Some may have been surprised by Matt Stevens's announcement of his retirement from international rugby at the age of just 29, others less so.

It certainly catches the attention of inquisitive minds when a player supposedly still enjoying the optimum years of his career takes the decision to call it a day.

On the face of it, Stevens's decision is logical - given his reasons - and certainly a respectable one.

"This is one of the most difficult decisions I have had to make," he said. "Playing for England has been the ultimate honour and I have been very privileged and proud to wear the white

In the midst of the Olympic euphoria that London and Great Britain are enjoying at present, it's hard to focus on anything other than the Games.

But organisers of the 2015 Rugby World Cup — to be held in England — will certainly be taking notes.

Plenty can be learned from the positives and negatives of how the Games were organised, both in the preamble and during the event itself. It will be interesting to see how the legacy of the Olympics unfolds in the UK.

Of course the organisers of RWC2015 will already have their preparations well underway, and have done for some time. But the national

Steffon Armitage's current situation has once again brought to the fore some important issues with regards to doping regulations that desperately need to be cleared up.

The Toulon player, formerly of London Irish and capped five times by England, produced an 'abnormal' result in a doping test after a game for his French club on June 9. The subject of his alleged infraction of the rules was the presence of the prohibited substance morphine in his urine sample.

Toulon were quick to put out a statement in which they said the presence of morphine was a natural side effect of painkillers taken by

Howley working under GatlandIt appears that Rob Howley is enjoying the best possible entry into the role of full-time international coach, if not the longest.

The former scrum-half took charge of Wales for the summer tour of Australia in the absence of injured full-time head coach Warren Gatland, who broke both his heels in a fall.

And Howley has now revealed that he will again take the reins for the autumn internationals against Argentina and Samoa.

As Gatland — pencilled in to head up the Lions tour of Australia in 2013 — spends time preparing for that task by scouting opposition, Howley will benefit from his absence

His return to English rugby may have been announced back in March and there has been a fair bit of talking done since then, but the task at hand started in earnest last week when Danny Cipriani reported for pre-season training with his new club Sale Sharks.

After an 'exile' from the English domestic rugby scene which lasted almost two years, the 24-year-old stated this week that he is targeting a recall to the national set-up as a "long-term goal" - and England coach Stuart Lancaster was not shy in admitting his satisfaction that the former Wasps player would be coming back to the Premiership

It started out as a rumour almost a fortnight ago, one which London Welsh initially denied, but it has now materialised into fact - head coach Lyn Jones has recruited Gavin Henson to the club.

London Welsh have been the subject of a couple of Oval Talk blog entries in recent weeks, as their bid to attain Premiership status has gone through a drawn-out appeals process before finally being approved. It is their newfound top flight status which brings them to the current situation in which they are now handing Henson a career lifeline.

The move appears to make perfect sense - in theory - for

After a lengthy pursuit London Welsh finally got what they were after on Friday when an independent appeal panel overturned the RFU's decision to deny the Championship winners their rightful place in the Premiership.

After taking victory in the Championship play-offs and securing what it believed was a spot in the top flight, the club was then told that it failed to match the 'entry criteria' as set out by the RFU and Premiership Rugby and would therefore not be allowed to make the step up.

An appeal followed and eventually London Welsh were handed the news they had been waiting for.

After the conclusion of the summer series for each of the four home nations, there will be a full spectrum of analysis on the horizon for the displays of each team.

England's final Test against South Africa signed Stuart Lancaster's side off from their tour with a 14-14 draw that offered plenty of encouragement and more than a dose of salvaged pride after succumbing in the two previous tests.

A much closer contest than the two defeats that preceded it produced a display of courage, determination and a good helping of physical strength which saw England register a deserved draw.

Lancaster's