Rugby News, Analysis, History, Schedule, Rumours
We are fast approaching the business end of the season, with each week bringing a fixture of significant proportions. After enjoying a bye week last weekend, the Leicester Tigers’ big April commences this Sunday. The Tigers travel to France to play European hotshots Clermont Auvergne in the first of their two legs of their Heineken […] READ MORE
Jono Gibbes is highly unlikely to change the nature of the team, but he is likely to see the sense in ensuring his side know what to do when the tide of a match starts to turn against him, and a strong defence is called for. It may involve him opening his contacts to bring in a snarling, Kiwi attack dog to whip the defence into shape. After all, keeping a tighter defence will make life easier for Clermont when they eventually go on the attack, READ MORE
La Rochelle leads the French Top 14 after eight rounds of league action, after beating top of the table Clermont Auvergne 19-10. Last Word on Rugby brings you a summary of this weekend’s action and senior editor James Barker looks at the disrupted season so far. #TOP14 – J8Il y en a eu pour tous […] READ MORE
It seemed an extreme timeline yet, French Top14 rugby has met and passed the September return date. Now rugby fans can rejoice, players can again celebrate together, as the whistle blows ‘time on’. Sitting idle for nearly four months, after the French government ruled that all sport would be postponed during the Coronavirus pandemic, there […] READ MORE
The 2019-20 Champions Cup campaign may be curtailed, but with plans to yet finish the competition off, Last Word takes a look back through the history books to bring you the top 25 teams in terms of points collected in the pool stages. Champions Cup history – Pool points The points are taken from every […] READ MORE
With the final stages of Champions Cup pool matches completed Robert Rees takes a look at the final round of power rankings. 1st – Leinster – (-) Leinster retain the top spot and head into the quarter finals with 28 out of a possible 30 points. They rampaged through both Lyon and Benetton in their […] READ MORE
Following Saracens’ fine and points deduction in the Gallagher Premiership, the London club are unlikely to be able to compete on both domestic and European fronts this season. They will most likely to also not feature in the Champions Cup next season. Therefore, it is time for a new winner in the Champions Cup 2019/20 […] READ MORE
The Champions Cup draw has thrown up some titanic match-ups in the pool stages as the defending champions Saracens get drawn into the group of death. Robert Rees has your preview ahead of next season’s competition. Pool 1 Leinster, Lyon, Northampton Saints, Benetton Last year’s runners-up Leinster are expected to claim the top spot somewhat […] READ MORE
The 2018/19 season for all rugby competitions has officially come to an end. As popular as ever, with many teams and regions having solid rugby attendances over the course of domestic and European Championship fixtures. All the average Guinness Pro14, Gallagher Premiership and French Top14 attendances from the 2018/19 season are listed here, in alphabetical order. *All […] READ MORE
This weekend the 2019 European Cup finals weekend made it’s way to Newcastle, England in the week the city mourned the loss of Premiership Rugby. But it was still a party atmosphere with England, Ireland and France all represented across the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals. Thankfully, the matches themselves did not disappoint. Clermont […] READ MORE
James is an Editor for Last Word on Rugby. He covers the Gallagher Premiership and in particular Gloucester Rugby, his hometown club. When not at Kingsholm James may also be found supporting Gloucestershire Cricket.