CATEGORIES

Offiah Snr backing his boy to hit the heights

TYLER Offiah has been backed to make his senior debut for Bath this season – by his try-scoring legend father Martin.

Top four finish is our goal Randall

HARRY Randall feels Bristol Bears can go one step further this year and secure a play-off place which may put the scrumhalf into the fold for further England honours.

El-Abd steps up to replace Jones

OYONNAX head coach Joe El-Abd has been appointed England’s defence coach, replacing Irishman Felix Jones.

Two matches, two defeats but Diamond keeping the faith

HARLEQUINS ran in four tries yesterday to condemn Newcastle Falcons to a 28-14 defeat at The Stoop – their 23rd straight Premiership reverse following their loss at home to Bristol on the opening night.

Sio: Lions are in for a shock

SCOTT Sio is backing the Wallabies to give the Lions a fright next summer after their recent upturn under Joe Schmidt.

Outside centre best for Freeman - Burrell

FORMER England centre Luther Burrell believes Tommy Freeman is best suited at outside centre and has the attributes to become one of the best players in the world.

McGann calling all shots for Raiders

GUERNSEY Raiders took the honours against hosts Havant in their first meeting in the league.

We're Jamin! Hodgkins puts boot in to rivals

LUCTONIANS' first home game of the season saw them put away a useful Clifton side comfortably.

Rams finally end their Sale hoodoo with rout

RAMS produced one of their best performances of recent times to overcome Sale in resounding fashion on a sensational afternoon at Old Bath Road.

Wallabies push All Blacks to the limit in thriller

NEW Zealand kept their grip on their Bledisloe Cup but an had to endure encouraging Australian comeback from 21-0 down to suggest the future may not be as bleak as it seemed two weeks ago for Joe Schmidt's Wallabies.

New boys Chinnor open up in fine style

CHINNOR came, saw and conquered at Grantchester Road on their Championship debut, with Cambridge well off the desired pace in a lacklustre first-half for the hosts.

Yendle in place to steal it for Dragons

THE Dragons claimed a third successive victory over the Ospreys at Rodney Parade in the most dramatic fashion thanks to a converted try in the 84th minute of this URC opener.

We must find another gear - Sanderson

NO side accumulated more points than Sale after the break for the Six Nations last season, but Alex Sanderson says they will need to be better again to make the play-offs for the fourth time in five years.

Falcons can't hold on to livewire Randall

BRISTOL picked up where they left off last season, having won seven of their last eight and, although it took time for them to hit top gear, they departed Kingston Park with a deserved four-try victory.

'Old-man' Itoje has Saracens buzzing

SARACENS' new recruits fitted seamlessly into their style of play to run out convincing winners at Kingsholm for the third year in succession.

I can't call a winner, but it'll be exciting

THE beauty of the last Premiership season was it was incredibly competitive, and this was reflected in a showpiece final between Northampton and Bath at Twickenham which was in doubt right up to the last seconds.

Helping Wasps would be a 'slap in the face'

LONDON WELSH board director Jonathan Shankland says allowing Wasps to remerge from the ashes of administration and go straight into the Championship would be a \"slap in the face\" for other phoenix clubs who served their time in the lower leagues.

Being captain is an honour but won't change me - Dombrandt

ALEX DOMBRANDT has vowed captaincy won't change him as a player or a person after being tasked with leading Harlequins this season.

Dingwall: England will stay on track

FRASER Dingwall is confident the shock loss of two coaches this summer will not derail England who have shown significant signs of progress this year.

Van Graan: PGP won't be a problem at Bath

BATH Head of Rugby Johann van Graan is not at all concerned with the challenges posed by the new Professional Game Partnership.

England have got an 'amazing' new coach, says Skivington

GEORGE Skivington says England have secured a world class conditioning coach in Dan Tobin who is leaving Gloucester after eight years to join up with the national side next month.

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.