Cross-code skills: Why we’re seeing rugby league coaches in union March 28, 2023 So often sports cross-pollinate: sharing ideas from one discipline to another, exchanging mindsets and capitalising on strengths. Rugby is no different. And while some of the game’s leading lights step into completely different sports – such as Gilbert Enoka, responsible for New Zealand Rugby’s “no dickheads” policy, joining Chelsea – others stay closer to home, [...]
Football and rugby are still getting head injury wrong. Is this headband the answer? March 27, 2023 It is a dark irony that football and rugby have never been more concerned with head injury and concussion, yet the approaches of both sports remain dangerously misguided. In their attempts to prevent the trickle of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and early-onset dementia cases becoming a torrent, football has experimented with a ban on heading [...]
Scottish centurion full-back Stuart Hogg to retire after 2023 Rugby World Cup March 27, 2023 Scotland full-back Stuart Hogg has said that he will retire from rugby after the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The 30-year-old is set to leave the game having played for Scotland, the British and Irish Lions and a number of clubs. The Scot played his club rugby for Glasgow Warriors and Exeter Chiefs. Hogg statement “After [...]
London Irish: Club can end 13 years out of play-offs with form surge March 27, 2023 And there we have it, the once-chronic Premiership rugby underachievers and serial drawers London Irish are in the top four and storming towards the play-offs. Director of rugby Declan Kidney and head coach Les Kiss have taken a side that won just one of their opening eight games – excluding their match against the now-dissolved [...]
Welsh rugby clubs overwhelmingly vote for WRU reform March 26, 2023 Local clubs across Wales today voted for major reform to the way the Welsh Rugby Union is governed. Of the 282 clubs eligible to vote for changes to the way the rugby union structures its board, 252 clubs voted with 245 voting in favour of reform. The successful vote at the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) [...]
What sport is on the TV this weekend? March 24, 2023 This weekend in sport sees cricket, rugby, football, golf and horse racing grace our screens. Here’s what you need to watch. Cricket: Women’s premier League eliminator – Friday The inaugural Women’s Premier League, the sibling of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket has been a smash hit on the subcontinent with thousands turning out to [...]
St Patrick’s, Showdown3 and Varsity: London’s big rugby day out March 24, 2023 Tomorrow is an important Saturday in the country’s rugby calendar because it’s one of the few days of the year where London really shines. The Varsity Matches – between Oxford and Cambridge – will take place at Twickenham while four Premiership clubs compete in two huge fixtures. Saracens host Harlequins in the Showdown3 at the [...]
I want Ireland to win the Rugby World Cup, but they’ll run out of steam March 24, 2023 I really do hope that Ireland win the World Cup this year, but so many bones in my body are telling me they’ll blow it in France later this year. They haven’t lost since last summer – in the first Test of their 2-1 series win against New Zealand down in the land of the [...]
The barking mad merger: What experts think of potential Ealing and Ospreys deal March 22, 2023 With the flow of stories about financial woes in rugby resembling an everlasting hospital drip, one development has caused much less of a stir than it might otherwise have. It revolves around Ealing Trailfinders, who are top of the second-tier English Championship, a position they have been in or around for the past decade. They have [...]
England’s most capped rugby player Sarah Hunter to retire March 21, 2023 England Rugby’s most capped player Sarah Hunter will retire from rugby after her side’s opening TikTok Women’s Six Nations match against Scotland this weekend. The 37-year-old made her England debut in 2007 and has gone on to represent her country 140 times. The back-row has captained the Red Roses since 2015 and has been part [...]
