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Rugby

It may get worse before it gets better

Life is tough in England’s rugby Premiership – I call in evidence the fact that, based upon most recently-published results, just one club made a profit – despite some arguing with not a little justification that the major teams not only operate a cartel via the [...]

March 24, 2018 // 0 Comments

A meeting of minds

Earlier this week I joined an irregular session of dispirited erstwhile and current Quins fans at a local public house to discuss the state of the club. Let nobody beat about the bush – the motives of those attending this informal little brains trust can be confidently be filed under the headings [...]

March 16, 2018 // 0 Comments

And so, the final curtain …

Now just six days away from its conclusion, the 2018 version – already won by Ireland – of the annual Six Nations tournament has yet again provided a welcome early spring diversion for both devotees of rugby union and general sports fans. As with all of the physical contact variety, [...]

March 12, 2018 // 0 Comments

Not much to write home about

Aviva Premiership, Round 17: Harlequins v Bath at the Stoop, Sunday 4th March 2018: Result – Harlequins 20 points, Bath 5. League positions – Bath 7th on 45 points, Quins 9th on 36 points. I’m not going to tell a lie. I was too busy engaged in personal things that I’d didn’t see this game [...]

March 5, 2018 // 0 Comments

Marvin got it so right

[Today I am straying beyond the safe and narrow path of my rugby union remit of the Rust and into unchartered and perhaps random and unconnected waters – and so I begin by begging my readers to bear with me on the journey.] Marvin Gaye, shot dead by his own father on 1st April 1984, the day [...]

March 4, 2018 // 0 Comments

Manchester abuse does not bode well for rugby union

As I type this I am not aware  whether the unsavoury incident in Manchester last Sunday morning, in which England rugby’s head coach Eddie Jones was verbally abused by four men on his way to watch a soccer match at Old Trafford, involved four of my own countrymen, but it does draw attention [...]

March 2, 2018 // 0 Comments

Dark days

Saturday 24th February 2018: Aviva Premiership Round 16: Harlequins v Newcastle Falcons at the Stoop: Result – Harlequins 10 Newcastle Falcons 28: League positions – Newcastle Falcons 4th on 46 points, Harlequins 9th on 32 points. I should estimate that approximately 40% of incoming feedback [...]

February 25, 2018 // 0 Comments

With Braveheart on our lips

Like many Scots, this weekend’s Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield against the ‘Auld Enemy’ fills me with a mix of over-excited anticipation and just a dash of dread. The irrelevancies of everyday life seem to have paled into insignificance as those of us old enough to do so recall [...]

February 21, 2018 // 0 Comments

A case of familiarity breeding contempt

Saturday 17th February 2018: Aviva Premiership Round 15; Leicester Tigers v Harlequins at Welford Road, kick-off 3.00pm; Result – Leicester Tigers 33 Harlequins 18; Leicester Tigers 5 points (win plus four-try bonus point), Harlequins 0 points; Standings after Round 15 – Leicester Tigers 7th on [...]

February 18, 2018 // 0 Comments

A successful man-management lesson? Possibly …

Yesterday Quins prop Joe Marler was widely quoted in the press talking about how things have been since he re-joined the England training squad towards the end of his six-week ban after being re-carded for ‘clearing out’ TJ Ioane at a ruck with a deliberate shoulder-shot to the head, allegedly [...]

February 16, 2018 // 0 Comments

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