The England coach will have the World Cup in mind as he chases a third straight Six Nations title and his selections of Dylan Hartley and James Haskell reflect his belief in leadership and experienceBefore Eddie Jones’s England players returned to their clubs after the final autumn international, against Samoa on 25 November, the head coach said he expected them in the following eight weeks to show their desire to be part of a World Cup-winning team in 2019 by producing world-class form. However, few of the 31 who gathered in Brighton at the start of last week for a training camp before the Six Nations have stood out in the seven rounds of league and European matches since then,...
If you took the Saracens players out of their national sides and put the team in the Six Nations, their hammering of Northampton suggests they could win itAwaiting its UK cinema release next month is the Battle of the Sexes, the film based around the famous 1970s tennis duel between Billie Jean King and her male opponent, Bobby Riggs. It is a game, set and match tale of casual assumptions and punctured egos that should also serve as a reminder to all sports that traditional supremacy is neither a God-given prerogative nor a permanent state.Billie Jean has not been spotted at many Saracens fixtures but she would have appreciated the debate that has surfaced in the wake of Sunday’s Champions...
England’s second title in a row said more about the weakness of the opposition in a tournament lacking the subtlety that will be needed by the LionsThe Six Nations is the envy of the southern hemisphere – for its licence to print money rather than the quality of the rugby it inspires. England retained the title but were written off in New Zealand as clunky musclemen who live in a cave, a view compromised by the praise then lavished on Ireland, whose record of two tries in their final three matches was hardly a testament to their perceived verve and guile.Bonus points were trialled this year in order to, in the words of the tournament’s chairman, Pat Whelan, “materially improve...
It was a tournament to savour, with the standard of play and level of ferocity increasing, but unfortunately the Italians are being left behindCome Monday morning the players will be back at work with their clubs, getting ready for the next round of league fixtures.Their schedules leave them precious little time to heal their wounds, even less to rest and reflect on what has gone on these past few weeks. Rugby has never been an easy living but in this Six Nations some of the Tests, especially the three between England, Ireland and Wales, were so ferocious that watching them felt a guilty pleasure. Related: New Zealand media on England loss: ‘Stuffed plastic bags in need of a trolley’ Related:...
England may have felt aggrieved at missing out on topping New Zealand’s 18 consecutive wins, but they would still have been five behind the mighty MouflonsThe report on the official website of the Cyprus Rugby Federation of the team’s resounding victory over Azerbaijan in 2008 makes for interesting reading. Among the indignities endured by the travelling team in Baku were “two hours at immigration awaiting entry visas, four hours’ sleep, poor accommodation and no real food”, singing their anthem “to the bemusement of the opposition”, who didn’t bother with their own, their flanker having “his cheekbone smashed by a stray elbow” – “his assailant went unnoticed”, it is noted, while the victim “will require surgery to correct his smashed face”...