It may be at least five years until we see Joseph Suaalii back in the NRL again amid the report that his rich deal with Rugby Australia includes a secret contract clause.
The Breakdown | Once at war with the world and himself, Sexton in his own words is revealing
If you thought you knew the celebrated former Ireland fly-half, it’s time to look deeper – this is no leafy lane memoir
Perhaps the most tell-tale aspect of Johnny Sexton’s new autobiography is that it took seven years to stitch together. Seven years? Not since James Joyce took a similar timeframe to write Ulysses has there been such a slow-cooked Irish literary stew. And as Peter O’Reilly, Sexton’s excellent (and potentially long-suffering) ghostwriter, reveals in the final acknowledgments, there was little need for many supplementary interviews because of “Johnny’s exceptional memory for detail”. Combine those twin ingredients and a tasty dish is all but assured.
Because Johnny can remember everything and everyone. What his friends said and did, what his enemies were thinking (or, at least, what he thought they were thinking), how he felt at certain crucial moments. If it reads at times like a cold-eyed dispatch from an endless battle that is, for a good deal of his career, how it felt. “For so much of the time I was at war – with opponents, with rivals, sometimes with coaches, often with myself. For the most part … it felt like a fight.”
Continue reading...Manu begins life in Japanese rugby union just 10 days after disappointing prelim exit
Just 10 days after his rugby league career ended, Joseph Manu has been captured training with his new Japanese rugby outfit Toyota Verblitz.
Santiago Grondona’s debut double leads Bristol to blistering win over Bath
- Bath 26-36 Bristol
- Argentinian helps earn bonus point in first half
The days of low-scoring West Country derbies have gone the way of cassette tapes and Ceefax. A week ago, Bristol scored 41 points and still contrived to lose at home to Gloucester and last January they beat Bath 57-44 at Ashton Gate. This cracking game was not quite the same crazy whirl but the scoreboard still revolved at times like a fruit machine in Las Vegas.
When the music stopped and the nine tries were finally collated it added up to another hugely satisfying away day for Bristol, rewarding a consistently vibrant performance full of movement and purpose.
Continue reading...‘Overly aggressive’: Details emerge over ‘rude’ and ‘unacceptable’ Cheika spat
Leicester head coach Michael Cheika has been hit with a two-week suspension after being found guilty of disrespecting an independent match-day doctor.
South African pitch invader knocked out cold in brutal hit
A pitch invader was knocked out cold by a security guard during a rugby match in South Africa.
Rugby convert Joseph Suaalii jumps gun before chat with Wallabies coach
Rugby convert Joseph Suaalii may have got a little ahead of himself before he even suits up for his first game in the 15-man code.
Relentless South Africa will not let up after claiming Rugby Championship
After beating Argentina to seal the title, the world champions will look to sweep England, Wales and Scotland
Two World Cups, a British & Irish Lions series and now the Rugby Championship. South Africa are in possession of every major trophy available to a southern-hemisphere team. Does this put them on par with the all-conquering All Blacks of Richie McCaw and Dan Carter? It is a question best unpacked over a second pint in the pub. That it is worth asking, though, is a testament to the evolution of this team under Rassie Erasmus and the potential heights they may yet reach.
This 48-7 win over Argentina included all the familiar notes of a Springboks classic. Their scrum consumed the Pumas pack with Ox Nché – a man who famously joked that “salads don’t win scrums” – feasting in the set piece, winning a string of first-half penalties seemingly on his own. Eben Etzebeth, now with a record 128 caps for his country, began the day with tears in his eyes and was totemic throughout. Pieter-Steph du Toit, who continues to produce player-of-the-match performances with his father’s hamstring surgically implanted in his left leg, bossed the breakdown and scored two of his team’s seven tries.
Continue reading...‘Gutted’: Same old story as Wallabies’ horror record extended despite gutsy effort v All Blacks
The Wallabies’ Test drought in New Zealand extended to 23 years when their brave challenge in Wellington was repelled by an All Blacks’ onslaught on Saturday.
