A lot of my substacks have been very serious, high-brow. This one is more light-hearted, my personal top five Nike Rugby kits of all time! open.substack.com/pub/jacobean...

Speaking from a neutral rugby-loving sport journalist POV, so glad for Will Skelton that he’s had the test series he’s had for the Wallabies, one of my favourite players finally brought to life at international level by Schmidt, an absolute colossus

Random thought of the day but I believe there is an alternative universe where Wales never regionalises its rugby clubs, becomes part of the English league system, and as a direct consequence Wales has a substantially better public transport network

I had a real blast in calling the final game of Roses 2025 as UYWRUFC beat LUWRUFC 15-12, proof that even close-knit games of rugby are just as thrilling, tense and entertaining as high-scoring matches. Apologies for tech difficulties, and please give any feedback on my commentary!

Delighted to announce that I’ll be commentating the closing game of Roses 2025 this Sunday as University of York Women’s Rugby take on Lancaster University. Watch on Roses Live on YouTube or listen live on Bailrigg FM or University Radio York from 3pm! 🔥🔥

www.yorkvision.co.uk/sport/red-ro... Match report from Sunday’s game, including post-game reaction from head coach John Mitchell.

Notes from York: Red Roses very rusty but no alarm bells (yet), Jade Shekells fantastic on debut off the bench and if you want a player for the fantasy league, Italy’s Muzzo was brilliant in defence. Full match report to follow later via York Vision!

www.yorkvision.co.uk/sport/englan... What a fantastic opportunity this was for York Vision to be invited alongside national press to the media conference in York. [Included in the article is a bit about how Josh and I felt the Genge stuff was a bit overblown too]

Super delighted to announce that I will be a Broadcast Venue Assistant at the Women's Rugby World Cup matches in York this summer! #RWC2025

My hot take is that Scotland will win the Triple Crown this Men’s Six Nations…

Petition to start the Sophie Benavent Appreciation Society, part of a formidable ABC club with Cokayne and Bartlett, impressive scrummager, Garforth esque in the tight and nice hands too, Red Roses bolter??

Over the off-season I predicted Quins would have an excellent season in the PWR, and after a shaky start without their internationals they haven’t looked back… a great gutsy away win at Sarries and they’re now second in the table!

Paolo Garbisi was absolutely sensational in defence tonight, he was nailing guys a flyhalf has no right to.

I’m just not convinced there is the talent there at the moment in English men’s rugby that people seem to think there is. Don’t get me wrong Borthwick has made tactical blunder after blunder but I think our issues around the bench are genuinely because of a lack of quality depth.