CATEGORIES

Smith's drop of magic revives England

MARCUS Smith and Danny Care, the 37-year-old centurion in his 100th Test, managed to keep their heads when all around were losing theirs to clinch this pulsating match by conjuring a text-book drop-goal finish with seconds left on the clock.

Redshaw ready to lead from the front

BEN Redshaw trained with England during last year's World Cup before he had made his Newcastle debut, already marked out as a player to watch.

Matavesi: We need to hit the ground running

NORTHAMPTON hooker Sam Matavesi wants normal service to be resumed after what has been \"a weird year\" in the Premiership and an unusual week all round.

For me, this was their finest Six Nations win

COULD have beaten England. Should have beaten France, finally did the business against Scotland Italy took the major scalp that this particular group of players needs and the rugby community throughout Italy have craved for so long. Italian rugby is well and truly on the march and that can only be good for the game.

Play with tempo and Wales could steal it

WALES are rebuilding, and most people accept that.

Watkin's ready to stake his claim

OWEN Watkin plays week in, week out with George North but today he gets his big chance to stake a claim to become the long-term replacement for his Ospreys team-mate in the Welsh midfield.

One of the greatest days ever - George

JAMIE George last night admitted that derailing Ireland's Slam hopes Grand was one of the greatest days of his career after their Twickenham upset.

McHenry grabs his lifeline from Dax

ALEX McHenry scored Jersey’s third try against Exeter in September, yet eight days later was selling nearly all his possessions and left “fearing the worst” – but a ‘mystery’ figure helped him turn his fortunes around.

Waratahs prove too strong for Crusaders

THE Crusaders suffered back-to-back defeats to begin their title defence after the impressive Waratahs secured a stunning 37-24 upset victory.

Reynolds looks to Ram home a final advantage

WITH just six games remaining, Rams trail league leaders Chinnor by only points difference, but director of rugby Seb Reynolds has reiterated that his side won’t be focused on chasing bonus points in order to topple their title rivals.

Benson leads the way for Cambridge

CAMBRIDGE, with their ‘big names’ leading the way, dismissed Oxford with an eight-try demolition to mark the first occasion this game has been played at the StoneX. It is the highest score and biggest margin of victory in the fixture’s history.

Hartpury made to work hard by battling Chiefs

GLOUCESTER-Hartpury maintained their unbeaten run in the Women's Premiership with a gritty victory against Exeter at Kingsholm.

We need to take more control, says Ford

BURY St Edmunds have seen their National Two East title hopes shattered away in recent weeks with five defeats on the spin leaving director of rugby Jacob Ford scratching his head in bemusement.

Majestic Georgia march on into final

RICHARD Cockerill's hoisted up Georgia the Antim Cup as they booked their place in the final of the Rugby Europe Championship after overpowering big rivals Romania in a seven-try rout.

Coventry show McGeechan there's a lot of work to do

DONCASTER’S new era following the departure of Steve Boden began disappointingly at Castle Park.

Borthwick should put faith in this trio

PETER Winterbottom knows a thing or three about our sport, so you would expect him to make some telling points over the course of an hour-long discussion. Which he did, on this paper's podcast just recently.

De Beer happy to welcome Sheedy

CARDIFF’S Tinus de Beer says he will welcome the arrival of fellow fly-half Callum Sheedy at the Arms Park to help share the load at No.10.

Carre leads fightback but Cardiff lack power

The home side weren’t able to reproduce that success but it was another committed effort from them after enduring a disastrous start.

Borthwick must stop delaying and rebuild

WHEN Steve Borthwick took over from Eddie Jones as England head coach he said that he had inherited a team that “wasn’t good at anything”. We are more than a year on, and nothing has changed.

Care merits his century, says Youngs

BEN Youngs has backed his long-time rival Danny Care to step up on what would be his 100th appearance for England against Ireland next weekend.

Nowell extends deal to stay at La Rochelle

JACK Nowell’s French connection is set to go on for a few more years yet, after the Cornishman this week put pen to paper on a contract extension that will keep him at La Rochelle until 2027.

'Big Mac' has his eye on the prize

THE extent of the impact Wales newbie Mackenzie Martin is making this season can be judged in many ways.

Hodge on his way back to fast lane

JOSH Hodge has set his sights on an exciting end to the season after making an impressive return to action following injury.

Pearson grabs chance to show his potential

IN terms of an on-field audition, Northampton’s Tom Pearson could not have done much more to impress watching England head coach, Steve Borthwick.

Wasps better off with URC-Sharp

COVENTRY chairSharp that Wasps' future, if it has one, lies in the United Rugby Championship, not the RFU Championship.

Moody fears an Ireland onslaught

LEWIS Moody fears “unstoppable” Ireland will deliver further bad news for England when they arrive at Twickenham.

I'm still getting stick over Hill, says rookie

ENGLAND new boy Chandler Cunningham-South is still paying the price for not recognising 2003 legend Richard Hill.

Tosa takes chance with a lighter blue

MAKOTO Tosa will join an exclusive club on Saturday when he wins his second Blue in the Varsity Match – and make a piece of rugby history into the bargain.

Minikin ready to see battle going right down to wire

HULL Ionians finished third in National Two North last year but are up against it at the wrong end of the table this term, and fly-half Lewis Minikin says every game is now their cup final.

I just love playing and had an amazing career

PLAYING in the Championship isn’t sustainable with the level of funding clubs currently get so while it was a hard decision to quit professional rugby a couple of years ago at the age of 28, I had to think about my future, otherwise I’d have been holding off the inevitable and I didn’t want to be entering a new job market well into my 30s.