Brendan Gallagher
All Stars XV: Bedford Blues – Mike Rayer leads brothers with real style
Brendan Gallagher picks his greatest-ever Bedford Blues XV, featuring club legends such as Budge Rogers, Mike Rayer, James Pritchard and Martin Bayfield.
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 days agoBrendan Gallagher: Core question is – why were protocols relaxed?
Brendan Gallagher examines rugby’s long history of concussion awareness and questions the suggestion that players were unaware of the potential dangers,...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 week agoBrendan Gallagher: Are today’s players fit? Not in my book
Brendan Gallagher questions whether modern rugby players are reaching the fitness levels required to perform at their best, comparing the sport’s...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 weeks agoBrendan Gallagher: Greatest team ever? The 1996 All Blacks
Brendan Gallagher makes the case for the often-overlooked 1996 All Blacks as the greatest team he has ever seen, 30 years...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 weeks agoBrendan Gallagher: £1m deal for Northampton Saints star Henry Pollock is a long way off yet
Brendan Gallagher argues Henry Pollock’s growing profile could make him a future marquee player, but believes a £1m Northampton Saints contract...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: France are keeping the global game alive ahead of the Rugby World Cup
Brendan Gallagher examines how French rugby has become the driving force behind the global game, providing vital support for Tier 2...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: When Bill Oddie dreamt of winning a Blue
Brendan Gallagher recalls the rugby ambitions of comedy legend Bill Oddie, who played as a No.10 for three years in the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: Referees should not be above criticism
Brendan Gallagher argues World Rugby was wrong to punish Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada for criticising the officials, insisting referees can no...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoLions musn’t be pussycats
SHOULD the Lions play Italy before heading off to New Zealand in 2029? I don’t see any reason why not. But...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: Nations Championship proves the big boys are still not playing nice
Brendan Gallagher believes the Nations Championship is reinforcing rugby’s old hierarchy, with the sport’s biggest nations continuing to protect their own...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: John Bevan’s story comes to vivid life on stage
Brendan Gallagher applauds the new stage production celebrating the life of dual-code great John Bevan and says rugby has no shortage...
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Autumn Internationals
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher watches six Nations Championship Tests in one day – here’s what happened
Brendan Gallagher settled down to watch six Nations Championship Test matches in a row. How did he find it? And did...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: The time when Eddie Jones was on fire
Brendan Gallagher looks back on England’s historic 2016 series win in Australia, Eddie Jones’ finest hour and the decisions that shaped...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Henry Pollock showing us all he’s the real deal
Henry Pollock has silenced the doubters – and he's only just getting started. Brendan Gallagher explains why England have a special...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Exeter Chiefs’ revival an example to us all
Brendan Gallagher examines Exeter Chiefs’ remarkable revival and asks why Test coaches so often insist successful rebuilds must take years.
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoMy 15 to follow had some hits – but selection’s a tough game
THE regular season is done and it’s time to quickly review my eclectic 15 to follow which I offered up back...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Premiership Bonus point system just plain nonsense
I did take one last lingering look at the table this week to lodge it in my shell for recall if...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Longer seasons don’t give us much in return
Brendan Gallagher argues that rugby’s domestic season has become longer despite featuring fewer meaningful matches than in the early years of...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Success in Europe not all about the money
The European finals in sweltering Bilbao proved to be a humbling weekend for Irish sides with both Ulster and Leinster taking...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: The day Scott Hastings proved he was a great team player
All the tributes to Scott Hasting have included mention of his bubbling personality and constant positivity at all times and I...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: French director calls the shots
Dastardly French TV directors have been quietly controlling big games in France for a couple of decades now so in one...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Lions really must head to Argentina
Better late than never. After decades of lobbying by some – not least this column – the Lions are reportedly looking...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Beware! A great TV deal is no slam dunk
The imminent prospect of a closed franchise Premiership is the subject de jour, although I would say that we have effectively...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoBrendan Gallagher: VIP treatment with Big Gav and Campo
The Hong Kong Sevens is 50 years old this weekend which is a sobering thought, probably the first time in recorded...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Sorry, Mako Vunipola, but you can’t play for Tonga
The rumbustious heart on his sleeve, no-nonsense Mako Vunipola has always been a favourite player of mine since I first saw...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoBrendan Gallagher: 30 years on from Matt Gallagher’s special day
