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Jeff Probyn
/ 1 year agoIt takes a long time to learn ‘the dark arts’
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME SO IT was a second defeat in New Zealand for an England...
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James Harrington
/ 1 year agoVannes facing a tough early test
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Promoted ProD2 winners Vannes will kick off their first-ever season in the Top 14 at home against...
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International Rugby
/ 1 year agoA thunderous match that had no losers
PAUL REES The first thing that needs to be said is that this was an absorbing Test match between two teams...
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International Rugby
/ 1 year agoHigh-risk blitz puts England in charge
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK There's nothing not to like about England’s blitz defence. It’s bold, gutsy, and good...
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International Rugby
/ 1 year agoWales show defiance but the wait goes on
PETER JACKSON All week long the Red Dragon legions had planned their regimental mobilisation with just enough military precision to let...
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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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Chris Hewett
/ 1 year agoEuropean elite keen to exclude outsiders
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED Whichever way you care to define the i-word, it was an interesting few hours for Canadian sport....
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Chris Hewett
/ 1 year agoSlipper deserves place at top table
Wallaby props? How we used to snigger at them over here in England as Jason Leonard, Phil Vickery and Andrew Sheridan...
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Features
/ 1 year agoEntertaining the crowds is not the only thing
Paul Rees says that, while attracting a new audience is important, the game must not ignore its core support Scott Robertson...
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Latest News
/ 1 year agoPeter Jackson: Warrior Peter O’Mahony learns a brutal lesson
A Grand Slam winner last year, Peter O’Mahony backed it up by captaining Ireland to a second successive Six Nations title.
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Latest News
/ 1 year agoLest we forget: The bravery of the fallen
PETER JACKSON It's a long way from Maesteg to Mametz Wood, from a mining community in the Llynfi Valley to a...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 year agoInjury and illness can’t stop the fun
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER IT’S time to dip back into the 1974...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 year agoDon’t lose Six Nations bonus on a Sunday
By Brendan Gallagher There have been more reports recently about the Six Nations wanting to do away with Sunday games and...
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Features
/ 1 year agoExpect the Chiefs Mk2 to be real contenders
PAUL REES LOOKS AT WHY EXETER’S DOR HAS PUT PLAYER RETENTION AHEAD OF RECRUITMENT AT SANDY PARK The most eye-catching result...
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International Rugby
/ 1 year agoWhy is captain replaced so early?
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME So the All Blacks keep their home record of wins at Dunedin...
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James Harrington
/ 1 year agoTime for players to behave properly
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN There are no ‘good’ responses to Melvyn Jaminet’s violently racist outburst on social media, or the serious...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 1 year agoTowering talent who took Bath to the top
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK Jack Rowell’s contribution to Bath rugby was immeasurable from the beginning when he arrived...
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Latest News
/ 1 year agoWainwright stands out as Wales fail to impress
PETER JACKSON Political swings being all the rage, the sixth-best team in the Six Nations duly fell victim to one of...
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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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Chris Hewett
/ 1 year agoTrio who tempt us to search for genius
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED What do we mean when we talk of genius? It is a question as old as Noah,...
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Features
/ 1 year agoBig guns in danger of just looking after No.1
ANALYSIS PAUL REES WONDERS HOW THE SPORT CAN KEEP PAYING FOR ITSELF IN HARD TIMES....WHILE UNIONS BUILD FOR THE FUTURE When...
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Latest News
/ 1 year agoJack’s philosophy? Win today, win tomorrow…
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Of all the enduring memories from Jack Rowell’s tumultuous time in charge of...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 year agoThere’s more than money to Toulouse
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER There have, rightly, been acres of words written...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 year agoDangers of brain trauma not new
The perceived wisdom is that rugby was not overly aware of the dangers of concussion and brain trauma back in the...
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Features
/ 1 year ago‘It’s about being the best player you can be’
Paul Rees finds out what drives new Tigers head coach Michael Cheika and what he plans to do at Welford Road...
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International Rugby
/ 1 year agoBorthwick happy to go back for future
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME So it looks like Steve Borthwick has learned a lesson and decided...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 year agoScratch XV that downed Boks
Brendan Gallagher was at Sixways when a National League One team caused a big upset - here he looks back to the...
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James Harrington
/ 1 year agoJalibert is top of the ‘wanted’ list again
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Never mind that the words ‘Stade Toulousain’ have only just been meticulously punched into the plaque on...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 1 year agoEngland looking good for first Test
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK It was imperative that England won their opening game against Japan before taking on...
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Columnists
/ 1 year agoOur aim is to make everyone proud
OLAMIDE SODEKE ENGLAND U2O SECOND ROW Having landed in South Africa last Sunday, we’ve already had a memorable time on and...
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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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Chris Hewett
/ 1 year agoWhistler’s authority must be protected
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED In the middle: Sara Cox took charge of the Women’s Premiership final between Gloucester-Hartpury and Bristol last...
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Chris Hewett
/ 1 year agoCheika’s first job: to speak ‘Tiger’
As top-flight English clubs go, none are as English as Leicester, with their grizzled battalions of steadfast Midlands yeomanry – all...
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Features
/ 1 year agoBorthwick is right to keep faith with Smith
Paul Rees Looks at the challenges facing England in New Zealand... While another Aussie steps in at Leicester Steve Borthwick hopes...
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Features
/ 1 year agoPenaud proves the ultimate in French flair
Peter Jackson adds up the points scored last season across all games and finds the French with much to celebrate Damian...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 year ago25 years on and it’s still a special place
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER It was the 25th anniversary of the first-ever...
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Features
/ 1 year agoGloucesterer are facing a defining season
PAUL REES LOOKS AT THE CHALLENGES AHEAD FOR COACH GEORGE SKIVINGTON AND CEO ALEX BROWN AT KINGSHOLM Gloucester marked their 150th...
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Latest News
/ 1 year agoGatland hits the 50-mark for Wales
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Unless they change the habit of a lifetime in Australia over the next...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 1 year agoEngland have enough to down the All Blacks
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Steve Borthwick’s England team have taken their first step of their summer...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 year agoTry from the end of the world…
Brendan Gallagher looks back to 1994 when New Zealand last lost at Eden Park, beaten by a brilliant French team that...
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James Harrington
/ 1 year agoTerrific Toulouse go on the rampage
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN “We didn’t just lose the arm wrestle – we had our wrists broken under the table,” Bordeaux...
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Chris Hewett
/ 1 year agoWhy less might not be more for stars
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED MARTIN Johnson spent a rugby eternity perfecting his survival skills in the engine room of the scrum...
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Latest News
/ 1 year agoEtzebeth puts it on the line
PETER JACKSON Rising high: Peter O’Mahony, left, competes at the lineout with Eben Etzebeth PICTURE: Getty Images EBEN Etzebeth has never...
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Latest News
/ 1 year agoSpongeBob glad of his place in the Oldies XV
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW TWENTY years ago this very week on the banks of the Clyde, New...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 1 year agoWe’re all heading in different directions
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Sunday Mixed signals: The Championship is being seen as development tool –...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 1 year agoBorthwick should go with Marcus first up
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK It will be a choice between Harlequins’ Marcus Smith and Northampton’s Fin Smith at...
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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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