Saracens won’t be daunted by Toulon, Eddie Jones shows his spikier side now the EPS agreement is signed and Mathew Tait revels in his injury-free runSaracens will begin the defence of their European title this week with every reason to be cheerful. Toulon may not have lost a European Cup tie on home turf but they will have to dig particularly deep to crack the toughest current challenge on the continent. Sarries have conceded just four tries in their six Premiership games, remarkable even by their standards and even more impressive given the absence of key backline figures such as Owen Farrell, Alex Goode, Duncan Taylor and Chris Ashton. “We put them under a lot of pressure,” said a delighted...
The holders begin their campaign with a mouth-watering clash in Toulon as the balance of power shifts towards the English clubs in the Champions CupThe difference between the Champions Cup and the old Heineken Cup is revealed by a glance at the pools, now five groups instead of six. There used to be one pool of death but now it is a case of a single pool of life, which tends to be the one that involves the Italian representatives.Wasps are the Premiership club fortunate to have drawn Zebre, who have lost by 54 and 44 points at Ospreys and Munster this season, along with Connacht, who have made a stuttering start to the defence of their Pro12 title, and...
The Pumas flanker has already taken more than 30 flights this year before touching down at Twickenham to face Australia in the Rugby ChampionshipNowadays there is one essential prerequisite for any Argentinian wishing to play top-level rugby, aside from skill and stamina. “If you’re a nervous flyer you can’t play for us,” says the muscular flanker Pablo Matera on the eve of the first Rugby Championship game staged at Twickenham. “I’ve never counted how many miles we’ve flown but it’s lots. I think we’ve already taken more than 30 planes this year – and we still have five more matches to come.” Related: Argentina’s Daniel Hourcade urges World Rugby to tighten residency rule Continue reading...
After the injuries to Sam Jones and Anthony Watson, it seems players are beginning to buckle under the demands placed on them by club and countryAs Eddie Jones is discovering, there is no such thing as a mellow autumn for an England coach. His predecessors Martin Johnson and Stuart Lancaster often had to scrape bits of their squads off the floor before the November internationals and history is starting to repeat itself.Already Manu Tuilagi, James Haskell, Sam Jones and now Anthony Watson are out of contention, with Owen Farrell, Dylan Hartley and Ben Te’o yet to prove their fitness and the first two rounds of the European Champions’ Cup still to come. So far so normal. The difference this time,...
Australia face Argentina in the Rugby Championship at Twickenham on Saturday as the Sanzar nations take drastic measures to stimulate financial growthWhen Australia last played Argentina away in the Rugby Championship, the game was staged in Mendoza. On Saturday, the sides will meet at Twickenham, the Pumas playing home and away as the Sanzar nations look for ways to stimulate financial growth.The Mendoza match attracted a crowd of 25,000; when the two sides met in Perth last month, fewer than 17,000 turned up. Even if Twickenham is half full this weekend, the attendance would exceed that of the two matches in the Rugby Championship on the round before last. The last four matches between Australia and Argentina in the tournament...