The Lineout

We focus on the first three Rounds of the Six Nations and what the permutations are for how all the teams may finish heading into the final two Rounds. We also take a very quick glance at the start of Super Rugby and the Vancouver Sevens.

We look ahead to the opening round of what should be one of the most competitive Six Nations in recent memory!

We look at the conclusion of the Champions and Challenge Cup Pool stages and the Round of 16 lineups. We also look at an injury update for the Six Nations and the seeming demise of Netflix's Full Contact Series on the Six Nations after only two seasons.

We look back at a thrilling weekend of Round 3 Challenge and Champions Cup Rugby and ahead to the recently announced Six Nations Squads.

We look ahead to what should be a terrific year of rugby!!!

A long overdue look at the recently concluded Rugby Championship, the excitement surrounding Canada's performance in the WXV and a look at European Club competition particularly the URC as it gets underway.

We look at Canada's frustrating performances in the Pacific Nations Cup and a look back at last weekend's Rugby Championship action and a preview of the thrills and spills that lie in wait this weekend.

We look at the first two Rounds of the Rugby Championship and preview Canada's participation this weekend in the new Pacific Nations Tournament.

We look at the thrilling opening weekend of the Rugby Championship with no surprises from the Springboks but plenty from New Zealand and Argentina.

We pick up where we left off in Part 1 by looking at Australia's new start under Joe Schmidt and Canada's much needed win over Romania ahead of their Pacific Nations Series with the USA and Japan at the end of this month.

In Part 1 of a lookback at a remarkable month of rugby we look back on Canada's Women's Silver Medal triumph at the Olympics, an epic Test Series between South Africa and Ireland and the resurgence of both New Zealand and England.

We look at this month's Summer Tours to Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa by France, Wales, England and Ireland.

An exciting weekend of Quarter Finals in Super Rugby Pacific and the URC awaits and we ask the question once more - is there too much Rugby?

We reflect on Canada's historic win against New Zealand and with it this year's Pacific Four Series title, and look ahead to an epic Champions Cup final in the making this weekend between Leinster and Toulouse.

It's our fabulous Canadian Women's last appearance in the Pacific Four Series as they travel to Christchurch to take on the mighty Black Ferns, and the Super Rugby and URC races to the playoffs start building some genuine heat!

Looking back at last weekend's Champions and Challenge Cup semi-finals and ahead to playoff races in the URC and Super Rugby and our fabulous Canadian Women in action in Australia.

This week is our usual look ahead to the weekend's action, featuring the European Champions and Challenge Cup Finals, as well as a look back on a fantastic weekend of Women's Rugby which saw our fabulous Canadian women start their 2024 season in emphatic style.

We look ahead to the last Round of the Womens' Six Nations with so much to play for, along with our fabulous Canadian Womens' first game of the year against the USA in the Pacific Four Series. We also do our weekly look ahead to this weekend's Super Rugby and URC action - with playoff spots looming on the horizon.

We do our usual look ahead to this weekend's fixtures featuring the Women's Six Nations, Super Rugby Pacific and the United Rugby Championship

Our belated Review of one of the best Post World Cup Six Nations we can remember in a long time!

We look ahead to this weekend's fixtures in the Women's Six Nations, European Challenge and Champions Cup along with Super Rugby Pacific

We go through the matchups for one of the most exciting Six Nations concluding weekends we can remember in a long time.

We look ahead to this weekend's Six Nations Round 3 fixtures.

In this the first of two episodes this week, we take a look at the start of Super Rugby Pacific and the announcement of a Wales/South Africa Test to be held at Twickenham in June this year.

We take a quick look at the appointment of new Wallaby Coach, New Zealander Joe Schmidt and most important of all a look ahead to this weekend's opening round of Six Nations action.

We finish up this weeks calls by looking at Welsh winger Louis Rees-Zammit's surprise announcement of a move to the NFL and the confirmation of the first ever Women's British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand in 2027.

We look ahead to this weekend's final Round of Champions Cup Pool Stages and cast our eye over the recently announced Six Nations Squads

We sum up our impressions of Rugby World Cup France 2023, including a sojourn in France ourselves during the tournament.

