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England 26 France 25 (Six Nations)

England confounded the negativity of the Press in the build-up by not collapsing in the final quarter but by winning in the dying embers. In truth it was not a great game of rugby. France dominated the first half but made some dreadful errors. Marcus Smith’s kicking was not reliable off the [...]

February 9, 2025 // 0 Comments

Reflections upon Ireland 27 England 22 (Six Nations)

Yesterday I tuned into ITV’s coverage of the Six Nations clash at Croke Park between last year’s champions Ireland and England – under the captaincy of decade-long “FEC” (future England captain) Maro Itoje (now 30) for the first time – which resulted in a 27-22 victory for the [...]

February 2, 2025 // 0 Comments

France 44 Wales 0 (Six Nations)

France opened the Six Nations with a resounding victory over Wales. The only negative in an impressive performance was the upgraded red card given to Romain Ntamack which might put the fly half – only recently returned from a long injury lay-off – out for a sizeable part of the rest of [...]

February 1, 2025 // 0 Comments

HARLEQUINS 24 NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 19

Quins are quite often given the Friday evening slot as a televised apéritif for the weekend’s rugby and this match proved an excellent taster even though both teams were bereft of key players called up for international duty. Quins have depth – whether it is the evergreen Danny Care, the [...]

January 25, 2025 // 0 Comments

Smith or Smith

I followed the Radio London commentary of the Harlequins 24 Glasgow Warriors 7 match, being unwilling to lay out £25 monthly for broadcaster Premium Sports. So I cannot give a total report but – with the Six Nations looming – I thought I might offer my ha’porth on Fin Smith [...]

January 20, 2025 // 0 Comments

My Sporting Weekend

The Border-Gavaskar trophy between Australia and India has done much to enhance and elevate the status of Test cricket. India won the First Test in Perth – Australia levelled the series in Adelaide – and the Third Test in Brisbane was a washout draw. Australia won the Fourth Test in [...]

January 5, 2025 // 0 Comments

(Big Game 16): Harlequins 34 Leicester Tigers 34

It was business as usual for the Big Game before 82,000 at a sold-out Twickenham Alliance. Marcus Smith was back to his jinking running game and Caden Murley’s pace and power created 2 tries. However, with Quins leading by 7 points, in the dying embers Dan Cole went over for Leicester and [...]

December 29, 2024 // 0 Comments

Gloucester Rugby 14 Harlequins 0 (Rugby Premiership)

This was one of the most inept performances I have seen from Quins. Their big players – Marcus Smith, Fin Baxter, Chandler Cunningham South and Caden Murkey – failed to perform. In the first half they were comprehensively overwhelmed by the physicality of  the Cherry Reds. We expected [...]

December 21, 2024 // 0 Comments

London 2014/2124

Ten years ago I made my momentous decision to leave London for the South Coast. I was born in London and regarded myself as a Londoner. My closest friend- alas now passed – opined that I would be back in 2 years if I could afford the housing prices. I can see the attraction and attractions of [...]

November 12, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Rugby weekend

Harlequins have always operated a productive academy and one of the greatest supporter’s joys in any sport is the emergence of youth talent. Thus on Friday night I watched with utmost interest the game on the Premiership Cup – yet another competition – between Quins and Ealing [...]

November 10, 2024 // 0 Comments

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