Former captain Nick Easter believes Tom Willis can become England’s answer to French star Gregory Alldritt if the Saracens forward is allowed to hold onto the problem No8 jersey for the rest of the Six Nations campaign. Willis made a significant impact in his first start in the role in the dramatic win 26-25 win Read More …
Fin Smith’s path to international rugby has involved dealing with significant mental and physical challenges, including the onerous task of washing Steve Diamond’s car. While Northampton Saints is now Smith’s home, his journey to test rugby started at Warwick School before entering the Worcester Warriors academy and a period of his fledgling professional rugby career Read More …
Former captain Kelly Brown is backing flanker Rory Darge to make the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia and help Scotland end their 10 game losing run against Ireland at Murrayfield. Darge,24, scored a try in Scotland’s 31-19 win over Italy and is Scotland’s co-captain alongside Finn Russell whose performance against the Azzuri mirrored Read More …
England forward Jonny Hill, who was given a 10-week suspension following an incident involving a Bath fan in June, will signal the end of a year he would rather forget by returning to action for Sale Sharks in the Investec European Champions Cup clash at Glasgow Warriors. Hill suffered a serious patella injury in the Read More …
As Callum Chick led the Newcastle Falcons in a raucous rendition of Blaydon Races, the song they belt out in the changing rooms after a win, he realised that half the players didn’t know the words. That was hardly surprising as the victory over Exeter ended a debilitating 25 game losing run in the Gallagher Read More …
The towns of Treviso and Townsville are separated by 9,293 miles but linked by their emotional importance to one of the most famous players to pick up a rugby ball. Michael Lynagh, the 1991 World Cup winning Australian outside half, played for Queensland 100 times scoring 1166 points and also helped Benetton Treviso become champions Read More …
Former Wasps flyer Ali Crossdale’s personal Top 14 highlights reel includes the moment he burnt French international wing Damian Penaud to score a great individual try in Perpignan’s win over Bordeaux last season and that pace has always marked him out as a special talent. The win offered Perpignan the chance to finish in the Read More …
When newly promoted Vannes starting selling season tickets for their Top14 debut more than 50,000 applied causing the club’s website to crash. The club’s president, Olivier Cloarec, had to issue a public apology for the failure of the website to deal with the rush which is even more remarkable when you consider the town only Read More …
Michael Cheika was about to move his family from Paris back to Australia when he was offered the chance to turn Leicester Tigers from also rans into a team that could recapture former glories and is aiming high by targeting the Gallagher Premiership and the Investec Champions Cup for his new squad. Having agreed a Read More …
Britain’s Henry Patten, who as student used to input scores for IBM on the outside courts, completed a remarkable Wimbledon story collecting the men’s doubles title alongside Finland’s Harri Heliovaara, winning 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 against Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson, the Australian 15th seeds in an enthralling final on Centre Court. Unseeded Patten and Heliovaara, Read More …
