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Latest News
/ 4 years agoKick for points, Ben – this isn’t a Prem game!
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK TOM Curry should have no shortage of helpers, or advice, as England’s embryo...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoLedesma is beaten by the bubbles
NICK CAIN THE attraction of coaching at World Cups appears to have lost some of its gloss – or at least...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoLet’s hear it for those little guys
NICK CAIN IT is great to see small wingers with dancing feet and blistering pace, like Scotland’s Darcy Graham (5ft 9ins)...
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Features
/ 4 years agoSuddenly the wonders of Rome hold perils for Eddie
NICK CAIN ASSESSES THE ANSWERS ENGLAND MUST PROVIDE AGAINST ITALY TODAY IF England stick with the excuse-ridden mindset post- Murrayfield that...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoGolden boy Jean-Pierre inspired a generation
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THERE are too many Englishmen happy to genuflect at the altar of “French...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoBrain injury rules must be more stringent
NICK CAIN RUGBY Union‘s governing bodies must urgently take action to make concussion protocols far more stringent. World Rugby and...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoGatland’s available if Eddie fails again
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE main impediment to changing international coaches in the two years leading into...
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Latest News
/ 4 years ago£500,000 to swap helmets is woke joke
NICK CAIN THE Exeter Chiefs, North American Indianstyle, are dead, but hail to the Dumnonii Chiefs! Catchy it isn’t, but apparently...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 years agoThe Rugby Paper’s Six Nations preview: Green giants can cast long shadow over rivals
Amid the clinking cutlery and a few chinking glasses, The Rugby Paper’s brain’s trust gathered at Jeremy Guscott’s favourite Bath watering...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoA Murrayfield ambush waits for England
ENGLAND Nick Cain assesses England’s opening match and their wider issues THE Scots are an ambush outfit, and the last thing...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoThe ‘great selector’ is causing confusion again
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE ‘Fast Eddie’ nickname first coined in this column to describe Eddie Jones...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoNow RFU must find TV deal for ALL clubs
NICK CAIN THE new terrestrial broadcast deal struck between the Premiership and ITV is good news, but also long overdue. Disappearing...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoCourtney’s got the drop in captaincy shoot-out
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK COURTNEY Lawes would be my choice of captain for the 2022 Six Nations...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoFront row rankings put Quins pair first
NICK CAIN CAN Eddie Jones deliver on his vow to make England’s scrum great again? After the 2021 Six Nations and...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoGet Eddie’s successor to ride shotgun for him now
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK SUCCESSION plans for the England head coach role have been a lottery in...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoSorry, this sleeping dog needs to be wide awake
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK IT is tempting to support Alex Sanderson’s view that another salary cap scandal...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoEddie finds the C-word is big help for England
NICK CAIN THE biggest improvement in Eddie Jones‘ management of the England squad has been his recognition that competition for places,...
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Features
/ 4 years agoJumbo-sized Joe is ready for take-off to scrum stardom
NICK CAIN TALKS TO THE NEW TIGHTHEAD ON THE ENGLAND BLOCK, LEICESTER TIGERS’ JOE HEYES Making his mark: Joe Heyes on...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoMacron’s pique opens way for national cup
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE chances of a new variation of Covid coming through was as predictable...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoGriffiths offers Bath fans better future
NICK CAIN THE decision by Bath owner Bruce Craig to pick Ed Griffiths as his successor as chairman is the most...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoVan Graan needs full power to plug Bath
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK JOHANN van Graan is the latest coach expected to plug the gaping hole...
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Features
/ 4 years agoBear hugs were PR disaster for Genge
NICK CAIN TIMING is everything in sport, and the Bristol Bears video released this week trumpeting their signing of Ellis Genge...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoPennell: Eddie’s wrong on Lawrence
By NICK CAIN Oh yes! Dave Ewers roars his delight after Tom O’Flaherty, right, scores for Exeter Chiefs against bitter rivals...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoPoison is all coming from Eddie not the Press
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK OLLIE Lawrence must be wondering what he did to get in Eddie Jones’...
