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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoBunker system may expand to other contests
It was always going to be a World Cup in which discipline would be crucial with a zero tolerance on head...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoToo many matches that don’t matter
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW FROM my lofty perch in Block D, Row 11, Seat 8 of the...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoRFU must provide a pathway for everyone
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME WELL, who would have believed it? One of the best teams in...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoKolbe move to Toulon in the spotlight
JAMES HARRINGTON The pre-season period of summer 2021 was fairly humdrum in France. Not that most players, coaches, or journalists for...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoGalthie joy as France’s wait for Meafou is nearly over
Expect to see New Zealand-born, Australia-raised Emmanuel Meafou in a France squad as early as next year in time for the start...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoFarrell doesn’t get into my XV
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK AS England approach their last pool match against Samoa on Saturday, and the likelihood...
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Rugby World Cup
/ 2 years agoIn Gats we trust! Old boss has new tricks
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND IF THE Wales win over Australia proved anything it is that in Gats we trust!...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoSchism which is set to tear game apart
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK There is a schism waiting to happen in the English game, and it...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoFor once, Erasmus makes the wrong call
Rassie Erasmus is not known for missing many tricks when it comes to tactical thinking, whether in selection or playing mind-games....
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoIt wasn’t so easy back in Rory’s day
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED RORY Underwood. Remember him? You should. To this day, the Leicester wing stands tall – rather taller...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoTime to take the show on the road, England
According to those who know their stuff when it comes to the scorched landscape of domestic politics, there is a prime...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoWarrior spirit at heart of the game
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points I’VE been surprised that some have been surprised...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoShame of the RFU blazers
It's funny what tugs at your emotions and I was caught unaware last week by the traditional pre-season picture of the...
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Features
/ 2 years agoNorthern stars enjoying life in the new order
Paul Rees sees the wheel turn, proof of how despair for some teams can quickly turn into dreams Was it only...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoGatland right to put his faith in Tompkins
After Wales’s home defeat to England in the Six Nations, a match which went ahead after their players backed down from...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoBattling North has history in his sights
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW REAL champions get back up even when (they think) they can’t – the...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years ago24 teams would mean yet more mismatches
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME AS THE World Cup dominates everything in rugby at the moment surely...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoBiarritz enjoy a change in fortune
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN FRANCE could… Scotland need… Australia on the brink of… Fiji might … South Africa will… Wales already...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoGrowing options for Borthwick
PAUL REES It was Chile, and England were hot stuff. They had three outside-halves on the pitch in the final 30...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoChile’s enthusiastic approach helps England rediscover their mojo
BRENDAN GALLAGHER CHILE have given us many things. Some of the greatest vineyards and wines on the planet; soaring belching volcanoes,...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoEngland lack that wolf pack mentality
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK OWEN Farrell was back in the England starting line-up for Chile, and it will...
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Shane Williams
/ 2 years agoMorgan needs to lead way for Wales
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND ONE thing is certain about today’s vital Pool C clash between Wales and Australia in...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoGreat to see Ardao shine on world stage
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK One of the great joys of World Cups is the platform that gives...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoRFU hierarchy must address core financial issues
NICK CAIN The reaction to the landmark RFU Council letter in which 30 members have challenged the current leadership of RFU...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoPrem Cup shows the sham of no relegation
NICK CAIN The early rounds of the new Premiership Cup has shown the RFU-endorsed ring-fencing of English rugby’s top league to...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoBiggest boots are made for winning
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED If catches win cricket matches – a fact of sporting life mischievously underscored by the recent joke...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoSure you are in the right place, Sonny Bill?
CHRIS HEWETT There are still those of us, generally of “a certain age”, who continue to defend the BBC as though...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoMinnows beginning to prove their worth
Paul Rees reports on how World Rugby's investment below decks has started to make a difference THE Adelaide Oval is arguably...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoFord does not need escort to guide England
Joe Marler likes to say it as it is. The England prop is not one to cloak his words in euphemism...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoMacron’s winning ways with Shaun
PETER JACKSON Shaun Edwards has been winning friends and admirers all his rugby life. Now he has a new one who...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoThe double agents who have enjoyed two lives
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW "We can have no 50-50 allegiance in this country. Either a man is...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoTime for Italy to play like big boys
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER AS keen observers of sport, we are all amateur psychologists and, with that in mind, it’s been...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoAnother fine mess! Pinto ban so unfair
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER WORLD Rugby and their disciplinary officials have come...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoJust in time, England seem to be improving
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME WELL, who would have thought it? After the dismal performances in the...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoToulouse enjoy a taste of America
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN THE World Cup break in the Top 14 season has given club coaches plenty to think about....
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoFormer referees are now the ‘must-haves’ for clubs
To have one referee on staff may be considered sensible. To have two – could that be excessive? France’s professional clubs...
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Rugby World Cup
/ 2 years agoGreat to see the spine of a new team emerge
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND JOB DONE . . . just! Five vital points to Wales, but many of the...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoEngland must up the tempo and go at Japan
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK THE reality of the Argentina game was that England managed to dig deep and...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoWe must not ignore Cipriani’s treatment
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Danny Cipriani’s recent biography has shined a light on the player cliques within...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoBunker boys need to be fair
NICK CAIN Tom Curry’s red card after a bunker review was to be expected under the current laws aimed at preventing...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoTime for an elite 16-team contest
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST OCTOBER 2003 was a busy old month, what with Mother Teresa being beatified by Pope John Paul...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoFor me, anthems strike the right note
CHRIS HEWETT FAR be it for us to fly in the face of public opinion in this corner of the paper,...
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Features
/ 2 years agoReviving the lost art of the drop goal
Paul Rees sees George Ford join an impressive list of players whose quick thinking has made the difference GEORGE Ford resurrected...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoTime aspiring nations received more even-handed officiating
IT WAS hard not to feel for Fiji at the end of one of the epic World Cup matches. Not because...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoPJ keeps on rolling, against all the odds
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW THE rain hadn’t long stopped sheeting down when the Grand Old Man of...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoWhy Vernon would take a dim view of this kicking game
PETER JACKSON Roughly 30 years ago, a new coach took charge of a junior club in a suburb of Cardiff, a...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoChance for Ford to prove he’s No1
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME WHAT a start to this World Cup with host France beating the...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoVannes fail to keep out Beziers
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN AWAY from the bright lights of the World Cup, domestic rugby in France has, mostly, continued. The...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoWhere does this leave Farrell?
PAUL REES Steve Borthwick tore up his playbook with the team he selected to face Argentina and his boldness saw a...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoWhen you go down to 14, it’s flight or fight… and England fought
BRENDAN GALLAGHER SOMETIMES a little adversity does you good and it certainly sparked a reaction from England in Marseille last night....
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