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Continue reading...Spear and loathing: 20 years since tackle on Brian O’Driscoll that changed rugby
Mealamu and Umaga’s slam-dunking of the Lions captain was typical of the game’s wild west years but it proved a watershed – and the hurt still lingers
Brian O’Driscoll is sick of talking about it. Tana Umaga says anyone still asking needs to put it behind them. But here we are, 20 years to the day since the tackle that ties them together – and people do still want to talk about it.
That moment – in the first minute of the first Test of the Lions series against New Zealand – still pops up on TikTok and YouTube feeds, still sparks arguments on Reddit threads, still leads hour-long podcasts when players reminisce about how they saw it. And it still inspires articles like this one, long after the men involved have made up and moved on.
Continue reading...Immanuel Feyi-Waboso picked for England tour despite two-match ban
Wing shown red card in defeat by France
England play three Tests in Argentina and US
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has been included in England’s squad for the summer tour of Argentina and the US despite a suspension that rules him out of two of the three fixtures.
Feyi-Waboso was sent off after 33 minutes of his first appearance in six months during an England XV’s 26-24 defeat by France at Twickenham on Saturday. He endured a torrid comeback, twice dropping the ball before he was sent to the sin-bin for his clothesline tackle on the French fly-half Antoine Hastoy, his yellow card subsequently upgraded to red.
Continue reading...Ian McLauchlan, Scotland and British & Irish Lions ‘Mighty Mouse’, dies at 83
‘Mighty Mouse’ led his country 19 times, winning 43 caps
Part of successful Lions tours in 1971 and 1974
The former Scotland and British & Irish Lions prop Ian McLauchlan has died at the age of 83. The Ayrshire-born McLauchlan, who was known throughout the rugby world as Mighty Mouse, won 43 caps for Scotland between 1969 and 1979, captaining the side 19 times.
McLauchlan’s legacy was cemented on the victorious Lions tours of New Zealand and South Africa in 1971 and 1974, being one of only five players to feature in all eight Test matches.
Continue reading...Crusaders pile more misery on Chiefs to win 13th Super Rugby title
Crusaders win 16-12 for 32 straight play-off victories in Christchurch
Chiefs were minor premiers but lose third consecutive decider
The Crusaders are again the kings of Super Rugby Pacific after consigning the Chiefs to a third-straight loss in the title decider.
Playing in Christchurch, the Crusaders claimed a 32nd successive play-off home match victory over three decades of Super Rugby as they downed the Chiefs 16-12 in Saturday’s final.
Continue reading...Sports quiz of the week: Lions, Le Mans, Royal Ascot, Euros and Club World Cup
Have you been paying attention to the football, athletics, golf, rugby union, horse racing, darts and ice hockey?
Continue reading...The first Lions match is about laying down a marker – but Pumas bring range of threats | Ugo Monye
Early days in a Lions camp can be nervy and everyone wants to play in Friday’s first match but Argentina provide a tough test
Every single member of the British & Irish Lions squad is in the perfect sweet spot at the moment. Blair Kinghorn aside, they all arrived into camp with a spring in their step and a smile on their face because their dreams have been realised. Speaking from experience, it is amazing how quickly you can leave national allegiances at the door.
At this stage, there is no sense of what the Test team will be, no division, or feeling that you have to make do with being a midweek dirt-tracker – the thing you are probably most nervous about is who your roommate will be. You know it will be someone from a different country and my first roommate was Keith Earls. As the youngest member of the 2009 squad, he was responsible for looking after the Lions mascot and I felt like I needed to mind him. I soon realised there are few as competitive as Keith and he did not need minding at all.
Continue reading...Duhan van der Merwe hits back at ‘SpringJock’ jibes: ‘I know how hard I’ve worked to get here’
Flying winger brushes off allegiance jibes and cannot wait for Australia after a testing Lions tour in 2021
Duhan van der Merwe does not want to shake hands. It is not that the hulking Scotland winger is being rude – he is polite to a fault – but after a gruelling gym session the British & Irish Lion has blisters as big as golf balls. A fist bump – a touch daunting given the size of his biceps – must suffice.
