March 23rd, 2012

England ended their 2012 RBS 6 Nations campaign with a convincing win  over Ireland on Saturday evening, finishing 2nd in the championship  behind the Grand Slam-winning Welsh.

The 21-point win was only their second Six Nations victory against  Ireland since 2003, and they exacted revenge for defeat in Dublin 12  months ago to cap a fine tournament.

After the recent turmoil at Twickenham, few would have expected three  away wins and a thumping victory over the Irish during this campaign,  and this young England side has raised the spirits considerably amongst  England supporters.

They have also caused a headache for the selection panel tasked with  appointing England’s next Head Coach, with interim manager Stuart  Lancaster suddenly the favourite to take the full-time role.

Before the tournament, the RFU would have anticipated a mediocre  campaign under Lancaster, paving the way for them to stand him down and  appoint the more experienced Nick Mallett before the summer tour to  South Africa.

But Lancaster’s brief tenure has been hugely impressive.  He has  restored humility and pride in the players, creating a strong team  ethic  in a short space of time, re-engaged with the English rugby public, and  he now has the full backing of his squad.

Even if a coach with more international experience is preferred, can  they really bring in a new figure and tell Lancaster to pack his bags?
What effect will that have on squad morale, and on the work that has  been done since November?

And what about Lancaster’s assistants in the shape of scrum coach  Graham Rowntree and defence coach Andy Farrell?  England’s scrum was  utterly dominant against Ireland and a strength throughout the  tournament, whilst the improvements in defence have been notable.

Have they made it impossible for the RFU to remove them?

March 16th, 2012

England recorded a dramatic victory against France on Sunday, showing continued improvement from their first three matches and moving up the IRB rankings table once again.

Stuart Lancaster’s young side led throughout, with Manu Tuilagi and Ben Foden scoring early tries, but the French came back at them with 5 penalties and then almost snatched a win in the dying minutes.

Tom Croft had given England what looked to be the decisive score with a try 10 minutes from the final whistle, but when Wesley Fofana scored for France minutes later, the home side were suddenly within 2 points of an unlikely triumph.

With just seconds on the clock, the French moved ominously up the pitch, and English hearts stopped when the ball went back to Francois Trinh-Duc to pull the trigger on what would have been a winning dropped goal – but it fell short and England were left to celebrate.

Croft was the standout player for England, securing plenty of lineout possession, carrying the ball in attack, tackling everything in defence and then scoring a brilliant individual try to seal the win.

Lancaster’s prospects as a candidate for the full-time coach position were also boosted, whilst England climbed back into the top four in the IRB World Rankings – a position they must hold onto before the Rugby World Cup seedings are made at the end of this year.

England still has a mathematical chance of winning the RBS 6 Nations title – if France beat Wales at the Millennium Stadium and England beat Ireland at Twickenham, the championship will be decided on points difference.

However, Wales’ points difference is 38 compared to England’s 6, so it would need a heavy defeat for Wales and a crushing victory for England.

Whatever happens next weekend though, the win in Paris ensures that the tournament will be viewed as something of a success for England, and there are solid foundations on which to build the team for the rest of the year once the permanent head coach is appointed.

March 9th, 2012

England travel to Paris this Sunday to take on old rivals France, who are currently occupying a coveted spot in the top four of the IRB World Rankings.

The rankings take on additional importance this year since the seedings will be made for the 2015 Rugby World Cup based on each country’s position at the end of 2012.  To avoid being placed in a pool with one of the big three southern hemisphere teams, it’s imperative to occupy at least 4th place on the list.

After the defeat to Wales at Twickenham, England dropped to 6th on the table with Wales up to 5th, and this weekend’s fixture offers an opportunity for England to gain more ranking points – but, of course, if they lose the match, they lose points and will slip further behind.

England has a good record against the French, having won 51 of their 95 matches since the first fixture in 1906, but they have been victorious only once in Paris in the Six Nations in the last 10 years.  The most recent meeting between the two sides was the Rugby World Cup quarter-final in Auckland, in which England crashed out of the tournament to mark the end of Martin Johnson’s tenure as coach.

New-look England has now stuttered to two wins over Scotland and Italy and suffered a home defeat to Wales, but it was their most recent performance at Twickenham that is giving fans hope for a positive result at the Stade de France.  Young Owen Farrell looked assured beyond his years as fly-half, the defence was almost impenetrable, and there was finally some semblance of attacking ability.

