Owen Franks

True wisdom tends to come from independent observation. Chris Boyd has climbed high enough up the rugby food chain in his 61 years to understand what (...)

Over the last 20 years Northampton have gone from Heineken Cup champions in 2000, to the bottom of the English Premiership, then into the Heineken Cup(...)

Last season Cian Healy had played nine Leinster matches before the end of the calendar year. This week brings Northampton in the first of Leinster’s b(...)

England secondrow Courtney Lawes will miss Saturday’s Heineken champions Cup clash against Leinster at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday and is only rate(...)

Pool 1 Leinster Coach: Leo Cullen. Captain: Johnny Sexton. Last season: Runners-up. How they qualified: Pro 14 champions. Key man: Sexton is the(...)

Practise the skill and not the drill. And, of course, the crucial decision-making process. In attack or defence, when hunting to convert pressure into(...)

15 Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes) Age: 28 Height: 6’2” Weight: 91kg (14st, 5lbs) Caps: 80 The world’s best outhalf is now doing a pretty good job from f(...)

Joe Schmidt’s decade in Ireland has yielded unprecedented success ever since Johnny Sexton orchestrated Leinster’s miracle revival against Northampton(...)

Maintaining his belief that there is a good balance in Ireland’s 31-man World Cup, Joe Schmidt had said changing shifts in the game and the contrast i(...)

The Rugby Championship crown may have rested uneasily on their heads, but the Bledisloe Cup still sits snugly in place. Steve Hansen has always mainta(...)