Tag Archives: owen farrell

Magic in Marseille?

Click here before reading to help me This was a magical night. Marseille’s air, so used to the mistral winds that whip around the Velodrome, seemed to tingle with the electricity that seeing a dear old friend can bring you. … Continue reading

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Recovery from despair

“Respair” means fresh hope; a recovery from despair. The Oxford English Dictionary has two words against Respair’s inclusion: rare and obsolete. It was last used in the 14th and 15th centuries and then it was let go: unneeded. It reappeared … Continue reading

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What now?

Please click this link before reading – it really helps me produce stuff for free here As a coach, there are many difficult challenges in international rugby. Selecting a squad is tricky: bringing a number of different players together and … Continue reading

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Why not?

63 minutes and 47 seconds on the clock; Marcus Smith beats the floor with his fist. He has knocked the ball on attempting to keep a move alive. A move that had swept towards the All Blacks’ try line like … Continue reading

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Without and within: Saracens will be missed

Ye gods, we had forgotten what a sport this was. Amongst the moonshots, algorithms and trips to Barnard Castle, a few things have slipped from our collective consciousness. On Saturday afternoon, propelled by the winds whipping through the Aviva, they … Continue reading

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The spectral sceptre

Please click this link to read this piece on RugbyPass It was telling that two individual moments of brilliance were all that England could proffer in Paris. Against a defence fatigued by work already done, England’s Jonny May jinked forth … Continue reading

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Old Eddie and the Sea

It was a test match of which Ernest Hemingway would have approved. A trial of colossal strength, of titanic willpower. The American loved his bloodsports, loved to see men arm-wrestle for hours on end, and Saturday afternoon had two heavyweights … Continue reading

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The here and now

Click here for me for the Rugby Blog – one final time As Nigel Owens and TMO Ben Skeen deliberated over whether the ball had gone forward off Haylett-Petty or Maro Itoje in Saturday’s third test between Australia and England … Continue reading

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This is England

Me for the Rugby Blog Stripped to the waist, amidst the maelstrom that was Melbourne’s AAMI Park, Dan Cole stood oozing Englishness. Having been de-robed with comical ease whilst attending one of the many scraps that broke out in the … Continue reading

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