The Lineout

We take a quick look at the appointment of new Wallaby Coach, New Zealander Joe Schmidt and most important of all a look ahead to this weekend's opening round of Six Nations action.

We finish up this weeks calls by looking at Welsh winger Louis Rees-Zammit's surprise announcement of a move to the NFL and the confirmation of the first ever Women's British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand in 2027.

We look ahead to this weekend's final Round of Champions Cup Pool Stages and cast our eye over the recently announced Six Nations Squads

We sum up our impressions of Rugby World Cup France 2023, including a sojourn in France ourselves during the tournament.

We look at a mesmerising final Round of Pool games and ahead to some genuinely tasty Quarter Finals, in a Tournament that despite some of its initial difficulties is so far exceeding expectations!

We take a look at some of the action last weekend with a particular focus on the Tier Two Nations along with a look ahead to this weekend's blockbuster round of final Pool games that sees numerous Quarter Final berths up for grabs!

We whip round all the games of the second weekend of the Rugby World Cup in France.

We whip round all eight games of the opening weekend of the Rugby World Cup in France.

It's Rugby World Cup time in less than 48 hours and we can't wait!!!! In this episode we break down all four Pools and where we think the teams will finish and as a result who will make it through to the knockout stages.

We reflect back on Ireland's win over England and Keith Earls' 100th cap, while fretting over the injury to Dan Sheehan. We look at Fiji's ability to be just as impressive in the physical battles as they are with ball in hand, and the threat they consequently pose to Wales and Australia. We eagerly look forward to what should be a thriller between arch rivals New Zealand and South Afri...

Where to begin on such a controversial week. Sadly governance and officiating have once more dominated the headlines as a result of the farcical process surrounding the rescinding of England Captain Owen Farrell's red card in last week's match against Wales and which sets a dangerous precedent ahead of Rugby's global showpiece tournament. We look at Wales ongoing ineptitude at key mome...

The latest edition focuses on our Canadian Women's outstanding efforts in last month's Pacific Four Series, a New Zealand side risen from the ashes of 2022, and a Wallabies side whose woes continue under new Coach Eddie Jones. We also look at an impressive looking Scotland and an England World Cup squad that has singularly failed to fire the imagination.

We look ahead to the Pacific Four Series to be played in Ottawa over the next two weekends and in which Canada's Women are poised to finish strongly. We take an initial look at the upcoming Rugby Championship as well as a look back at the recently concluded Super Rugby Final, in which incoming All Black Coach Scott Robertson and his Crusaders cemented their place as the most successful side in...

In this episode we focus on the end of the club season in Europe, the controversy surrounding Ireland and Leinster Captain Johnny Sexton's behaviour at the Heineken Cup Final, Munster's success in the URC and what it all means for Ireland's World Cup Chances. We continue our look at Australia's struggles in Super Rugby now the tournament has reached its business end and what it mea...

We look at the recent contract extension for Scotland Coach Gregor Townsend. There's a nervous glimpse at a seemingly inevitable Irish sweep of European rugby and what it means for the World Cup (with Irish supporters fearfully muttering "we've been here before"). We end with a quick run down of the URC playoffs, Super Rugby action and a look ahead to the resumption of the Toront...

In this episode we wrap up the Women's Six Nations which culminated in the largest ever audience for a Women's game at Twickenham. We look at the best of the rest most notably Wales, while there's a lament for the unequal playing field Ireland's women find themselves on. We look at the fascinating contrast in Irish styles being cooked up for the Heineken Cup final between Leo Culle...

A look at the Toronto Arrows record MLR defeat to the New England Free Jacks in only their second home game, and a reflection on how the fan experience left a lot to be desired irrespective of the actual rugby being played. A look at Round 3 of the Women's Six Nations and the ever widening gap between England/France and everyone else. There's also a celebration of Moana Pasifika's firs...

This week we focus on the Heineken Cup and a case of too much rugby and travel in too small a window. We look at the Women's Six Nations which resumes this weekend. We dive a bit more into Australian sides ongoing difficulties in getting any traction against New Zealand sides in Super Rugby and last but not least we celebrate the Toronto Arrows return home!

We give our final verdict on the Six Nations, continue the ongoing debate about officiating and look at the All Blacks Coaching announcement post the World Cup. We take a snapshot of the opening round of the Womens' Six Nations and try and try and resume crying in our beer over the Arrows badly faltering start to their MLR season.

We look back at a thoroughly absorbing Round 4 of the Six Nations and ahead to Super Saturday and the tournament's finale. We also celebrate Fijian Drua's fantastic home win over Super Rugby Defending Champions the Crusaders and our own Toronto Arrows get their first win of the season courtesy of fly half Sam Malcolm.

Probably one of the most intriguing Round 4's of the Six Nations in recent memory gets underway in Rome on Saturday. Both Wales and Italy have EVERYTHING to play for, and for Wales in particular it's do or die stuff, not helped by the crisis in the game back home. England host a French time that looks dangerous but not quite the Grand Slam winning quality of last year. England continue to develop...

In this episode we use the Round 3 games to try and gauge where all the teams are heading into the two penultimate rounds of the Six Nations. Apologies as it was supposed to be based on a much more detailed piece over on the blog, but unfortunately a technological glitch got in the way and it never made it onto the blog and got deleted in the process. We are trying to salvage it but in the interim...

We look ahead to this weekend's Six Nations action and crucial matches for all the teams involved especially the dustups between Wales and England in Cardiff and France and Scotland in Paris. Wales and England both with massive points to prove especially Wales after all the drama swirling around the state of the game and whether or not this match would even go ahead. France simply have to get thei...

We look back on last weekend's thrilling Round 2 Six Nations action, with the centerpiece being that extraordinary game between Ireland and France. The action was non stop and kept us on the edge of our seats. In addition, Scotland finally beat their consistency demon and now can consider themselves title contenders should they manage to get past France in Paris in ten days time. Welsh rugby looks...

If you've managed to catch your breath after last weekend's phenomenal opening round, we look ahead to what is arguably the biggest game of the year ahead of the World Cup, Ireland vs France and the rest of the Round 2 Six Nations action. We also look back at last weekend's Round 1 bumper crop of thrills and spills.