Journal Entries

The opening weekend of the Summer Nations Series gave us exactly what rugby fans had been craving. There was drama, there were surprises, there were

There are weeks when life kicks you in the shins with hob nailed boots, and then there are weeks when it pours you a glass

There is a particular kind of rugby match that changes shape the moment the players line up to start walking out of the tunnel; the

There is something oddly reassuring about a rugby captain; even if your team is losing by 20 points, half the squad is held together with

There is a particular kind of sporting happiness that outsiders often misunderstand. Not the chest-thumping stuff or the online nonsense where people suddenly become tactical experts

There is a very modern sporting habit that increasingly makes elite athletes look less like competitors and more like overtired toddlers at a birthday party

There are few things in life more alarming than an unexpected knock at the door when you’re not expecting anybody. Your brain goes through every possibility

There is always one. Every time eye gouging comes up in rugby, someone plants a flag and announces, with absolute certainty, that instinct does not

There is a particular flavour of grief that sneaks up on you and lingers: a good friend gone far too soon, a dog taken on

There is a particular stillness that arrives at the end of a match in the Six Nations Championship. It doesn’t arrive with the roar of