Manu Tuilagi (right) is injury-free and plays with a smile – Getty Images/Jan Kruger A stop-start schedule has made it difficult to make an accurate assessment of some Premier League clubs this season. The most difficult parties to evaluate are Sale Sharks. At Christmas they were top of the league, at the end of March … Read more
England’s George Ford talks to his teammates in the group after the Guinness Six Nations 2024 match between France and England – Dan Mullan /RFU It is a sign of both the richness of England’s attacking display in Lyon, and the poverty of their performances in recent years, that a three-win championship is being hailed … Read more
Tommy Freeman rewarded for tireless work without the ball – Getty Images The challenge for coaches is to connect different aspects of their team so that they can flow together and support performances that overwhelm opponents. England wanted to win this Six Nations, but a major consolation prize is the way they showed such displays … Read more
Gutted: Tommy Freeman’s late try wasn’t enough for England to beat France (AP) Big dramatic finishes are fast becoming the norm for England, but the irony of this week was that the Red Rose men fell exactly on the wrong side of the high theatre. Tommy Freeman’s gunfire celebration and George Ford’s nerveless touchline conversion … Read more
Manu Tuilgai returns to the England squad on Saturday – Getty Images/Alex Livesey Manu Tuilagi is set to make an international farewell appearance after being named in the England matchday squad to face France in the final round of Six Nations matches. As Telegraph Sport first reported, Tuilagi has been named as a replacement, with … Read more
Ben Earl’s brilliance was rewarded with a try – Getty Images/Harry Murphy Getting started quickly is relatively easy. The true test of any game plan is collective conviction. Can your players maintain the same approach when the wind is taken out of their sails and it seems like opponents have noticed? At half-time of this … Read more
George Furbank crosses the try line before England’s second match against Ireland – Getty Images/David Rogers On Saturday at Twickenham, one team recorded 522 running metres, 164 completed passes and eight clean breaks, kicking the ball 23 times. The other kicked the ball 28 more times but was inferior by the rest of those stats, … Read more
Marcus Smith looked set to become England’s first choice before a calf injury struck – Getty Images/Warren Little This looked to be the Six Nations for Marcus Smith to finally clinch England’s fly-half berth. The original apprentice seemed ready to work full-time, and conditions were quite good. Owen Farrell, who looked set to move on … Read more
England did not make optimal use of Ollie Lawrence – PA/Andrew Milligan Before the emergence of Tom Curry and Sam Underhill some six years ago, England did a bustling trade in six-and-a-halfs; bruising, industrious back-rowers who were not considered cunning or mobile enough to be labeled ‘real opensides’. Chris Robshaw and James Haskell famously leaned … Read more