Ireland suffered a crushing defeat by England at Twickenham but a bigger concern could be fitness doubts to key playersNo world No 1 ranking for Ireland this week, unless the measurement is injury concerns. With two warm-up games against Wales still to come they are currently down to their third-choice fly-half, saw their experienced loosehead prop Cian Healy hobble off with a painful-looking sprain to his right ankle and were briefly in danger of losing their kingpin scrum-half Conor Murray as well. Related: Manu Tuilagi makes up for lost time to take centre stage against Ireland | Gerard Meagher Related: Joe Cokanasiga scores twice as England turn on power to crush Ireland Continue reading...
The Leicester man turns on the power at Twickenham with an outstanding display in the No 13 shirtIt may seem strange to single out one player after such an imperious England performance across the board but Manu Tuilagi is someone worth making an exception for. There have been countless days over the past five years when a performance such as this seemed beyond the realms of possibility. Just this week he laid bare the extent of his injury struggles and how hiding one of them cost him more than a year of his career. Suffice it to say it is good to see him back and firing like this. Related: Manu Tuilagi admits he hid injury that led to extended...
Wales will replace New Zealand at No 1 in world rankings after a win over England that advances their World Cup credentialsAs the revitalised All Blacks showed against Australia in Auckland the world can change dramatically in the space of a week. Wales further underlined that fact here in Cardiff with a first-half display far removed from their one-paced effort at Twickenham last Sunday. Take them home, country roads, to the place they belong, and everything sounds and feels totally different.It may have been the August holidays, with the sun shining brightly outside, but under the closed roof of the leeky cauldron the final outcome was also a notable one for Warren Gatland’s squad. When the latest world rankings are...
Disjointed display against Wales offered positives but did little to vindicate a decision to name the World Cup squad earlyAll part of the plan? Who can second-guess the workings of Eddie Jones’s mind but certainly, if last weekend England produced one of the more impressive outings by a second team, this was far more the sort of performance these awkward warm-up fixtures tend to elicit.It was not entirely without merit and they were more comfortable than they have been in defence of late, but for all the sporadic flashes in attack, here was a rare thing: 80 minutes from this England vintage without a try. Related: George North try helps Wales bounce back with home win against England Continue reading...
More than a third of the squad are from BAME backgrounds – I’m incredibly proud that it is a reflection of modern societyWhenever a World Cup squad is announced it elicits a lot of emotions. Joy, for those that have been picked, anger for those that haven’t, excitement for those of us eagerly anticipating the start of the competition and perhaps a little bit of worry too at the risks Eddie Jones has taken. But personally, the overriding emotion I feel at the moment is pride. I’m incredibly proud that these 31 players get to represent our country as the most diverse England World Cup squad ever selected.More than a third of the players in the squad are from BAME...