Ben Coles

3 weeks ago | telegraph.co.uk | Ben Coles

Afternoon everybody, glorious conditions here at The Stoop. A bit of a breeze which could have an impact but both teams should give this a decent go in the sun. The ramifications here feel enormous given that Harlequins and Sale are only separated by two points and narrowly outside the top four. The good news for Harlequins is that Cadan Murley is back from injury, making his first appearance since the start of the Six Nations with England.

3 weeks ago | telegraph.co.uk | Ben Coles

To flip that point, it is also why so few clubs have dared to try to come up. No team has been promoted since Saracens in 2021, after what was effectively a one-year suspension from the top flight. The last time we had a promoted club not in possession of a perpetual share - otherwise known as a P share, entitling shareholders to a percentage of the central income of the league as well as voting rights - was London Welsh in 2014. Two years later they went into voluntary liquidation.

4 weeks ago | telegraph.co.uk | Ben Coles

Russell was picked ahead of Sexton four years ago for the tour of South Africa and went on to play a prominent role in the third Test, playing 70 minutes following Dan Biggar's early injury. When asked last October who Sexton believed should be at fly-half in Australia, Sexton mentioned Owen Farrell, citing that you want "Test-match animals" in the position. "Who do you want in there when the going gets tough? Test-match animals. I know who the media would want.

4 weeks ago | ca.sports.yahoo.com | Ben Coles

Johnny Sexton will join the British and Irish Lions in Australia this summer as an assistant coach. The former Ireland fly-half, who retired following the 2023 Rugby World Cup, will join the Lions coaching staff and link up with his old head coach Andy Farrell. As a player, Sexton toured with the Lions in 2013 and 2017, starting in five Test matches and winning the first series in Australia before drawing in New Zealand four years later.

4 weeks ago | nzherald.co.nz | Ben Coles

This may not come as a surprise given Caucaunibuca’s speed, but the boy from Nasau Village, in the Bua district of Vanua Levu Island, was scouted at a local sevens tournament by the Fiji sevens head coach, Rupeni Ravonu. Fast-tracked into the national side in 2001, he featured in five World Series events and scored a ridiculous 38 tries – while also being sent off in a Wellington Sevens final for two reckless tackles – and went to the Sevens World Cup in Argentina. The star of that tournament?