Painter looking forward to ‘exciting’ Exeter challenge

‘Steward red was not right’

ELLIS Genge leapt to the defence of Freddie

Gatland: We showed some real character out there

Most Welsh fans were the effort the players

Robinson: England still in the running

ANDY Robinson believes that England can still win

Laycock takes over as Walder steps down

NEWCASTLE director of rugby Dave Walder has left

Pollard helping to put life into Tigers

HANDRE Pollard says that his experience in the

Townsend poised to carry on

GREGOR Townsend expects his future as Scotland head

Scotland finish as best of the rest

Scotland ........................... 26pts Tries: van der Merwe 13,

Ritchie: I was never worried

CAPTAIN Jamie Ritchie insisted he wasn’t worried about

Gloucester duo set to join Ealing

CHAMPIONSHIP leaders Ealing are close to pulling off

Bedford set to land Saints hooker Fish

NORTHAMPTON hooker James Fish is set to drop

Chiefs lead chase for lock star Williams

Rising star: Cardiff lock Teddy Williams is wanted

Diamond could be man for Bath

STEVE Diamond starts work at Edinburgh on Monday

Bears in hunt for Walder’s services

DAVE Walder was placed on gardening leave by

This French side have the quality to go all the way

OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK

RFU needs to harness the top coaches

READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK WHY is

Time for big guns to make amends

THE RFU/Premiership/ Championship panel charged with restructuring the

Lark sticks with Bears

ENGLAND hooker Lark Davies has signed a new

New deal for Thorley

GLOUCESTER winger Ollie Thorley, 26, has extended his

Cracknell fears for his old friends

OLLY Cracknell fears for the future of former

McKinney will donate his brain to science

THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW

Bob Burrows, the man who opened door for Living with Lions

BOB Burrows joined the BBC from Fleet Street

Benny’s charity gets off to a flier

PHIL Bennett would not have believed it possible

Trinity stunned as Oakham seal first title for 20 years

OAKHAM secured a first Schools Cup title since

McLean’s pride at Raiders milestone moment

WORTHING’S Matt Mc-Lean etched himself into the record

Marx on the mark to put Spears in charge

League One round-up

Forgotten men who deserve a mention

GUEST COLUMNIST

I’d love to see South Seas take on Lions

MAYBE, just maybe, there is life in the

Cragg set for an epic challenge

WHILE much of this season has been an

Plymouth plan statue for Peters

PLYMOUTH Albion RFC have organised a GoFund-Me page

Titcombe steers L’borough to first title

LOUGHBOROUGH were crowned BUCS Super Rugby champions for

Dark Blues set for hard Varsity challenge

TOM Osborne ended up a winner at Twickenham

BRITISH RUGBY RESULTS AND FIXTURES

Did RFU give job to Borthwick too soon?

A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME

I’m off to the farm after this, says Jessy

FRENCH COLUMN

Forthcoming fixtures

Week beginning Sunday,March 19,2023

Innard: Chiefs can will the lot

JACK Innard has fond memories of the Premiership

Van Zyl set for spicy clash with Harlequins

IVAN van Zyl is bracing himself for another

A party for the ages as Sexton brings Grand Slam joy to Ireland

Ireland............................... 29pts Tries: Sheehan 33, 68; Robbie Henshaw

Better, yes, but there’s still a long way to go...

Battlers: Ellis Genge, far left, and Jack Willis

Au revoir! French requiem for old warrior

France.................................41pts Wales................................. 28pts Tries: Penaud 10, 77; Danty

Standing tall as we finish on a high

WALES AND LIONS LEGEND WHAT a brilliant start

Irish in search of redemption

IRELAND IRELAND will be itching to rectify their

Scots looking to shift mindsets

SCOTLAND SCOTLAND are hoping to put their ‘morbid

Red Roses are still the team to beat

ENGLAND ONCE again, we enter a Women’s Six

Jones confident Welsh can start to close the gap

WALES WALES captain Hannah Jones believes her side

Forlani eagar to prove her worth

FRANCE FRANCE are desperate to shake their runners-up

New faces are exciting for Turani

ITALY IT is the beginning of a new

A small, self-serving elite which bars all others from access

BEFORE the creation of club leagues in 1987,

Money problems hit England and Wales

WITNESSING the gulf in abilities between England and

You can’t build team without cohesion

I WATCHED the postmatch interviews with Steve Borthwick

DREAM TEAM

PHILIPPA TUTTIETT, THE FORMER WALES AND CARDIFF WINGER AND CAPTAIN OF WALES SEVENS, CHOOSES THE BEST PLAYERS SHE HAS PLAYED WITH AND AGAINST

