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Latest News
/ 4 years agoSo unfair that Ireland are on this path of pain
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Ireland have become the green giants of the game after doing what no...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoMayor ban highlights dangers of HGH
NICK CAIN The four-year ban given to Chris Mayor (right), the former Sale, Northampton and Wasps centre, after the RFU charged...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoTop dogs in danger of losing their bite
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST We’re almost there. By mid-November, the cast list of next year’s World Cup will be finalised, with...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoNo surprise that Boyd finds work back in NZ
CHRIS HEWETT There is no shortage of admiration in this corner of the paper for the coaching of Chris Boyd, so...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoPivac has riches when it comes to the back three
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND With Wales’ tour of South Africa at an end I’ve had a chance to reflect...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoDusty and Sully: Pair who lit up the game
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW They came into the world at different places in different times, two boys...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoRobertson makes sure message gets across
PETER JACKSON SCOTT Robertson has never needed a publicity agent to trumpet his serial success on behalf of the Crusaders and...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoWhy does injury tally only affect elite men?
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME The ugly spectre of head injuries raises it head again with former...
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Club Rugby
/ 4 years agoBroncan: We want to invest in youth
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Pre-season is now underway for all Top 14 sides apart from champions Montpellier, who officially return to...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoChile put pressure on US to up their game
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST When the Australian batsman Mark Waugh, brother of the masterly Test captain Steve, questioned the credentials of...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoPlaying under one flag could threaten the union
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Rugby is just a game, as the saying goes, but that doesn’t mean it is bereft of...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoRadical thinking required to make the game safer
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND It was harrowing reading about my old teammate Ryan Jones last weekend. I’m sure everyone...
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Club Rugby
/ 4 years agoWhy Wales should let Reffell stay at Leicester
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW As a Welshman thriving in the English Premiership, Tommy Reffell knows that a...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoEddie has made some big strides at the right time
TOM VARNDELL FORMER ENGLAND WING After a series win in Australia for the England men’s 15s and with a home Commonwealth...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoSo why was Vlaicu left off kicking list?
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Oh dear, rugby does continue to let itself...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoIreland’s triumph puts them in good company
An exceptional summer of Test rugby is over and what an advert for old fashioned three-Test tours and, in the case...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoIt’s no shock as Chile qualify
READERS of this column will not be surprised at Chile’s “shock” win over USA in the second leg of their America...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoScottish lock Tom relishing physical challenge
NEWS EXTRA ■By BEN JAYCOCK SCOTTISH Highlands second row Tom Smith has signed on for another year with Luctonians having revelled...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoA-list West were pride of the north
CLUB0FTHEWEEK BY BRENDAN GALLAGHER WEST HARTLEPOOL Founded: 1881 President: Dave Laycock Home Ground: Brinkburn 1,000 capacity (76 seats) Last season: Durham...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoAarvod revelled in Varsity culture
ALTHOUGH a fine schoolboy player at Durham, that nursery of many West players, Carl Aarvod went down to Emmanuel College, Cambridge...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoNEWS EXTRA
Injury-hit Bercis so relieved to be back in business ■By BEN JAYCOCK HAVING endured an injury ridden campaign last season, Ampthill...
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Features
/ 4 years agoEddie has to decide what style he wants
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Now the tours are over, there is a time to rest and...
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Features
/ 4 years agoFofana, one of the stars of 2006, to bow out
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Clermont star Wesley Fofana this week became the latest Top 14 player to join the annual line...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoBrilliant to win series but far from perfect
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK England are clearly in a better place now than they were when they started...
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Nick Cain
/ 4 years agoA veil of secrecy which keeps us all in the dark
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK There is a complete contradiction at the heart of the English Premiership having...
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Shane Williams
/ 4 years agoReturn of the old guard should drive Wales on
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND In the end, Cape Town was a step too far but, for a team so...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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
/ 4 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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