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 [...]
Which stadium is the best in the Gallagher Premiership? Sport 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 [...]
Vannes shows Top 14 and France are doing it right. England should learn Sport Matt Hardy went to Vannes this December and saw exactly why French rugby and the Top 14 is exactly what every league should aim for. Rounding a grand piano in the courtyard of a music school to reach the turnstiles at the Stade de La Rabine is not something you’d expect – posh boy stereotypes [...]
Will any team ever be relegated from the Premiership? Doubt it October 14, 2024 Exeter Chiefs and Newcastle Falcons are without a win this year but neither will be relegated from the Premiership due to the system. At the 65-minute mark in the Premiership match between Exeter Chiefs and Bristol Bears in Devon, the home side were 32-12 up on their West Country rivals. But come full-time the Bristolians [...]
Harlequins beat Saracens 1,700 days after last derby victory October 13, 2024 Harlequins put an end to Saracens’s unbeaten start to the season, beating their rivals 17-10 in the London derby. Fin Baxter and Lennox Anyanwu crossed for the Twickenham side with Marcus Smith adding seven points off the tee while Hugh Tizard scored the away side’s only try. Five points off the boot of England returnee [...]
Derby weekend can ignite spark in Premiership October 11, 2024 This weekend Premiership Rugby has deliberately created drama with the continuation of derby weekend, where all five fixtures are focused on local rivalries. Sale Sharks play Newcastle Falcons, Gloucester host Bath, Northampton travel to Leicester, Exeter Chiefs take on Bristol Bears and unbeaten Saracens head south to Harlequins. Derby days are always special days as [...]
Is Pat a Lam to the slaughter at Bristol Bears? Not quite October 4, 2024 It’s not an official law of rugby, but as a rule of thumb you should not score 41 points and still lose a game. And that’s exactly what Bristol Bears did against Gloucester last Friday in round two of the Premiership. Sure, defence was optional for both teams in the West Country derby that finished [...]
Cheika hit with ban over incident with doctor October 2, 2024 Leicester Tigers coach Michael Cheika has been slapped with a one-week suspension for disrespecting a match day rugby doctor. The Premiership newcomer committed the offence in his side’s opening round victory over Exeter Chiefs, with the RFU disciplinary hearing saying he challenged a call made by the doctor relating to whether centre Solomone Kata should [...]
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. [...]
‘Michael Cheika suits the Premiership, he just gets stuck in’ September 27, 2024 I remember when I was a player at Stade Francais in Paris, Michael Cheika wanting to get involved with training at an authentic level. He got absolutely smashed by former French lock Pascal Papé and Italian legend Sergio Parisse, leaving the Aussie at the bottom of a ruck. “F**k yeah, f**k yeah,” the former Wallabies [...]