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Pre game reading
Dave Rennie’s New Zealand project is off to a flyer, read about the latest installment here.
Continue reading...Schmidt leaves repaired Wallabies with gifts of Canham and Lonergan for Kiss | Daniel Gallan
Australia’s lack of forwards remains a problem, but the departing coach raised the ceiling and left a deeper and more experienced group.
Australia ended the Joe Schmidt era like a struggling restaurant producing one of its finest meals on the night the head chef handed back his keys. Everything came together: the service was sharp, the ingredients were handled with care, but loyal patrons left wondering why the place could not function like this every week.
Italy were swept aside 57-10 in Perth on Saturday. Josh Canham completed a hat-trick as the home side produced the sort of precise, powerful performance that offered a tribute to their departing coach and a reminder of why his spell has been so difficult to judge.
Continue reading...Australia 57-10 Italy: Nations Championship rugby union international – as it happened
Wallabies send off coach Joe Schmidt in style in Perth
Josh Canham leads nine-try rout with hat-trick
Despite Australian rugby’s struggles, tonight’s match is a sell out, the sixth in a row for the Wallabies.
Referee: Paris-born Englishman Christophe Ridley.
Continue reading...Farrell rues Ireland errors as All Blacks extend unbeaten streak at Eden Park
New Zealand 40-21 Ireland
Hosts unbeaten in 32 years at Auckland venue
Andy Farrell rued an error-strewn display after Ireland suffered a 40-21 defeat to New Zealand in round three of the Nations Championship.
The All Blacks scored four first-half tries through Patrick Tuipulotu, Ardie Savea, Will Jordan and Asafo Aumua en route to stretching their remarkable unbeaten run at Eden Park to 53 Tests. Jack Conan crossed for Ireland in a punishing first half before Joe McCarthy and Hugo Keenan went over in an improved second period, with Sam Prendergast slotting all three conversions.
Continue reading...Wallabies make selection gambles for Italy clash in bid to arrest losing streak
Declan Meredith to start again at flyhalf against Italy in Perth
Fraser McReight dropped to the bench in favour of Carlo Tizzano
Outgoing Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt is rolling the dice at the exit door, sticking with Declan Meredith at flyhalf and dropping Fraser McReight to the bench in favour of hometown hero Carlo Tizzano.
The Wallabies will be aiming to snap a six-game losing streak when they face world No 10 Italy in Saturday night’s Nations Championship clash in Perth.
Continue reading...Pollock, pace and potential offer glimpse of promised land for England
If Steve Borthwick is to emulate Thomas Tuchel he must fully embrace the attacking talent which tore Fiji apart
Next year Steve Borthwick would love to be where Thomas Tuchel is now. A World Cup semi-final in prospect, an entire nation transfixed and a team with another gear in it. Swap Atlanta for Sydney and Jude Bellingham for Henry Pollock and the same essentials will be required: big-match players, smart man management and the absolute belief that decades of disappointment can be overcome.
Tuchel and his staff even paid a visit to their rugby counterparts in March, albeit in the week the latter lost against Italy in the Six Nations for the first time. Borthwick has long been interested in how England-based coaches deal with the sheer weight of expectation and has spoken to a number of Premier League managers on the subject.
Continue reading...Wallabies’ pop-gun revival under Joe Schmidt blown apart as France unload heavy artillery | Daniel Gallan
Plucky defeats decorated with patches of excellence will not cut it for Australia with a home World Cup now looming large
The camera found Joe Schmidt shortly after France had completed a 22-point swing. Australia’s coach had seen a 21-12 half-time lead obliterated in 16 brutal minutes. Schmidt, one of rugby’s sharpest minds, looked short of answers. The trouble was that the questions confronting him had obvious answers but almost impossible solutions.
Why had Australia’s discipline deteriorated? Because they were under pressure. Why had their tackle intensity and ruck speed fallen away? Because France had introduced fresh power from the bench. Why had the Wallabies gone from a nine-point half-time lead to a 13-point deficit in barely a quarter of an hour? Because one team had more large, skilful, Test-quality rugby players than the other.
Continue reading...South Africa prove too strong for enterprising Scotland in Nations Championship
South Africa 42-28 Scotland
Scots run in four tries to earn bonus point
A breathless match, all the more so given the thin air of Pretoria, but the upshot is, for all Scotland’s wit and energy, South Africa march on with another full house of points. The visitors were brilliant in scoring their four tries, their pace and skill regularly making mugs of their hosts, but power remains the thing the Springboks do better than anyone. At this altitude, it is very hard to stop.