We look at a mesmerising final Round of Pool games and ahead to some genuinely tasty Quarter Finals, in a Tournament that despite some of its initial difficulties is so far exceeding expectations!

We take a look at some of the action last weekend with a particular focus on the Tier Two Nations along with a look ahead to this weekend's blockbuster round of final Pool games that sees numerous Quarter Final berths up for grabs!

We whip round all the games of the second weekend of the Rugby World Cup in France.

We whip round all eight games of the opening weekend of the Rugby World Cup in France.

It's Rugby World Cup time in less than 48 hours and we can't wait!!!! In this episode we break down all four Pools and where we think the teams will finish and as a result who will make it through to the knockout stages.

We reflect back on Ireland's win over England and Keith Earls' 100th cap, while fretting over the injury to Dan Sheehan. We look at Fiji's ability to be just as impressive in the physical battles as they are with ball in hand, and the threat they consequently pose to Wales and Australia. We eagerly look forward to what should be a thriller between arch rivals New Zealand and South Africa at Twickenham but just cross our fingers the stretcher bearers get to take the night off. Lastly we look at a rather intriguing fixture as Australia take on France in the last of the World Cup warm ups at the Stade de France.

Where to begin on such a controversial week. Sadly governance and officiating have once more dominated the headlines as a result of the farcical process surrounding the rescinding of England Captain Owen Farrell's red card in last week's match against Wales and which sets a dangerous precedent ahead of Rugby's global showpiece tournament. We look at Wales ongoing ineptitude at key moments, while looking ahead to South Africa's arrival on European shores and their clash with the Men in Red this Saturday in Cardiff. We also take a look at France's bitter injury blows and an Irish side that has so far managed to avoid the stretcher bearers but all that could change as they face off against a demoralized England side this weekend in Dublin.

The latest edition focuses on our Canadian Women's outstanding efforts in last month's Pacific Four Series, a New Zealand side risen from the ashes of 2022, and a Wallabies side whose woes continue under new Coach Eddie Jones. We also look at an impressive looking Scotland and an England World Cup squad that has singularly failed to fire the imagination.

We look ahead to the Pacific Four Series to be played in Ottawa over the next two weekends and in which Canada's Women are poised to finish strongly. We take an initial look at the upcoming Rugby Championship as well as a look back at the recently concluded Super Rugby Final, in which incoming All Black Coach Scott Robertson and his Crusaders cemented their place as the most successful side in the competition's history. Lastly we concern ourselves once more with the unfortunate position officials now find themselves in and ask for a bit of humility from some notable players in the process.

In this episode we focus on the end of the club season in Europe, the controversy surrounding Ireland and Leinster Captain Johnny Sexton's behaviour at the Heineken Cup Final, Munster's success in the URC and what it all means for Ireland's World Cup Chances. We continue our look at Australia's struggles in Super Rugby now the tournament has reached its business end and what it means for Australia with the Rugby Championship and World Cup just around the corner. We ask the question of what are the benefits/risks and rewards of South Africa's first full year of European Competition and what it might mean for South Africa's World Cup chances. Last but not least we reflect on a Toronto Arrows season that has left the players and fans with very little to cheer about.

We look at the recent contract extension for Scotland Coach Gregor Townsend. There's a nervous glimpse at a seemingly inevitable Irish sweep of European rugby and what it means for the World Cup (with Irish supporters fearfully muttering "we've been here before"). We end with a quick run down of the URC playoffs, Super Rugby action and a look ahead to the resumption of the Toronto Arrows beleaguered 2023 campaign.

In this episode we wrap up the Women's Six Nations which culminated in the largest ever audience for a Women's game at Twickenham. We look at the best of the rest most notably Wales, while there's a lament for the unequal playing field Ireland's women find themselves on. We look at the fascinating contrast in Irish styles being cooked up for the Heineken Cup final between Leo Cullen's Leinster and former Munster and Ireland legend Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle. Lastly we try and pick the All Blacks starting scrum half for the World Cup.

