The quality may never have been higher and revenues dwarf those of the World Cup – no wonder South Africa wants to joinHuman beings have a troublesome relationship with statistics. Them and damned lies. The wise treat them with caution, but only a fool, alas, dismisses these numbers as worthless. The hysterical, meanwhile, react extravagantly to whatever they find at the end of their nose and co-opt whichever statistics support their hysteria.This Six Nations has been hailed already as the most competitive and deliciously anticipated in the history of the world, ever. “It says behind me: ‘Rugby’s Greatest Championship,’” said Eddie Jones last week, in front of the mandatory branding, “and I think it is that now by a country...
With Ireland strong, Scotland inconsistent and Wales hit by injuries, it feels as if the top five teams can all beat each otherTwickenham Stadium has a particular smell on a game day. It’s the fug of sweat and condensed breath when you’re pressed up close, sizzling sausages and onions, spilled beer, mud, waxed jackets and, when it’s raining, of wet wool. You used to catch gusts of cigar smoke, too, until they banned smoking. I never thought I would miss it particularly, but round about now anything that offers a hint of spring is welcome. After the past two years, when the Six Nations lost so much of its colour and fun while it was being played in empty stadiums,...
Fiji are now full of players central to their clubs, and Sunday’s match can show their sevens stars’ skills are transferable Around this time of year and at Rugby World Cup time, I’ll get some emails or calls from journalists all pretty much saying the same thing: “So Fiji, they always get a short straw etc, etc. Players in other teams, no training time, no money, no resources.” It’s always the same.There was a time not very long ago that those statements held true. Pacific teams were on the back foot all the time. Tonga and Samoa are still in need of serious help but for Fiji, who play Wales on Sunday, life is very different now. Continue reading...
Former Wales and Lions centre discusses his curt relationship with Gatland, hatred of the WRU’s 60-cap rule and rugby’s ‘monotony’Rare indeed is the Welsh rugby autobiography that reveals how a corner of Adolf Hitler’s desk ended up in the family home in Newport or details how the author drove Lana Del Rey around Monte Carlo in a Rolls-Royce Wraith after she and Bono had watched him play paddle tennis with Prince Albert of Monaco. If Jamie Roberts achieved plenty on the pitch, few modern players have a wider-ranging story to tell off it.We have not even mentioned playing guitar on stage with the Manic Street Preachers in Australia during the 2013 Lions tour. Nor Roberts’s impressive academic credentials as a...
Fly-half’s first appearance for his country since suffering a serious knee injury more than two years ago is soured by a heavy defeat against New ZealandHave the old songs ever sounded so sweet or been sung so loud? After 18 months of Test matches played in front of piped-in crowds, they finally had a full house at the Principality, almost 80,000 in, and 80 minutes against the All Blacks ahead.In those first few moments, in the silence that fell for the haka and the first swell of Cwm Rhondda that followed, all the worries, whys, and wherefores about Wales’s missing players, the wrangle between clubs and countries, and what it all means about the state of the international game, slipped...