Cometh the hour, and there was no repletion of the 2025 mismatch. There was no better fixture to kick off the newly-minted Nations Championship than the All Blacks against Les Bleus, but it did not always look that way. Wind the clock back to July 2025, and the swirl and eddies of controversy that surrounded […]
How the repeat involvement theory is stacking up for number 9’s Read More »
The big question in French rugby revolves around the top two clubs in the domestic league, Stade Toulousain and Union Bordeaux-Bègles. Toulouse is the only club side with six stars on its fabled rouge-et-noir jersey, having won the European Champions Cup on six occasions. UBB is the new kid on the block, having won the
Why you don’t always need a 10 out of 10 – the vertical axis attack off scrum-half Read More »
How do you convert expectation into reality on attack, or deny it on defence? One of the most important new metrics developed over the last decade in the U.S National Football League is ‘Expected Points’, or EP for short. An Expected Points [EP] model can be run before and after a play, to check whether
How Union Bordeaux-Bègles overturned the odds in the Champions Cup final Read More »
Scott Robertson was not a bad All Blacks coach, not by a long chalk. When he was unexpectedly sacked on 15 January 2026 after a damning internal review by New Zealand Rugby, he was still a man who had won 74% of matches in charge of his country. Yes, he was coming second to ‘Rassie’
Are the All Blacks primed for revival under Dave Rennie? Read More »
There is something new in the water in the Six Nations. A record 111 tries in the 2026 tournament, up from 108 one year previously. The days of ‘kick and clap’ are a dim and distant memory, and the competition no longer relies on the strength of tribal rivalries alone to sustain interest. Now the
Six Nations explosion! What has happened in the northern hemisphere? Read More »
It all seemed so unlikely after Scotland’s rain-soaked defeat to Italy in round one of the 2026 Six Nations. While the Saltires toiled in the Roman rain with ball in hand, building 139 rucks for a meagre return of two tries and 15 points, England were setting the pace with their 12th consecutive victory over
Successful Multi-phase Rugby Alive and Well Read More »
Of all the top clubs in European rugby, none have undergone a bigger face-lift than perennial URC leaders and EPCR Champions Cup contenders Leinster over the last three years. At the end of the 2022-2023 season, one coaching mastermind on attack, Stuart Lancaster, was replaced South Africa’s world cup-winning defensive Svengali Jacques Nienaber. It was
How to make hay in the grey area at the defensive breakdown Read More »
