Despite the Six Nations loss to Scotland, Eddie Jones’s side have the makings of a great team if they can learn key lessonsLast time England made the trip to this stadium was back in February 2020, their last away game before the world turned upside down. That was a tight, miserly game on a miserable wet, grey and windy day, and there were long stretches here when it felt as if they had picked the contest up right where they’d left it before the pandemic.The biggest difference was in the England team. Only five of this starting XV had been in that one: Elliot Daly, Tom Curry, Lewis Ludlam, Maro Itoje and Kyle Sinckler. One of them, Daly, was playing...
Defending Six Nations champions Wales had no answers on young Connacht wing’s explosive senior international debutYou can tell there’s a World Cup on next year: Ireland are hitting their peak. Still, this was an ominous statement of intent by Andy Farrell’s side at a blustery and bellicose Aviva Stadium: standards set, gauntlets thrown down.The trip to Paris already feels like the potential crux of this tournament, which feels like a faintly ridiculous statement to make after 80 minutes of play. But for Ireland and their long-agonising supporters, it may just be time to start believing the hype. It was a measure of Ireland’s dominance that a normally edgy crowd had begun to relax well before the end. Continue reading...
Conditions can be like nowhere else when the wind gets up but being booed is a mark of respect and should inspire the playersThere are myths about Murrayfield that we hear about every year. Some I agree with, some I don’t, but I can honestly say it is a stadium where the conditions can be like nowhere else. It is one of the hardest stadiums to play in because the shape of it means that when the wind gets inside the bowl it just doesn’t stop swirling.The key for England, then, is to get their preparation right. You can try to acclimatise in the warm-up and that does make a difference, but if the players have not got their mental...
Andy Farrell and his Leinster-heavy side will start as favourites at home to an opponent without many of their star namesWe’ve been here before, haven’t we? A year out from a World Cup and on the eve of a Six Nations Championship, Ireland look capable of beating any side they face. Andy Farrell’s relentless commitment to keeping the ball in play saw them average more passes - 187.4 - and more rucks in possession – 113.1 – per game than any other team competing in the Six Nations or Rugby Championship last year. Commanding wins against England and New Zealand proved they can marry flair with fortitude.The 29-20 triumph over the All Blacks was particularly impressive, likely the best performance...
Having won at Twickenham last year, much is expected of Gregor Townsend’s side in the Six Nations openerThis year just happens to be the 1,900th anniversary of the building of Hadrian’s Wall and it feels almost as long since English rugby fans headed north with so much apprehension. While the Calcutta Cup dates back “only” to 1879, Scotland have rarely been as fancied to retain the venerable trophy or inflict successive Six Nations defeats on their neighbours for the first time in 38 years.The weather is slightly ominous, too. While Met Office forecasts have improved since AD122, when the emperor Hadrian sought to protect the Roman empire by constructing a 73-mile barrier between the Tyne and the Solway Firth, some...