Premiership Rugby News
• Exeter 17-20 Bristol• Bears recover from being 17 points downBristol completed a remarkable recovery by scoring a last-minute try through their replacement flanker Dan Thomas to beat Exeter 20-17 at Sandy Park and move top of the Premiership. The vis…
The under-fire club prepare for more ire from opposing crowds after their reception from Gloucester’s ShedNever mind that Gloucester had lost, the music blaring out in the players’ area after the match included Pink Floyd’s Money with its lines “Think …
The punishment for Nigel Wray’s team has caught many by surprise but it has exposed problems the game facesPioneering darlings of English rugby or hateful cheats? The verdict on Saracens continues to swing to impressively wild extremes, even by the sta…
• Harlequins 14-19 Worcester• Visitors fight back from half-time deficit to winIf patience in English rugby has been tested of late, this was the kind of experience to make a fan wonder why they bother. Relentless boshing, relentless rain, but at least…
• Gloucester 12-21 Saracens• Home fans wave fake £50 notes at Saracens playersA section of supporters in the Shed shouted insults and waved fake £50 notes as Saracens took the field, but money did not talk as loudly as Richard Wigglesworth whose calm a…
• Ackermann says opponents ‘will be a desperate side’• Saracens handed 35-point deduction and £5m fineJohan Ackermann expects a backlash from Saracens and thinks his Gloucester side are unlucky to be facing them after a dramatic week.Saracens were hand…
The English champions have been left isolated by this week’s verdict, but there are mitigating factors and they do not deserve the tag of Premiership villainsSaracens have never courted popularity, but they have never been more isolated than now. Their…
• No-show comes after 35 points docked for salary cap breach • Chris Robshaw says ‘cheating’ had stained rugby’s imageSaracens face a £50,000 fine after failing to turn up for the launch of the European Champions Cup in Cardiff where, as holders, they …
Clever ways of paying players very often turn out to be not as well-advised as they must seem when they are conceivedTwo main thoughts were prompted by the thunderous 35-point penalty, and £5.36m fine, imposed on Premiership rugby champions Saracens fo…
English rugby’s dominant club have blazed a trail across Europe and nurtured England internationals but was it all above board?How absolutely typical of rugby union. One minute the country is cheering on England in a World Cup final, the next it is rea…