CATEGORIES

Mixed reviews on opening nights...

NOT long now but first comes the ubiquitous opening ceremony that most major sports events feel compelled to foist upon us.

I was rescued by trip to Sri Lanka

Jon Newcombe talks to Bath flanker Chris Cloete on how he saved his rugby career

Should we care about the world rankings?

THE way Clive Woodward saw it back in 2003, the International Rugby Board’s new-fangled ranking system was a many-splendored thing.

Flying Fijians ready to take on the world

FIJI winger Jiuta Wainiqolo says his side are not feeling any pressure as they prepare for their critical World Cup opener against Wales on Sunday.

Warburton: Ball in play time 'crucial' in France

SAM Warburton believes fitness and management of ball in play time could be the difference in this World Cup.

Willis aiming to be the local villain

JACK Willis headed back to France on Thursday with England aiming to go from local hero to villain in his adopted country.

Van Rensburg ready to rumble for Bristol

WHEN Benhard Janse van Rensburg became available after London Irish folded in June, Pat Lam wasted no time in getting in touch with the South African centre.

Dowson: Things are going to get better

PREMIERSHIP clubs get their season underway this weekend with Northampton's director of rugby Phil Dowson looking confident that the gloom that has settled in the last 12 months after the collapse of three clubs and more England woe will lift.

Halliday welcomes new-look Prem Cup

THE latest incarnation of the Premiership Cup, and the most positive because it includes Championship clubs competing against those in the top league for the first time, kicks off the first round of 11 pool stage fixtures nationwide from September 8-10, with Bath travelling to Cornish Pirates on Friday.

Ex-All Blacks pack into Tonga squad

FORMER All Blacks Charles Piutau, Vaea Fifita, Malakai Fekitoa and Augustine Pulu have been selected in Tonga's squad for the World Cup.

King keen to prove worth for Bedford

CAMERON King now sees himself as a settled Championship player and is looking forward to his new adventure with Bedford Blues.

Leeds Tykes and Hull add heft to battle at the top

SEDGLEY Park were runaway winners in National Two North last season but this year’s title race looks set to be far more competitive with two sides dropping down from National One hoping to join the usual suspects at the top of the table.

Veteran Earls out on his own

LIKE his native Limerick, there has never been anything flash or fancy about Keith Earls which goes some way to understanding why he might have thought last week's acrobatics against England a bit OTT.

'I'd signed for Salford day before RFU called"

I SIGNED for Salford Rugby League one Monday, and then the following day, Don Rutherford at the RFU, rang me up to say I’d been selected on the bench for England’s game against Scotland.

Big beasts need to set the right mood

SO where did the last four years go? The final warm-up matches are over yet it seems only yesterday that England got delayed on their way to the World Cup final in Japan, hurried through their warm up and the coin toss and then lost to a Springboks team that saved its very best for last. Some are still replaying that match in their minds, it seems so raw and recent.

YOUNG GUNS

MAXSURRY SCOTLAND U20 PROP

Big cats likely to dine on minnows

IT MUST be a sobering prospect for the makeweights, travelling to a World Cup with a bunch of players registering close to zero on the Name Recognition Scale – the seismological equivalents of faint tremors – and burdened by the fear that any meeting with half-decent opponents playing reasonably well might reduce their campaign to rubble. But that’s enough about Wales.

I'd put my faith in Mitchell to spark England

NO MATTER what Steve Borthwick does he’s just getting lynched by the public There’s a certain pool of people who think Marcus Smith should be at 10, you’ve then got other people who are criticising that he’s named the squad early and then there was massive criticism becasue they didn’t celebrate the players enough when announcing the squad like South Africa or New Zealand.

England heading to the Badlands

STEVE Borthwick has taken a fork in the road which has led England into the Badlands of international rugby. With two weeks to go until England start their 2023 World Cup campaign against Argentina in Marseille his team looks high and dry.

Rowe confident Chiefs will be back in the black soon

TONY Rowe is confident Exeter will move back into the black by the end of the season after three years of financial turbulence sparked by the pandemic.

Healy fear as Ireland battle back

CIAN Healy dealt Andy Farrell a big World Cup blow as the veteran prop sustained a bad injury at the Stade JeanDauger in Bayonne.

My concerns: attack, defence and attitude

WATCHING England now is the most frustrating thing in the world. I want them to do well, but it does not look promising when a lot of the players are playing worse for England than they do for their clubs.

Springboks fire out a World Cup warning

SOUTH Africa showed how hard they will be to dethrone as World Champions by inflicting New Zealand’s biggest ever defeat in Test rugby at Twickenham on Friday night.

Scotland head to France on a high

SCOTLAND  put a sluggish first half behind them to score five second-half tries and head to the World Cup in buoyant mood with a third victory out of four from their warm-up campaign.

Galthie puts his faith in Jalibert to step up at 10

FRANCE head coach Fabien Galthie has gone full throttle for their final World Cup warm up match against Australia this afternoon.

Shambolic England crash to new lows

THIS was not just England hitting rock bottom, it was plumbing the rugby depths.

Davies: I almost gave up on Wales career

SCARLETS scrum-half Gareth Davies has revealed he came close to giving up on his international career before Warren Gatland's return as head coach.

Bassett gets ready to roar for Tigers

CHRIS ASHTON will take some replacing but Josh Bassett has come to Leicester hoping to make a splash of his own.

Player welfare needs top priority - Hayman

CARL Hayman says rugby is in denial about player welfare and insists there must be improved education on head injuries.

Welsh aiming for 10-team elite division

THE Welsh Premiership will be replaced in the 2024-25 season by a “finishing school” for rising talent with the number of teams reduced from 13 to 10. Existing Premiership clubs can each apply for a slot, with criteria for the Elite Domestic Competition (EDC) yet to be finalised.