Rugby News, Analysis, History, Schedule, Rumours
The hugely interrupted European calendar this season has provided an opportunity for live test changes to the tournament format. Original plans had the well-supported Champions Cup Round of 16 adjusted in the 2020/21 season. The group stages had already been cut from six games to four, and we ultimately only saw two games before Covid-19 […] 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
Yet again, a selection of men from assorted clubs will be in competition to claim European Player of the Year 2021. Picked from all sides apart from the Gallagher Premiership, to discover the one player from French Top 14, and the Guinness PRO14 leagues who are judged by both in a public vote and most […] READ MORE
Forced to do it, the executive for European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) has taken the drastic decision to not rescheduled postponed matches in European competition. “The decision was made by the EPCR executive,” said Darren Childs. Premiership Rugby’s chief executive added: “The reason we can’t reschedule those is that there are no available weekends. Our season […] 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
Unlike the Gallagher Premiership and the Pro14, the French Top 14 has ended the 2019/20 domestic season. With no promotion or relegation, the existing teams are busy organising their squads ready for the restart in September. Here we have collated all the Top 14 transfers to have taken place. For obvious financial reasons, there won’t […] READ MORE
Breakdown specialist Richie Gray is relishing the prospect of working with the world-class talents in the Fiji squad, after joining Vern Cotter’s backroom staff. Gray will work on a short-term basis, joining Cotter’s staff for the [to-be-confirmed] Northern Hemisphere eight-nations tournament, that pits the Flying Fijians against England, Wales and Ireland, as well as Japan. […] READ MORE
The Northern Hemisphere has a few cities that have both rugby union and league. These cities have one rugby code in the first-tier and a second-tier in another code. Furthermore, all three of these cities could very easily have a tier-one team in both codes of rugby. Two of them had first-tier teams in both […] READ MORE
France top the list as most ill-disciplined World Rugby country in 2019-20, rattling up 10 red cards across the four major professional league’s, international tests, and the World Cup. Rugby’s clampdown on how the laws of the game are now refereed and interpreted have meant a spate of cards this year, including 51 red cards […] READ MORE
Rugby journalist, specializing on all things Welsh rugby, United Rugby Championship, and the Gallagher Premiership. A freelance journalist published in The Rugby Paper, Telegraph, RugbyPass et al.
Robert has a BA in Sports Journalism from the University of Gloucestershire.
Tweeting all about rugby @Rreesrugby