Author: index

Jones Confident Of Dethroning All Blacks In 2019

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The former Japanese coach and the current England rugby union coach, Eddie Jones, is a confident man.


He says that he sees England toppling the world champion All Blacks side at the 2019 Rugby World Cup to be held in Japan in three years time. Under coach Jones, Japan came into the limelight by defeating Springboks in the 2015 Rugby World Cup. They parted ways after the World Cup in England and now Jones is the coach of the England rugby team.

Jones has been instrumental in the kind of turnaround that the England team has showcased of late. They have won the Six Nations Grand Slam and also beat the mighty Wallabies in the June tests under his coaching. There is no doubt that he is one of the top international rugby coaches of this modern era.

Eddie Jones feels that the England team has it in them to defeat the New Zealand team come the 2019 World Rugby Cup. The difference between the two teams is just 2 or 3 percent and the chance for England defeating the defending champions in Japan is 100%, according to Jones. Continue reading “Jones Confident Of Dethroning All Blacks In 2019”

BT to become sponsors of Scotland Rugby

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The Scottish Rugby Union or the SRU has confirmed a new deal with broadcast giants BT that will see them become the principal sponsors for all the teams in Scotland Rugby, including the men’s and women’s national teams.

The three year deal is expected to bring about yet another new kit for the national teams when the deal kicks in this July, signalling the end of a four year long association with the Royal Bank of Scotland or the RBS Group that will now become the official banking partner of Scottish Rugby.

BT has been slowly and steadily making its presence felt in Scotland Rugby for some time now. First, they signed an agreement to become the shirt sponsors for Edinburgh Rugby and the Glasgow Warriors, the country’s only two professional teams in 2013 and followed it up by acquiring the naming rights for the national stadium Murrayfield.

A new deal also saw BT become the new sponsors of the country’s domestic league and cup tournaments and the three regional academies run by the SRU.

BT already sponsors the Rugby Sevens team of Scotland and this new deal will see them have a monopoly over all the national teams, including the three age groups teams as well. The Scotland Under-20 side will become the first national team to sport the new outfit bearing the new sponsor’s name when they kick of their campaign in the World Rugby Under-20 Championship this June. Continue reading “BT to become sponsors of Scotland Rugby”

Stuart Lancaster Still Thinks His Team Can Win Six Nations Rugby

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Stuart Lancaster, the 45 years old Head Coach of England National Rugby Union team still thinks that his team still is capable of becoming the champion of Six Nations Rugby notwithstanding the fact that his team has lost the match against Ireland on Sunday, 1st March and along with it all the hopes of winning the Grand Slam.

It has been 12 years since England Rugby team managed to win Grand Slam. On Sunday’s Match, the England Rugby team managed to score only 9 points while their opponent, Ireland’s score was 19.

Ireland managed to win by a big margin indeed. The team still has a chance of winning Grand Slam this year but they have to compete in matches in Scotland and Wales. It has been six years since the last time Ireland won Grand Slam. England desperately needs to keep their morale up for matches against France and Scotland which are going to be held in their home ground. Continue reading “Stuart Lancaster Still Thinks His Team Can Win Six Nations Rugby”

Easter urges England Rugby boss Lancaster to select Armitage

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Harlequins FC number eight and former England international Nick Easter has urged England Rugby boss Stuart Lancaster to move away from his stance of not selecting overseas based players and pick Steffon Armitage for the England team.

Easter has said that Lancaster can create a destructive pairing in the middle of the park with Armitage and club mate and England skipper Chris Robshaw as they look to go on an all out assault for the Rugby World Cup on home soil in the summer.

The 34 year old said that at this moment, Lancaster has no other option but go down that route, ending the long Test exile of the Toulon. Armitage has not played for the England Rugby first team since his move to French Top 14 side Toulon in 2011, with England’s policy of not selecting players based overseas blocking any chance of a return to the national team fold. Continue reading “Easter urges England Rugby boss Lancaster to select Armitage”

RFU Chief Hopeful About England Rugby

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Great news for the fans of England rugby team- Whilst the whole world booing the English rugby team on their weak performances in the recent past, the RFU chief Ian Ritchie is hopeful for a positive revival.

Akin to the critics, Ritchie too dubbed England rugby team’s recent performances as “dissatisfactory” but then remarked that he is hopeful about improvements in the team as the time nears for Rugby World Cup 2015 which would be hosted in England.

After coming 2nd in 2014 Six Nations, the English rugby team succumbed with 5 losses on a row- four to the Kiwis & one to the South African team- prior to beating Australia and Samoa in November internationals.

Head coach Lancaster (Stuart) has just 8 matches left to reshape his guys for the upcoming Rugby Worlds & according to RFU chief, the team would have to come up with significant improvements if they’re looking forward to aim for the top prize.

“We have played matches New Zealand & lost in all of them. So9 the verdict is that the result was not at all satisfactory & we have to come up with better performances”, noted the RFU chief while addressing the media recently.

“Absolutely this is no development phase. It’s true that we are require3d to be really competitive & beat those squads. We have to prepare ourselves to beat every team. That is what we would have to come up with”, he continued.

“But there isn’t any doubt for me that the very margin seems really small. It is really marginal & now we have to make it sure that this margin is rightly made up. That is the very view of coaching team too. There is no doubt that we would be way stronger next year.”