The pandemic and pending legal action mean the sport is fractured at the top tier and fearing for the existence of its grassroots levelWhen World Rugby’s chairman, Sir Bill Beaumont, launched his re-election campaign a year ago, he said he was excited by the opportunities for rugby union the future held. Twelve months on, the feeling is one of apprehension rather than anticipation as the game finds itself squeezed in a vice of the coronavirus pandemic and legal action taken by former players diagnosed with early-onset dementia. Related: Premiership Rugby refuses to rule out extending break amid 'serious concerns' Related: 2021: a year of hope or chaos for the biggest events in world sport? Continue reading...
No crowds will be permitted, so we might wonder if broadcasting revenue is sufficient reason to press on with the 2021 championshipAt what point during a pandemic, with death rates spiralling upwards, does playing professional sport cease to be a good look? As the temporary morgues fill up and hospital staff find themselves under ever more intense pressure, should we really be concerned about England’s selection options against Scotland in just over three weeks? Talk about a parallel universe.Hold that thought as we wait to learn whether the Six Nations, as the organisers still insist, will kick off on 6 February as scheduled. At the very least it will involve multiple cross-border journeys over seven weeks by players, coaches, officials,...
Despite talk that international rugby is dull, judgment should be delayed until the next Six NationsFor all the talk that international rugby is boring, I prefer to hold judgment until next year’s Six Nations at the earliest. Given everything that has happened in 2020 I do not think it is fair to be critiquing and assessing the landscape and to be probing Test rugby for all its flaws. Related: England's Mako Vunipola ruled out of Autumn Nations Cup final Related: Weakened France will try to stay strong in face of cap-heavy England Continue reading...
The scrum-half showed poise and purpose on his 100th cap to score two tries against Italy and bend the game to his will, and was rewarded with the Six Nations title for the fourth timeIt was a forgettable game, fitful and bloodless, but Ben Youngs will always remember it. It was his 100th Test, and one of his very best. He scored two tries, one at the start of the first half, the other at the start of the second, and won the fourth Six Nations title of his career. As Owen Farrell said afterwards, a hundred caps is a hell of an achievement for a man who’s still only 31-year-old. He’s only the second England player to do it,...
The sport needs every week to be a super Saturday, not a one-off extravaganza, if it is to broaden its appealIf Super Saturday truly lives up to its billing it will be bittersweet. On the one hand, we have three teams still in with a genuine chance of winning the title and the real possibility of a feast of attacking rugby in pursuit of bonus points. If it does turn out that way, though, it leaves me asking why it doesn’t happen every week.If England and Ireland – less so the current France team because they are more built that way anyway – can flick the switch and approach these matches with an attacking mindset we may just have a...