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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: Dragons big dilemma – when to cash in on Toby
They say Toby Faletau is not for sale, that those across the border and across the Channel eager to buy him...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: I didn’t need a letter to know my dad backed me
I think it is fair to say that 2012 was Stuart Lancaster‘s year more than anyone else in rugby, despite no...
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Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain talks to Saracens flanker Will Fraser about his ‘inspirational’ brother
Will Fraser goes through a ritual before every match he plays for Saracens. The rugged openside flanker has his wrists and...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 13 years agoJeremy Guscott: Lancaster needs a wing man to drive home his bombers
I’ll argue all day long that the key ability in a winger is that when you give them a try-scoring opportunity,...
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Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: The Gong Show and the Goon Show 2012
It’s the season of awards, from the BBC’s Sports Personality show to the New Year Honours. Gongs are being handed out...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: Magnificent Ospreys put life back into Wales
After the Grand Slam, the Grand Slump as befitting a nation where extreme mood swings tend to be the norm. After...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: There’s hope, despair and the road to redemption
Now the end of the year approaches, we can reflect on the first half of the season and look forward to...
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Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain talks to Dean Richards about his remarkable return to rugby
Dean Richards has no peers in the English club game when it comes to building champion teams, and he is at...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 13 years agoJeremy Guscott: Lions place is Sexton’s to lose in Six Nations
Jonathan Sexton is in pole position to be the Lions first pick for the Test No.10 shirt now that his main...
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Nick Cain
/ 13 years agoNick Cain: Toulon are a triumph for French TV as well
The most startling statistic to come out of Round 4 of the Heineken Cup was not so much Toulon‘s nine try,...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: Let’s hear it for these Ospreys heroes!
Toulouse had been to Wales many times before last week, losing the odd game by the odd point here and there....
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: No guarantee that artificial pitches will boost scrum
Some time ago I wrote about my doubts concerning Saracens‘ ambitions to play on an artificial pitch and whether it would...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 13 years agoJeremy Guscott: Farrell can bring fresh ideas for the Lions
The Lions are about the integration of the coaches as much as the players, and Warren Gatland has made good choices...
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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...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: Wales may rue Gatland snub for Edwards
Shaun Edwards spent the week keeping a profile low enough as to be positively subterranean over Warren Gatland‘s decision to make...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: Heineken Cup row could damage the Six Nations
The Heineken Cup, despite all the trials and tribulations is rumbling along in its usual fashion, with all but one group...
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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...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 13 years agoJeremy Guscott casts an expert eye over where England go from last week’s tumultuous victory
Despite the importance of the Heineken Cup mid-pool round, it’s still hard to forget England and New Zealand because last weekend’s...
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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...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: Halfpenny finds his currency on the rise
The battering taken by Wales during a troubled month threatens to have long-term consequences even for those who managed to stay...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: Lions tour could damage Lancaster’s World Cup bid
Last week’s surprise win against the current world champions was thoroughly deserved as the players delivered on all counts and it...
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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...
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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...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: Shameful, this waste of Hook’s huge talent
James Hook will have returned to France last weekend wondering about his future with Wales after a month in the margins....
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: Lancaster’s balancing act is crucial for World Cup hopes
Balance is something that every successful team must have and from before my glory days to England‘s World Cup winning team...
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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...
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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...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: T-shirt test revealed Gavin was an outsider
Gavin Henson has been branded a non-team player by the Wales coach who gave him his international baptism eleven years ago....
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: Lack of collective thinking cost us World Cup victory
I am rather surprised by some people’s reactions to the reasons why England‘s young team failed to make the right choices...
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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...
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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...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 13 years agoJeremy Guscott: England lack cool heads at key stage
This is a game England should have won – it was the next logical step in their progression under Stuart Lancaster...
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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...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: The force is no longer with Welsh club rugby
There used to be a time when Wales–England matches required a heavier police presence on the field than off it, when...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: RFU ‘blazers’ are value for money – unlike others!
The relevance of the RFU Council was brought into question in last week’s paper by former chairman of the management board...
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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...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 13 years agoJeremy Guscott: Wales must act quickly to stop the talent drain
With the news that Jamie Roberts has decided to move on from Cardiff Blues, Roger Lewis chief executive of the Welsh...
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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...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: It wasn’t just the money that lured Jamie away
Once this column revealed the sheer scale of the offer from Racing Metro a fortnight ago, it was just a matter...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: French laissez faire makes English exports play better
What is it about the Press that always makes them want someone picked by England who is not in the squad?...
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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...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 13 years agoJeremy Guscott: Flood’s time is now – he has to seize the moment
Come on Stuart, show us what you’ve done with this team of yours. I know it’s not even a year since...
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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...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: This ratings war is such a phoney battlefield
Wales beat England last time out at Twickenham during the course of their Grand Slam. A few months earlier, they had...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: ‘Understanding the game’ won England World Cup
As England‘s coaches prepare their squad for the autumn internationals it seems they have chosen to go back to the past...
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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...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 13 years agoJeremy Guscott: Robshaw’s my captain but where’s Armitage?
Stuart Lancaster named his 32-player squad last Tuesday and there weren’t any massive surprises. Mako Vunipola, the 21-year-old prop born in...
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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...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: Can Jamie say Non to a fortune in Paris?
Racing Metro have put their offer for Jamie Roberts on the table – a basic £350,000-a-year for three years from next...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: Five-year ring-fence could destroy our game in North
Last week I wrote about the newly formed Rugby Coaches Association (RCA) and how it could be good for the game...












