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Continue reading...Borthwick hopes England can emulate Bazball mentality for autumn series
Head coach and Wigglesworth meet Brendon McCullum
England face Australia on Saturday awaiting ‘Borthball’ era
England’s rugby players are seeking to emulate the Bazball ethos of their cricketing counterparts and strike a pre-emptive blow for the nation in the run-up to the forthcoming Ashes series. Steve Borthwick and members of his coaching staff have had discussions with Brendon McCullum and want their team to make a fast and furious start against Australia in the Quilter Nations Series on Saturday.
There is a collective desire within the England camp to make a statement over the coming month and Borthwick and his defence coach, Richard Wigglesworth, have been picking McCullum’s brain on the best ways to encourage a positive mindset. “We met Brendon McCullum and his coaching staff a few weeks ago,” said Wigglesworth. “We had a sit down and a coffee in Manchester which was very enjoyable.
Continue reading...Tane Edmed keeps Wallabies fly-half spot with Carter Gordon’s return put on hold
Gordon believed to be struggling with quad strain
Tighthead prop Tupou is back in the starting XV
Tane Edmed will take the Wallabies’ playmaking reins again against England as Carter Gordon’s eagerly awaited return to international rugby union has been put on hold.
Gordon, the eight-Test fly-half who played at the last World Cup for Australia before sensationally leaving the code to sign with the Titans, has secured a release from his NRL deal to join the Wallabies’ tour.
Continue reading...Dingwall backed to plot course through the midfield maze for England
Steve Borthwick has opted for the Northampton centre, his ‘glue’ player, over an array of talented England backs
Even Steve Borthwick admits that picking his team to face Australia on Saturday was tricky. And even after he had made his mind up, there was a training ground snapshot which underlined the slim margins involved. “There was a piece of play where the skill showed by the team not starting was absolutely incredible,” said Borthwick. “I couldn’t praise them highly enough for the way they tested the team that is starting.”
Which neatly sums up England’s intensifying backline debate. Ollie Lawrence, Marcus Smith, Henry Arundell, Henry Slade, Cadan Murley and Max Ojomoh are all fit and can’t even make the matchday 23. Not to mention the up-and-coming Noah Caluori. Nor Owen Farrell. Let alone the injured Elliot Daly, George Furbank, Seb Atkinson, Ollie Sleightholme and Will Muir.
Continue reading...Australia will target Freeman at centre in England clash, George Gregan warns
Former captain says defensive questions will be asked
Freeman switching from more familiar role out wide
The former Australia captain George Gregan says they will target Tommy Freeman’s defending at outside-centre for England on Saturday.
Steve Borthwick’s side kick off their autumn campaign at Twickenham against opponents who consigned them to a dramatic late defeat last year, and the head coach has made some notable selectorial calls.
Continue reading...State of the Nations: form guide for November rugby internationals
The southern hemisphere big guns have touched down in Europe for the Quilter Nations Series and there is much to look forward to over the next five weekends
World ranking 6
Continue reading...Borthwick rips up script with move to hybrids that could lead to Pollock on wing
Head coach may also consider playing Ben Earl at centre
Marcus Smith left out of matchday 23 to face Australia
Steve Borthwick is considering playing his fast-rising back-row Henry Pollock on the wing at some stage this autumn as he seeks fresh impetus in all areas before the looming November Tests.
The England head coach says he wants his side to hit the ground running against Australia on Saturday and may also start Ben Earl at centre this season.
Continue reading...The Breakdown | Farrell’s return boosts Ireland for Autumn Nations Series with plenty at stake
After successful Lions tour, head coach returns to a side under pressure to prove their best days are not behind them
One minute we’re winding the clocks back an hour, the next we’re hurtling forwards into rugby union’s maddest month. Welcome to the whistle-stop world of the Autumn Nations Series, which, this year, has arrived as abruptly as a cat burglar in the Louvre. Sides that take time to settle into familiar old routines are about to experience a short, sharp shock.