As this youthful side develops, there is lots of talk of building a squad to win the 2015 Rugby World Cup, but that task will become significantly harder if they do not start winning games now.

Can England beat France on Sunday?

February 28th, 2012

To celebrate England v Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday 17th March, we’re giving you the opportunity to win two tickets to see the match at Twickenham. The winner will also be joining us in the Champagne Bollinger tent to be presented with a Bottle of Bollinger Special Cuvée.

For a chance to win this exclusive prize we’re testing your knowledge of both Bollinger and Rugby. Simply tell us the answers to the following four questions:

1. How many times have England and Wales played each other at Rugby?

2. Which trophy did Wales win at Twickenham on Saturday?

3. What are Bollinger’s ‘Vieilles Vignes Françaises’?

4. What grape varieties make up Bollinger La Grande Année Rosé 2004 and in what percentages?

Then describe in 30 words or less how much Bollinger Champagne means to you.

Submit your answers via Facebook post and you could be joining us at Twickenham on the 17th March. Terms and Conditions apply.

February 28th, 2012

After a tense, thrilling encounter at Twickenham on Saturday, Wales emerged as victors to take the Six Nations Triple Crown, but England showed so much improvement that most fans were satisfied.

English expectations before the game were relatively low.  Wales were the team in form, whilst England had struggled to overcome Scotland and Italy in the opening two rounds.  The Welsh were clear favourites and some people thought a mauling might be on the cards.

As it turned out, England’s young side performed heroically, closing down Wales’ fluent attacking gameplan, defending magnificently and even creating several chances of their own.

Owen Farrell made his first start in the fly-half jersey, and comparisons are already being made with Jonny Wilkinson after the 20-year-old showed composure beyond his years to suggest he could be England’s number 10 for years to come.

The midfield combination of Brad Barritt and Manu Tuilagi was impenetrable in defence and threatening enough in attack to cause Wales some problems – something that has not be said of the English centres for some time.

The result could easily have been in England’s favour, such was the closeness of the contest.  Welsh substitute Scott Williams scored the decisive try through a moment of individual brilliance, stealing the ball from England’s Courtney Lawes, then chipping over the defence and collecting again to score under the posts.

England looked like they had scored a try in the dying moments, only to be denied by the video referee, who could not see enough evidence to suggest that David Strettle had managed to touch the ball down over the line.

Despite the defeat, coach Stuart Lancaster will be very encouraged by what he saw from his players, even though losing at home to Wales is never ideal.  There were definite signs of improvement and a glimpse of what this group might be capable of in the future.

England will now travel to Paris in two weeks with their heads held high to take on the unbeaten French in what will be another stern test of their character.

February 24th, 2012

England coach Stuart Lancaster has made five changes (one positional) to the side that beat Scotland and Italy in the first two rounds of the RBS 6 Nations.

Charlie Hodgson, England’s only tryscorer in the competition so far, has been ruled out with a hand injury, so Owen Farrell moves from centre to fly-half.  It’s set to be a huge test for the 20-year-old, but he’s shown a mature temperament in his two caps so far, and the rest of the team will be looking to him to put England on the front foot.

Manu Tuilagi returns to the side in Farrell’s place at outside centre.  He was the most impressive player in an otherwise shambolic English Rugby World Cup campaign, and the side has missed his attacking edge in midfield.  He is defensively robust as well, and that’s likely to be vital against the enormous, marauding Welsh backs.

The other changes will see Lee Dickson take over from Ben Youngs at scrum-half, Ben Morgan replaces Phil Dowson at Number 8 and Geoff Parling makes his first start for England at second row instead of Tom Palmer.  All three have impressed from the bench in the opening two matches, and nobody can argue with their selection to start this time around.

England remains unbeaten in the Championship, but the true tests are yet to come, starting on Saturday against Wales.  The Welsh have also won two from two, but have done so with considerably more panache, and they start as clear favourites at Twickenham.

The English defence will need to nullify the imposing threats of Jamie Roberts, George North and Alex Cuthbert out wide, and the home crowd will want to see some sort of dynamism from England in attack, where quick ball has been so sorely lacking for quite some time.

Since 2000 when the Five Nations became Six, England has beaten Wales 8 times out of 12 in the tournament, but the honours are relatively even over the 130-year history of this fixture.  The two sides have met 122 times, with England victorious on 56 occasions, Wales 54 and there have been 12 drawn matches.

Can England continue their winning run, or will Wales have too much firepower?