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Feature
/ 4 years agoFor Total Rugby, you first build a bedrock
NICK CAIN TOTAL Rugby is the holy grail of the game. The seamless link and flow between forwards and backs that...
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Autumn Internationals
/ 4 years agoEddie must fix his scrum or England will suffer
NICK CAIN SAYS ANY HOPE THE RED ROSE HAVE OF SIX NATIONS SUCCESS STARTS IN THE FRONT ROW LIKE the rest...
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Autumn Internationals
/ 4 years agoMaro has crucial skill of leading by example
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK MARO Itoje did not need the help of acting classes when he captained...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoDitch this miserable Cup for a real one
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK ENGLISH football has the FA Cup, a gem of a tournament that connects...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWaterboys need mopping up now
NICK CAIN WHATEVER happens over the Rassie Erasmus appeal, World Rugby cannot dawdle any longer on the waterboy on-field coaching issue...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoRassie must pay the price for video rant
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE information vacuum surrounding the disciplinary hearing involving Rassie Erasmus has been filled...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoEddie’s entitled to his Emma opinion
NICK CAIN THERE is no problem with accusing Eddie Jones of double standards when he gives advice to young tennis star...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoBlack Ferns will be bent on revenge
NICK CAIN CONGRATULATIONS to the England women’s team for their resounding 43-12 and 56-15 double over New Zealand’s world champion Black...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoNew eligibility rules will turn rugby into a circus
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK MALAKAI Fekitoa could have played for Tonga against England yesterday, just four years...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoSteadman story is inspiration to us all
NICK CAIN FLOYD Steadman’s story is one of the most uplifting and moving you will find in any sport, as those...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWorld Rugby must act to battle the lure of the yen
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE devaluation of the international game was emphasised this week after it was...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoEddie’s delay could prove deadly for England
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK EDDIE Jones has become the rugby equivalent of a shape-shifter, being hailed in...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWar-bonnets are just a salute to courage
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE problem that the ExChiefs4Change pressure group has is that it is annexing...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoDash for cash must not damage rugby’s ethos | Nick Cain
THE £32m takeover of Saracens by a polyglot international consortium comes with a health warning as the club’s erstwhile banker and...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoDon’t let new cup trash great Euro comp
NICK CAIN THE capacity of this game to devalue its own gold standard tournaments is illustrated by the idea that the...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoTime must be called on endless game breaks | Nick Cain
PERPETUAL stoppages have become the scourge of international rugby. The biggest culprits in this regard are South Africa. The world champions...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoI fear Eddie will revert to old guard in autumn | Nick Cain
BETTER late than never. Eddie Jones has finally rattled the cage in selection, at last making changes that should have happened...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoRugby needs TV profile to flourish
NICK CAIN CLUB rugby in England is facing a massive visibility problem. It is now completely off the terrestrial TV radar,...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoQuestions the RFU’s new boss ignored
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK TOM Ilube’s first Press conference as RFU board chairman was carefully scripted, and...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoSnowflakes beware – Cockers is here!
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE fanfare for Richard Cockerill’s arrival in the England camp as forwards coach...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoThis smearing of Gatland as conservative is claptrap | Nick Cain
Nick Cain fails to understand how people can question Warren Gatland as a coach given his record at the Test level
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British and Irish Lions
/ 4 years agoTimes when the Lions were fouled by the officials
Nick Cain on why the neutrality of referees is imperative to Lions tours, as history can attest
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoIt’s high time globetrotter Eddie honed home stars | Nick Cain
After surviving a review into a poor Six Nations campaign, Nick Cain is stumped by Eddie Jones' continued day-tripping to other...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoUnion game is on a hiding in Australia | Nick Cain
AUSTRALIAN rugby will always be measured against that of their closest neighbours – which unluckily for them happens to be New...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoEverything was stacked against Lions from the start | Nick Cain
No, rugby is not coming to an end. This Lions tour posed significant challenges to both teams, it was just the...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoRassie Erasmus’ blunderbuss blasts all moving targets | Nick Cain
Rassie Erasmus' video was a clear indication of the effects severe pressure can have on national hero status, writes Nick Cain












