CATEGORIES

A humble hero who had a big heart ...

A DARK cloud of sorrow has been hovering above St Thomas’ Church at the east end of Swansea this Christmas over the loss of one of its most beloved disciples, Geoff Wheel.

Firefighter Konkel turning the heat up for Harlequins

FIREFIGHTER Jade Konkel has ignited a Harlequins title charge following a run of miserable successive seasons for the 2020/21 winners.

Quins finish year at the top of the pile

HARLEQUINS went top of the Premiership Women’s Rugby with victory in Big Game 16 at the Allianz Stadium.

Pirates are on course to make it five in a row

CORNISH Pirates are riding a wave of momentum looking for their fifth consecutive Championship win when they visit strugglers Ampthill today.

Nottingham take their chances to silence Cov

A THRILLING display of high-tempo attacking rugby in which wingers Ryan Olowofela and David Williams played prominent roles earned Nottingham a bonus-point success over Midlands rivals Coventry.

Itoje: Life's taken turn for the better under Borthwick

ENGLAND and Saracens lock Maro Itoje has claimed that the ‘atmosphere and experience’ of playing for the national team has improved under Steve Borthwick compared to life under former head coach Eddie Jones, adding that some of the practices Jones employed to get the best out of his players were ‘unnecessary’.

Varndell: Lam has put flair into Bears

WHEN it comes to scoring tries in Premiership Rugby, few players have struck fear into opposition defences quite like Tom Varndell.

Let's hope Brizball can stay in fashion

THIS is not obviously the time to be talking balls – the Twickenham elite have cornered that particular market – but the question demands to be asked: is Brizball the union game’s version of Bazball?

Roots looking to find his old form

ETHAN Roots started 2024 with a bang, man of the match in Italy on his England debut, but his year ended with more of a splutter.

Dragons still can't get better of Cardiff

DRAGONS’ nightmare run against their fiercest rivals continued as they fell to their 19th consecutive defeat, having not beaten them since Boxing Day 2014.

Skivington: Balance is better but much to do

GLOUCESTER director of rugby George Skivington is confident his team are close to striking the right balance between attack and defence as they look to put their Sandy Park jinx to bed.

Rampant Sale leave Bears with nothing

WHAT a difference a week makes. Last weekend, Bristol’s all singing and dancing 54-24 performance at Leicester was hailed as one of the best in Premiership history.

Mitchell & Smith get Saints back on track

NORTHAMPTON swept aside a tame Newcastle team in a match that was over after just 15 minutes.

Quins are denied as Tigers snatch draw

ON a weekend of bizarrely one-sided games, a full throated and entertaining draw in front of nearly 80,000 fans at Twickenham redressed the balance a little but this 16th edition of the Big Match wasn’t without controversy.

Bath give Saracens lesson in finishing

BEN Spencer brushed off his autumn blues to come back and help inflict a record league victory on his old club as Bath went five clear at the top of the Premiership.

Ollie is the right man for England

SINCE Ollie Sleightholme won his first two England caps against New Zealand last summer, and then came off the bench again in the autumn series to score two tries against Australia, and another two against South Africa and Japan, he has not been exposed or looked out of place.

Sides are coming after us - Dowson

PHIL Dowson concedes his Saints are still struggling to cope with being targeted by rivals desperate to stick one on the reigning English champions.

Wilson backing Isgro to create havoc for Quins

RODRIGO Isgro is a “physical specimen” who will become an even more destructive weapon for Quins once he is Premiership “battled hardened”.

Strength in depth at Bath and Scotland is huge, says Bayliss

JOSH Bayliss enjoyed his best run in a Scotland jersey over the autumn but insists competition for places means he’ll never take selection for granted, for either club or country.

Steward prepares new plan of attack

FREDDIE Steward has the safest pair of hands in the Premiership and is now set on finding his feet as an attacking force.

Ford set to follow family line and take up coaching

GEORGE Ford admits he sees himself following in the footsteps of his father and two brothers by moving into coaching one day.

MacGinty out for four months with knee injury

BRISTOL fly-half AJ MacGinty is to miss the next four months with a knee injury that has required surgery.

Jenkins excited to get back in action

BY his own admission, it’s been a ‘painful’ watch for Dafydd Jenkins so far this season.

Diamond is happy to stick with Newcastle

STEVE Diamond has committed himself to Newcastle longterm, as long he is wanted by the new owners when Semore Kurdi sells his stake in the Falcons.

McCall: That was horrible and ugly

THUNDERSTRUCK Mark McCall urged his Saracens side to get off the canvas after they were handed their worst Premiership defeat by rampant Bath.

I always wanted to play an exciting form of rugby

THERE were periods of my career where I felt like I was playing well enough to earn a shot with England. However, if you look at the way England’s gone, even with Marcus Smith now, he gets taken off when he is playing fantastic rugby just because he’s more of a flair player and as a result has a stigma attached.

England must find a way to deliver

WITH Christmas fast approaching, it’s time for us all to look forward to better things and hope we achieve them.

I've still got plenty to give, says Beaumont

JOSH Beaumont prepares to put his body on the festive front line again in the Sale cause revealing his biggest “regret” has been not winning an England cap.

Saracens fight back to overcome Bears

SARACENS secured a pulsating victory over a Hannah Botterman-inspired Bristol Bears to move to within a point of the summit of the table.

Hopkins in snatch it

AFTER the resignation of their popular head coach Toby Booth earlier in the week, Ospreys were given a huge boost when replacement Iestyn Hopkins crashed over with the clock in overtime to condemn their fiercest rivals to yet another defeat in Swansea.