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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoIt’s time we made the players the main event
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST The sagacious lexicographer Dr Johnson – we’re talking Samuel here, not Martin – famously caused a ruckus...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoBossing line-outs is still the key skill
Chris Hewett Rugby has always had its share of brass necks, but did the Wales U20 lock Dafydd Jenkins abuse the...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoGrace looking to make most of return journey
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW One hundred summers ago, Johnny Ring left Port Talbot on a journey of...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoKen Kennedy, a Lion whose impact on top sport lasted a lifetime
Peter Jackson The Lions have lost another of their Invincibles in former Ireland hooker Ken Kennedy. His sudden death at the...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoRed cards are now haunting All Blacks
Peter Jackson In their first 112 years of Test rugby, the All Blacks got by without any more than three players...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoThe one that got away for Roberts
Peter Jackson If Jamie Roberts could only be granted the wish of playing one match over again, he would name the...
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Features
/ 3 years agoHow TMO helps and hinders referees
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Okay, I admit it. I got it wrong, I predicted another lesson...
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Features
/ 3 years agoTop eight to follow in Spring’s footsteps
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Young Racing 92 fullback Max Spring earned careful praise from France head coach Fabien Galthie after a...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 3 years agoGreat to see England find another level – Guscott
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK WHAT a fantastic turnaround it was by England in Brisbane, and I love the...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoBeware promises in the land of the free
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE USA may bill itself as “the land of the free, and the...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoLife in the front row is tough for Stuart
NICK CAIN All Test props have to relish the head-to-head confrontations with their opposite number, and the chance physically and psychologically...
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Shane Williams
/ 3 years agoTiger Tommy shows what can be done
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Rule No 1 in international sport – never disrespect your opponents! Whatever Jacques Nienaber thought...
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Features
/ 3 years agoWhat price for a jersey famous the world over?
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW One of the game’s most treasured jerseys has reappeared alongside its revered owner...
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Features
/ 3 years agoEngland undone by childish behaviour
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Despite the fact that they were the first games of the tours,...
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Club Rugby
/ 3 years agoClash of the champions will open new season
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Two blockbuster matches are scheduled for the opening weekend of the 2022/23 Top 14 season as European...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 3 years agoEngland must play smarter if they are to turn things around – Guscott
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK A big part of playing the game at the highest level is rugby intelligence,...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoEngland have the talent but they lack direction
PAUL REES Right, Henry Arundell made the most metres of any Red Rose player despite only having two touches England packed...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoWe must protect this jewel in club rugby
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ is common-sense wisdom that should apply...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoFunding plans for women just bizarre
NICK CAIN The RFU revealed a bizarre £220 million 10-year plan for professional women’s rugby that appears to be based more...
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Shane Williams
/ 3 years agoBiggar’s boys show how good they are
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Driving force: Taulupe Faletau was back to his magnificent best Sometimes you just have to...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoEngland are running out of time to find their identity
Paul Rees looks at what Eddie Jones needs to see from his players as they prepare for next year’s World Cup....
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoValue for money more important than ever
COLIN BOAG Anyone keeping a close eye on the Premiership clubs, and their announcements about departing and arriving players, can’t fail...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoSlammin’ Sam just won’t let story end
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Three decades and a thousand miles down the road, die-hard All Blacks supporters still unfurl their “Bring...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoExile Zach is next French revelation
BRENDAN GALLAGHER - Rugby Matters A weekly look at the game’s other talking points English Rugby, or rather the RFU and Premiership...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoEvergreen Parisse set to join the 500 club
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Amassing 500 matches among the European elite requires surviving an endurance test of...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 3 years agoPutting £222m into women’s game is a high-risk strategy
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Champions: Saracens celebrate after their victory in the Allianz Premier XVs final...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoWe’ll see if Jones has made any progress for World Cup
With player welfare supposedly at the forefront of everyone’s minds, who would believe the way international rugby tours are structured nowadays?...
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Features
/ 3 years agoGalthie in no rush to sign up his coaches
JAMES HARRINGTON - FRENCH COLUMN FFR President Bernard Laporte was ready to offer Les Bleus’ head coach Fabien Galthie a new,...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 3 years agoPlaying Farrell at 12 could cause trouble for England
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK The relevance of England’s game against the Barbarians is that it was an opportunity...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoEngland need to rewrite the script quickly
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The roll call for England’s three-Test tour of Australia reads as follows: two...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoCrusaders revive the dying art of rucking
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST The former England captain Phil de Glanville will continue as “Senior Professional Game Board Representative”, according to...
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International Rugby
/ 3 years agoQuestion is: Where are Wales mentally?
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND The first moment of truth of the summer for Welsh rugby comes at Loftus Versfeld...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoCrowley set to enjoy Italy’s ‘Blue summer’
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points After that brilliant last-minute win over Wales in...
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Features
/ 3 years agoAu Revoir, Arrivederci, Hywl Fawr, Goodbye…
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW At close of business on Friday, 40 Test players boasting a collective stack...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 3 years agoA rugby tale: From the sublime to the ridiculous
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Well, what an end to the season with two games of stark...
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Features
/ 3 years agoAll eyes on Mercer as he rules in Paris
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN There’s no doubt the better side won Friday’s Top 14 final. Montpellier’s 29-10 win over Castres at...
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Features
/ 3 years agoThe Rugby Paper Podcast: Episode Twenty-One with Jeff Probyn
The Rugby Paper Podcast returns this week as former England World Cup Finalist and English title winning prop Jeff Probyn joins...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoBurns has final word in tale of two celebrations
BRENDAN GALLAGHER THERE was almost too much to absorb in one gulp at Twickenham on Sunday but ultimately it was about...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoThis merry-go-round is fraught with danger
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK BY the time Eddie Jones selected his England team to take on a...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoCollier can help turn scrum into a weapon
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THIS is a testing time at tighthead, an England problem position which must...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoPhil was an inspiration, on and off the field
SHANE WILLIAMS: WALES AND LIONS LEGEND It has been a tough week in Welsh rugby following the passing of the great...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoBeauden, Finn and Marcus are keeping Bennett’s spirit alive
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Spike Milligan, comedy goldsmith and undisputed grandmaster of nonsense verse, counted rugby among the great loves of...
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Features
/ 3 years agoGoing back to basics was the only answer
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME So back to the future it is as the RFU finally recognises...
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Features
/ 3 years agoFrance star Woki still weighing his options
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN No sooner have France’s Top 14 clubs just about closed the book on recruitment for the year...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 3 years agoWeight of expectation will not lay heavy on the Welsh
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK IN some ways, Wales have nothing to lose going on a summer tour to...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoWrite off Cheika’s Pumas at your peril
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK ARGENTINA under Michael Cheika will be as aware as Eddie Jones’ England of...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoIt’s time to step up or face being left behind
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND It’s time for a re-think for the founding nations of the URC feast after the...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoHooky’s send-off finally put smiles back on Welsh faces
SHANE WILLIAMS I CAN officially reveal that I am available for motivational speeches, coaching clinics, TV commentary and written media work,...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoRennie has a healthy selection headache
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST History, we are told, is just one damned thing after another. And by way of rubbing it...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoFranchise departures remain a mystery…
CHRIS HEWETT DIDN’T take long, did it? Just a few short weeks after World Rugby – the non-governing governing body –...












