Stats Perform NewsHarlequins 16-10 Sale Sharks: Smith decisive on Premiership return
Marcus Smith caught the eye and mid-table Harlequins scored a narrow win over Sale Sharks as top-flight rugby union resumed in England.
The IndependentUnprecedented transfer window, wide-open title race and the search for Eddie Jones’s successor: the Premiership returns with plenty on the line
English rugby’s longest ever hiatus in the Premiership era will end tonight when Harlequins host Sale Sharks inside an empty Twickenham Stoop. Beyond the two sets of teams, the backroom staff and a selection of the British media, the 14,800-capacity stadium located across the road from the home of English rugby will be deserted, with the usual bouncing atmosphere nowhere to be heard.Welcome to the new rugby union. Despite every optimism that fans will be able to attend games sooner rather than later, full stands will not be witnessed until well into the new year. For those fortunate enough to attend, temperatures will be taken, contact details registered and post-match press conferences conducted over a laptop rather than a face-to-face chat.
The GuardianThis weekend has to be day one of rugby union's fight against racism
This weekend has to be day one of rugby union's fight against racismThe Rugby Against Racism campaign was belatedly born this week, 25 years after the game turned professional and thanks in the main to the raised awareness brought by the Black Lives Matter movement
