Rugby Union Today: Super charged and Owen Franks

Colin Newboult
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CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND - FEBRUARY 01: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been desaturated.) Owen Franks poses during the Crusaders 2019 Super Rugby headshots session on February 01, 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

Another busy day in the rugby union game as Super charged made its Planet Rugby debut, while the Northampton Saints signed Owen Franks.

What’s on the site

Double World Cup winner Owen Franks will be playing in the English Premiership next season after Northampton Saints announced the signing of the All Black prop.

Franks will start in the Crusaders’ opening Super Rugby encounter against the Blues and we have covered the main talking points in a new weekly feature called ‘Super charged.’

Elsewhere, ‘The short side’ returns to take a look at the games in the northern hemisphere, where the Premiership, PRO14 and Top 14 all restart after a break.

Finally, we also preview the games on Friday as Gloucester take on Exeter Chiefs and Bristol host Wasps in England’s top-tier, while in the PRO14 Ospreys v Ulster is the standout contest.

What’s in the news

Injuries continue to mount for Scotland with Huw Jones joining a number of players on the sidelines, with the centre likely to be out of the Six Nations.

In the southern hemisphere, Dan McKellar has extended his contract with the Brumbies while Matt Todd will captain the defending champions Crusaders in their Super Rugby opener.

What’s on social media

Good work from the Saints’ social media team following the signing of Owen Franks.

What’s on TV

The Six Nations takes a break this weekend, which means domestic action returns in Europe with BT Sport showing Gloucester v Exeter Chiefs and Saracens v Leicester Tigers in the Premiership.

Meanwhile, Sky Sports will broadcast Clermont’s encounter with Bordeaux and Racing’s game against Toulouse, but it is the start of Super Rugby which takes precedence on that channel, starting with the Chiefs hosting the Highlanders.

Finally, the PRO14 gets going once again and Premier Sports have all seven matches, with Ospreys v Ulster the standout contest.

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