A look at the Toronto Arrows record MLR defeat to the New England Free Jacks in only their second home game, and a reflection on how the fan experience left a lot to be desired irrespective of the actual rugby being played. A look at Round 3 of the Women's Six Nations and the ever widening gap between England/France and everyone else. There's also a celebration of Moana Pasifika's first home game in Samoa irrespective of the scoreline and how important and exciting the Pacific Island component is becoming to Super Rugby's new format with the departure of South Africa and Argentina from the competition. We also marvel at Leinster's seemingly endless depth and applaud the idea being trialled this summer by World Rugby in the U20s Championship of a "TMO bunker".

This week we focus on the Heineken Cup and a case of too much rugby and travel in too small a window. We look at the Women's Six Nations which resumes this weekend. We dive a bit more into Australian sides ongoing difficulties in getting any traction against New Zealand sides in Super Rugby and last but not least we celebrate the Toronto Arrows return home!

We give our final verdict on the Six Nations, continue the ongoing debate about officiating and look at the All Blacks Coaching announcement post the World Cup. We take a snapshot of the opening round of the Womens' Six Nations and try and try and resume crying in our beer over the Arrows badly faltering start to their MLR season.

We look back at a thoroughly absorbing Round 4 of the Six Nations and ahead to Super Saturday and the tournament's finale. We also celebrate Fijian Drua's fantastic home win over Super Rugby Defending Champions the Crusaders and our own Toronto Arrows get their first win of the season courtesy of fly half Sam Malcolm.

Probably one of the most intriguing Round 4's of the Six Nations in recent memory gets underway in Rome on Saturday. Both Wales and Italy have EVERYTHING to play for, and for Wales in particular it's do or die stuff, not helped by the crisis in the game back home. England host a French time that looks dangerous but not quite the Grand Slam winning quality of last year. England continue to develop under new Coach Steve Borthwick and "Le Crunch" match will tell us much about what kind of progress they are really making. Lastly, a thriller in Edinburgh awaits despite the promise of foul weather, as Scotland seek to claim their first Triple crown in 33 years and if they upset Ireland then the possibility of Six Nations silverware also suddenly becomes a distinct possibility. For Ireland as the only team left chasing a Grand Slam, there is plenty to play for but also the need to make a statement in this game as a dress rehearsal for their final Pool B encounter in the World Cup against Scotland five months from now. You won't want to miss any of it!!!!!

In this episode we use the Round 3 games to try and gauge where all the teams are heading into the two penultimate rounds of the Six Nations. Apologies as it was supposed to be based on a much more detailed piece over on the blog, but unfortunately a technological glitch got in the way and it never made it onto the blog and got deleted in the process. We are trying to salvage it but in the interim this is what I was able to dredge up from memory.

We look ahead to this weekend's Six Nations action and crucial matches for all the teams involved especially the dustups between Wales and England in Cardiff and France and Scotland in Paris. Wales and England both with massive points to prove especially Wales after all the drama swirling around the state of the game and whether or not this match would even go ahead. France simply have to get their Six Nations campaign back on track, but Scotland need to prove that at this crucial juncture they are still in it to win and not as they traditionally do start to fade out of the competition at the midway point. Meanwhile, Ireland test some depth against an increasingly tricky Italian outfit in Rome.

We look back on last weekend's thrilling Round 2 Six Nations action, with the centerpiece being that extraordinary game between Ireland and France. The action was non stop and kept us on the edge of our seats. In addition, Scotland finally beat their consistency demon and now can consider themselves title contenders should they manage to get past France in Paris in ten days time. Welsh rugby looks like the sporting version of the Titanic, while England and Italy continue to impress. In short what a tournament we have on our hands after only two rounds!

If you've managed to catch your breath after last weekend's phenomenal opening round, we look ahead to what is arguably the biggest game of the year ahead of the World Cup, Ireland vs France and the rest of the Round 2 Six Nations action. We also look back at last weekend's Round 1 bumper crop of thrills and spills.

Yes it's here folks, that wonderful time of the year - the start of the Six Nations. What a tournament it promises to be, especially with the World Cup just around the corner. We preview the start of the Six Nations this weekend, make some predictions and for what it's worth lay out our thoughts on how we think the teams will fare overall in the competition.

We focus on the bombshell of Eddie Jones being appointed Wallaby Coach after being sacked by England, the wrap up of the Pool Stages of the European Champions Cup and the worrying form of French clubs ahead of the Six Nations. We also have a quick cursory look at the initial squad announcements for the Six Nations.