After another wonderful weekend of Heineken Cup rugby it’s back to the bread and butter of league rugby. Christmas cheer will be hard to find at some of the grounds across the country and strangely given the proximity to Xmas there are not that many games to savour. Blues vs. Ospreys should rouse the senses but on a cold Friday night in Cardiff? In the Aviva, Saracens vs. Leicester could be a blockbuster. The game of the weekend is deep in southern France, the Mediterranean derby, RC Toulon vs. Montpellier. Ospreys come to Cardiff’s plastic pitch in reasonable form, and reinforced by the inc ..read more

The autumn internationals provided further evidence that Italian rugby is sleepwalking into a crisis that could become terminal. The results, given the country’s performance in the 2013 6 Nations were a massive disappointment, and the win over an imploding Fiji should not be allowed to paper over the widening cracks. Italy is an ageing creaking outfit that without the inestimable Sergio Parisse would be in even more trouble. His durability and courage has been remarkable, he and several of his colleagues are now the wrong side of thirty and there is little sign of them being adequately replac ..read more

Pool 1 Leinster would have expected this pool to be done and dusted but Saints’ revitalising and comprehensive victory at the Aviva has left the vaunted Dublin side stunned and made the pool a far from foregone conclusion. Castres is next up for Leinster, who will need to use the Festive season to retune their spluttering classic engine, get Sean O’Brien fit and somehow succeed in giving Heaslip a chance to rediscover some consistent form. But, for the Saints this much needed victory will give them hope and regain the momentum their season was enjoying before the Leinster visit. Ospreys will ..read more

Wales are facing a potentially difficult and divisive 2014 domestically, but internationally the outlook is on the whole a positive one. Despite the continued loss of players from Wales it can still be regarded as likely winners of the Six Nations 2014. With so many top players leaving, the regions have had to blood young players and given the recent success of the Wales u20’s this is no bad thing. The retention of the Six Nations was the highlight of 2013 with the championship culminating in the conclusive victory over England at a delirious Millennium Stadium. Then, there was the huge Welsh ..read more

Ospreys vs. Castres Friday December 13th, Liberty stadium; K.O.8.00pm The Ospreys have a proud record at the Liberty of no French team has won there since 2004 and they will be determined to keep that record intact after losing to Leinster in their opening game. They will have reluctantly had to accept that the European dream is over and now they need to concentrate on the Rabo Pro12. With that in mind going into the Xmas period of local derbies they will want to do so with a win over the French champions as a positive sign of intent. The selection of Sam Davies at full back is a sign of con ..read more

The Top 14 – ‘Who cares who wins?’   The Top14’s gilded juggernaut finally reaches its terminus in the palatial Stade de France on Saturday. The season that began in the heat of August comes to a halt in mid-June, ten months later. For the players it has been nearly a year of battles of attrition, survival and no doubt big paydays. The final will be played in a febrile partisan atmosphere generated by two sets of the most passionate fans in French rugby. Yet their pleasure must be tempered by the fare that they have had to watch through this interminable season. The semi-finals that were playe ..read more

Early lessons from the RWC u20’s in Argentina   As the RWC u20’s tournament thunders on producing its usual menu of exciting and fast matches, international coaches across the game will be watching the matches closely. In the midst of preparations for the World Cup in Japan this gives them a chance to not only scout for potential talent, but more significantly will be scrutinising how the games are being refereed. Here World Rugby will be trying out, under match conditions, the protocols and approaches they will be asking the referees to follow in Japan. It will be absolutely imperative in Jap ..read more

Saracens v Exeter Chiefs - ‘Great game for England?’   As the dust settles on the English rugby season and the players embark on a well-earned rest the epic encounter that these two sides provided as the climax to the Gallagher Premiership highlighted that these two sides were by far and away the two best in the competition, and they fully deserved the plaudits that came their way at the end of the match. It was a contest where both teams showed that they could play ‘optimistic rugby’, prepared to go for a ‘high risk high reward’ approach. But, was this game a good one for English rugby, or a ..read more

Will a Welsh region ever win the European Champions’ Cup?   With the European finals in Edinburgh over the weekend again devoid of Welsh participation will one of the Welsh regions ever be good enough to win the European Champions’ Cup? In this season the Cardiff Blues and Dragons performed fitfully, and the Ospreys, despite a record breaking run in the group stage fell apart in the quarter final. The Scarlets, Wales’ sole representatives in the Champions’ Cup, recorded a notable victory over Toulon; otherwise they performed bravely but were ultimately outgunned rather than outclassed. Not sin ..read more

Who’d be a Rugby Coach?   Given the ridiculous opprobrium heaped on Warren Gatland when he revealed the British and Irish Lions squad last week it does beg the question, ‘Who would want to be a rugby coach’, particularly at the pinnacle of the game. Sackings, political chicanery and leaving before being pushed are now part and parcel of the game. Certainly the financial recompense would be an inducement but the lack of job security, stress and public criticism has to be a consideration. Although, thankfully, no coach has talked about it being ‘his project’, it is clear that they all crave the ..read more