Australia vs England 1st Test – Analysis
Test match Rugby is won and lost on decision making, you get the calls right you win, you get them wrong you lose. It’s really that simple. Every single time anything happens it’s a series of decisions, made by the player, that impacts on the wider test match. Cause and Effect. That is why you hear modern players and coaches constantly talking about "what they can control". That can be a decision, a...
England: 6 Nations Discipline
There’s been much comparison between England under Eddie Jones and Stuart Lancaster. But, what ever the differences, it's impossible to argue with the fact England, for the first time in five years, got the job done. An area that’s understandably come in for praise has been England's defence since Gustard took over. England conceded 30 points less than in the 2015 6 Nations, thats an average...
Chris Robshaw – Corner or Kick?
Watching England’s defeat to Wales was painful. If it wasn’t already obvious I’m an Englishman, and by default an England fan. So waking up this morning it's interesting to see how a lot of the discussion has revolved around Chris Robshaw's decision to kick for the corner and go for the win. So I want to try and look at this objectively, remove the emotional element and hopefully look at that...
Anatomy of a Try – Wesley Fofana vs Saracens April 2015
View image | gettyimages.com I wanted to go back and look at the Clermont vs Saracens Semi Final from the European Rugby Champions Cup and in particular Wesley Fofana's try from the deft little Brock James kick over the top. Kicking gets a bad rep, but when it's used intelligently it's an effective positive weapon. Saracens pride themselves on their defence, all through the game you can see their focus and...
6 Nations Team of the Tournament
I don’t normally feature opinion pieces but a team of the tournament seems to be the done thing about this time of the year so I’m going to be a bit self indulgent for a change and decided to put together a composite six nations side (and I’ll try and justify my selections with a bit of reasoning). I must stress this isn’t based on stats or much scientific evidence, instead it’s based on my...