ROBCARMICHAEL

ENGLAND U20s SECOND ROW R ob Carmichael has

‘I’ve got every cap bar the senior one’

THE FORMER NEATH, SWANSEA, CARDIFF, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY AND WALES B SCRUM-HALF

Winless Wales know they will have to be at their best

PREVIEW... France v Wales Today. Kick-off 8pm, Stade

England on a mission to wreck Irish party

Ireland v England PREVIEW... Today. Kick-off 5pm, Musgrave

We need to cut out the basic errors, says Murray

PREVIEW... Scotland v Italy Today. Kick-off 2pm, Scotstoun

Cooke: Last year’s defeat driving us on

London PREVIEW... Irish v Exeter Today. Kick-off 2pm,

This group of players will fight for each other -Pellow

Starter: Christ Tshiunza EXETER are set on a

Nottigham give Ealing some food for thought

Nottingham...... 21pts Tries: K Olowofela 2, T Olowofela

Brave Exiles show fighting spirit but can’t catch Pirates

L Scottish ........ 31pts Tries: Anderson 29, Mehson

Pellegrini shines as march on Coventry

Coventry ........................... 48pts Tries: Conversions: Pellegrini 15, Rigg

Turner delighted by ‘great performance’

Ampthill ............ 31pts Tries: Sproston 14, Bacon 27,

Reds close up shop after Lewis flies in for hat-trick

Jersey .............36pts Tries: Lewis 7, 11, 32; O’Connor

High five as Bedford end Richmond’s dominance

Bedford .............39p Tries: French 3, Frost 21, Matavesi

England go from springboard to falling through a trap door

PAUL REES SAYS THE GAME IN THIS COUNTRY IS DRIFT ING AND IT’S TIME FOR THE RFU TO EXERT GREATER CONTROL

11-try Saracens give Wasps a finishing lesson

Wasps .............13 Saracens ...........73 SARACENS secured an Allianz

Star man Milner is key for visitors

Harrogate......... 12 Huddersfield... 21 HUDDERSFIELD ran out winners

Collins on song as the Tigers dominate

Hull Ionians...... 19pts Sedgley Park...30pts SEDGLEY PARK took

Mellor marks a century for Tigers with top display

Sheffield Tigers....28 Otley.......................... 17 FULL-BACK Greg Mellor celebrated

Youthful Hull get a Moseley mauling

Hull............................ 17 B Moseley...............35 A YOUNG Hull side

Chinnor climb out of danger zone

Chinnor.....................42 Leeds Tykes........... 17 CHINNOR’S resurgence continued as

Heath go second as Paviors suffer drop

HEATH closed their season with a 30-3 win

Blackburn edged out in battle for title

A 50-26 win at Manchester saw Blackburn finish

South East

HERTFORD finished the season with a flourish at

Chew Valley turn on style in 11-try show

CHEW Valley got their biggest win of the

Bridgnorth take title battle down to wire

THE title will be decided on the final

London

BANBURY beat Bournemouth 29-10 to preserve their spot

OAs hit top form in 12-try display

Old Albanian....82 Westcliff.......... 31 OLD Albanian got back

Dorking grind out Hundred success

Rochford H’dred....27 Dorking..................... 41 DORKING were deserved winners

Red card fails to halt Barnes push

Sevenoaks.............. 12 Barnes......................28 BARNES overcame a first-half red

Redruth revenge is sweet for Salop

Newport S....... 43 Redruth............ 24 NEWPORT (Salop) avenged

Campbell’s delight as late drama earns draw

Hinckley............28pts Loughborough..28pts Sliding in: Sam Everett scores for

Sprague kick snatches thrilling Old Reds victory

Old Redcliffians....28 Luctonians..............25 OLD Redcliffians snatched a dramatic

Blackheath win a bruiser with Bury

Bury St Edmunds.. 12 Blackheath............. 21 BLACKHEATH got

Hawks hit back to take titanic tussle

Henley......................42 North Walsham.....40 A SENSATIONAL second-half comeback saw

Whitelock makes sure for Crusaders

THE Crusaders outlasted the Blues 34- 28 in

Wolhuter on target to keep Western Province on course

WESTERN Province continued their perfect start to the

Results

Regional results

Regional results

Results and tables supplied by the RFU

Drovers get back on track

Swansea................... 9 Llandovery.............35 THE Drovers responded to Merthyr

Fog can’t stop Merthyr

Ebbw Vale ................ 9 Merthyr....................24 EBBW Vale’s play-off

Bridgend on top in mud battle

Bridgend ............8 Carmarthen Q ...7 THE weather was

Matthews leads way for 10-try Pooler

PONTYPOOL picked up another five points as they