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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoBastareaud deserves his cheering send-off, too
Sergio Parisse’s long farewell has taken centre stage recently but let’s hear it also for Mathieu Bastareaud who also took his...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoFarrell shows who’s the master
BRENDAN GALLAGHER It was billed as a titanic head-to-head between Owen Farrell and George Ford but in truth rugby, a game...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoIreland mustn’t copy this breakdown flaw
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER The tumultuous happenings in Dublin last week were...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoLet’s hope technology passes trial
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER Be careful for what you wish for! World Rugby are carrying out their promise to trial chip...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoLeinster finally pay the price for their cynicism
BRENDAN GALLAGHER Every journo is surely allowed one “told you so” moment in their career and mine arrived last night when...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoSharks deserve far more recognition
BRENDAN GALLAGHER Rugby has its favourites and we in the media are as guilty as any of promoting them above others...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoNew Zealand schools side in ’93 was the best ever
The greatest national schools team ever? That debate kicked off on Twitter recently and my mind immediately went back 30 years...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoRefs must demand immediate release
Another game, yet another big “jackal” injury, this time it was the unfortunate Ben Curry as he bent low to turnover...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoFazzball too much for Jekyll and Hyde team
BRENDAN GALLAGHER Saracens might still be searching for their European mojo but domestically they were in regal form Sunday as the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoOn the clock: Who put the minutes in?
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER I’m indebted to stats guru Stuart Farmer who...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoLeinster turn out at the Aviva more often than Ireland
Much debate, some of it a tad heated, recently about the massive advantages real or perceived that Leinster enjoy over other...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years ago60 years on…The tour with no jet lag
Sixty years go this week England embarked on their first ever overseas tour and it remains a splendid exercise in both...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoHow about a sharp shot of summer fun?
So there we go, it’s May 7 and seven of the 11 Premiership teams have no competitive rugby now until the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoLet’s hope this new-look Cup has meaning
So the Premiership Cup is to remuster in yet another guise this autumn as a joint competition with the Championship sides...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoTall poppy syndrome or a case to answer?
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER For all sorts of reasons, all conquering Leinster...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoThere’s no place for jackals and crocodiles in rugby jungle
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER I don't watch enough David Attenborough – frankly his droning voice is my go-to remedy for insomnia...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoIt’s not British Bulldogs … needs of the defender matter as well
RUGBY MATTERS - BRENDAN GALLAGHER As the subject de jour seems to be rugby absurdities let me highlight an instructive moment...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoIreland’s passion play in classic confrontation
BRENDAN GALLAGHER Touts were reportedly asking €1,000 for a ticket outside the Aviva yesterday morning ahead of kick off and frankly,...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoItaly benefit from the brotherhood
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER I have a half-baked theory that the comparative...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoGone too soon, a young man destined to be England’s No 1
RUGBY MATTERS Can it really be 20 years since young Harlequins and England scrum-half Nick Duncombe passed away – Friday, February...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoA wonder try, one of the best ever seen in Calcutta Cup history
BRENDAN GALLAGHER And hey presto, Scotland will find themselves ranked five in the world on Monday morning when the World Rugby...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoGeorgia the team to beat in Euro fiesta
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER ALL eyes on the Six Nations but the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoIt’s time to give credit to the URC
RUGBY MATTERS Ok, I think we can all agree that one or two French players have been pacing themselves a little...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoThe golden voice… that glorious try…
RUGBY MATTERS WE are fast approaching the 50th anniversary of what many consider the greatest try ever scored and frankly there...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoPart Roger Moore, part Obolensky…as cool as hell and dripping with X-factor
BRENDAN GALLAGHER I have cursed David Duckham every winter’s day since late in 1971, which is an odd state of affairs...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoThrilling finish in ‘73 never to be repeated
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER What with Italy looking more competitive, the 2023...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoDickson wrong to ignore his TMO
For me there are only two reasons for a TMO. First to adjudicate whether a try has been legally scored and...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoTake five: Looking back, and forward
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER FIVE BEST MEMORIES OF 2022 1: Italy’s Ange...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoDoddie and Benny lead list of heroes we have lost
Brendan Gallagher remembers those the game has lost over the last 12 months Phil Bennett (Felinfoel, Llanelli, Wales, Barbarians, British and...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoWhen the old European Cup was just the ticket
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER This column has been warning about the decline...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoHamza improves on rugby’s record
RUGBY MATTERS Rugby has a decent record in Strictly Come Dancing – think Austin Healey and Matt Dawson although perhaps not...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoChristmas miracle in the Andes: 50 years on… a tale of survival
By BRENDAN GALLAGER For those of us of a certain age there were possibly two global stories that dominated our adolescence...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoHow baseball kept Bish on right track
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Ken Poole, the head of economic development for...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoMystery surrounds Robinson departure
BRENDAN GALLAGHER It was a week of departures for Romania, one unexpected but the other less so. First the shock resignation...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoIsrael banking on the Heat to build profile
RUGBY MATTERS - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER One of the more unusual modern days...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoSo who is the real villain here?
RUGBY MATTERS - Brendan Gallagher Newcastle's Carl Fearns has been at the sharp end of professional rugby for nearly 14 years...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoEngland toiling in the foothills
RUGBY MATTERS I will leave it to others to do the heavy lifting in dissecting the sacking of Eddie Jones but...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoRemarkable band of Rogue Heroes
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER The BBC drama series Rogue Heroes concluded on Sunday...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoOnly the pin-ups win top awards
RUGBY MATTERS What have the following got in common? Brian O’Driscoll, Eben Etzebeth, Malcolm Marx, Fourie Du Preez, Taulupe Faletau, Ma’a...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoDoddie Weir, a giant among the big men
Brendan Gallagher remembers the hugely popular Scottish and Lions forward who passed away on Saturday It was the moment we all...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoGeorgia’s triumph shouldn’t be wasted
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER It was bittersweet bordering on intensely frustrating to...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoGive me a break! It’s time we had much more clarity on the advantage law
What's happening with the advantage law? It’s even more all over the place than usual this season. Have we missed a...
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Autumn Internationals
/ 3 years ago15 minutes that had Twickenham rocking
BRENDAN GALLAGHER WHY LESS CAN MEAN MORE WHEN IT COMES TO INTERNATIONALS Hard man: Will Stuart powers over PICTURES: Getty Images...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoLos Lobos keep cool and take their place in France
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Life with Los Lobos is never dull and,...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoWhen the Munster haka stole the show
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER I’ve never been a huge fan of the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoSharing delight of beating All Blacks
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER There is rightly much focus on the 50th...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoFlexibility key if we want to keep playing
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER It's funny how sport and life often come...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoStaying in the game is what matters most
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Like all of you out there, I have...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoTournament brimming with standout moments
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER IT was after round two from memory that...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoTime for Argentina to host World Cup
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Sometimes the obvious just stares you in the...












