At the LV= Cup Launch at Sandy Park on Tuesday, I took the opportunity to catch up with former England captain and LV= Cup ambassador Lewis Moody. The last time I interviewed Lewis was at last year's final for the LV= Young Reporter competition so it was great to catch up with him and hear his thoughts on this season's competition as well as his verdict on England's win over Australia...

LV= Cup Final 2012/13

Anglo-Welsh rugby returns this weekend and the LV= Cup Media Launch on Tuesday at Sandy Park in Exeter set the scene very nicely for the competition we can expect in the coming months.

360 view of Sandy Park

Normally players are used for the official photoshoot but to emphasise the new idea of the ‘Rugby Family’, one fan from each club was selected to appear in their team’s shirt for the photos. The fans were of all ages and I took the opportunity to have a chat with Pete, a London Irish fan who runs his club’s #rugbyunited fan page @RugbyLI.

By South Stand Choir

This summer Newcastle Falcons became the seventh (eighth if we include Rotherham’s aborted attempt in 2002) team to bounce straight back into the Premiership since it was founded in 1997 following relegation.

The question now on every Geordie rugby fan’s lips is whether the Falcons can avoid going straight back down again. History is on their side – London Welsh were the first side since Leeds in 2008 to survive just one season back in the big time.

Canterbury recently ran a Facebook campaign for their fans to create the ultimate rugby Dream Team!


There were no restrictions - fans could select any players from any era... anyone really! The result was a fantastic line-up and Canterbury created a brilliant infographic showing the team plus an array of statistics and facts about the players selected.

By Issy Ronald

After the recent transfer of George North to Northampton Saints, questions have been raised about the ability of the WRU to keep key players in Wales. Many would argue that Northampton signing North shows that it isn’t just the French who the Welsh can’t compete with but also the English clubs.

This is a huge blow for the WRU and caused the recent argument with the regions. This public argument exposed the non-existent relationship between the two unions and once again reinforced the fact that the regions don’t work.

By Rowan Birch

With the Lions squad announcement on the horizon, one of the main talking points and competitive areas are the halfbacks. The tour will be won or lost in these two positions, and Warren Gatland must have 100% confidence in whatever pairing he selects for the Barbarians game.

The last time we gave you an update on the fast-moving world of #rugbyunited was back in August. Five months later, the quickly developing brand is getting bigger and bigger and they’ve got exciting plans for the future.

The strong link between Scrum Five and #rugbyunited was once again tightened as our editor caught up with Trevor Large, the founder of #rugbyunited, for an hour and a half discussion about what’s ahead for the brand. So, without further ado, here’s what unfolded…

The three talking points from Week One of the Six Nations we've chosen to focus on are: England's selection dilemma, the possibility of glory for Ireland and Italy's big win over France.

By Morgan Cerrone

Once again the opening game to the Six Nations has been enthralling with two halves of rugby that couldn’t have been more different. Indeed it marked the beginning of what is looking to be another brilliant Six Nations tournament.

In an interview before kick-off Brian O’Driscoll had said it’s highly like this would be his last Six Nations; but after watching that 80 minutes of rugby fans everywhere will be hoping that isn’t the case.

Our writer Morgan Cerrone gives us her views on the Six Nations...

It’s here again, the Six Nations of course, and in its usual characteristic way offers an entirely repainted picture from only 12 months previously. With the Grand Slam winners becoming a third tier nation after a string of defeats, it’s once again all to play for and promises to be as exciting and unpredictable as ever.

Defending their Six Nations title of 2012, Wales face a very different challenge from last year. With injuries to key players like Rhys Priestland, Gethin Jenkins, Alun Wyn Jones and Luke Charteris, even Welsh fans will be wondering how effective the scrum but especially the line out will be. Wales will also be missing Coach Warren Gatland who is on Lions duty relying instead of Rob Howley.

It's that time of year again.

Since the Olympic and Paralympic Games concluded last summer, we've been somewhat starved of world-class sport. But the Six Nations is back and this year it's a particularly difficult tournament to predict.

Standard procedure in the build-up to sporting occasions like this is to select one obvious candidate to become champion and watch the action unfold. However, it's not that simple this time round.

By Tim Cronin

We might be nearly three years out from the next Rugby World Cup, but the IRB’s announcement of the first three teams in each of the four pools has given us an early insight as to how the tournament might pan out.

