Jonathan Sexton’s return has given visitors to Principality Stadium a further boost with Wales in the rare position of being out of title contentionIt is a measure of Ireland’s confidence that they have agreed to the roof of the Principality Stadium being shut for a match they have to win to maintain their ambition of seizing back the title they lost last year to England, their opponents in the final match of the Six Nations in Dublin next week.Ireland should be upbeat after a season in which they ended New Zealand’s long winning run and defeated Australia, and since 1983 they have lost only three times in the championship in Cardiff with both Munster and Leinster winning the European Cup...
England have harnessed the power of their squad as they close on the All Blacks record and it may come down to Scotland to halt their grand slam chargeEddie Jones will soon have a bigger record collection than the late John Peel. If England beat Italy at Twickenham next Sunday, and it is all but a case of when, it would be their 10th consecutive Six Nations victory and would equal the longest winning run in the tournament’s 134-year history.The Tasmanian has added devil to England since taking over as head coach 14 months ago but the transformation from World Cup laughing stock to a side that are two home wins away from equalling New Zealand’s record of 18 successive...
After his side snatch a 21-16 win over Wales, England’s coach admits adopting Spanish practices used by Portuguese manager in bid to catch up All BlacksThis year’s Six Nations has yet to reach the halfway mark but already the old tournament has a renewed sense of verve. When a game matches the occasion in Cardiff there is no finer place in the world to watch rugby union, even if the lurching late twist in England’s favour made it a bittersweet Welsh symphony.Carry on like this and rugby will migrate from the back pages to the front as it did a decade and a half ago, scooping up numerous agnostics en route. Great sport played out before a glorious backdrop still has...
Wales were minutes away from mass rejoicing in Cardiff but they must now address the gap that has opened up between them and Eddie Jones’s EnglandWhen Wales were at their pomp in the 1970s the sound of the crowd in Cardiff singing Bread of Heaven as the visiting team were about to run on to the field put a wobble in the step of even the most hardened player in opposition colours. It was not enough on Saturday as England, who have fast become a team in the mould of their head coach Eddie Jones, art and soul, looked through the open roof to the heavens and received their Daly bread.Elliot Daly’s match-winning try four minutes from the end summed...
Wales threw everything at England in Cardiff but were undone by a side showing grit and glimpses of greatness in a Six Nations Test to savourIt was perishingly cold in Cardiff, but there was enough heat in the match to warm the blood of everyone in the stadium. Even with the roof open. It was, everyone agreed, a magnificent game, one that belied Eddie Jones’ attempts to downplay the occasion. Jones was only trying to draw the sting from it, to make sure the hype did not weigh too heavily on his players. But much as he insisted otherwise, there are few events in European rugby quite like England v Wales in Cardiff, when the whole city seems to be...