How else to explain the decision not to issue any sanction against anyone connected with George North’s recent botched head‑injury saga? At a time when player welfare is meant to be twinkling at the top of everyone’s tree, the game is in danger of sliding back into the self-policing dark ages.The only good news is that North himself is apparently OK and cleared...
With the George North saga, Dylan Hartley’s suspension and a poor run of results, there is not a lot of jaunty, jazzy marching in at Franklin’s GardensFor a grand old club with an enviable, newly enlarged stadium, the modern history of Northampton Saints RFC is strangely fraught. Every team has its highs and lows but the Saints are currently besieged on all sides, trapped by unhappy accidents and assorted misjudgments of their own making. The George North saga, Dylan Hartley’s suspension, looming European oblivion: there is not a lot of jaunty, jazzy marching in at Franklin’s Gardens right now.These have been particularly testing days since their 37-10 home drubbing to Leinster last Friday. Their England captain Hartley has been banned...
Traditional heavyweights are lacking clout as wealthy backers elsewhere discover that bulk is no longer beautiful in today’s faster gameThe Thomond Park spectators exhorted their players to stand up and fight before the start of Saturday’s Champions Cup match against Leicester, a year after many of them stood up and walked out as the Tigers completed the first leg of a European double over the Irish province.This year Leicester sat down and capitulated, not for the first time on the road in the last three seasons. Their director of rugby Richard Cockerill afterwards pointed out that his club, like Munster, had had ups and downs in a decade when the landscape of the game changed. Related: Dylan Hartley banned for...
The hooker can have no complaint at his six-week ban given his poor disciplinary record and the fact that rugby is cracking down on tackles to the headRugby has always been a game of sliding doors. What if Dylan Hartley had started for Northampton in the Champions’ Cup game against Leinster last Friday night, rather than steaming in off the bench with a point to prove? Would he have administered a swinging arm to the head of Sean O’Brien in a Test-match arena, where his recent disciplinary record is good? Would there have been as much fuss if he was not the current England captain and a potential contender for Lions captain?Questions, questions. What we do know is that Hartley...