This week I'll be talking about the Challenge Cup, rule changes and rugby values. Challenge Cup So we have made it through the group stages of Europe and not one French side has made it into the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup. The French with 8 teams had the largest contingent and so their... Continue Reading →
The Class of 2011 – New Zealand’s Junior World Cup winners
In 2011 New Zealand won the Junior World Cup for the fourth consecutive time or fifth if you include the previous U19 version. They were the best players of their age group, let’s see how they coped in the big wide world against all comers. 1 Solomona Sakalia - Bay of Plenty In 2012 made his ITM... Continue Reading →
LV= Cup 2014-2015 Round 3 Predictions
With the 6 Nations coming up and international players away it's time to go back to the LV=Cup. Here are my predictions for round 3. Incase you need a reminder of where we left this off here is a link to my review of the last games including a brief review of how things stood. Just... Continue Reading →
The Class of 2012 – South Africa’s Junior World Cup Winners
In 2012 South Africa won their first ever IRB Junior World by beating New Zealand. They were the best players of their age group, let's see how they coped in the big wide world against all comers. Edit: This was South Africa's first IRB Junior World cup once it had been merged to just being U20. They... Continue Reading →
European Rugby Champions Cup 2014-2015 Round 6 Review
A final round full of drama, the group stages are complete and here is my review of round 6. How did the predictions go? First here is a link to my predictions. 4 out of 10, a shocker but how was I to know there would be a draw and that two teams would register their... Continue Reading →
European Rugby Challenge Cup 2014-2015 Round 6 Review
So the group stage come to a close and we have our quarter finalists. Here is my review of the sixth round of the European Rugby Challenge Cup. How did the predictions go? First here is a link to my predictions. 10 out of 10, a clean sweep fantastic. Well yes but also there weren't any... Continue Reading →
A Top Flight Club – Behind The Scenes
Sharing Sunday: An interesting piece that gives some insight into what professional rugby players have to do especially on match days. I disagree with negative view of how professionalism has led to emotional abuse on social media and that crowds are deteriorating so much. I agree that we need to guard against abuse from the... Continue Reading →
Rugby thoughts – Ekatahuna and Stuart Lancaster
This week a mix of thoughts and what's turned into a bad 90s comedy road movie of a trip, to see a preseason game. Ekatahuna or bust What was going to be a simple trip has turned into a madcap journey that I used to do in my younger years before kids. I once travelled to... Continue Reading →
European Rugby Champions Cup 2014-2015 Round 6 Predictions
The group stages are coming to a close and four of the groups are still up for grabs, the combination of results for the three best second places is just mind boggling. Here are my predictions for round 6 of the Champions Cup. First here's a link to my review of the round 5 action.... Continue Reading →
European Rugby Challenge Cup 2014-2015 Round 6 Predictions
We are down to the last round and some interesting games coming up to decide who makes the quarterfinals. Here are my predictions for the sixth round. First here is a link to my review of action from round 5. How did the predictions go? 9 out of 10 was a good return and so... Continue Reading →