New Zealand are in imperious form but the gap between the northern and southern hemisphere teams, All Blacks excepting, may not be as great as beforeNovember is a month when the clocks have just gone back and darkness descends on the home unions in the form of the major southern hemisphere nations. This year there is some light to tickle the green shoots of hope: the All Blacks are not venturing into Britain, the Wallabies are wobbling and the Boks have lost their spring.Australia start their five-match tour in Cardiff on Saturday5 November. Given the combustibility of their head coach, Michael Cheika, in recent months – he raged in his media conference after the Auckland defeat to New Zealand last...
TV match officials have too much say over deciding when a referee should review an incident. Is it time for coaches to be allowed to call for a reappraisal?There was an international not so very long ago that was decided by a refereeing decision which was so controversial that the official concerned sprinted from the pitch when he blew the final whistle a few minutes later. Australia were involved then, as they were last Saturday when a try that would have seen them draw level with New Zealand with a conversion attempt to come was ruled out by the referee on review.Craig Joubert’s decision to award Australia a penalty in the World Cup quarter-final against Scotland at Twickenham for offside...
Maro Itoje has a perfect mentor at Saracens, home truths for Exeter and New Zealand-born Joey Carbery shows he has a bright future at LeinsterYou can read Robert Kitson’s tribute to Anthony Foley, the Munster head coach who died aged 42 before his side’s scheduled match against Racing 92 in Paris on Sunday, here.Sometimes it is less the number of games a sportsman plays than the heart and soul he pours into the jersey he wears. Anthony Foley had the rare stamina and inner passion to satisfy both criteria, which is why the desperately sad news of his death at the age of 42 cast such a depressing shadow over European rugby. Foley was not just any old retired player;...
The failed switch to union, played out amid huge publicity as England were knocked out of the World Cup, has forged a better man and a better playerAs the world asked what was next for Sam Burgess after England’s miserable exit from last year’s Rugby World Cup, the wheels were already turning behind the scenes. Within weeks he was shuttling through Sydney airport. Returning to rugby league felt like the only logical answer to the question.To describe Burgess’s time in rugby union as a whirlwind is an understatement. He made his debut as a substitute centre for Bath against Harlequins on 28 November 2014. By 30 January he was playing for England Saxons against the Irish Wolfhounds; on 10 April...
This season’s Champions Cup attendances will hopefully be up after a World Cup-hit 2015 while a high calibre of clubs are set for the Challenge CupThe 2016-17 European rugby campaign is upon us. Good luck to all competing clubs and, in particular, travelling fans from the UK as they prepare to exchange their weakened sterling for euros. Half a week’s wages for a round of gaseous French lager? Had the referendum literature mentioned the possibility of teetotal rugby weekends there might have been a different outcome. Related: European Champions Cup 2016-17: pool-by-pool guide | Paul Rees Related: Owen Farrell likely to return for Saracens against Toulon after injury Continue reading...