Rugby
Where next for Super League after World Club Drubbing?
Sport News 24/7 By Rob McHugh @mchughr @TLE_Sport Geographically, Townsville, Queensland – home of the newly crowned World Club Champions the North Queensland Cowboys – is 9,515 miles away from Leeds, West Yorkshire – home of the heavily defeated Leeds Rhinos. If it were possible to quantify the gulf in class between Australian club rugby league and their English counterparts as a distance, it may stand somewhere near 9,515 miles. Over the course of a three games; one in Saint...
Can Eddie Jones return England to the top?
Sport News 24/7 By David de Winter - Sports Editor @TLE_Sport @davidjdewinter The England Rugby team and the RFU would rather forget the last two months ever happened. Firstly, the national side was eliminated from the Rugby World Cup at the group stages, the only host nation to do so in the competition’s history. Next, they sacked the coach Stuart Lancaster, the man they appointed to lead the team to glory at the World Cup. Then, rugby league convert Sam...
Will we Ever See Another Jonah?
By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent This morning the sad news that All Black legend Jonah Lomu has passed away filtered across the newswires. A loving Dad, family man and a staunch patriot he will live in the hearts of fans in New Zealand and across the World for years to come. But he will be mostly remembered for his rugby prowess and his role in helping rugby union enter the professional era. In tribute to Jonah, here's one of his...
Rugby World Cup: Team of the Tournament
Sport News 24/7 By Richard de Winter @rgdewinter @TLE_Sport It’s been lauded as The Best Rugby World Cup Ever, culminating in The Best Rugby World Cup Final Ever, and, while hyperbole immediately after the event is customary, there is an argument for both assertions being correct, particularly the latter. The time has come to select the team of the tournament, which presents its own problems, in that, with a couple of exceptions, it should be the entire All Black starting...
Try as they Might – The story of Israeli rugby
Sport News 24/7 By Noy Shani @NoyShani @TLE_Sport Filmed in three countries: Israel, Czech Republic and the United Kingdom, 'Try As They Might' tells the story of the past, present and future of the Israeli national rugby union team. Constructed as an extended match report with breaks into the past behind the team’s meteoric rise in recent years, the present challenges, defining moments, and highs and lows, it tells a fascinating story about nationalism, dedication and a great belief, against...
The North/South Divide – Hemispheres Apart
Sport News 24/7 By David de Winter - Sports Editor @davidjdewinter @TLE_Sport Four Rugby World Cup quarter finals. The southern hemisphere v the northern hemisphere. The chance for Scotland, Wales, France and Ireland to prove that they really belong among rugby union’s elite. Four defeats was disappointing for fans of those northern hemisphere teams but not entirely unexpected. With the exception of the Scots, they were all schooled (embarrassingly so in the cases of France and Ireland) by the better...
Super League Grand Final: Forwards Hold the Key according to Giant Crabtree
Sport News 24/7 By Rob McHugh @mchughr @TLE_Sport On the 10th of October 2015, Manchester will officially become a Rugby city, with the Etihad Stadium playing host to England and Uruguay in the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and Old Trafford welcoming the best two teams in English Rugby League for the First Utility Super League Grand Final. Leeds Rhinos are on course for a historic treble, having vanquished Hull KR 50-0 in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley in August,...
Rugby World Cup: England get it wrong when it matters
Sport News 24/7 By Richard de Winter It wasn’t supposed to end like that. On Saturday morning most experts suggested that a combination of superior forward play, home advantage and sheer desperation would see England defeat Australia. The Guardian asked 6 of its columnists, including Eddie Butler and Graham Henry, for their prediction. Every single one, rather embarrassingly, picked England to win, a ratio that looked questionable at the time, and bizarre with hindsight. There will be consequences, I am...
Rugby World Cup: So far, so good & Size Matters
Sport News 24/7 By David de Winter - Sports Editor @TLE_Sport @davidjdewinter World Cups. They’re meant to be festivals of sport, celebrating all that is good about top-level competition. Sometimes they’re dreadfully disappointing (Italia 90 was rubbish as a spectacle) and sometimes they exceed everyone’s wildest dreams (RWC 2003, if just for the New Zealand v Wales match). So how is England 2015 faring? Pretty good. On the whole, the rugby has been entertaining, with some compelling fixtures (England v...