Unfortunately Twitter has a limit on the number of tweets in a thread. I've continued on from here so please take a look for the second list of names!

For those who haven't seen it! Plus, for those who have - more names have since been added. Take a look at who's still available!

📈 Italian rugby participation has nearly doubled — from 82,000 in 2017 to 162,000 in 2024. All club-registered. No school systems in place. Much of this momentum stems from success at age-grade level. 🎯 Now, Italy hosts the #WorldRugbyU20s. 📍 Big one tonight: Italy 🇮🇹 vs

This list of signings caused some raised eyebrows when it came out this week. Tomorrow on my Substack I run an analysis on whether these ten players fill the gaps Racing have after a lot of off-season changes. Subscribe to get the article in your inbox - samlarner.substack.com

If you're not already a subscriber, take a look at my latest Substack post which analyses the eye catching Racing 92 recruitment strategy and whether it fixes the gaps they have. open.substack.com/pub/samlarner/…

Saw Tom play in Cognac earlier this year in French Fed 1 where he tore it up. He's turned those opportunities into an MLR contract and a likely debut this weekend. Hugely deserved climb up!

Delighted. Had to get over the line today and did. So pleased for all the players and coaches. Finally something to build on.

Very encouraging start for the Lions. Lovely interplay to create the gaps and solid defensive effort. All positive.

Much improved decision making by the Lions. Fewer passes going to ground and good to look at the offloads they're not making. Much more of those than in earlier matches where they weren't working.

Very good to see Farrell back. Looking forward to seeing what he can deliver here. I think Jones rested here with a Test start, or certainly involvement, on the cards.

Lovely stuff from the Lions. Slow 15mins post break but now it's cooking. Ben Earl very impressive today. Farrell brilliant off the bench in a couple of moments so far.

Very smart game here by the Lions. As Paul Williams mentions, more or less double the tackles but they've just fed off AUNZ mistakes and opened it out when the opportunity is on. Kicking game has been really good, hands much better, defence brilliant. Lions building nicely.

I think Ben White has been the biggest mover here. Didn't think he was in the Test team at 10.59, now hard to see how he can be left out. Work rate has been outrageous including that last tackle now he's moved out into the centres (I think).

Zimbabwe will play Namibia in the final. They beat Namibia back in 2024 (32-10). If they do it again they'll qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1991.

My latest Substack is a deep dive into the recruitment done by Racing 92 this offseason. They've had a load of players leave and a load join - but now the dust has settled, how does it all look? open.substack.com/pub/samlarner/…

Always exciting this time of year to plan rugby trips ahead for the season. Busy year but my targets are: Bordeaux Munster Worcester Grenoble What's on your list??