Rugby Union

Six Nations to be testing ground for law changes

It could have been a major catastrophe, but yesterday's meeting of rugby union's governing body in Dublin resulted in nothing worse than a minor calamity.

Inside Rugby Union

The meaning of rugby: Battle for the soul of the oval ball game

Thursday, 1 May 2008

At a riverside conference centre in south-west London less than two years ago, England's leading referees agreed to address the spreading cancer of scrummaging sharp practice in Premiership rugby by implementing a measure under which teams responsible for causing uncontested set-pieces would forfeit a player. The International Rugby Board decided, in its eternal wisdom, to block this wholly positive initiative. "You can't have one law here and a different law somewhere else," a board spokesman spluttered at the time. "It's a recipe for chaos."

Jenkins in frame as Davies leaves

Thursday, 1 May 2008

Llanelli Scarlets have parted company with their rugby director Phil Davies, as speculation mounts that former Wales coach Gareth Jenkins could make a dramatic Stradey Park return.

Fury to join Welsh camp after injury fells Peel

Wednesday, 30 April 2008

There was a Fury on the international rugby union scene yesterday – quite possibly not for the last time this week. With Dwayne Peel joining Mike Phillips on a list of Welsh wounded that also includes the badly stricken Gavin Henson, the uncapped London Irish scrum-half Warren Fury has been called up by the Six Nations Grand Slammers for a pre-summer tour training camp in Ireland next week. Peel, who is suffering from a shoulder injury, and Henson, who is to undergo exploratory surgery on a troublesome ankle today, are the notable omissions from a 24-man squad named by Wales' head coach, Warren Gatland, for the trip to Wexford, which is in turn preparation for a two-Test jaunt to South Africa in June. The party will be based at a cryotherapy centre a two-hour drive from Dublin, where the council of the International Rugby Board meets tomorrow to decide whether the Experimental Law Variations being trialled in the Super 14 should be adopted in the northern hemisphere from August.

All Blacks announce revenge mission at Munster

Tuesday, 29 April 2008

Revisiting the scene of a defeat is not in New Zealand's psyche, but needs must. In November, the All Blacks will play a midweek game against Munster to mark the 30th anniversary of the Irish province's 12-0 win over Graham Mourie's tourists.

Saracens 16 Munster 18: Hill's heroics not enough as Saracens fall short of summit

Monday, 28 April 2008

One of the great games. Again. You can set your timepiece by these Heineken Cup classics, so regularly have they occurred over the last 13 years. Munster, indisputably the finest exponents of European rugby in the British Isles, will meet Toulouse, the best exponents anywhere, in next month's final at the Millennium Stadium after surviving this tourniquet-tight tie in front of a 30,000-plus audience, but the story that demands to be written is the story of Saracens. It will be told in and around North London for ever and a day.

London Irish 15 Toulouse 21: Novès' men show IRB old-fashioned virtues

Monday, 28 April 2008

It is never easy to second-guess the French when it comes to the union code – leading coaches as different as Philippe Saint-André and Marc Lièvremont have been known to move in deeply mysterious ways, their wonders to perform – but there are clear indications that the Tricolores will support moves to impose a potentially damaging set of experimental laws on the European game when the council members of the International Rugby Board sit down for their powwow in Dublin on Thursday. Should this sadness come to pass, it will be the result of people deliberately refusing to believe their own eyes.

Bath 36 Sale 14: Prop idol Stevens has the X-factor for Bath

Monday, 28 April 2008

It was a good day for the man who stepped into Brian Ashton's shoes. Sitting in the sunshine by the banks of the Avon, he could bask in the glow of a performance that was brimming with the very best of the English game – a masterclass of backs and forwards working together. Yes, it was a day of considerable satisfaction for Steve Meehan, the Australian Ashton brought to Bath as backs coach and who replaced him as head coach when England called. It was not a bad day, either, for the man who stepped on Brian Ashton's toes.

London Irish 15 Toulouse 21: Ojo puts on show but no go for Irish

Sunday, 27 April 2008

London Irish had never gone so far in this competition but last night they were bemoaning the fact that they had not gone a lot further. They matched Toulouse try for try but in the end came up short. It was a magnificent effort by the Guinness Premiership side, but they felt they had missed a trick.

Flannery thirsty for Munster success

Sunday, 27 April 2008

Jerry Flannery has done all right out of the Heineken Cup. As Munster's first-choice hooker he was a big part of the province's celebrated capture of the cup in 2006, and he fervently hopes today's semi-final against Sarac-ens will show the way to anotherCardiff final. As the co-owner of a bar in his home city of Limerick, he sees turnover leap higherthan Paul O'Connell in a line-out every time a major match is on television or an English club hit town. "Some Wasps supporters virtually spent the weekend in there," he says. "They didn't seem to mind losing either."

Bath 36 Sale 14: Stevens leads all-singing, all-dancing Bath into final

Sunday, 27 April 2008

It is 10 years since Andy Nicol collected the most recent piece of silverware on display at The Rec, the Heineken Cup won courtesy of Jon Callard's 19-point haul against Brive at the Stade Lescure in Bordeaux. The suppliers of Brasso and Dura-Glit in these parts might be back in business. There was a glint of trophy-winning promise by the banks of the Avon yesterday as Bath produced a performance of attacking sparkle. The Challenge Cup might be the Uefa Cup of European rugby but Bath are only too happy to be in the final: they will play Worcester on Sunday 25 May at Kingsholm.

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