With the knockout stages looming large on the horizon, we take a look at the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals MVP players from each of the eight teams. Names who could prove pivotal to their nations reaching the semifinals. Australia: David Pocock Pocock, in his final World Cup, needs to give the performance of his life […] READ MORE
Tag: Manu Tuilagi
Manu Tuilagi is crucial to England and should start on Australian tour
England’s tour to Australia in the summer takes on huge significance after another disappointing Six Nations campaign. England’s record away from Twickenham over the last couple of years has been poor and three Test matches in Australia may not improve it. We should add here that the unforgettable 3-0 series win in 2016 was one […] READ MORE
Candidate choices as the England new centre (among roles under scrutiny)
England may have ‘scraped their way to victory’ over Wales on Saturday, but little was done to instill confidence in this team. Positional analysis might be searching for improvement and/or change, including areas like the candidates for an England new centre Though some individuals stood out, the overall performance was rather underwhelming for a number […] READ MORE
Eddie Jones faces Farrell selection headache; England v Australia
England’s emphatic win over Tonga has given Eddie Jones a number of selection headaches ahead of England v Australia on Saturday. Every coach wants options but for Jones, he may have to make the biggest selection call of his England coaching tenure. Does he relegate Owen Farell now and promote Marcus Smith? The clamour to […] READ MORE
England’s Danny Cipriani ‘trust’ issues
Eddie Jones announced his latest 36 man training squad without England’s most talked-about player. The Danny Cipriani ‘trust’ issues have returned with a fervour after a summer of promise and optimism. “At this stage Danny is not in the top two stand-offs” (BBC Sport) That’s simply not true. Cipriani’s form for Gloucester this season has been […] READ MORE
Manu Tuilagi and others released by Leicester Tigers
With the ‘click of a button’ news that Manu Tuilagi and others had been released by the Leicester Tigers quickly reinforced the Covid19 aftermath. As salaries and earnings were reduced at Premiership Rugby clubs, the concessions given (and taken), have cost much. At the Leicester Tigers organization, up to 31 members of staff have needed […] READ MORE
Exclusive: Greg Bateman released by Leicester Tigers after contract disputes
Greg Bateman has failed to come to an agreement with Leicester Tigers over a renewal of his contract. Bateman, among others have seen their deals in the air due to the COVID pandemic and as such players are forced to move on. Manu Tuilagi’s future is also up in the air after his contract deal […] READ MORE
4 weeks for Manu Tuilagi – why was Jones not reprimanded too?
“Why was Manu Tuilagi only sanctioned?” That is the reaction after World Rugby suspended the England Rugby player yet, excluded any reprimand for head coach Eddie Jones, who seemed to rebuke the match officials in last weekend’s Six Nations International. The England supremo had been explicit in his disdain for New Zealand referee Ben Skeen, […] READ MORE
‘Simply the Best’ – 2019 Rugby World Cup try scoring highlights
Looking back at last year’s tournament, it is enjoyable to now to isolate some of the best 2019 Rugby World Cup try highlights. So knowing the result – and still clapping our hands over South Africa’s fine achievement – Last Word on Rugby dove into the video files, and found some gems that we considered […] READ MORE
England v New Zealand: SIX Reasons why England can win
England v New Zealand is the first of two mouthwatering semi-finals as the 2019 World Cup reaches its climax. Many are saying that this is the final a week early. It is hard to disagree with this sentiment given how good England and New Zealand were in the quarter-finals. For all of the positivity around […] READ MORE