England’s Lights Shine Brightly In France
You need to experience at first hand the scary moments when the French rugby touchpaper is lit and attackers seem to come at you from all sides with bewildering speed. I remember this when England played France in 1992 in the gladiatorial Parc de Princes, French backs and forwards poured through imaginary gaps in the […]
England’s Rugby Realities (2)
Just as we are all ruminating on the right structures to give England rugby success, some fascinating takes have appeared in the press on the England coaching job by Rob Baxter and then Mark McCall.
England’s Rugby Realities
I said it was complicated and in a whole generation of English rugby, only three groups have ever been really successful and all three had the same characteristics.
Six Nations – a (dis)passionate look back.
Rugby romance, drama and crass stupidity at the close in Cardiff was a stunning feature of an ultimately predictable Six Nations as France and Ireland were streets ahead of the rest. I am not one for shouting at the television, and hardly when Wales is playing Italy.
No Luck In This Irish Slam!
Why did I imagine that Ireland was not good enough for a Grand Slam – nerveless (40 plays before the miracle Sexton drop goal in Paris), clinical (Italy), and coldly predatory (Scotland and Wales), before rendering the tumultuous St Patrick’s Day clash somewhat academic after 40 remarkable minutes at Twickenham.
‘Le’ Crunch Time For England
I should have known better than risk a visit to Murrayfield with a Scottish team ready to hand out a reminder to England and others that they are a sustainable force again in world rugby. No doubt about that, and it was in the way they won rather than just the result.
