Ollie Phillips: Whoever wins in Dublin will go on to win the Champions Cup May 13, 2022 Last Weekend’s European rugby quarter-finals were a brilliant watch, and I was enthralled by the Champions Cup penalty shootout win for Toulouse against Munster, but this weekend I expect the performance levels to increase further. This is the pinnacle of the club game and the teams are just one win away from the finals later [...]
Three eligible players Eddie Jones should pick for England’s summer tour May 12, 2022 Rugby’s summer tours offer coaches a chance to trial players against quality southern hemisphere sides before crunch home games in the autumn. England head to Australia in June, Scotland will tour South America, New Zealand are to host Ireland, while Wales are bound for world champions South Africa. But 14 months out from a World [...]
France dominate semi-final schedule as clubs add to festival of rugby May 9, 2022 It’s no secret that France has been grabbing the headlines in international rugby: Six Nations champions, hosts of the next World Cup and home to the world player of the year Antoine Dupont. But fans the continent over are currently enjoying a golden era of French club rugby, too, with 19 of the possible 40 [...]
Ollie Phillips: A Leicester Tigers European triumph would be incredible May 6, 2022 If Leicester go on to win the Champions Cup this season I think it will be one of modern rugby’s greatest stories. From an extremely poor season just two years ago to the quarter-finals of Europe, while also heading up the Premiership table, is testament to Steve Borthwick and his ability to nurture a squad [...]
Pantomime villain Ashton crowns lively career with try record May 3, 2022 Having broken the Premiership Rugby try-scoring record with a hat-trick at the weekend and moved within just five tries of a ton, you might think Chris Ashton would be ready for his after-dinner speech career. But doing all of the above while being a controversial rugby player, often the centre of debate, is what truly [...]
Why Premiership and Championship rugby clubs are teaming up to win May 3, 2022 While the powers that be seem to be determined to keep Premiership rugby outfits apart from Championship teams, that hasn’t stopped clubs from partnering up with one another in a series of mutually beneficial playing arrangements. Last week defending Premiership champions Harlequins announced a partnership with London Scottish, who play just up the road at [...]
Ollie Phillips: My five-man shortlist for Premiership player of the season April 29, 2022 With just three regular rounds of Premiership action remaining before we can turn our thoughts to the semi-finals, it’s worth highlighting some of the players who have stood out for me this season. While I have tried to lean away from those who have been away for weeks on end with international duty, in one [...]
Fantastic Farrell helps Saracens secure top four spot as others left chasing April 24, 2022 Saracens may have confirmed their spot in Premiership Rugby’s end-of-season playoffs with a 38-22 bonus point over Exeter Chiefs, but the implications for the losing side could be monumental. The Chiefs have featured in each of the last six Twickenham finals but, having failed to pick up a single point at Sarries, that run looks [...]
Ollie Phillips: I’d want to avoid Harlequins in the semi-finals at all costs April 22, 2022 No matter whether I were Leicester Tigers or Saracens, I would want to stay well clear of Harlequins in the Premiership playoffs. No disrespect to Gloucester, Northampton Saints or Exeter Chiefs, but Quins have proven that they’re a danger in the knockout stages of the domestic league – even if they went out of Europe [...]
Wales Women can shine in future rugby games after copying England April 22, 2022 Wales are a team on the up as they prepare to meet France in the penultimate round of the Women’s Six Nations. Having not won for three years prior to the tournament, they take two victories from their three matches at this championship into the clash with title challengers France. Such a turnaround would have [...]