Of course there is the flip side: the main southern hemisphere powers have been smashing away at each other for weeks and certain individuals must be slightly weary. In terms of cohesion and collective readiness to pick up where they left off last time out, however, there is barely a comparison.
Continue reading...George Ford in line to beat Fin Smith for England fly-half berth against Australia
Sale No 10’s tactical nous may earn him start on Saturday
Tommy Freeman in contention for outside-centre spot
George Ford is likely to start at fly-half when England begin their autumn internationals campaign against Australia at Twickenham on Saturday.
The Sale Sharks No 10 enjoyed an outstanding summer tour with Steve Borthwick’s side, helping to orchestrate two victories against Argentina and one against the USA, and appears to have stated a strong case for selection.
Continue reading...Saracens’ Noah Caluori called up by England for autumn internationals
19-year-old wing scored five tries on first Prem start
Borthwick has picked 36-player squad for four matches
Noah Caluori, the 19-year-old Saracens wing, has been named in England’s autumn internationals squad by Steve Borthwick.
Caluori burst on to the Prem scene by scoring five tries against Sale on 18 October and, as England gear up for a busy November featuring four Tests, Borthwick has called up the uncapped youngster after initially inviting him to a training camp last week. The 36-player squad, including 19 forwards and 17 backs, gathered at Pennyhill Park in Surrey on Sunday night.
Continue reading...Cokanasiga on song to help Bath past Bristol in bruising West Country derby
Bath 40-15 Bristol
Bath keep up pressure on Saints at top
Bath do not lose often these days, never mind on successive league weekends. And with an injury-hit Bristol supposedly cast in the role of punchbags this fixture was widely viewed as a home banker. Sure enough the defending champions eventually pulled away but only at the final whistle could this feisty, incident-packed West Country derby be classed as wholly comfortable.
It was fractious and visceral enough at times to make next Saturday’s England game against Australia look like a quiet suburban church fete. The England management will be suitably relieved that Ellis Genge, Ollie Lawrence, Guy Pepper and others walked away largely intact but they will all report back to Bagshot feeling distinctly battered and bruised.
Continue reading...Australia hold off brave Japan in Tokyo Test – as it happened
Wallabies defeat Cherry Bolossoms 19-15 in Tokyo
Australia hold in wet slog for victorious start to spring tour
Japan National Stadium, home of the 2020 Olympics, has absorbed plenty of moisture over the past 24 hours, and today’s match is likely to be played in persistent light rain. There is little wind to report.
As has been the case for what seems like two decades, it’s near impossible to appraise where the Wallabies are at.
Continue reading...Sports quiz of the week: Arsenal, Ashes, Ange Postecoglou and a new season
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Continue reading...Caluori’s aerial prowess adds intrigue to battle in the sky at Franklin’s Gardens
Prem’s top two meet on Friday night, with Northampton aiming to slow down the Saracens wing’s hype train
Brian Clough famously said that if God had intended football to be played in the sky, he’d have put grass up there. Tactical trends in rugby are moving in the opposite direction though, and with Noah Caluori set to make his second Prem start, Northampton’s high-stakes meeting with Saracens on Friday night promises to be a battle in the skies.
Phil Dowson’s table-topping Saints, champions in 2023-24, are the only unbeaten team remaining after three wins and a draw. Second-placed Saracens are two points back, having scored a league-leading 168 points to Northampton’s second-best 138. Nine players involved in England’s training camp this week will start at Franklin’s Gardens.
Continue reading...Wallabies change 13 starters and hand captaincy to two-Test rookie for Japan clash
Nick Champion de Crespigny to captain Australia in Tokyo
No place for Carter Gordon after return to union from league
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has rested a host of stalwart campaigners and changed all but two of his starting side for Saturday’s Test against Eddie Jones’s Japan, which opens Australia’s end-of-season tour.
Schmidt has kept only halfbacks Tane Edmed and Jake Gordon from the starting team that lost to New Zealand at the end of the Rugby Championship with flanker Nick Champion de Crespigny captaining the new-look side in his third Test.
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