Premiership run-in: Saints and Bath will impact top four Sport Look at the Premiership table and you’ll see that the top team and Challenge Cup finalists Bath are 15 points clear of second-placed Leicester Tigers, and Champions Cup finalists Northampton Saints are 17 points safe from dropping out of the top eight. And with just three games remaining for each team, and a maximum of [...]
Lions will smash Aussies and England will win World Cup in 2025 Sport Happy New Year one and all! The upcoming 12 months are going to be filled with brilliant rugby moments but the Lions and England Women top the billing for me. Because 2025 has a lot going on, but the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia in July and the Women’s Rugby World Cup headline [...]
Ahead of the Game: Man United cuts could be copied by other clubs Sport Business Manchester United’s controversial move to slash the funding it provides to its charitable foundation as part of cost-cutting measures introduced by Sir Jim Ratcliffe could be followed by other Premier League clubs. The Manchester United Foundation are set to be the latest victims of Ratcliffe’s drive to cut costs at Old Trafford, with Sky News [...]
Which stadium is the best in the Gallagher Premiership? December 26, 2024 There are 10 Gallagher Premiership teams fighting tooth and nail to lift the title this season. And a key part of reaching the semi-finals is home form and away form. But which stadium is the best in England and which comes up short? Well here is my ultimate ranking of the 10 Premiership grounds. 10 [...]
Can English clubs mount an Investec Champions Cup charge? December 6, 2024 If you were to list the last five English appearances in an Investec Champions Cup final you’d find Exeter there once and Saracens the other four times. Before that it was Northampton Saints in 2011 and before that London Wasps and Leicester Tigers in 2007. But if you were to ask me to predict which [...]
England rugby star who put fan in headlock banned for just six weeks November 5, 2024 England and Sale rugby player Jonny Hill has escaped with a six-week ban after pleading guilty to physically abusing a spectator. Hill was alleged to have put the fan in a headlock and broken his glasses following Sale’s Premiership semi-final defeat at Bath in June. The incident was investigated by police without the outcome being [...]
Premiership rugby stays on free-to-air TV in new two-year deal September 30, 2024 Premiership rugby will remain available to terrestrial TV viewers after the league extended its deal with ITV to show seven live matches per season. The two-year agreement ensures the Premiership Final will be shown live on ITV, which will also continue to broadcast a weekly highlights programme. “Premiership Rugby is thrilled to extend our relationship [...]
Premiership Rugby 5 things: Bonus points more vital than ever September 30, 2024 Each Premiership side has now played a match at home and one on the road, so what have we learned from the early rounds of domestic rugby? Well Gloucester’s new attacking style started to reward them with results while Saracens and Bath remained the only unbeaten sides. Here are five talking points from round two. [...]
Bath to win Premiership rugby title, Falcons to finish bottom September 20, 2024 It feels as though Northampton Saints only just lifted the Premiership trophy but we’ve already reached the eve of this year’s campaign. We’ve got a new coach in Leicester Tigers boss Michael Cheika, who I worked with at Stade Francais, and renewed ambitions. And we’ve also got the chance of seeing a sixth different winner [...]
EPCR Investec Champions Cup and Challenge Cup pool draw in full July 2, 2024 This morning in Cardiff the draws were completed for the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup. The European competitions will see 42 teams battle it out for two trophies, with this year’s finals taking place in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. Teams will play two teams in their pool at home and two teams away. Teams [...]