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Nick Cain
/ 1 year agoEngland need to beat the big boys
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK It is intriguing to see England being touted already as serious 2027 World...
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International Rugby
/ 1 year agoOverseas stars are blocking new talent
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK There is a double standard in English rugby that stands out as a...
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Columnists
/ 1 year agoRFU still has urgent questions to answer
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The biggest story of the season in the domestic game in England came...
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Latest News
/ 1 year agoTime for England’s rock-steady crew
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK NOW comes the acid test of England’s attacking progress. When Steve Borthwick side...
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Latest News
/ 1 year agoWarriors deserved to take the glory
Glasgow Warriors’ 21-16 win over the Bulls in Pretoria to clinch the URC title has earned them deserved accolades after outscoring...
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Latest News
/ 1 year agoMistake to select Tom and not Ted
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Ted Hill must be wondering what else he has to do to get...
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Latest News
/ 1 year agoAll Blacks will be ready to roll
NICK CAIN Rumours that New Zealand are in a state of flux heading into their two-Test summer series against England should...
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English Championship
/ 1 year agoReturn of relegation is reason to cheer
NICK CAIN The restoration of promotion and relegation, which this column has advocated non-stop since the RFU’s ring-fence moratorium in 2021,...
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Nick Cain
/ 1 year agoHotshot Hendy seizes the day
By NICK CAIN at Twickenham Northampton Saints..... 25pts Tries: Freeman 24, Sleightholme 28, Mitchell 73 Conversions: Smith 24, Furbank 75 Penalties:...
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Latest News
/ 1 year agoBorthwick needs a clear direction
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The fog around England’s take-off as an attacking force in the latter stages...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoMcCaw’s vision for harmony
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK If the current power struggle in New Zealand rugby intensifies, with the NZRPA...
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English Gallagher Premiership
/ 2 years agoOnly one full house in ‘greatest season’ finale
NICK CAIN Here's something for the RFU mandarins and Premiership owners who are hell-bent on keeping England’s top league ring-fenced to...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoSorry, but that’s not all right, Jacques
A great European Cup final last weekend had only one blemish, when the limp attempt to tighten the rules around water-carriers...
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Latest News
/ 2 years agoCollier fits the bill for NZ challenge
READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK England finished the Six Nations with a resurgence, but their next destination, New Zealand, is...
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British and Irish Lions
/ 2 years agoLawes still has Lions in his sights
Courtney Lawes was typically modest when he was presented with the Rugby Union Writers Club’s prestigious Pat Marshall Award as the...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoDiamond Dupont is surrounded by stars
Match-winning moments, men, and money is what sets Toulouse apart. Foremost among those men is Antoine Dupont, whose brilliance earned him...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoDiamond’s rough support loses sparkle
By NICK CAIN What makes this season even more of a travesty is that Steve Diamond, Newcastle’s consultant rugby director, who...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoTop flight losing its soul, and integrity
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK GLOUCESTER’S 90-0 capitulation to Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens last weekend reflected all that...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoTime to put an end to marquee players
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK ARE marquee players, or coaches, worth it, or are they just a Premiership...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoMistake to reduce value of the scrum
The danger World Rugby’s high-handed law-makers face with their insistence on trying to marginalise the scrum is that it could easily...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoCalling MPs will add to pressure
The decision of Championship clubs to contact their local MPs to ask for Government to mediate in its gridlocked negotiations with...
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English Championship
/ 2 years agoRFU’s still killing the dreams of investors
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The RFU’s indecision is final. It does not know what to do about...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoDon’t put Dickson in that position
If the Karl Dickson furore in the Harlequins v Northampton clash last weekend at Twickenham tells us anything, it is that...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoLeinster’s workload merits little sympathy
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK LEINSTER are worried about the pressure that could prevent them from winning a...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoCrunch time for red lines
The crunch is coming as negotiations between the Championship and the RFU/Premiership over promotion-relegation intensify, with the Premiership ring-fence moratorium finishing...
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Club Rugby
/ 2 years agoKick off with Cup
The Papa Johns Cup has staggered into its second season with almost as many walk-overs as matches played, despite an increase...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoEngland must take Quins pair to NZ
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK WILL Collier and Fin Baxter have been showered with praise following Harlequins epic...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoBan teams who pick reserves for knock-out stages
The Bulls are not the first outfit to undermine the European Cup by picking an understrength team, with some French clubs...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoEnvious eyes fall on Leinster’s recruits
Leinster's ability to cherry-pick two of the 2023 World Cup final’s biggest stars, signing All Black centre Jordie Barrett to augment...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoDawson predicts the battle at 10 will benefit England
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The Fin Smith–Marcus Smith fly-half debate was given a good airing when Matt...
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English Championship
/ 2 years agoRFU needs a sense of proportion
The RFU has always maintained that promotion-relegation is sacrosanct, even though the RFU Council agreed in February 2021 to a so-called...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoAnother barmy idea from the men in suits
The Ministry of Silly Walks was a Monty Python sketch which lampooned bureaucratic inefficiency. Rugby Union requires something similar to shame...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoToo much tinkering is causing confusion
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Rugby Union is in the grip of the “the law of unintended consequences”,...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoSecond fine for Tigers is case for concern
The recent announcement of a second salary cap infringement by Leicester indicates that the Premiership’s policing of its own financial regulations...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoTime for club owners to come clean on plans
NICK CAIN - READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK SEETHING financial undercurrents are undermining the main pillars of the game in...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoThis was a cracker but still too many blowouts
The Premiership run-in produced a highly competitive cracker of a match at Franklin’s Gardens on Friday, with Northampton securing a 41-30...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoSanzaar miss chance to inject new blood
The 2024 Six Nations has been lauded in the southern hemisphere for its sensational quality and entertainment – which has not...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoRelegation saga still a shadow over game
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK There is so much that makes so little sense in the English club...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoItaly wins ignite the Six Nations
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The game-changing force of last weekend’s Six Nations tales of the unexpected cannot...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoI doubt Le Garrec would be snared easily under any laws
NICK CAIN Nolann Le Garrec’s spectacular 40-metre reverse pass to Thomas Ramos just after the half-hour in France’s 45-24 win over...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoEngland A need to face ‘real’ Portugal
NICK CAIN Portugal face multiple champions Georgia in the Rugby Europe final at the Stade Jean Bouin in Paris today, and...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoWe need to make most of this team
NICK CAIN The England U20s won their first Six Nations title since 2021 with a tremendous second-half effort in which they...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoIt’s time for the real France to stand up
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK FOR crying out loud, when will the real France stand up and be...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoBattling U20s still have a lot to learn
England U20s entertaining 32-32 draw with Ireland in Bath on Friday night was pure curate’s egg. The good part was that...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoEn garde, England
World rugby’s absurd international residency qualification of just three years should put the RFU on its guard that England will not...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoBorthwick must stop delaying and rebuild
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK WHEN Steve Borthwick took over from Eddie Jones as England head coach he...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoFurbank would be central to my team
An English upset against Ireland on Saturday is about as likely as Donald Trump losing his fake tangerine tan. However, witnessing...
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English Championship
/ 2 years agoYet again, Ealing prove they have what it takes
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Ealing Trailfinders’ narrow defeat by Leicester in the Premiership Cup semi-final last weekend...
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English Championship
/ 2 years agoMerit on the pitch should be decisive
There has been a long-standing tradition in rugby union that everyone is entitled to their opinion, and when Ealing Trailfinders hosted...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoIt’s time to take a risk, England need to get the fans on their feet
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK As we approach the Six Nations midpoint, England are more like a Thames...
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