To be honest, most of the groups appear relatively clear-cut. In Pool B South Africa are joined by Samoa and Scotland, and it’s hard to imagine anything less than a first place finish from the Springboks. Scotland have 1000 days to ponder an all-or-nothing game against Samoa for the other play-off berth, and much will hinge on their ability to play with accuracy and defend stoutly against the flair of the Pacific Islanders.

By Andrew Reynolds

As we take a break for the first games in the British and Irish Cup, you would expect that the league would be taking shape after the first 6 rounds?

Newcastle and Bedford sit at the top and are due to meet in a few weeks time; both remain unbeaten although Bedford and Rotherham shared the spoils with a 38-38 draw.

But look below them and there are a few surprises. Nottingham in 3rd, Plymouth sit in 4th great to see them back in the mix after their financial worries of last season, followed by Leeds and Rotherham, OK no real surprise there, but where are Bristol and Cornish Pirates? 8th and 9th with only two wins each, who would have thought that of last season’s Semi and Finalists?

No city in England can match Gloucester’s passion for the game of rugby. The streets are festooned in cherry and white on match days and that famous cry of ‘Glaw . . . sterrr’ can be heard far beyond the club’s Kingsholm ground.

The Gloucester Rugby Miscellany illustrates what makes Gloucester Rugby Club so special.

It features revealing and humorous interviews with some of the greats (including, to name but a few, Mike Teague, Andy Deacon and Ian Smith), historical facts, trivia, stats and stories, told by those who pulled on that famous shirt. It recalls the great matches, the cup wins, the highs, and also some of the lows.

England's new kit from Canterbury was unveiled yesterday at Drybrook RFC in Gloucestershire - check out the video below to see what went on...

In the first part of Scrum Five's new video series covering the 2013 Lions Tour, we take a behind the scenes look at the Head Coach announcement.



Official ticket, travel and accommodation packages are available from Lions Rugby Travel starting from £2,199 and the three Test Tours start from £5,999 – contact www.lionstour.com or call 0844 788 4070.

By Rowan Birch

As expected, Wales coach Warren Gatland was appointed as the Lions coach for the 2013 Australia tour. The New Zealander played a heavy part in the backroom staff on the 2009 tour, and therefore knows what is expected of him - a series win against the Aussies.

As soon as the Kiwi was announced as coach, he expressed a desire to work with Wilkinson. 'Jonny' is plying his trade in moneybags Toulon, so would a huge outsider to be included in the tour squad.

So who else may be an unexpected member of the Lions tour team?

By David Blair

Three teams remain unbeaten after two intriguing rounds of the RaboDirect Pro 12. But it is the Llanelli Scarlets who have caught the eye most in the opening weekends. And with Munster and Ulster going head-to-head at Ravenhill on Friday evening the Scarlets look set to extend their advantage at the head of the table providing they can see off Connacht in round three.

It would be unwise to underestimate their opposition in Galway but a Scarlets victory seems the likeliest result given their impressive start to the campaign. The Welsh region has scored nine tries in their opening two fixtures including six for the backs in a dismantling of Leinster first up.

By Jake Harvey - Welsh Correspondent

It’s not long until the Six Nations champions welcome the biggest names of world rugby to the Millenium Stadium and although the Welsh team will be without their Kiwi coach Warren Gatland, the average Welshman can’t help but expect at least one win against one of the ‘Big three’ Southern Hemisphere nations.

It’s always been the same. Whenever the Autumn Internationals are among us, the Welsh public truly believe that it’s going to be the year that they finally beat the All Blacks. The last time Wales achieved such a thing was in 1953, captained by the late great Bleddyn Williams. That game finished 13-8 at the old Arms Park, the closest the small Rugby nation has come since that was in November of 2004 where the game finished 25-26 to New Zealand.

By Tim Cronin

Australia should have a fantastic front row.

It’s no secret they are a sports mad nation, and the volume of their population who take part in sport obviously contributes to the fantastic global success they experience in any number of events. And it’s no wonder that people love to get outside and run around – the environment is simply conducive to playing sport.

So, with high participation levels and a country which is used to competing, and indeed achieving excellence, I can’t figure out why the Wallabies struggle year after year to get a decent front row together.