Poetic Justice

Now that the dust in the Australian’s pockets has settled what has been the effect on the players involved, the sport and the country as a whole? I have a look at the facts and fallout of cricket's and Australia’s biggest sporting scandal for years. Rewind a few weeks and it was impossible, cricket fan or not, to escape the constant headlines breaking surrounding the ball tampering scandal fronted by the Australian men’s team. During the third test match against South Africa, Cameron Bancroft was spotted on the cameras attempting to manipulate the condition of the ball with an outside object that was later revealed as being sandpaper. This was admitted by the Australians who claimed it was an idea dreamed up by the ‘leadership group’ and that it was unique to this fixture only. Although, Steve Smith, the then captain of the test team did not name names, the group in question was perceived as himself, vice-captain David Warner and the man caught red-handed    Cameron Bancroft....

With the Aviva Premiership reaching a tantalising climax with a single win separating third from seventh, how teams finish their campaigns is going to be pivotal to their final landing spots. The difference for some could be a playoff spot or missing out entirely and not even securing Champions Cup qualification. So taking on the theme of finishing I reacquainted myself with the 114 games of rugby (Rounds 1-19) already played in this year’s competition to find out which teams were finishing the strongest. Total points scored in the last ten (Season so far) Total points conceded in the last ten (Season so far) Last ten points difference (Season so far) Bath 81 87 -6 Exeter 103 53 50 Gloucester 50 68 -18 Leicester 93 46 47 London Irish 67 55 12 Newcastle 41 53 -12 N'hampton 46 71 -25 Qui...

This afternoon marks the first contest for top flight silverware of the domestic season as Bath take on the Exeter Chiefs in the Anglo-Welsh Cup. The anticipated clash has already been added extra spice followings its postponement due to the infamous ‘Beast from the East’ and the fact that the two sides met last week in the league. The game, which will be played at Kingsholm will feature two sides with very different histories. Bath will be chasing a well overdue return to their golden years of the 90s whilst the Devonians are enjoying the form of their lives. So, who wins when old meets new? I take a look at a few of the key battlegrounds and statistics that could shape the game’s outcome. THE 10s The battle at fly-half will surely shape the game’s outcome and its hard to get a more enticing duel in this competition than Freddie Burns against Joe Simmonds. Burns led Leicester to victory last season as he helped mastermind the Tigers win against the Chiefs and has continued his...

RED ROSE RATINGS – ENGLAND 15 – 24 IRELAND                Date: 17 th March 2018                Location: Twickenham Stadium, London, England                Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)                Attendance: 82,062 A third consecutive defeat meant England finished fifth, their lowest finish in the tournament for 35 years, whilst Ireland completed a historic Grand Slam. Eddie Jones will now have a lot of thinking to do as he and his team were comprehensively schooled throughout this year’s competition. The World Cup clock is ticking. 15 - Anthony Watson (Bath) – 4 Made a complete mess of Sexton’s high kick early in the first half which allowed Ringrose to score the game’s opening t...

RED ROSE RATINGS - FRANCE 22 - 16 ENGLAND                Date: 10 th March 2018                Location: Stade de France, Paris, France                Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)                Attendance: 78,060 15 – Anthony Watson (Bath) – 5 Conceded a penalty try and a yellow card for what was an unintentional but equally illegal challenge on Benjamin Fall. Lacklustre in attack and showed no creativity, failed to be the attacking force that could have threatened France. 14 – Johnny May (Leicester Tigers) – 6 Grabbed another try courtesy of a wonderful Daly assist. Seemed to be the most eager and willing of England’s backline speedsters but opportunities and spaces were all too few. 13 – Ben Te’o (Worcester ...

RED ROSE RATINGS – SCOTLAND 25 – 13 ENGLAND                Date: 24 th February 2018                Location: Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland                Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)                Attendance: 67,144 England’s grand slam hopes were scuppered as they were well beaten by a ferocious Scottish team who regained the Calcutta Cup for the first time in ten years. Eddie Jones admitted the defeat was his fault after the game and he will have much to ponder before his side face their penultimate game against France. 15 – Mike Brown (Harlequins) – 4 A far cry from his performance in the last match against Wales. Marked down for a poor pass when a rare opportunity seemed to ope...