The British and Irish Lions 2017 Part Two – The Forwards
As with all good teams you start up front with the big lads, so following on from my previous article discussing the split of next year’s Lions party, I’m going to take a look at the forwards who I believe will go on the plane. Before starting my list, I would like to again state this is what I think we will see and not necessarily what I would like to see. So to begin the front row: Loosehead When going down to New Zealand many Lions...
The British and Irish Lions 2017 Part One – The Squad by Nation
As the year of the Lions rolls around the makeup of the squad has unsurprisingly become one of the main topics of debate on social media and clubs across the UK. As such I thought it time I waded in on the subject to try and add some kind of sense to it. We start with some research looking into the composition of the last 2 tours. Unsurprisingly, considering the continuity of coaching staff, both tours took a squad of 37 players with...
England 2014: Where are England’s ball carriers?
View image | gettyimages.com 12 months is a long time in Rugby Union and it’s not that uncommon to see a well oiled machine start to stutter and splutter. England, whilst not awful, have gone from one of the strongest attacking teams in the Six Nations to a team searching for a spark. Additionally in the four weeks of the Autumn internationals they went from a team looking to put away the SH giants and set out their stall ahead...
Focus on: Japan
Whilst the Home Nations were off touring the Southern Hemisphere giants, the so called “Tier 2” Pacific Nations Cup was under way and serving up some fantastically competitive Rugby. Japan took the Asia Pacific title beating Canada and the USA away in two captivating games to take the B pool of the competition. Under Eddie Jones, Japan have made some interesting strides. For all who don’t know Jones is the...
Keep it Simple Stupid – Focus on New Zealand vs England 2nd Test
Game two and the series to New Zealand. But did we expect anything less? While it was a very good game to watch, and England were competitive throughout, it was New Zealand’s ability, post half time break, to raise and maintain the intensity for a 20 minute period that was the major difference. Within those 20 minutes they gave one of the most clinical displays of attacking Rugby you are likely to see, but what struck...
New Zealand vs England – 1st Test Analysis
One test down and three games to go and it’s close but no cigar for England, and business as usual with New Zealand working a very well taken try in the closing minutes of the game to take the spoils. As first tests go, it was exactly what we’ve come to expect, an error strewn affair. With a New Zealand team finding their feet and England playing a predominantly set piece oriented game trying to create try scoring...
Follow:
