Gallagher Premiership: Big names risk being drawn into a relegation fight

- December 6, 2018December 5, 2018

Nine games in, and the mid-point of the season fast approaching, and only five points separate the bottom six teams in the Premiership: from Bath in sixth on 19 points to Newcastle Falcons in 12th on 15. Between them lie Bristol Bears, Leicester Tigers, Worcester Warriors, Northampton Saints and Sale

Positives and negatives from the Australia game

- November 27, 2018November 27, 2018

England capped off the Autumn Internationals with a resounding 37-18 victory over Australia. It took them to six straight wins over the Wallabies and meant they ended the series with three victories alongside a loss to the world champions New Zealand by a solitary point – certainly an outcome most

An England team to take on South Africa

- October 30, 2018October 30, 2018

The first test of the Autumn Internationals is nearly here, with England taking on South Africa this Saturday. Injury has laid England’s options rather bare in a few positions, but there is still a strong team more than capable of winning in Eddie Jones’ squad. We'll publish the results of

Loosehead prop is the most concerning selection dilemma for Eddie Jones

- October 17, 2018October 17, 2018

We had our first dose of European rugby at the weekend. It didn’t get off to the greatest of starts for the English sides as the reigning champions Leinster comprehensively thrashed Wasps Friday night. The Irish sides remain something of a bogey opposition for English teams, with high-flying Exeter only managing

Four lessons from the opening rounds of the Gallagher Premiership

- October 3, 2018October 3, 2018

We are five rounds into the 2018/19 season of the Gallagher Premiership and have already witnessed some brilliant matches and superlative rugby. I have crunched a lot of stats, drawn some sweeping conclusions and added a healthy dose of subjective opinion for good measure – here are four things we

Should Farrell be given a run at flyhalf for England?

- September 26, 2018September 26, 2018

When Eddie Jones announced his England training squad last week, perhaps inevitably the focus was all on the one man not there – Danny Cipriani – rather than those picked. If Jones’ comment that Cipriani was only third or fourth-choice flyhalf felt a touch harsh, given he is technically the incumbent

Is it time to introduce ‘orange’ cards?

- September 19, 2018September 19, 2018

Sunday treated us to the game of the season so far – midlands rivals Wasps and Leicester Tigers duked it out in an eight-try thriller, with the lead changing hands several times before Wasps eventually emerged 41-35 victors. However, the game has received more attention in the aftermath for its key

Gallagher Premiership 2018/19 Season Prediction

- August 29, 2018August 29, 2018

The Gallagher Premiership makes a very welcome return this weekend. The Rugby Blog’s Jacob Bassford has run the rule over every club’s transfer business and their likely starting teams, so it falls to me to take a punt on how they will perform. This was my predicted table for the 2017/18

Positives and negatives from the South Africa tour

- June 27, 2018July 25, 2018

A dogged 25-10 victory over South Africa in the third and final test restored some pride for the English team after an increasingly tough 2018 threatened to run away from them. 48158

England are failing to learn from defeat

- June 19, 2018June 19, 2018

There was a strong sense of déjà vu watching England play South Africa at the weekend. For the second successive week they stormed out of the blocks, scoring quick, well-worked tries, before contriving to throw away a commanding lead and lose – albeit, from only 12-0, rather than 24-3 the