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Articles by Sandra McDonnell

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About Sandra McDonnell

As an Englishwoman married to a Scot, Sandra experiences some tension at home during Six Nations tournaments. Her enthusiasm for rugby was acquired through early visits to Fylde club matches with her father and her proud boast is that she has missed only two England home games at Twickenham since 1995. Sandra has three grown-up children, none of whom follow rugby. More Posts

And another thing …

Please pardon me – as a Scot, woman and occasional Rust correspondent – for unburdening myself twice in three days, but today I have been moved to do so by an ‘exclusive’ article by John Westerby that appears on the back page of The Times (continued inside) on the vexed subject of the [...]

April 29, 2015 // 0 Comments

English rugby at the crossroads

Whether we like the consequences or not – given that from time to time there’s a natural tendency in all of us to indulge in nostalgia – deep down most of us acknowledge that, for good or ill, human society is involved in a headlong rush to the future. In such circumstances ‘Stop the [...]

April 28, 2015 // 0 Comments

Taking plusses where you can

Scots north and south of the border are steeling themselves for the forthcoming Calcutta Cup match next Saturday, a annual clash that brings us the hope of triumph but also the expectation of something slightly less palatable that will leave us with the pain and resentment of ’small nation [...]

March 10, 2015 // 0 Comments

The problem with Danny Boy

The Sale fly half Danny Cipriani, now aged 27, has long been a ‘Marmite’ character – one of those people whom you either love or hate. I first saw him play at international age group level (captaining the England Under 19 team) for England at the age of 18 in a Six Nations game at the Stoop. [...]

March 6, 2015 // 0 Comments

It’s getting complicated …

Premiership Rugby is once again considering the prospect of restructuring English rugby’s top tier into a 14-team championship (up from 12) and doing away with promotion and relegation. Apparently, with one eye upon the stonking £5.1 billion television deal recently announced for football’s [...]

March 4, 2015 // 0 Comments

So near and far

It all seems so obvious now, but Ireland’s convincing 19-9 rugby union victory over England in Dublin yesterday, of which I witnessed only the second half (live on television) due to a family luncheon commitment, defied my adrenalin-fuelled rush of anticipatory uncertainty last week when [...]

March 2, 2015 // 0 Comments

TV-happy and proud of it

I’m relatively unapologetic about the fact that, over the decades, I have gradually become less and less inclined to attend sporting occasions in person. When my brother announced with excitement that he had secured tickets to three different sports at the 2012 Olympics, including – depending [...]

February 11, 2015 // 0 Comments

A way to go yet

Last night, after supervising our family evening meal 45 minutes earlier than is normal, I settled down in the study to watch the Irish Wolfhounds rugby match against England Saxons being played in Cork on Sky Sports 2. In particular, I was keen to assess the progress of the latest ‘Great White [...]

January 31, 2015 // 0 Comments

The art of tournament winning

All team sports become like chess, or ‘sports manager’ fantasy computer games, when it comes to a major tournament. In terms of soccer, rugby, field hockey (you can add your own further examples) we’re talking mostly European and World Cups, or possibly – if they’re admitted to the fold [...]

January 21, 2015 // 0 Comments

Rugby still has medical work to do

Last night I began watching the Gloucester versus Saracens Premiership rugby match being relayed live from Kingsholm by BT Sport. After a while, not fully engaged by its entertainment and having other domestic distractions I went to bed …and  thereby missed by a few minutes the sight of Ben [...]

January 10, 2015 // 0 Comments

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