A clean-up job awaits John Kingston’s heir, Gary Graham shines again and Kitchener’s tumble leaves Gopperth the fall-guyHarlequins have been linked with so many coaches since the announcement last week that John Kingston will leave at the end of the se…
• London Irish 5-45 Exeter• Exiles now nine points off 11th-placed WorcesterThere remains a mathematical chance of London Irish avoiding relegation from the Premiership this season but any realistic hope of a reprieve was in effect ended on Sunday…
• Saracens 41-6 Bath• Jonathan Joseph’s England tour place in jeopardyAnother desperate afternoon for Bath, and not a great one for England with Jonathan Joseph hobbling off with an ankle injury that may jeopardise his place on the summer tour of South…
• Leicester 21-27 Northampton• Stephen Myler kicks 12 points in Saints victoryNorthampton’s coaching consultant, Alan Gaffney, wondered before the match whether some of his players had switched off early: as early as October, it could be argued given t…
• Wasps 30-15 Worcester• Bonus-point win consolidates Wasps’ position in race for top fourThe pitches are firming up, the clouds are clearing, and Wasps are coming into their own. They barely moved out of third gear, certainly in the second half, but s…
• England prop has played for four straight weeks since Six Nations• Saracens decision raises serious concerns over player welfareSaracens have named Mako Vunipola in their starting lineup to face Bath on Sunday despite being obliged to rest him accord…
• All-northern clash crucial in terms of semi-final qualification• ‘We need to replicate [our home] performances,’ says captainNot since Sale won their only Premiership title a dozen years ago have English rugby’s northern lights shone so brightly. Wit…
• All-northern clash crucial in terms of semi-final qualification• ‘We need to replicate [our home] performances,’ says captainNot since Sale won their only Premiership title a dozen years ago have English rugby’s northern lights shone so brightly. Wit…
England scrum-half is delighted to have avoided knee surgery and to be fit for a comeback in Saturday’s game against NorthamptonIf the enduring image of England’s opening Six Nations victory in Italy was a quartet of Exeter players deep in celebration…
It is three years since Quins, Northampton or Bath made the Premiership play-offs and anxiety is growing at these traditionally big clubsAt this stage of the domestic rugby season the table seldom lies. It is not enough simply to blame under-achievemen…
• Fourth Premiership director of rugby to leave job this season• Club likely to use All Blacks link in search for replacementJohn Kingston has become the fourth Premiership director of rugby to leave his job this season – just three months after signin…
Ellis Genge impresses in the heat of battle, Saracens end tough week on a high and Marland Yarde spearheads Sale’s late pushLoosehead prop is not a problem position for England with Mako Vunipola backed up by Joe Marler, but Beno Obano and Ellis Genge …
• Harlequins 5-35 London Irish• Win means Irish relegation fight still alive with three games to playIt’s all very well playing like this now. London Irish remain alive, but the real story is the confidence and facility of their form, now that it has s…
• Bath 19-34 Leicester• Visitors overturn 13-10 deficit with dominant second-half showingThe clash of styles at Twickenham was won by the set-piece prowess of Leicester who used their overwhelming superiority up front to record their fifth league victo…
• Northampton 13-63 Saracens• Sarries score 48 unanswered points in second halfFor all that the scoreboard makes for desperate reading yet again for Northampton, perhaps the most miserable thing is that Saracens reached top gear only intermittently in …
Arthur J Gallagher to replace Aviva as title backer, US sources sayHarlequins and Sale set to play in US in 2019, possibly in ChicagoPremiership Rugby is set to announce the US insurance giant Arthur J Gallagher & Co as its new title sponsor, succe…
Wray now has full control after buying Remgro’s stakeClub looking to fund new stand and increase capacitySaracens chairman Nigel Wray is to take full control of the Aviva Premiership club after its South African co-owners opted to pull out. Wray, who h…
Now is the time for rugby union to open its eyes rather than be blinded by parochial thinkingMemories are short at moments like this. It is only a year since English rugby was omnipotent, in possession of almost as many title belts as Anthony Joshua. I…
• Ring-fencing of Premiership expected from 2020-21 season• Premiership clubs do not want to expand beyond 12-team leagueDownsizing the European Champions Cup has been proposed as a way to protect player welfare if the Premiership is ring-fenced with m…
Premiership now wants an end to relegation with Championship clubs hardly fit to make the jump upThe Saracens chairman, Nigel Wray, reflected in his programme notes for the Premiership match against Harlequins at the Olympic Stadium last weekend that h…
