Ranking Europe’s Top 15 Club Teams After Weekend of December 26-27

The last round of 2015 action saw some significant results in heavyweight clashes in France, while Saracens ploughed on in England. Ospreys downed Pro12 leaders Scarlets in dramatic fashion, and Leinster showed a bit more of their old cut-and-thrust with a fine win over rivals Munster. So there is no change at the top this week, but plenty of big names suffer drops lower down the rankings as the big guns in France bloody each other’s noses. Begin Slideshow  Read More →

Ranking the Biggest Hits in World Rugby for Weekend of December 26-27

Your belated big-hits Christmas present is here, with a pleasing combination of ball-stealing brilliance and bone-jarring physicality to see the year out. There was tremendous action across all three of Europe’s major leagues on the festive weekend, with bumper crowds turning out for some thrilling games. They produced these five moments well worth watching more than once for their contrasting qualities, from some classic smash and grabs that switch defence to attack in a heartbeat, to try-saving tackles that defy the law that says a good big one will always beat a good little one. Top billing,... 

Best XV in World Rugby for Weekend of December 26-27

The Christmas calendar was extremely kind to the sporting masses this weekend as a jam-packed schedule of top-tier rugby helped warm up the European audience. Leinster trumped Munster in a clash of Irish titans, Saracens defeated Wasps to sustain their Premiership run, Toulouse were the latest Top 14 giant to down Toulon and Edinburgh overcame Glasgow Warriors in a Scottish derby. We also saw Harlequins and Gloucester draw 39-39 after an enthralling clash at Twickenham, while Racing 92 took a memorable win from Clermont Auvergne at the Stade Marcel Michelin. We’ve crunched the numbers and... 

Biggest Winners and Losers in World Rugby for Weekend of December 26-27

A Boxing Day weekend of sport provided ample entertainment as rugby fans from across Europe were given a late Christmas gift in the form of thrills, spills and plenty of entertainment. However, it wasn’t the smoothest of weeks for ex-All Black Dan Carter after he fell victim to a prank in his Paris abode, while Newcastle Falcons were the other big losers in recent days. Saracens maintained their run at the Premiership summit with a win over Wasps, but it was Harlequins and Gloucester who produced the most prolific clash of the English fixture schedule. Read on for all that and more as we... 

Ranking the 5 Best Goalkickers in World Rugby Right Now

No man bears more individual pressure in a rugby team than the goalkicker. The spotlight falls upon him more intensely as he lines up his shot at goal than at any other point of the game. During the 2015 Rugby World Cup we saw matches decided by pressure kicks in the dying embers of matches that were the difference between progression and a passport home.  We have seen Lions tours hinge on the same sort of moments, and we have even seen club matches decided by penalty shootouts, during which the less-practised players find out just how hard it is to put ball between posts. It’s in those... 

Nehe Milner-Skudder: World Rugby’s Emerging Star of 2015

There are many reasons to argue 2015 as possibly the most successful year in New Zealand’s rugby history, but it will also be remembered as the year Nehe Milner-Skudder took on the best of the best and won. From Super Rugby nobody to World Cup winner and breakthrough sensation in a little under eight months, there isn’t a player in the sport who has enjoyed a 2015 quite as meteoric as Milner-Skudder. If one were to pick a player who exemplifies the notion that the All Blacks can feel safe in their future, promoting players now who weren’t present for the World Cup win of 2011,... 

Ranking Europe’s Top 15 Club Teams After Weekend of December 18-20

Lots of movement beneath an unchanged top three this week. Ulster and Wasps both recorded significant wins in the context of their pools while Harlequins entered the fray for a dominant campaign in the Challenge Cup backed up by a steady rise in the Premiership table. Despite the ominous way Toulon recovered to beat Leinster after a first-half best forgotten, it would seem, for now, that the force is with Saracens as the best team on the block. Mark McCall’s men are playing with an attacking verve to go with their trademark defensive obduracy. That latter characteristic is certainly lacking... 

Sam Burgess: World Rugby’s Biggest Flop of 2015

Sam Burgess was, without doubt, the biggest flop in international rugby in 2015. To be a flop is to perform well below the expectations coaches, fans and the media set, and in the case of Burgess, because these hopes were set too high, he flopped. The hype around the world’s best rugby league player converting to rugby union in time for the Rugby World Cup in England was the biggest story in European rugby in late 2014 and 2015. So how come he is now back in rugby league?   Why did he flop? Burgess’ underwhelming performance was mainly due to the lack of time England gave him to... 

Ranking the Biggest Hits in World Rugby for Weekend of December 18-20

Our pre-Christmas round-up of crunches and collisions is compiled from the weekend’s Champions Cup action. There were fewer shuddering hits than usual, but we have plucked some gems that offer up a mixture of try-saving and chance-creating in equal measure. Charles Piutau’s effort, for instance, is the epitome of offensive defence where his well-timed intervention wins possession and leads to a very handy seven points for Wasps. Peter Betham, who tops this week’s rundown, is at the other end of the scale, with a textbook tackle that undeniably snuffs out what looked to be a certain... 

Ranking the Top 5 Coaches in International Rugby in 2015

The top five coaches in international rugby in 2015 are all from the southern hemisphere, but one gets in to this list for his work with a European team. The sport’s governing body, World Rugby, named Michael Cheika the best coach this year, but did he deserve the accolade having not won the game’s most important prize? In this World Cup year, priority has been given to performances at England 2015, but results in the Rugby Championship and Six Nations provide important context. Six Nations winner Joe Schmidt of Ireland is the biggest casualty of this stance. Schmidt’s... 

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