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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...
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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...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 13 years agoJeremy Guscott: Playing in France should not be end of England career
It was interesting to hear Stuart Lancaster on Radio Five Live this week talk about how difficult it would be to...
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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...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: Young Jonny made a big impact in Wales’ debut
Jonny Wilkinson’s career has spanned 15 years and 367 matches, a tribute as much as anything to his indomitable spirit. His...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: New union may give coaches more time to do their job
I must admit I am surprised it has taken as long as it has, but at last the announcement of the...
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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...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 13 years agoJeremy Guscott: These Aussies – and Dingo Deans – can still deliver
You have to be careful not to write off Australia simply because they have struggled in The Championship. Some blogs I’ve...
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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...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: Davies still pitches in to help his village club
John Davies put his neck into more than a thousand scrums over the course of 17 seasons and survived with nothing...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: Lack of rugby stadiums means shortage of legacy
The announcement of the cut down list of potential venues for the Rugby World Cup has cast a worrying shadow over...
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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...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 13 years agoJeremy Guscott: The Toulouse test will show Tigers where they stand
There’s been a lot of talk about the BT Vision contract signed by the Premiership clubs, and a potential English and...
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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...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: Be positive Danny, and learn from Mad Dog
Danny Lydiate may have spent most of the week in hospital but he is still a long way from matching the...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: Team GB face so many problems on road to Rio
When I first read Clive Woodward’s call for the 2016 Team GB Sevens squad to be playing together for two years...
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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,...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 13 years agoJeremy Guscott: Sharples injury jinx may give Wade his chance
With Ben Foden’s injury more serious than first thought, Stuart Lancaster has said he will be seeking a back three replacement...
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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...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: Survivor Tony back on case for Dragons
Tony Brown has been through a lot since he rescued Newport from oblivion and spent millions on a galaxy of Southern...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: It will be tougher now Welsh have shown their abilities
London Welsh got their first away win of the Premiership last week seven days after winning their first ever Premiership game...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: Such a loss as Nevin joins pantheon of lives cut short
The Spence family farm catastrophe brought a small Ulster town to a standstill on Wednesday, a triple tragedy marked with bare-headed...
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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...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 13 years agoJeremy Guscott: Barkley proved his worth in that pivotal role of No.10
Olly Barkley’s move to Racing Metro is a bolt from the blue for Bath supporters, and the real issue is that...
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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...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: Jones heads lost legion of forgotten Welsh stars
There is a whole team of them to be found out there – the Welsh internationals whose meteoric streak in some...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: Let Premiership go it alone and free up RFU cash for all
I can’t help thinking that there is something strange in the way that the Premiership chose to announce their potential new...
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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...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 13 years agoJeremy Guscott: At last, some skills are returning to club rugby
Is it a coincidence that Premiership teams appear to be playing a more expansive game this season, or that the same...
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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...
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Peter Jackson
/ 13 years agoPeter Jackson: Welshman Brian disarmed the last great TV conflict
Brian Baister was sitting behind his desk at home on Wednesday morning when a news item leapt out of the page...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 13 years agoJeff Probyn: Extending power of TMOs allows refs to pass the buck
I watched Sale christen their new home at the Salford City stadium with an unfortunate loss against Saracens last Saturday. A...
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Nick Cain
/ 14 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...
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British and Irish Lions Tour
/ 14 years agoJeremy Guscott: Gatland musn’t go looking for problems
I was surprised when Warren Gatland came out with the view that overseas-based players, especially those in France, could rule themselves...
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Nick Cain
/ 14 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...
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Peter Jackson
/ 14 years agoPeter Jackson: Grav’s fight with a Jag brought the roof down
Ray Gravell would have been 61 this week and the world, especially the part which revolved around Mynydd-y-Garreg, would have been...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 14 years agoJeff Probyn: Heroic defeat shows there’s still a buzz in Dai’s Wasps
A blistering start to the season with lots of points scored in some outstanding games – but it has to be...
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Nick Cain
/ 14 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...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 14 years agoJeremy Guscott: Quick-learners Argentina exposed bish-bash Boks
Argentina have more than proved their worth in the revamped Tri-Nations, now the Rugby Championship, by drawing with South Africa when...
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Nick Cain
/ 14 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...
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