Northampton were convinced that Care should have been shown a second yellow card Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson admitted his “relief” that Danny Care avoided a red card after referee Karl Dickson controversially opted not to show the scrum-half a second yellow card. Care pushed James Ramm behind as he reached the breakdown before troubling … Read more
Can Marcus Smith (centre) drag Harlequins into the play-offs? -Getty Images/David Rogers ‘The lead-up’ is how Premier League marketers have branded the denouement of this disjointed but compelling campaign. In reality, that feels like too staid an image. With three regular rounds to go, we face a crazy battle for the play-offs. Mathematically, eight out … Read more
Curtis Langdon dives forward to score the first try for Northampton Saints – Getty Images/David Rogers Northampton Saints 40 Leicester Tigers 17 An East Midlands derby that effectively spelled the end of Leicester Tigers’ hopes of reaching the Gallagher Premiership play-offs, and importantly, provided compelling evidence that Northampton Saints are the real deal. As the … Read more
Bulls were overrun by Northampton after leaving their star players at home for the Champions Cup quarter-final – Getty Images/Paul Harding Jacques Raynaud talks about numbers. It’s a good place to start for the affable Frenchman. Defending the reputation and credibility of the Champions Cup was probably not what he had in mind during his … 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
Steve Borthwick has named his England squad for the Six Nations England fear fly-half Marcus Smith could miss the entire Six Nations Championship after suffering a calf injury during training on Monday. Meanwhile, Charlie Ewels has returned to the England squad to prepare for the start of the Six Nations after Nick Isiekwe withdrew from … Read more
Three of our four experts would hand Exeter’s Immanuel Feyi-Waboso his Test debut in the Six Nations – Getty Images/Bob Bradford Steve Borthwick will name his Six Nations squad on Wednesday as England begin a new World Cup cycle. The England head coach must decide how many new players to include in the group and … Read more
Will Joseph, formerly of London Irish, now impresses with Harlequins on the European stage – Getty Images/Patrick Khachfe Picking out the positives from the 2022/23 Premiership campaign is a bit like searching a particularly filthy drain for lost keys. Losing three clubs, albeit under different circumstances, was an indelible and shameful blight on the sport … Read more
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has scored five tries so far this Premiership season – Shutterstock/Simon King History tells us that highlight roles don’t always translate to Test caps when it comes to wingers. International coaches usually require more than explosive sidesteps, acrobatic feats and dazzling individual efforts in domestic competitions. Less glamorous qualities such as defensive positioning, … Read more