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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Good to see Danny Cipriani back – now it’s all up to him
Danny Cipriani has been thrown a lifeline by Stuart Lancaster, but it remains to be seen whether it is long enough...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain picks his Premiership Dream Team
Selecting a Team of the Season is always a subjective business, and although statistics tell part of the story, they can...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain discovers what England can expect in New Zealand
Jimmy Cowan has such an intimate knowledge of the workings of All Blacks that it’s surprising Steve Hansen hasn’t had him...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Malakai Fekitoa case shows IRB are letting down world game
New Zealand protests that they do not poach from the Pacific Islands should always be taken with a block of salt,...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain talks to three great English Lions to gather their views about the England back-row
Back-row expertise does not come with better credentials than that offered by Roger Uttley, Mike Teague and Peter Winterbottom. The trio...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: I tell you straight, this refs’ dereliction harms game
The middle line has been crossed. Infringements at the lineout and scrum are now so endemic that it leaves you wondering...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Fizzing George Ford ready for next step with club and country
George Ford has come of age. Finally. It has been a long time coming because Ford has been lumbered with the...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Gareth Anscombe approach proves Warren Gatland’s faith is dwindling
The news that 22-year-old New Zealand fly-half Gareth Anscombe is being lined up to play for Wales by Warren Gatland comes...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain talks to Brad Barritt about Saracens and England
Brad Barritt is not going to see the England No.12 jersey handed over to Billy Twelvetrees, Luther Burrell, Kyle Eastmond, or...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Game’s flashpoints stem from inconsistent refereeing
Empathy. Consistency. Clarity. Accuracy. All those crucial factors were missing for large tracts of the officiating in the Wild West Premiership...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain talks to Joe Launchbury about Wasps’ late season challenges and his advancement with England
Joe Launchbury does not conform to the old school second row stereotype. His face doesn’t look as if it’s been flirting...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Here’s how All Blacks Test could have moved
There are times when it is blatantly obvious that the standards of excellence now demanded of England‘s professional rugby players are...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain talks to Saracens lock George Kruis
George Kruis believes that Saracens have an edge when it comes to the business end of the season because they know...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Wembley bonanaza shows the way ahead
If anyone had had the temerity to suggest 20 years ago that a game between Saracens and Harlequins would set a...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Yes, BOD was great, but not the greatest
That Brian O’Driscoll is one of the great players is undisputed. However, justice was done when Mike Brown won the 2014...
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British and Irish Lions Tour
/ 12 years agoNick Cain picks his new Lions team from the evidence of the Six Nations championship
Selecting a 2014 Lions side confirms more than anything just how long a year in rugby can be. If the Lions...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Yes, they’re good – but England are a way off being great
If England can make the same progress over the next 18 months that they have made in the last year then...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Moaning Robin McBryde should face all the facts
If Robin McBryde wants to know why Gethin Jenkins was sin-binned against England last weekend he does not need to go...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: No wonder stone-face Steve Hansen has a smile at last
Here’s Stuart Lancaster’s nightmare scenario. The week before England are due to play the first Test of their three Test June...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Disco kids can lead Wales a dance
Danny Care and Owen Farrell have been dancing to a new beat this season. It emerged this week that when the...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain investigates the great mystery: where have all the tight-heads gone?
Where have all the tight-heads gone? That was the question giving England fans pause for thought this week as they contemplated...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Yapping at the man in the middle has to stop
Having been immune from the scourge of football-style dissent and badgering, or intimidation, of match officials for the best part of...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain’s verdict on Wales: French can’t breach Shaun Edwards’ stone wall
Any sense that Wales were going to go quietly into the Six Nations night, relinquishing their champion status without a fight,...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: ‘Aggro’ Joe Marler is just a big chicken!
