The reigning Japan Rugby League One champions Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo will be in action this weekend live and free on RugbyPass TV.
There is little room for error in England's preparation for the 2025 Six Nations and the pressure is on them to find an upturn in form
Last week’s post-Christmas block of fixtures took us beyond the halfway point in this season’s Gallagher Premiership and a number of the round nine results have certainly whetted the appetite as English ruby welcomes in the new year.
It was the French who caught the eye in round one with six of their eight teams winning, including Stade Rochelais and Toulon away from home.
This weekend’s return of the Gallagher Premiership following a five-week hibernation was given its banner headline on Wednesday when Joe Marler confirmed he will retire from playing with immediate effect following Friday night’s Harlequins match at home to Bristol.
It was October 4 when the head coach initially named a squad for a three-day training camp from October 7 in London, a 36 that had 11 changes – seven in the pack and four in the backs – from the 36 originally named for the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand.
It was June 10 when Borthwick last announced an England squad, naming the 36 he was taking with him for the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand.
The Gallagher Premiership table after round one highlighted how you can get strange quirks in this game, defending champions Northampton finding themselves at the bottom 16 weeks after they lifted the trophy at Twickenham.
With ten frontline operators including Finn Russell, Ben White, Blair Kinghorn and Zander Fagerson given a summer off and Darcy Graham and Andy Christie still recovering from injury, opportunity knocks for a host of players in the Scotland squad heading on tour to North and South America.
England coach Steve Borthwick has some tough calls to make as he whittles down his squad for Japan and New Zealand