There’s been a lot going on recently in the rugby world, but it would be remiss not to pause awhile to...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Referees must control the advantage law fairly
Every four or five years or so, it seems, rugby gets its knickers in a twist over the advantage law, how...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoBrendan Gallagher: The rise of Italy lifted the whole Six Nations
You can make a decent case for 2026 being the best Six Nations ever – whatever ‘best’ means – but it...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Explore… Dream… Discover. That’s Italy
It was a curious, slightly unsettling experience in the final quarter at Rome last week watching Italy – who, frankly, hadn’t...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoBrendan Gallagher: The Romanian who stood tall for his country
You bump into some huge human beings on the rugby circuit, but I’ve encountered few bigger than Romanian lock Constantin Cojocariu,...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Players love getting one over the referee
I’m intrigued, fascinated, perplexed, occasionally entertained, but mostly irritated by why sportsmen and women feel the need to subtly but deliberately...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoAttacking full-back Lacaze was ahead of his time
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER FRANCE’S reputation for producing vibrant attacking full-backs almost matches their ability to uncover and nurture commanding Napoleonic-like...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoPortugal’s clash with Spain will be classy
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER AWAY from the Six Nations, the Rugby Europe Championship is coming to the boil today with the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoBrendan Gallagher: My Six Nations Top 20 – The good, the bad and the rugby
And breathe! In the blink of an eye, we are 60 per cent through the 2026 Six Nations, and we are...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Jamison Gibson-Park is back to his best as he pulls the strings for Ireland
A few weeks back, with Ireland’s possible decline ahead of the Six Nations, the subject de jour I ventured the opinion...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Award booming huge pens a full five points
We are losing so much from the game as World Rugby dumbs down in the professional era, which is bizarre considering...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 7 months agoBrendan Gallagher: I think Sevens is badly in need of an energy boost
I worry about Sevens which, having invested so much energy and emotion into securing Olympic status, seems to have become very...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 7 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Why it’s time to be nicer to the French
I’ve always found it odd the blind spots and prejudices that develop in sport and indeed life, the absolute determination by...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 7 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Why putting your faith in data doesn’t add up
Of all the sports most ill-suited to detailed statistical analysis it strikes me that rugby union comfortably tops this list, which...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 7 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Small in stature but big on talent
Back in the day it became almost a cliché that All Blacks forwards were all rugged frontiersmen and farmers – world...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 7 months ago16 teams to battle it out in Georgia
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER ONE thing you can always be sure of in rugby is that it will make a mess...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 8 months agoBrendan Gallagher: European Champions Cup is still in dire need of an overhaul
The European Champions Cup which, after this weekend, goes back into hibernation for the best part of three months, remains in...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 8 months agoBrendan Gallagher: A Thursday showdown in Paris is nothing new for the Six Nations
There is very little new in rugby and, although much is being made of the ‘controversial’ decision to kick off the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 8 months agoBrendan Gallagher: State school game is in good health
English rugby’s over-reliance on private schools has been cited by some – notably Eddie Jones – as an issue in recent...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 8 months agoWhen Balding raced home for Light Blues
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER IAN Balding, who died earlier this month aged 87, is of course best known as a legendary...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 8 months agoBrendan Gallagher: It’s no surprise Harlequins are finding the going tough
I’m surprised that so many people are surprised at Harlequins’ travails this season. It was always going to happen.
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 8 months agoThe WRU missed a trick with Morris
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER TALKING of sliding doors moments, I can’t help thinking that one of the many opportunities the WRU...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 8 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Fran Cotton recalls the ‘indestructible’ Tony Bond
Sport is full of sliding doors moments and that was certainly the case with former England centre Tony Bond, who died...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 8 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Magnums all round in my all-star awards
A cycling mate of mine – award-winning journalist Daniel Friebe – annually ranks the sport’s three Grand Tours using emojis denoting...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 8 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Hollie Davidson leads by example
By any criteria, Hollie Davidson must currently rank as one of the three or four best referees in the game, with...
