England show who's No.1

ENGLAND women’s head coach John Mitchell says his side will take valuable lessons from the 24-12 win over world champions New Zealand as they build towards their WXV1 title defence.

Skivington: We're going to roll dice and go for it

THE Cherry and Whites are the enigmas of the Premiership.

Looking to go one step beyond this time around

NE small step is what it will take for Bath to go one better than last season and secure the Premiership for the first time, but it would be one of the biggest taken by the club in the professional era.

Four-try England make it 17 wins on the spin

ENGLAND women opened the Allianz Stadium era at HQ with a victory over New Zealand to make it 17 wins on the bounce before their WXV title defence.

Time for Borthwick to prove his worth

HONEYMOON periods are not set in stone and in my estimation Steve Borthwick’s ends this summer. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still in good shape.

Barrington ready to power up the Mob

RICHARD Barrington has signed up to the Ampthill “Mob” reassured that he’ll still have a target on his back most weeks.

Skivington keen to build identity

GLOUCESTER won their first trophy for nine years last season and reached the Challenge Cup final, but when George Skivington went on holiday the day after the campaign ended the words in his head were never again.

Roebuck targets England success

WINNING a maiden England Test cap to top the best season of his career will not be enough for Sale winger Tom Roebuck.

Booth: Tough telling players I was leaving

TOBY Booth admits telling his Ospreys players that he would be leaving at the end of the season was one of the hardest things he has had to do in his career.

Stephens' debut try sees off old rivals

DORKING had to dig deep in another tight game between two old rivals, with the lead changing hands twice and result in doubt right up to the final whistle.

Women heading in the wrong direction

WATCHING last week’s game between England’s women and their French counterparts I couldn’t help thinking that perhaps their game is heading in the wrong direction.

Newport grab six for double bonus

Super Rygbi round-up

Bridgend need to get winning habit - Baldwin

SCOTT Baldwin picked up plenty of tips to take into his new coaching career in winning 37 Welsh caps and playing more than 175 games for Ospreys, but he is the first to admit his four seasons in the English Premiership also left a lasting impression.

Bone transplant has Roberts up and running

JOE Roberts is Welsh rugby’s answer to the Bionic Man having received a bone transplant from a mystery American donor.

This time, Brown's trip ends in smiles

MIKE Brown’s 21st pre-season came with an added sense of déjà vu as he relived his worst nightmare on a Leicester trip to Portugal.

Hard to pin the blame on unions

AS IF things in the game aren’t bad enough, the BBC’s Rugby On Trial shown on Monday looks set to impact on the number of new and current players across the game.

I couldn't let my old club go to the wall

I’M Hartlepool born and bred and grew up on a council estate three-quarters of a mile from West’s old ground, Brierton Lane.

Barnes treble helps TJs to dominate Dorking

AN excellent opening-day performance from Tonbridge Juddians saw them dominate a Dorking side who had finished third for the previous two seasons.

Cozens can see selection headaches on Clifton horizon

PLAYER-COACH Luke Cozens has had to make way for Clifton’s new batch of fly-halves who aim to provide a fast, exciting brand of rugby at Station Road this season.

Anderson steps up to secure top draw

CLIFTON produced a brilliant second-half performance to stun Exeter University after they came from behind to earn a draw at the Topsham Sports Ground.

'Full circle' moment for Hayes with Chester gig

RHYS Hayes has hung up his boots and entered the coaching world aiming to take “sleeping giant” Chester back to National One.

Sheffield's Posa is left proud as punch

SHEFFIELD head coach Anthony Posa was a happy man as his side kicked off the campaign with a six-try bonus-point victory over Fylde yesterday afternoon.

Richmond's defensive efforts deny Club joy

A CONTROLLED and clinical performance from Richmond who, despite a couple of moments of excellence from Blackheath midway through each half, were able to stretch to a relatively comfortable victory in this latest installment of the oldest fixture in club rugby.

Nucifora shows the way forward

THE 1991 edition of the Rugby Annual for Wales has long been a collector’s item.

Time we stopped indulging the haka

THERE is so much disingenuous hypocritical twaddle surrounding the Hollywood production that has become the modern-day New Zealand haka that in some ways I am reluctant to raise the subject again.

When it really matters, Pollard gets the vote

SO in the week that we learnt a proper All Blacks tour of South Africa is likely in 2026, the two sides contested what felt like a series decider in itself after their intriguing back-to-back Rugby Championship fixtures which have brightened up our viewing recently.

Marx on parade to make it four in a row

NEW Zealand picked a bench to ensure they finished the match strongly, but once again they squandered a lead as South Africa all but clinched the Rugby Championship with a fourth successive victory over the All Blacks for the first time in 75 years.

Too much of a good thing can be overkill

PEOPLE might think it’s arrogant,” said Rian Oberholzer, the chief executive of the Springbok domain, just the other day, “but we think it’s the greatest rivalry in rugby.”

Super Holly shows why she's No.1 for Mitchell

HOLLY Aitchison produced a superb performance at flyhalf to guide England to their 16th consecutive victory.

Nayacalevu shows he's going to be real deal

THE past met the future at Sale Sharks’ ancestral home Heywood Road, where international star Waisea Nayacalevu scored a double to help claim the spoils for his new side against Newcastle Falcons in an end-toend battle that went right to the wire.