There were glimpses of attacking promise, but the new coach watched his side lose their fourth straight Six Nations openerTwickenham felt a little different on Saturday afternoon. It was the same walk from the station, by the same stalls on the Whitton Road, past the same faces, under the same sort of sombre February weather, to watch an England team made up, in the large part, of the same names that have been on and off the team-sheets here for the last few years. It was the air around the place that had changed. People were unsure exactly what to expect from the afternoon ahead, except that, whatever else, it would at least be something unlike what they’ve seen from...
Steve Borthwick’s men will run out on Saturday in one of the worst rugby shirts of all time. It doesn’t have to be this wayThe comedian Robert Newman once discussed why England’s football team wear white. Having invented football, he said, the English got to pick colours first. So they chose white, freighted with meaning and power, pure and existential.Newman didn’t cite the greatest novel of all, Moby-Dick, but I will. Herman Melville wrote a whole chapter about white, the colour of his whale. He wrote of the “certain nameless terror” instilled by visions in white, whether sharks, bears, Death on his pale horse or even Iron Mike Teague. I might have added the last one. Continue reading...
From potential ‘new coach bounce’ to the power of Ireland and France, championship can raise interest before the World CupIt was hard to put your finger on it but there was a different feel to this year’s Six Nations launch. Perhaps it was the Netflix cameras around every corner seeking to project rugby to a wider global audience. Maybe it had something to do with Eddie Jones no longer being around to stir the media pot. There was even a solo acoustic guitarist serenading the hacks as they munched their lunch, which was unquestionably a first.Or maybe, just maybe, it was a sign of a professional sport making a concerted effort to raise its game. One by one the head...
Squad strength in depth and open-minded coaches have led to the grand slam and now the biggest prize awaitsLet’s start with Ange Capuozzo’s break, one step, two steps, a swerve, a curve, a burst, 10, 20, 30, 40m and more past one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine flailing Welsh defenders. You knew Capuozzo must be good just from the look of him when he came off the bench to make his debut against Scotland the previous week –a man that small and pretty must have something about him to get ahead in Test rugby – but it’s been startling to watch him this past fortnight, when he has scored two tries and set up one of the...
The RFU keeping the head coach is allowing France and Ireland to kick on past ‘new England’, as the Six Nations showedJust occasionally in sport the scoreboard becomes a side issue. For everyone in Paris on Saturday night, particularly those from across the Channel, what will really stick in the mind is the overriding post-match mood of genuine Gallic excitement. As France’s euphoric supporters celebrated their team’s deserved grand slam it was hard not to envisage many more champagne moments ahead.It was also a tantalising amuse bouche for what awaits when France host next year’s World Cup. Gazing into the future is never an exact science but Les Bleus appear to have an impressive number of bases covered. A young...