Battling Italy make it tough for Ireland

ITALY, despite a succession of serious injuries and self-inflicted disciplinary problems, pushed Ireland all the way at the Olympic Stadium in a game that summed up both their respective campaigns.

Nice are planning a quick reversal

You may not have heard of Stade Marcel Volot – the one-stand 3,000-capacity home of ProD2 basement side Nice, which sits next to the Var river up the road from the rather larger and better-known Allianz Riviera home of the city’s Ligue 1 football team.

France in seventh heaven

FRANCE overcame a spirited Scotland display in a breathless finale in Paris to secure a record-equalling seventh Six Nations title – drawing level with England – and their first since 2022.

Time to talk about the 1995 you-know-what

It’s ODD how some Grand Slams get lost in the mists of time, seemingly never to be mentioned again. Take England in 1995. Thirty years ago this weekend Will Carling’s team were closing out their third Slam in five years with a 24-12 victory over Scotland at Twickenham with Rob Andrew kicking seven penalties and a dropped goal for the men in white.

Curry urges Martin to avoid the phone

Tom Curry has told sidelined George Martin to stay off his phone as the Leicester lock bids to return to fitness and rescue his summer.

McConnochie's on a mission

RUARIDH McConnochie insists Bath will be winners this weekend even if they don’t lift the Premiership Rugby Cup for the first time since its inception in 2019.

New free-to-air deal sees England on ITV

THE BBC and ITV have agreed a new four-year deal for the Men’s Six Nations to remain on free-to-air TV until 2029.

England's defence too good for Italy

At Last England put together a performance that saw them win by more than the one point they seemed to favour with a winning margin of 23 points against Italy last Sunday. The bonus point win added to their surprise victory over France and narrow win against Scotland giving them an outside chance of a first Six Nations title win in years heading to Cardiff yesterday.

Macc at their very best in top win

MAGIC Macclesfield produced their best rugby of the season so far to secure a victory.

Should I have focused on one position? I don't know

Paul Rees looks back at Mathew Tait's career and finds out how he - and his family - are now living and working in Dubai

Lions take a large leap to securing survival

LEICESTER Lions took a huge step towards survival in National League 1 with a bonus-point over win away from home fellow strugglers Esher.

Farrar: We can take on the best

EALING Trailfinders captain Rob Farrar believes his side have what it takes to compete with the very best in English rugby having proved their worth yet again in this season’s Premiership Rugby Cup.

Time to shrug off the straitjacket, England

If you put the England backs behind the French pack would they be as good as the French backs? The first thing is they would be very pleased with the prospect! It’s a good question, and a hard one to answer. The English backs would get much quicker ball, and it would then be about them making good decisions, and keeping their depth.

Rampant England find new ways to impress

ENGLAND were asked to “play big” by head coach Steve Borthwick, and victories do not come any bigger than this record 10-try Six Nations rout of a Wales side that was so outclassed that this game at the Principality Stadium was a done deal by the interval.

England's demolition crew roar like Lions

ENGLAND head coach Steve Borthwick saw Maro Itoje lead from the front in this 68-14 demolition of Wales - then tipped the lock to lead the Lions in Australia this summer.

Newcastle can't live with Bath late show

GREAT rugby teams know how to win even when they aren't firing on all cylinders, and league leaders Bath highlighted their quality with a late comeback to keep their hopes of a domestic double alive on Friday night.

Larkham delight as Brumbies rule

BRUMBIES coach Stephen Larkham had a tear in his eye at full-time and compared his side's victory at the Blues on Friday to being as rare as playing the British & Irish Lions.

Falcons flyer on the crest of a wave

ELLIOTT Obatoyinbo is hoping he can ride the crest of Newcastle's wave and return to the sort of form that he showed when he first arrived on Tyneside two-and-a-half years ago.

Stade are willing to fight for Gustard

STADE Francais' billionaire owner hinted last week that head coach Paul Gustard's reported move to Leicester may not be quite as cut-and-dried as sections of the British press have suggested.

Freeman deserves run on centre stage

THE England midfield has been a mishmash of failed partnerships, wishful thinking, hap-hazard revolving-door selection, injury disruption, and endless frustration for followers of the Red Rose for the best part of 20 years.

We must pull together to grow game - Baxter

ROB Baxter believes that the responsibility for growing rugby both financially and in terms of interest falls on the entire game, not just individual clubs.

We need to play for the full 80, says Daly

ELLIOT Daly has urged England to put their foot on Italian throats today and keep it there in finally delivering a Six Nations statement performance at Twickenham.

Scotland survive spirited Wales revival

SCOTLAND - so accomplished for the first 50 minutes but so miserably poor for the final half hourmade heavy weather of beating a Wales team that refused to go quietly.

Robinson praise for cross-league rivalry

ANDY Robinson has spoken about the positive experience of playing Championship clubs in what looks set to be the final season of crossleague rivalry.

Tykes get revenge as Lymm crushed

TABLE-toppers Leeds Tykes cemented their position at the summit of National Two North with a crushing victory over Lymm at The Sycamores.

Wales edge closer to unwanted record

At Murrayfield 70 years ago, Wales played the role of polite guests to perfection, enabling their supposedly hopeless hosts to end the longest losing run British rugby had ever known.

Baron: It's time for the entire RFU Board to go

FRANCIS Baron has called for the replacement of the entire RFU Board, adding a radical dimension to the demand for change at Twickenham which has led to the SGM on March 27.

I just loved sport. It was my get-out. My freedom

FOR the last season-and-a-half I've been back in Camborne, as player-coach of my hometown club, looking after the defence and still trying to run around as well, while also working as the club's community officer and as a consultant for the club's main sponsor, CLX. I've been all over the world playing rugby, for various clubs and also for Fiji, but this is where my roots are, and it's great to be back among my family.

Eligibility journey of Janse van Rensburg

AT Eden Park on June 20, 2014, the cream of England's teenaged crop edged past South Africa's to win the Junior World Cup.

Georgia's flyer on his way to the top

IT'S THE Rugby Europe Championship final next week between Georgia and Spain at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi which would be an ideal time and place for Georgia's try machine Akaki Tabutsadze to pull ahead of Brian O'Driscoll on the all-time list of Test try scorers.