Joe Marler has a reputation for not walking away if the opposition are looking for a bit of aggro. Scotland were...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: We must find out soon if George Ford is the real deal
Stuart Lancaster is a careful planner, so when I asked him this week about his bench policy in the opening two...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Stubborn Stuart Lancaster must admit mistakes
Stuart Lancaster is doing a Sinatra. By sticking with the same 23 man line-up against the Scots that lost to France...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: ‘Slammin Sam’ Burgess could be hit for England
Sam Burgess might just be the answer to England‘s 2015 prayers. The idea of an outstanding 18 stone, 6ft 5ins athlete...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Sam Warburton could be the first casualty of Welsh war
Sam Warburton‘s central contract with the WRU is threatening to become an unholy mess. When the news broke last weekend that...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain previews the clash between Scotland and England
Legend has it that the 9th Roman Legion disappeared without trace after marching north of Hadrian’s Wall into the Scottish hinterland....
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: England need Saxons to be battle-hardened
The Saxons should be a huge influence in building an England team, so that the head coach never runs out of...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: French cash pile could bury international game
Ben Mowen’s decision to quit Australian rugby at the end of this year to take up a contract with a Top...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain looks at the challenge awaiting England in their opening six nations match in Paris
Le Crunch 2014 is going to leave either England or France broken*. The opening Test of the Six Nations in Paris...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: It’s not all tickety-boo as debenture holders revolt
Imagine paying £7,000 for a debenture seat which is meant to guarantee you the right to buy a face-value ticket for...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain takes a look at Stuart Lancaster’s Six Nations squads and likes what he sees
If England can show the sort of staying power that Stuart Lancaster demonstrated at Twickenham last Thursday then it will hold...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain urges England to look at some new faces in the World Cup build up
The seemingly routine announcement of amendments to the England elite squad on Thursday at Twickenham is the exact opposite. It is...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: This Anglo-Welsh decoy shouldn’t be discounted
Is the golden handshake across the Severn, binding the four Welsh regions to the English clubs, the solution it is being...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Danny Cipriani is a risk, but he could unlock golden door
Who holds the keys to No.10 for England? There is no shortage of contenders to pilot them through the 2015 World...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain picks his highs and lows from 2013
Team of the Year – The 2013 Lions. Whereas the All Blacks are virtually a club side which plays and trains...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: France’s ‘Little Napoleon’ is trying to rule in Europe
When it comes to exercising absolute power within a rugby fiefdom there is no one who comes close to Pierre Camou....
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Enough! We don’t want more League coaches
The news that Steve McNamara is staying at his post in Rugby League – part time with England and assistant coach...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain talks to Nick Easter about his rebirth as a lock
Nick Easter’s nickname suggests he is a man who has plenty of credit in the bank. The soubriquet that the Harlequins...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: No, Kenny your call to ring-fence is so wrong
Exeter finished bottom of National 3 and were relegated to National 4 along with Clifton in 1995, the year that the...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: IRB must take the blame for debacle over George North
In what appears to be a clear case of mistaken identity, Premiership Rugby have decided that Northampton are the bad guys...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoMartyn Thomas – “Mark McCafferty should go – he led us into wilderness”
Ever since the Anglo-French club pact was formed Martyn Thomas has predicted that the Top 14 clubs would fold like a...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: World Cup schedule is IRB-made shambles
The England 2015 Rugby World Cup fanfare gets underway for real at Twickenham on Wednesday when the IRB announce their ticketing...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain uncovers the ticking time bomb of Red Rose tour to New Zealand
The buzz-phrase after the autumn series is that ‘England are building’. However, exactly what structure Stuart Lancaster and his side build...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain talks to Nick Mallett about the growing threat of South Africa
Nick Mallett knows a thing or two about being in charge of “the most dominant team in the history of the...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Get scrum right Alain – or be kicked into touch
When Alain Rolland was introduced at the Millennium Stadium last weekend as the referee for the Wales v South Africa match...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Stuart Lancaster ducks his big chance to be bold
Little more than a week ago Stuart Lancaster called the next 12 months a “defining year” for his team. The England...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain talks to World-cup winning coach Wayne Smith about the All Blacks, Australia and England
Wayne Smith is hardwired with the All Black genome from the soles of his feet to the last hair on his...















