#Van Poortvliet

With Steve Borthwick set to announce his chosen 36-man squad on Monday morning, former England number eight and ex-Worcester Warriors defence coach Nick Easter spends a morning playing selector, with balance and Premiership form at the top of his thinking. "Borthwick's first England side is obviously a key selection," Easter said. "The simple truth…

Richard Wigglesworth has made seven changes as Leicester look to bounce back from recent Premiership defeats and continue their successful European campaign at Clermont. The Tigers suffered heavy losses to Newcastle and Sale in their last two league outings. But Leicester beat Ospreys and Clermont in the Heineken Champions Cup before Wigglesworth…

Bath Rugby tighthead prop Will Stuart will start his fourth consecutive Test for England as the club's only representative in the matchday 23 to face Australia in the series decider at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday. Bath's giant wing Joe Cokanasiga misses out on selection while Northampton captain Lewis Ludlam replaces the concussed Sam…

With World Rugby currently fighting brush fires on multiple fronts - high contact laws and sanctions, TMO involvement, intentional knock-ons, concussion and global season just some of the main issues - it seems both crazy and inevitable the game is about to stumble into another morass of its own making. A combination of the introduction of private…

Northampton Saints only secured their place in the Gallagher Premiership semi-finals on the last day of the season but after taking fourth spot, they now have a chance to upset East Midlands rivals - and table-toppers - Leicester Tigers at Welford Road. Saints hammered Newcastle Falcons 65-26 to make the top four and although they finished 19…

Following a 23-17 victory for Leicester Tigers over the Ospreys in their Champions Cup fixture, here's our five takeaways from the match at Swansea.com Stadium on Sunday. This was an outstanding win by a particularly inexperienced but youthful Tigers side playing away against the Ospreys boasting some seven Test Lions and something north of 700…

Leicester Tigers became the first club in history to go through an entire Premiership Rugby season top of the table at the end of every round but unless they go on to lift the title, their efforts will have been for nought. They are just two wins away from achieving that but East Midlands rivals Northampton Saints are the first team to stand in…

Now that the 2022 international season has been wrapped up, we delve into the state of affairs in each of the competing nations. Next up, England. To find the right adjective to describe England's 2022 Autumn Nations Series campaign is hard. Dismal would be at one extreme, underwhelming might be somewhat kinder, but one thing is for sure - rather…

England head coach Eddie Jones has selected his England team to play Japan in the Autumn Nations Series on Saturday. The Aussies' side lost 30-29 to Argentina last Sunday, a sixth defeat in ten matches this year. "We've worked hard this week to improve on last week's performance. We've taken a good look at our preparation and we are happy with our…

Henry Arundell added a different dimension to England's attack from the bench in the first Test Free rugby tips, best bets and analysis for Australia v England in the second Test on Saturday. Sky Sports Action, 10.55am Saturday England 1pt 7-5 Betfair, BoyleSports All the numbers in last week's first Test in Perth should have added up to a win for…

Japan came close to besting the All Blacks, and now they face another world powerhouse in England in a litmus test of their improvement. Join The Roar for live scores and rolling coverage from 2:15am (AEDT). England coach Eddie Jones made five changes from the team beaten by Argentina last week. Leicester's Guy Porter, formerly of Sydney Uni, comes…

Wing Jonny May brings plenty of pace to the party for England Free rugby tips, best bets and analysis for Saturday's autumn international between England and Japan. Amazon Prime, 3.15pm Saturday England to win by 21 to 30 points 1pt 3-1 Coral, Ladbrokes England will be looking for a much improved performance following last week's Twickenham defeat…

England are out to put their disappointing defeat to Argentina behind them when they host Japan on Saturday. Having lost 30-29 to the Pumas last weekend, they'll need to show a significant reaction after a below-par performance from many of Eddie Jones' key performers, and will need to be very wary about the threat posed by his former side. Japan's…

Joe Heyes returns from England duty to start for Leicester Tigers against Bath on Saturday afternoon (3pm). The 22-year-old tighthead prop was released from Eddie Jones' squad having not featured in the first two rounds of the Six Nations, while Ollie Chessum, George Ford, Ellis Genge, Freddie Steward and Ben Youngs were retained. Heyes' cover…

Week two went next level in the drama and force of the north-south conflict. Despite the win-loss count, the south made some ground back. North No. 1 (Ireland) struggled to put an experimental version of South Africa (south No. 2) away, their attack stymied and depending on marginal passes, looking spent in the last ten minutes and like the final…

The spring-autumn tours ignite in earnest this week as the unlucky Scots accept a different challenge from Fiji, the perpetually dinged up Welsh host presumably fired up New Zealand, the confident Irish clad in blue welcome swaggering South Africa in green, the highly touted French invite the Wallabies to a late night rugby discotheque and the…

We were treated to a stunning spectacle of rugby last weekend which saw all four Southern Hemisphere nations take the chocolates, while France was the only team from up north to collect a win. With several series on the line can England, Ireland or Wales fight their way to victory in Game 2? Read on for all the line-ups and key team news as it…

After the logistical omnishambles of the pool stage foreshadowed the intriguing introduction of two-legged ties in the last 16, we have a compelling line-up of Champions Cup quarter-finals. Headlining it is a meeting between Leicester Tigers and Leinster. For a number of reasons, this clash already feels like a European classic in the making. Given…