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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoWhy France must find right cover for Dupont
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK ANTOINE Dupont is captain of Toulouse for a reason, and as stand-in captain of...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoAlder can help make a pathway to success
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND It was good to see Nigel Walker recruit John Alder last week to bolster his...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoHigh time Bath hung up their silk pyjamas
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Marvin Hagler had it right – not that there were too many people queuing up to tell...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoSeeing is no longer believing in rugby
CHRIS HEWETT BACK in the day, when England were at the cutting edge of sports science and spending eye-watering amounts of...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoNo respite as the race for play-offs ramps up
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The rugby season in Europe’s top three leagues gets confused at this time of year, as we...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoToulon must do their maths to avoid points deduction
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TOULON’S end-ofseason run-in – and their points total for next season – may be complicated by JIFF...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoSorry saga of failures that haunt Arms Park
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Rout: Liam Williams celebrates after he scores for Scarlets against Cardiff last weekend...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWRU still think they were right over Big Al
PETER JACKSON THE Welsh Rugby Union hierarchy finally got around the other day to addressing the home defeat to Italy but...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWhy so lenient with Latu?
PETER JACKSON SILALOTU Latu, the Australian hooker who plays for Stade Francais when not in a state of suspension, will remain...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoEngland job needs Eddie’s full attention
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THIS is the week that Gareth Southgate did what Eddie Jones should have...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoChampions Cup has too many also-rans
NICK CAIN THE European Cup is being diluted by the decision to extend the qualification criteria from six teams in each...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoStats can be misleading without proper analysis
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME I read an article this week about how the game has changed...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWales must make more of age-grade production line
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND There are eight days of finals coming up at Principality Stadium this month and at...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoMastermind Boyd ought to be top of the RFU list
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Few of the people charged with running English rugby are blessed with a sense of direction. If...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoDundee classroom served Tom well
CHRIS HEWETT TOM Smith was the best Scottish rugby player of the professional era. No question. We can also describe him...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoToulon fans in uproar at Carbonel departure
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Even by Toulon’s unusual standards, this season has been an extraordinary tale of failure and redemption. But,...
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Features
/ 4 years agoBath bank on youth policy to bring back glory years
PAUL REES TALKS TO STUART HOOPER ABOUT BATH‘S MOVE TO NURTURE HOME GROWN PLAYERS When Bruce Craig bought Bath in 2010,...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWizard Kel put blind faith in his Saints life
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Kel Coslett got home late one summer’s night from the afternoon shift at...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoQuiet man Tom was fearless
PETER JACKSON OF all the tributes pouring forth from the great and the good over the death of Tom Smith, Jim...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 years agoHow the French are putting RFU to shame
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER I hopped onto the splendid dual language Top...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoSorry, but my old mate Brian is wrong
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Interesting to see my old mate Brian Moore professing in his newspaper...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoBarlot gets the better of big rival Mauvaka
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Castres Olympique hooker Gaetan Barlot scored his third Top 14 try of the season yesterday, scoring a...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoQuins out to topple the French kingmaker
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW As befitting a billionaire at least four times over, Mohed Altrad is...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoNorth still waiting on sidelines
PETER JACKSON GEORGE North reaches another milestone this month irrespective of his fitness, one which marks the remorseless march of time....
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoEddie’s gift-wrapped route to the semis
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE 2023 World Cup has the uplift of France, the hosts, having a...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoHat-trick star Marlie gets better with age
ROCKY CLARK ENGLAND’S MOST CAPPED PLAYER AND WORLD CUP WINNER Marlie Packer was outstanding for England last week in their big...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoDevil is in the detail of buyback option
NICK CAIN AFTER a couple months of putting down a smokescreen the RFU has finally given an answer to what happens...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoNext coach shouldn’t be shaped by Eddie
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Era of success: Will Carling is chaired from the pitch after Geoff...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoCatt’s made his mark by doing it the Ashton way
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST It does no violence to the truth to state that Italy are half as good a rugby...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWelsh regions aren’t at the races this season
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Dai Young was spot on this week when he said the regions should be thinking...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoEnglish successor shows faith in coaching system
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK WHEN it comes to England head coaches I used to think that it was...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoHigh price to pay for switching to satellite
CHRIS HEWETT IT WAS just a little discombobulating, listening to a sports presenter on BBC R4’s flagship Today programme talking about...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoRushing Alun Wyn back hard to justify
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW During a BBC interview last week, Alun Wyn Jones waxed lyrical about the...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoAshes cameo put Wales cap Rees in a class of his own
PETER JACKSON ALAN Rees won his Wales cap during the frozen winter of 1962-63. By then the Maesteg fly-half had been...
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Latest News
/ 4 years ago‘Beleaguered Bill’ tries to defend the indefensible
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK WHO runs the RFU, Bill Sweeney or Eddie Jones? There have been rumours...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoSweeney offers hope to clubs in second tier
NICK CAIN THERE could be good news for the Championship clubs, and the English club game as a whole, with indications...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoFreddie’s the best full-back, pick him there
Supreme at 15: Freddie Steward DUSTY Hare is confused by England’s backline changes, and the failure to make the most of...
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Nick Cain
/ 4 years agoEddie has had ample time to build a ‘new England’ and failed to do it
NICK CAIN SAYS ENGLAND’S DEFEAT IN FRANCE SHOULD HAVE BEEN EDDIE JONES’ LAST MATCH IN CHARGE ENGLAND’S defeat in Paris last...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoLes Bleues inspired to follow the men’s lead
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN A little over 24 hours after England’s statement win over Scotland in the first match of the...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoProgress is just about winning matches
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME With the Six Nations over and a week to digest the last...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoHome has not been a comfort at most RWCs
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Way back in the early 1950s – another moment when it was difficult to decide if English...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoWales’ fall from grace could hit an all-time low
CHRIS HEWETT ALL things considered, the world rankings do not feature highly on Wayne Pivac’s current agenda. The Wales coach would...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoGive next generation game time to develop
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Late bloomer: Alex Dombrandt starred for Cardiff Met Uni before breaking into professional rugby We’ve...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoEddie’s an easy target but he deserves to stay
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK IF we go back to The Rugby Paper round table in January, most of...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoInga taught Edwards to box clever
PETER JACKSON VA’AIGA Tuigamala, the cross-code superstar, lay in state at Waitakere Stadium in suburban Auckland the day before his funeral...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoNo time to rest as pressures mount up
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN This should have been a weekend off for those Top 14 and ProD2 players not involved in...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoTime for refs to follow directives or face axe
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THERE is nothing that undermines a professional sport more than being unclear about...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoThere will be more on Rogers’ naughty list
NICK CAIN ANOTHER week, another Premiership ‘rotten borough’ story. This time it is about Leicester, a club which behind the scenes...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoDominant scrum or not, backs lack ideas
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME You have got to take your hat off to the England team...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoWoodward versus Jones is box office sideshow
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Fierce rivalries may lose their heat over time, but they always leave a scorch mark on the...
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