-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Heineken Cup needs refreshing for the fans
Another Heathrow hotel meeting, and another Heineken cup impasse. That was the outcome from the battle of the suits this week...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain says the best coaches never believe they cannot improve a winning team
England will not be de-railed this season by skidding on the media and blog froth that has surrounded his squad since...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Group of Death can deal mortal blow to 2015
Forget all the flannel following the nightmare RWC 2015 draw that England and Wales have to beat everyone of note to...
-
British and Irish Lions Tour
/ 13 years agoNick Cain talks to Warren Gatland about the 2013 tourists to Australia
When Warren Gatland held court at Cardiff Castle this week to do an early 2013 Lions stock-take with the autumn series...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Robshaw got it wrong but so did Lancaster
The debate over Chris Robshaw‘s late penalty call against South Africa has raged all week, and nothing has been added to...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain assesses how to halt the all-round might of the all-conquering All Blacks
If this autumn series has taught us anything as England attempt to turn the tide against New Zealand, it is that...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Grayson stricken by Midlands fly-halfitis
Paul Grayson’s exit from Northampton after being at Franklin’s Gardens as an assistant coach and player for 19 years suggests that...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain talks to Chris Ashton about try scoring, Munster and the Lions
Chris Ashton divides opinion like no other current international in Britain, or Ireland. There are those who see the England wing...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain looks at the challenge facing England at Twickenham next weekend
If Stuart Lancaster thinks he’s got injury problems with Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes and Tom Croft on the sidelines then he...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Thomson’s escape shows bias towards All Blacks
The fawning towards all things All Black by the game’s officials goes on unabated with the latest example being the one-week...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain talks to Danny Cipriani about his challenge at Sale, tackling and England
Danny Cipriani has found himself in the headlines over the last few weeks, but they have not been of his own...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Bending the ref’s ear should be binned
One of the worst aspects of the new TMO intervention on foul play is the sharp increase in players badgering referees...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain talks to Geoff Parling, the thinking player’s lock forward
Geoff Parling is not one of the big beasts of the second row. In fact, England‘s lineout leader admits that he...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Sheridan snub is no way to win Test match
If the main role of an international coach is to win Test matches, then it stands to reason that his main...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain assesses the challenge ahead for England against the big three
Now comes the reckoning. Forget about all the window-dressing surrounding the good intentions of Stuart Lancaster’s young hopefuls and cut to...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Change the eligibility rules and stop vultures
The vultures, in the form of New Zealand, Australian and English talent scouts, are circling the South Pacific skies in growing...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain talks to Andrew Sheridan about his ongoing ambition to play for England and the Lions
Andrew Sheridan is in the form of his life, the main axle in the Toulon juggernaut that is smashing the heavyweight...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Champions? Suddenly Tigers look also-rans!
A Leicester side which is hurt, angry, and staring at a third Heineken Cup pool exit on the bounce will probably...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain talks to Northampton and England hooker Dylan Hartley about growing up
Can Dylan Hartley make the quantum leap and become world class? Last season there were few signs of the Northampton and...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: All Blacks are simply the best – at PR hype
The 2011–2012 All Blacks are on the brink of becoming one of the great sides, with their victory in Soweto over...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain looks at the TV sub-plot beneath this season’s Heineken Cup
If the English clubs want clout when it comes to the future of the European Cup, as in bargaining power, then...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Jonny for the Lions? His form says Yes
Jonny Wilkinson’s statement this week that there’s no way he could say no to an invitation to be part of the...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain looks at the lack of back-up for Stuart Lancaster’s penalty takers
When there is enough footage of goal-kickers winning big matches to pave the M4 corridor between Twickenham and the Millennium Stadium,...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: This waste of George Ford’s talent is so senseless
There are imperfections in most rugby structures, but, when it comes to getting the right outcome for the national team, England’s...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain talks to the multi-talented Alex Goode about his ability to play full-back and fly-half
Alex Goode has shown that he can carve out time and space in the crash-bang mayhem of international rugby, and that...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Not pausing for a second, the scrum is still a mess
The scrum is under sustained attack in the modern game with barely a match at elite level where the referee does...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain talks to Exeter blindside Tom Johnson about his remarkable rise from grass roots to Test level
Tom Johnson is not so much a late bloomer as a one-man Indian summer. The Exeter Chiefs blindside flanker was a...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Sort out this mess or risk destroying the 2012 vibe
Mark McCafferty has come under withering fire after negotiating a unilateral £152m television rights deal for English club rugby with BT...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain assesses some early problems for the 2013 lions
Will a Lions tour party ever leave these shores without having a ball-and-chain clapped to their ankle? This week’s coach-naming Press...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Half-baked TMO trial needs re-focussing
It is the duty of a modern professional sport to use technology to arrive at fair rulings and eliminate errors by...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNICK CAIN finds London Welsh skipper Jonathan Mills is a Realist with an optimistic streak
Jonathan Mills is full of pioneer spirit despite the giant survival task facing him and his newly promoted band of London...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Lancaster must pick his diamonds now
Stuart Lancaster appears to have taken it as a given that he will be England head coach until his contract ends...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Packer-style circus is real threat to rugby
There has been a recurrent message doing the rounds since the 2011 World Cup which the existing rugby establishment, based on...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain talks to bath boss Gary Gold about reviving a once-champion club
Gary Gold is cagey when he considers the question of the quality he has found at Bath in terms of squad,...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain talks to Neil Back about Lions, Tigers and Woodward
Neil Back identifies strongly with the team GB athletes who have lifted the country with their performances at the London Olympics...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: All Blacks on top with or without Williams
If the Six Nations are playing catch up with the Southern Hemisphere powers, then the new Rugby Championship will be about...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Pumas out to prove their first-class credentials
Argentina have received an early reminder that New Zealand, South Africa and Australia see them as the poor relations of the...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Lion king of Leeds will ride to the rescue
When it comes to understanding the importance of nurturing and building a brand, Sir Ian McGeechan’s track-record with the Lions takes...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Robbo’s lumbered with Scotland’s Brave boasts
Disney are about to release Brave, an Asterix-clone feelgood fairytale about the ancient Scots. Perhaps Mark Dodson, the Scottish Rugby Union’s chief...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Fixture list gives Lions a mauling for starters
The Lions are the biggest brand in rugby alongside the All Blacks. The Lions generate huge interest, lining the coffers of...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Hidden bite of the Lions is a worry for Warren Gatland
Warren Gatland’s pre-ordained appointment as the 2013 Lions coach leaves me with one big reservation. It is that he is currently...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Don’t believe the spin, we still have long way to go
If the mission statement of Clive Woodward’s 2003 world champion outfit was, “To Be The Best”, then the one that comes...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Bully-boy forwards win it for the Springboks
The England U20s should be green with envy following South Africa‘s 22-16 World Junior Championship final victory over New Zealand in...
-
Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: This should have been child’s play for England
Containment is a very dangerous game in an 80-minute sport, and the England U20s paid the price of a policy as...
-
Nick Cain
/ 14 years agoNick Cain: Country is divided on inflexible Heyneke Meyer
Heyneke Meyer knows that ultimately his reign as Springbok coach will be defined not on whether he produces a South Africa...
-
Nick Cain
/ 14 years agoNick Cain: A sizeable problem is wrecking our game
Bigger is better. That is the false mantra that coaches and talent scouts appear to be chanting with the brainless devotion...
Features
OSCAR WILSON
BUCS Super Rugby
Cardiff Met’s Gus Patterson on becoming Bridgend’s next rugby star
The best betting sites
