Early Predictions for 2015 Rugby Championship

Less than a month remains until New Zealand open the defence of their Rugby Championship title, looking to once again be crowned kings of the Southern Hemisphere ahead of South Africa, Australia and Argentina. Preparations for the World Cup mean each team will play just the single round of fixtures against one another as this year’s Rugby Championship welcomes a more condensed format. With the Super Rugby campaign coming to an end barely a fortnight prior to the Rugby Championship getting underway, rugby fans the world over don’t have long to cast their bets on who will dominate the... 

Ranking Europe’s Top 15 Club Players for 2014-15 Season

As the domestic season makes way for World Cup warm-ups over the summer months, now is a good time to look back at the men who most impressed in club colours. We have looked at tries scored, but also the influence players had on their teams, as well as rewarding consistent excellence. Not everyone is an international. The club season and its many international breaks afford the chance to shine to others who put in the hours for their employers while their colleagues are on national service. We have also assessed form in domestic battle, as well as Europe. Here is our pick of the European season. Begin... 

IRB U20s World Championship: Best XV of the Tournament

New Zealand ended a four-year drought on Saturday to claim their first Under-20 World Championship since 2011, beating England 21-16 in the tournament’s final. In preparation for the competition’s senior counterpart later this year, the starlets of world rugby laid on a terrific contest over the past three weeks, giving an indication of who will shine brightest in the years to come. It’s no surprise that finalists New Zealand and England provide the bulk of the tournament’s best XV, a collection of those players who impressed most in Italy regardless of team result. However,... 

All Blacks Well on Course to Continue Rugby Championship Streak in 2015

It’s a good year for rugby when a collision between the southern hemisphere’s top four teams isn’t even considered the biggest spectacle on hand, but New Zealand nevertheless have attention fixed on another Rugby Championship. After claiming top spot in the last three successive tournaments, the All Blacks are in a prime position to add a fourth in 2015, and what better way to warm up for a World Cup than with silverware already in hand? The Rugby Championship schedule has been reduced to just one round of fixtures this year—so as to not clash with the World Cup in England—and... 

Rugby: Five Newcomers Named in All Blacks Squad

Five new names were read out when the All Blacks picked their first squad of 2015, as reported by the New Zealand Herald.  Lima Sopoaga, Codie Taylor, Waisake Naholo, Nehe Milner-Skudder and James Broadhurst have all found their way into an otherwise predictable 41-man squad which will be refined to 31 for the Rugby World Cup. Codie Taylor was perhaps the biggest surprise of those five. The lack of depth at hooker was always going to mean a new face was going to have to be chosen, and after months of speculation, it is the athletic Crusaders player the selectors went with. He joins the... 

Super Rugby 2015: Winners and Losers from Play-off Qualifiers

The Highlanders and Brumbies progressed to the Super Rugby semi-finals with victories over the Chiefs and Stormers, respectively. The Highlanders’ 28-14 victory over the Chiefs means they have won their first play-off game since 1999. They did so with a high-tempo display that proved too hot to handle for the Chiefs, and they will face the Waratahs in the semi-final. The Brumbies blew the Stormers away in Cape Town with a six-try 39-19 demolition job of the South Africans. They will hit the road again to take on the table-topping Hurricanes in Wellington to decide who will reach the final. Here... 

Super Rugby’s Conference System Flaws Exposed Once Again

Super Rugby sits as the pinnacle of club rugby for many and illustrates the strengths of the southern hemisphere, but the Stormers’ roundabout route into this year’s play-offs has once again brought its format into disrepute. An idealistic league layout has well-placed priorities of fairness and balance at its core, but in seeing the Stormers qualify for the post-season in 2015, we’re instead witnessing results of an unfair and unbalanced regime. The conference system, introduced in 2011, ensures that one team from each of the New Zealand, South Africa and Australia conferences... 

Super Rugby 2015: Storylines to Follow in Playoff Qualifiers

The knockout phase of Super Rugby kicks off this weekend with the first playoffs set to determine the semi-finalists. The Highlanders entertain the Chiefs in an all-Kiwi encounter while the Stormers host the Brumbies in Cape Town for the right to face the Waratahs. The unpredictable nature of the tournament makes forecasting the winners of either tie a difficult task, with the form book often providing little help when it comes to sudden-death rugby. Here are the storylines that may provide a few pointers. Begin Slideshow  Read More →

Ranking Europe’s Top 15 Club Teams for 2014-15 Season

Before rugby’s focus takes its inevitable swing in the direction of this year’s World Cup, Europe’s bastions have the opportunity to look back on the work of their 2014-15 campaigns—some with pride, others not so much. French giants Stade Francais rose to be crowned the final domestic champion on Saturday, joining Saracens and Glasgow Warriors as a victor in one of Europe’s top three divisions. The celebrations don’t end with those title holders, though, with Toulon showing their prestige once again, while Clermont finished as runners-up in both international... 

Top 14: Best XV of the 2014-15 Season

The Top 14 season is finally at an end after a gruelling campaign saw Stade Francais crowned champions in their home town on Saturday night. The regular season was led virtually from gun to tape by the top two of Toulon and Clermont Auvergne, with the traditionally common sight of several big guns being well beaten on their travels. Once into the knockout phase, form became the decisive factor, with Stade Francais finding a rich vein of it right on cue to storm past Parisian rivals Racing and then topple the European kings Toulon before overcoming Clermont in a dour final. With their comparatively... 

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