They were unanswerable in the middle of each half, scoring five of their six tries around then, but Scotland scored two apiece in the second and fourth quarters. They were within sight of a losing bonus point with 10 minutes to go. They even looked as if they might score again. But Jesse Kriel’s late score meant they had to settle for one.
Continue reading...South Africa 42-28 Scotland: Nations Championship rugby – as it happened
South Africa win after surviving two Scottish rallies in Pretoria
9 mins. A worrying moment for Scotland as a Papier kick is allowed to bounce in behind with a gathering green group of shirts very close on the chase. Russell turns, dives on it at full stretch and grips it to his chest long enough for his ruck clearers to arrive, set it and let White clear the lines.
7 mins. Bok discipline is once more wanting under pressure with Wiese again infringing, this time for entering a maul from the side. Russell puts it into touch for a 5m lineout platform that is ruined by Ashman not throwing straight. Papier boots clear from the scrum.
Continue reading...Fiji 8-73 England: Nations Championship rugby union – as it happened
England bounced back in style with an 11-try victory over Fiji in Liverpool
2 mins. A single carry before Van Poortvliet sets up the caterpillar ruck to box-kick to touch for a zero nonsense start from England. This is not the case from Fiji from the lineout as Tagitagivalu spills a simple tap off the top; presenting England a scrum that promptly results in penalty against Mawi.
Caleb Muntz chips through the shimmering summer air deep into England territory.
Continue reading...Will Jordan grabs try-scoring record as All Blacks hammer Italy in Nations Championship
Fullback scores hat-trick as New Zealand win 47-17 in Wellington
New coach Dave Rennie has back-to-back wins in his first matches
Will Jordan grabbed a hat-trick of tries including a record 50th for New Zealand as the All Blacks thrashed Italy 47-17 in the Nations Championship Test.
Jordan touched down once in the first half and twice in three minutes after half-time at Wellington Regional Stadium to eclipse Doug Howlett’s record against the outclassed Italians.
Continue reading...Australia 26-42 France: Nations Championship rugby union international – as it happened
Wallabies unable to defend 21-12 half-time lead
France run in four tries in dominate second half
Australia in gold, France in blue, round two of the Nations Championship is under way…
Anthem time in Brisbane, which means an always welcome rendition of La Marseillaise. Advance Australia Fair pales by comparison, but the duration of the song allows plenty of close-ups of the Wallabies’ excellent First Nations jersey, worn to coincide with NAIDOC Week here in Australia.
Continue reading...England return to the north with Borthwick needing to avoid a Mersey meltdown
Team head to Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium to face Fiji needing to avoid a sixth straight defeat, with eyes on debutants Van Rensburg and Caluori
England’s men venture north to play international rugby union so infrequently that their Nations Championship fixture against Fiji is a newsflash in itself. It is more than a decade since the north-west last staged a union Test and approaching 30 years since the England coaches Steve Borthwick and Richard Wigglesworth, among others, had their youthful sporting ambitions sparked by watching England at Old Trafford and Huddersfield respectively in the late 1990s.
So even in the dog days of July, with temperatures nudging 30 degrees celsius and Merseyside feeling more akin to the Med, this particular game is significant even before England’s recent five-game losing streak is layered on. Get it right and Borthwick can head to Argentina for the final leg of this summer’s magic mystery tour with some pressure relieved. Get it wrong at Hill Dickinson Stadium and a hard day’s night looms.
Continue reading...Sports quiz of the week: England v Norway, Wimbledon and Alexia Putellas
Have you followed the big stories in football, tennis, rugby union, cricket, cycling, rugby league and swimming?
Continue reading...Steve Borthwick sidesteps questions over future if England lose to Fiji
Janse van Rensburg, Caluori and Kloska to make debuts
Head coach: ‘My conversations with the RFU are private’
Steve Borthwick says he and his players are also feeling “the hurt and pain” caused by England’s losing streak but has sidestepped questions about his job security if his team are beaten by Fiji on Saturday. The head coach has not tasted victory since early February and will come under significant external pressure should his side slip to a sixth successive Test defeat at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.
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