A team has been picked with Les Bleus in mind – opponents who have not won a Six Nations match in London since 2005This already has the feel of a vintage Six Nations season and the next two weekends could be similarly memorable. Even at a grey, deserted Twickenham, as England’s players huddled tight in their final eve-of-game training session, there was a sense of anticipation in the chilly air. If France are to win a championship game in London for the first time since 2005 they are going to have to earn it.Because, in all sorts of ways, this is a game England have been waiting for. The frantic early weeks of Steve Borthwick’s regime have been replaced by...
Everybody knows the playmaker is first among equals but perceptions change and the position is an indicator of intentIt has been the same for as long as the game has been played. Talk up a fly-half for his dash and vision and someone with big hands and a crooked nose will take a long sip from his pint before putting you straight. Back in the day the words “fancy dan” or “luxury item” might have been used. Now it will be “game plan” or “defensive solidity” or some other mood-dousing excuse why talent, on its own, is not to be trusted.In the late 70s and early 80s in Ireland, for example, you were either a Tony Ward or an Ollie...
The world’s top rugby union teams at the moment are those who can strike the right balance between risk and rewardEven when they lose England’s cricketers are making everyone sit up and pay attention. Their one-run second Test defeat in New Zealand after enforcing the follow-on is merely the latest compelling example of their determination, win or lose, to make things happen. How good it is to watch international players exhibiting so little fear, trusting their instincts and, where possible, having some fun.In rugby union, the same is presently true of Finn Russell and the now-injured Ange Capuozzo but not a whole heap of others. The orthodoxy, as underlined by the Wales v England game in Cardiff at the weekend,...
Hosts’ passion and intensity could not be questioned after a turbulent week off the pitch but it was still not enough Whatever else is wrong with Welsh rugby, they’ve never lacked heart. You could hear it in Katherine Jenkins’ singing, which must have shattered windows in Aberystwyth, and feel it in the heat of the fireworks that spiralled into the bright blue sky beyond the open roof. For all their failings, the Welsh Rugby Union still know how to organise a show at the Principality Stadium. And you could see what it all meant, too, in the faces of those two old friends and teammates, Alun Wyn Jones, 37, and Ken Owens, 36, as they roared the final words of...
The former Wasps flanker has had a rough couple of years but roared back with a standout performance at TwickenhamNearly two and a half years ago England claimed a dominant victory here against Georgia in the best-forgotten Autumn Nations Cup. It was a match memorable for little other than England handing first Test starts to Jack Willis and Ollie Lawrence and proceeding to maul their opposition to death. So much has changed in the ensuing years and months – not least both players losing their jobs – yet equally, there are considerable parallels to this victory over Italy that represent a smallish step in the right direction for England under Steve Borthwick.Both Willis – who was making his first start...