Van der Merwe’s war wounds are the first indication that public perception about him can be misleading and there are many to follow in the ensuing half-hour. From an impassioned response to accusations he is a “SpringJock”, to discussing why he runs roughshod over England once a year, Van der Merwe is illuminating company.
Continue reading...Veteran flyhalf James O’Connor overlooked for selection in Wallabies squad for Test against Fiji
Veteran flyhalf James O’Connor has missed selection in an extended 36-man Wallabies squad for next month’s Test against Fiji in Newcastle.
Maro Itoje to captain British & Irish Lions for first time in Argentina warm-up
XV features Marcus Smith, Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith
Tadhg Furlong also has the chance to prove his fitness
Maro Itoje will captain the British & Irish Lions for the first time in their non-cap international against Argentina in Dublin on Friday.
The England skipper Itoje leads a starting XV that features Marcus Smith at full-back and will be directed by England half-backs Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith.
This story will update
Continue reading...Owen Farrell focuses on Saracens return but keeps Lions and England on back burner
Fly-half is determined to enjoy his rugby again after injury-disrupted time in France but his international future remains up in the air
If either call were to come, does Owen Farrell want to go on tour with England or the British & Irish Lions this summer? It is both the question that most intrigues and the one that he steadfastly does not answer following his return to Saracens.
“There’s nothing for me to do other than concentrate on getting myself back here and getting myself in the best place I can and everything else is hypothetical,” is a typical example of his response. There were a number of others in the 20 minutes spent in his company, back at the StoneX stadium after a torrid season with Racing 92, but all gave little insight into what his reaction might be if Steve Borthwick or his dad, Andy Farrell, wish to call him up for either England’s summer tour of Argentina and the USA, or the Lions’ trip to Australia.
Continue reading...The Breakdown | End-of-season rugby union awards: best games, players and more
Champagne tries and offloads to retired greats and future stars, here are the highlights of the 2024-25 season
1) Leinster 34-37 Northampton, 3 May. One of the great ram-raids.
Continue reading...‘A special moment’: Russell revels in Bath glory as focus turns to Lions
Fly-half relishes end to his 10-year wait for a league title before homing in on British & Irish Lions challenge
Had Handrè Pollard done his homework he might have known what was coming – for Finn Russell has previous with intercepts when attacking Twickenham’s south stand. It was playing that way that he picked off Owen Farrell’s pass before streaking clear in the madcap 38-38 draw between England and Scotland in 2019. And he was at it again on Saturday, coming up with the decisive moment in Bath’s dogged Premiership final victory over Leicester.
On this occasion he did not finish off the try himself – you suspect he probably could have – instead flinging a nonchalant pass inside to the onrushing Max Ojomoh. In a final short on champagne moments, it put the fizz in Bath’s performance, extending their lead to 20-7 before a second penalty of the match proved pivotal in ensuring the 29-year wait for a Premiership title was over.
Continue reading...Bath hold off Leicester to win Premiership title after 23-21 victory – as it happened
Bath ended their 29 year wait with victory at Twickenham
4 mins. Leicester win said scrum and there’s another one a minute later after more poor Batch handling. This second one brings down the full malevolence of the Tigers pack to crumble the Bath eight and bring about a penalty. Pollard pings a beautiful touchfinder deep into attacking territory.
2 mins. The crafty kick off is very nearly gathered by Cracknell, but the ball ends up pinging about a bit before Spencer gets his hands on it and punts it away. There’s a few carries by Leicester in their own half before a knock-on brings about the first scrum of the match.
Continue reading...Rugby’s great wanderer Christian Wade: ‘You don’t say no to Wigan’
Having previously swapped rugby union for NFL, Wade shares his excitement for a fresh challenge after a ‘humbling’ start to life in rugby league
For a man who has done it all in rugby union and experienced the bright lights of the NFL, the glint in Christian Wade’s eye when asked what drew him to a new challenge with Wigan suggests this was an opportunity he couldn’t miss.
It has been some fortnight for one of the Premiership’s all-time greats. His farewell appearance for Gloucester – and perhaps in rugby union altogether – ended with victory against Northampton and two tries. The second of those was a sensational long-range finish in the dying embers of that game which would have caught the eye of any Wigan supporters keenly checking out what their new signing is capable of.
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