Sitting In The Cheap Seats

It’s a World Cup year for England Women and as such the forthcoming Six Nations tournament is the last real opportunity for head coach Simon Middleton to refine his squad ahead of the trip to New Zealand. While the Red Roses core has seemed remarkably consistent through recent seasons, a close examination shows that there has been plenty of change through the squad. Here I highlight six players who just might play their way into the head coach’s thinking ahead of the tournament. First of all, a few ground rules. None of the players I’m picking here have appeared in England squads over recent international windows. I’ve picked on a mix of current form, potential and in a couple of cases who have had injury issues, the talent they have shown previously.

A huge shout out to Harlequins for being the first Gallagher Premiership and Allianz Premier 15s team to create a Pride fixture and today taking that a step further with the launch of their LGBTQ+ Supporters Association to sit alongside their existing SA. It’s great to see the game making moves to make people feel seen and included. Here’s hoping other teams follow suit! Read on for the full announcement from the team.

He’s a former fan favourite from the cherry and whites, now making a name for himself as an up and coming young coaching talent with Gloucester-Hartpruy Women.  We caught up with James Forrester to see how he’s settling in.

Fresh off a combative five point win against Newcastle, London Irish turn their attention to Gloucester. The Cherry and Whites are rooted to the bottom of the Premiership table but will always be a tough team to play against. We caught up with DoR Declan Kidney and talismanic hooker Agustin Creevy to find out their thoughts.

#ICare has been the rallying cry for a group of amazing, inspiring women who have had enough of being dismissed out of hand by internet trolls. In the wake of a number of idiots spamming “who cares” comments on Sky Sports’ announcement that the Women’s Six Nations has been delayed. Women’s rugby has taken a stand. Started by Stef Evans and her Ruggette RFC brand a groundswell of support has flooded social media, it’s lovely to see and to play my part I’ve put together a 15 of players who always make me smile when I see them on the field!

In the midst of the first run of Challenge Cup games London Irish are flexing their squad depth, giving players a rest here and there and allowing depth players opportunities as they did throughout the restart period. But a few players are continually relied on to support the team. One of them, a player whose stature rose in every game through the summer was George Nott the former Sale Sharks second row has evolved into one of the Exiles’ most reliable performers with a run of quietly strong performances. We caught up with him this week to get his thoughts on how the season is going. “The restart was great for me. As unfortunate as it was in the grand scheme of things, for me personally it was an opportunity to string some games together and develop my confidence. That’s carried onto this year as well.” If there’s a first impression I get from speaking to George it’s that he’s one to always look on the bright side. He saw the positives for himself even while acknowledging that the re...

After years in the planning, London Irish returned to London a couple of weeks ago. A week later they were able to welcome fans back to the game too. Now they’re on a short break from league action to focus on Europe. It’s all go for the club so we caught up with Theo Brophy Clews to dig into the mood in camp ahead of a trip to Agen.