The third season of the Tyrrells starts in a fortnight and the transfers keep coming. But two big news items take precedence. First, Exeter’s long-trumpeted decision to establish a women’s section, with a view to applying to join the Tyrrells next year; second, the award of professional terms to players at Worcester Warriors and Saracens.
The three Quilter autumn internationals announced by the RFU show another new trend. the two continental members of the Six Nations are the chosen opposition, Italy to be played once, France twice, away then home. One traditional autumn option, the Super Series involving Canada and the USA, was overtaken by its retiming and restructuring –
What may or may not turn out to be the swansong of the Kia Super League brought some high quality cricket to Hove for Finals Day. For a pleasant change the runaway winners of the league stages, Western Storm, carried off the Big Prize in front of a big crowd and the television cameras. In
More Signings Ellena Perry has returned to her alma mater, Gloucester-Hartpury, where she is joined by experienced back-rower Erica Mills, whose army career has taken her to the West Country. Perry becomes a rare Red Rose to move from a top-3 club, thus helping to even out the imbalances of the Tyrrells. Anna Caplice, the Irish
If you were looking for your first win in ten, how would you prefer to set about it? Perhaps in a game reduced to 9 overs each, facing the hardest female hitter of a cricket ball in the world? (Australian commentators might like to dispute this claim, but in vain.) That is precisely what happened
When Mark Robinson announced his intention to stand down as England’s head coach, he caught everyone off-guard, not least the players. He was in charge for four years, which climaxed in the outstanding World Cup win at Lord’s in 2017. As a proud Yorkshire man he is bound to have taken the recent loss to
Thirteen matches have been crammed in from Sunday to Sunday, finishing with three played in intense heat against the backdrop of a historic test win at Headingley. Last weekend’s hero was Danni Wyatt, who hit the first ton (110) of the competition to help Vipers trounce an ever more depressed Stars outfit. Her feat was
The RFU has announced its plans for the future of its elite Tyrrells competition well in advance of the final year of its original form. It may well have taken the clubs by surprise as much as the wider public. All ten clubs will be audited rigorously during the coming season on two counts: their
Nine matches have been squeezed inside a week, to leave players and staff gasping for breath. Western Storm have continued their serene progress, claiming five wins out of five, but in the process they have shown up the weaknesses of the competition as well as its strengths. For their latest contest they travelled up to
First indications are that the elite division will be even more elitist and divided than ever. In its first two years of existence three clubs, Harlequins, Loughborough Lightning and Saracens, pulled away from the rest to establish a superiority that was rarely endangered. Only Wasps came close to challenging them – they finished third in
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