James Standley (archive)
- Mark Orlovac
- 20 Mar 07, 01:45 PM
London - So after five weekends of thrilling action, the dust has settled on another Six Nations campaign.
Before the tournament started, our team of 91热爆 Six Nations bloggers sat down to select a combined team of the tournament and we did the same three games in.
Now hostilities have come to an end, the votes have been painstakingly counted and we can exclusively reveal what we think is our definitive starting XV.
Triple crown winners Ireland provide six of the team, with champions France and Italy having four players apiece.
Youngster David Strettle is England's only selection while Wales and Wooden Spoonists Scotland miss out altogether.
Six players from the original team have kept their places, and interestingly five of them are in the pack.
Let us know what you think of our selections, what we've got right, what we've got wrong, and let us know how your Six Nations XV would look.
Continue reading "Team of the Tournament"
- James Standley
- 6 Mar 07, 02:09 PM
London - So Brian Ashton has gone back to the future for the Six Nations game with France on Sunday.
He has lost Jonny Wilkinson, Phil Vickery and Andy Farrell to injury but has still opted for radical surgery, with 10 changes in all.
Mike Catt, 35-years-young, must have thought he had exhausted his nine England lives but he is not only back at inside centre, he has also been installed as captain.
Catt has been enjoying a fine autumn to his career with London Irish over the past couple of years.
Continue reading "Catt's back as Ashton wields axe"
- James Standley
- 5 Mar 07, 10:15 AM
London - France have had to replace prop Sylvain Marconnet ahead of Sunday鈥檚 Six Nations game with England after .
Our sympathies go out to Marconnet, who will be out for up to four months after suffering what French team doctor Thierry Hermerel described as a 鈥渂ad break鈥.
But it has to be asked, 鈥榟e was doing what?鈥
I don鈥檛 want to accuse the French of being laissez faire, but surely all professional sportsmen have it written into their contracts that pastimes such as skiing are banned for exactly the reason Marconnet has so spectacularly illustrated?
Continue reading "Bad break for France"
- James Standley
- 15 Feb 07, 06:14 PM
London - So Jonny Wilkinson is not being rested by Newcastle after all.
Falcons boss John Fletcher says the star fly-half is on Sunday because he is too battered and bruised after playing for England on consecutive Saturdays.
You can see why Fletcher has felt the need to stress that the injury-prone Wilkinson - who is less than three games into his latest comeback - is not being rested to make sure he is fit for England.
Firstly, he has to reassure some of his own supporters, .
Continue reading "No rest for the Wilko"
- James Standley
- 3 Feb 07, 08:50 PM
Twickenham - It can be very hard not to use hyperbole when writing about Jonny Wilkinson at the best of times, and having just watched I鈥檓 not even going to try.
So, which word plucked from the gushing end of the semantic spectrum shall we use to describe the return of the perfect 10 (sorry Dan, but Wilko was here first).
Remarkable? Not even close.
Incredible? Getting there I suppose.
Continue reading "The wonder of Wilko"
- James Standley
- 3 Feb 07, 07:45 PM
Twickenham - After witnessing at first hand England's Calcutta Cup victory, here are my ratings for the players of both sides.
Let me know if you agree or disagree below this post.
Continue reading "England v Scotland player ratings"
- James Standley
- 3 Feb 07, 07:45 PM
Twickenham - After witnessing at first hand England's Calcutta Cup victory, here are my ratings for the players of both sides.
Let me know if you agree or disagree below this post.
Continue reading "England v Scotland player ratings"
- James Standley
- 2 Feb 07, 09:28 AM
London - The northern hemisphere鈥檚 annual rugby-fest is upon us and the debate about just who the best players on show are has begun once again.
Our team of rugby union journalists sat down in 91热爆 Sport鈥檚 glistening digital media centre and came up with our XV to start the tournament.
Injuries have cost the likes of Shane Horgan and Dan Ward-Smith a place in the team - they'll be gutted, we're sure.
No doubt we could have done better, so, who鈥檝e we missed and who should not have got anywhere near our selection?
Continue reading "The 2007 Six Nations all-star XV"
- James Standley
- 31 Jan 07, 07:13 PM
London - I鈥檝e seen Jonny Wilkinson in an England shirt and he looked good.
OK, it was an England training top and the opposition was only England鈥檚 Under-20 side, but all the same it was marvellous to see the gambolling happily around a paddock like he鈥檇 never been away.
England held an open training session at Bath University on Wednesday and the first man out on the pitch was, you guessed it, Wilkinson.
He was fully involved throughout the session, talking lots, calling the shots and looking like a man doing what he was born to do.
Continue reading "Here's Jonny!"
- James Standley
- 31 Jan 07, 08:23 AM
London - Ireland may be favourites for the 2007 Six Nations and there is no doubt they have the most settled team.
For all their strengths they do have one glaring weakness which surely must cost them sooner or later, but the rest of the sides may have even greater problems of their own.
Here, I cast my eye over what will be keeping Messrs Ashton, Jenkins, Hadden, O'Sullivan, Laporte and Berbizier awake at night.
Continue reading "Six Nations weaknesses"
- James Standley
- 29 Jan 07, 03:16 PM
London - When I last year, before he rejoined the England set-up, he bemoaned the cultural conservatism afflicting English rugby.
Well, , the England coach has set out his determination to inject some life into the national team.
Ashton has brought back Jonny Wilkinson after just 40 minutes of rugby and has handed Andy Farrell his first England union cap after little more than a handful of games at centre.
And I, for one, am delighted.
Continue reading "Ashton gambles on big guns"
- James Standley
- 29 Jan 07, 11:42 AM
London - New coach Brian Ashton announces his first, eagerly-awaited, on Monday afternoon.
He's not the only one breaking new ground - this is my first blog entry.
I'm the website's man at Twickenham on Saturday so I'll be popping in throughout the build-up to the match.
As for Ashton, he has a far harder task than me, namely rejuvenating the floundering world champions.
Continue reading "Ashton - a lucky general?"
- James Standley
- 18 Jan 07, 08:12 AM
I joined 91热爆 Sport working for the website back in 2001 and am one of a number of journalists who help out with the rugby union coverage.
I started my career on the before joining the-then Mirror Group after a brief spell at the Press Association.
After the failed re-launch of the Sporting Life I worked on a number of Mirror Group publications, including a memorable week on the news desk of the Sunday People.
Like most sports journalists I鈥檓 a frustrated player who lacked only the pace, power and ability to get right to the top.
A non-tackling fly-half, my rugby career was stymied at a young age by my inability to last a match without getting injured, although now I am officially a sporting veteran I am considering returning for one last fling.
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