In likes of Tommy O'Brien, Robert Baloucoune and Jamie Osborne, Andy Farrell has a fresh crop of winners ahead of Rugby World Cup. As the man with the deaf dog says 'it can be hard to call it'. That has been the case in the majority of this year's Six Nations but when Ireland play Scotland we now expect Ireland to win.
In one of sport's weirder coincidences, England are about to play must-win games against Scotland in both rugby and cricket on the same day. The forecast 3C temperatures for the Calcutta Cup encounter may be cooler than in Kolkata appropriately the venue for the T20 World Cup group fixture but a white-hot contest inside a chilly Murrayfield can be absolutely guaranteed.
Noah Caluori scored four tries to help Saracens thump Newcastle Red Bulls 73-14 at a blustery StoneX Stadium. Sarries ran in eleven tries in their first match since it was announced long-standing director of rugby Mark McCall is to step down at the end of the season. The home side put aside a difficult opening 15 minutes against The Prem's bottom club to secure the biggest margin of victory in the competition so far this season.
One minute you are riding the perfect wave, the next you're being dumped from a great height and having your world tipped upside down. Which is essentially how Razor will now be feeling after being ousted as All Blacks head coach barely two years into his tenure. On the surface he was everything New Zealand rugby could have wished for. The serial domestic winner who had guided the Crusaders to seven successive Super rugby titles, the empathetic everyman with the break-dancing skills to match.
Saracens will travel to face Bath in the round of 16 after being beaten 28-3 by Glasgow in their final pool match at Scotstoun. Most of the points came in the first half, with the Warriors scoring three converted tries through Ollie Smith, Kyle Steyn and George Horne while Saracens replied with an Owen Farrell penalty. Seb Stephen then rumbled over in the closing seconds of the match to secure a fourth successive bonus-point pool-stage victory for Glasgow.
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has been ruled out of England's pursuit of the triple crown while Steve Borthwick has concerns over the fitness of Ellis Genge for the Calcutta Cup on Saturday. Feyi-Waboso pulled out of the 48-7 victory against Wales after sustaining a hamstring injury in training last Friday and was replaced by Tom Roebuck. According to Borthwick, the Exeter winger will be out for a number of weeks, ensuring he misses the trip to Murrayfield and the visit of Ireland to Twickenham a week later.