Six Nations Prediction

England could finish anywhere.
With a whole big pot of luck, they could win it.
With an average run of luck and injuries, they could finish somewhere between third and fifth.
With a poor run, they could conceivably finish last.
Wales, Ireland and France have all got to be favourites in their clashes against England, regardless of location – [...]

Lion Man

Just reading Ian McGeechan’s autobiography Lion Man.
I recommend it.
McGeechan is so renowed for his coaching that it’s easy to overlook what a good player he was (and he stopped playing before I can remember watching much rugby).
However, there’s one passage where he describes his coaching philosphy:

"I believe that when you put new players in or [...]

Despair

After the latest team announcement, all I now need is for the RFU to sell the naming rights to Twickenham and my misery will be complete.
“And a warm welcome this afternoon to the Nike Rugby @ Twickenham Stadium to watch England vs the All Blacks.”

Erinle Selection

The selection of Erinle at inside centre guarantees that, apart from a couple of inside passes to Cueto hitting the line from fullback, the ball is going to get to 12 and no further.
To be fair, despite Geraghty at 12, in the past couple of games the ball wasn’t exactly being fired out wide but [...]

Return of King Jonny Fails to Turn Aussie Tide

For the first 10 minutes of yesterday’s match, it was as if we had been set into a time machine, back six years. Here was Jonny Wilkinson, dropping a goal, kicking a penalty, ticking the scoreboard over, giving England an early lead, a lead from which they would press on and suffocate the opposition. But [...]

Weekend Predictions, Challenge Guscott!

Some really hard games to call this weekend, complicated further by International call ups. How will the teams who lose their star Internationals fair? Will the other clubs benefit? I don’t have a clue. Will Dom add his predictions? Will our predictions be better than Jerry Guscott’s?

Sale v Gloucester
Gloucester look a team in bits. If [...]

Moody the Man Again?

One of the sub-plots of yesterday’s clash between London Irish and Leicester was the battle of the open sides. The old nutter Lewis Moody versus the young wrecking ball Steffon Armitage. One of them is almost certain to line up for England against Australia in two weeks time, so who is the best bet to [...]

Ah, Autumn Rugby is Back!

As the nights draw in and the condensation starts to form on car windows in the morning, thoughts start to turn to getting the overcoats out of the back of the wardrobe and putting the lawn mower away for the year. Yes, Autumn is upon us, November is nearly here, and November means only one [...]

Hey Ackford, use your own ideas!

Well, it has been months and months since I wrote anything on this site, real life work and a new baby has seen to that. Finally I have a spare moment and I must say how it is gratifying to see how esteemed journalists take the time to read and paraphrase this occasional blog. It [...]

Fill in the gaps – England squad short of men of form

Let’s reflect on the revised England squad:
Forwards: Tim Payne (Wasps), Andrew Sheridan (Sale), Matt Stevens (Bath), Phil Vickery (Wasps), George Chuter (Leicester), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Lee Mears (Bath), Steve Borthwick (Saracens), Nick Kennedy (London Irish), Tom Palmer (Wasps), Simon Shaw (Wasps), Tom Croft (Leicester), James Haskell (Wasps), Lewis Moody (Leicester), Tom Rees (Wasps), Nick Easter [...]