Fergus Burke: ‘Owen Farrell was awesome but I’ve got to be my own player’
Saracens’ new fly-half is not daunted at the prospect of following in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor
Certain acts are tougher to follow than others. Imagine, say, playing Hamlet at the Old Vic with the ghost of Sir Laurence Olivier on your shoulder. Or succeeding Sean Connery as the next James Bond. As he prepares for his first home league game as Owen Farrell’s heir apparent, Saracens’ new fly-half, Fergus Burke, knows he is stepping into some exalted shoes.
Which, of course, presents an instant dilemma: do you try to be a carbon copy of your predecessor – give or take the Wigan accent – or resolve to be your own man? Sitting in St Albans, his freshly adopted home town, the 25-year-old Burke has already made his mind up. “Stepping into someone else’s role … there’s obviously a bit of expectation. I just try and park that. Owen was an awesome player and one of the best this club has seen. But I’ve got to be my own player. I can’t be thinking too much about what’s been.”
Continue reading...‘A line in the sand moment’: Premiership’s troubles laid bare by report | Robert Kitson
Seven of the 10 Premiership clubs are balance sheet insolvent but all of rugby must change, says James Haskell
Rarely has the gap between how rugby would like to be perceived and the unvarnished reality felt wider than it did on a grey midweek lunchtime in the City of London. The Honourable Artillery Company – “Turn right just past the cannon, sir” – remains a seriously valuable piece of real estate which made it an interesting choice of venue from which to launch a coruscating critique of the financial state of English club rugby.
It was certainly instructive to sit among seated rows of money men and lawyers listening to assorted experts, academics and – boom, tish! – the former England flanker James Haskell assessing the findings of a newly published independent report into the health of the Premiership’s finances. Interrupted only by the occasional chiming of a splendid grandfather clock, it was the most contemporary of debates in the most old school of settings.
Continue reading...Record breaker left out of Wallabies squad in bid to end drought as injured star sidelined
Nic White has gone from starting No.9 to out of the Wallabies squad completely for the second Bledisloe Cup clash in Wellington as Dylan Pietsch earnt his maiden start in a gold jersey, replacing injured winger Marika Koroibete.
Seven Premiership clubs are balance sheet insolvent, finance report warns
- James Haskell fears rugby ‘heading for precipice’
- Ten clubs collectively lost around £30.5m in 2022-23
Seven of the 10 English Premiership clubs are balance sheet insolvent, according to an independent financial industry report which has prompted a stark warning that unless the sport embraces change it is “heading for a precipice”.
A comprehensive study analysing the financial sustainability of all the Premiership sides, unveiled by the leading UK corporate recovery and insolvency firm Leonard Curtis, concluded that only three clubs – Leicester, Northampton and Gloucester – would be viable without the backing of wealthy owners and said they must face “some harsh realities”.
Continue reading...Dan Biggar: ‘I quite enjoyed taking flak and proving people wrong the next week’
The former Wales fly-half on breaking the mould to survive in the No 10 jersey, disappointment over concessions from players’ strike threats and life by the beach in Toulon
“I’m certainly not your stereotypical Welsh fly‑half and I don’t apologise for being different,” Dan Biggar says with a wry smile at a little restaurant on the beach front in Toulon. “I quite like the fact that I was different and did it my way.”
Storm clouds are rolling in from the sea and the atmospheric setting adds to a compelling conversation with Biggar, who, in contrast to his feisty image on the rugby pitch, is a friendly and thoughtful man. The darkening sky reminds us of Wales, which, for Biggar, “has always been a land of poets and dreamers”.
Continue reading...NRL legend’s son with Roosters, Blues links signs with rival code
NRL legend Brad Fittler’s son Zach has signed up with the Waratahs and committed to playing the 15-a-side code.