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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 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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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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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 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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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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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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Latest News
/ 4 years agoHard road, but Biggar got there in the end
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Throughout his long Ireland career, the peerless Jackie Kyle missed a mere four...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoEngland’s attack has not evolved under Gleeson
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK THIS Six Nations has been competitive, with its usual share of brilliance and letdowns,...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoChosen 30 to make the final hurdle
PETER JACKSON GIVEN the Six Nations’ capacity for wreaking havoc on a Grand National scale, it is all too easy to...
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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 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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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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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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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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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoLet’s hope Leicester can afford Pollard
CHRIS HEWETT THE Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers, the Pandora Papers. Three massive data leaks exposing dodgy dealing in the financial...
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Shane Williams
/ 4 years agoDay a little man stood tall in land of the giants
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Little magician: Ange Capuozzo beats Kieran Hardy on his way to setting up the try...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoTemporary stands at Bath reek of double standards
NICK CAIN AT the same time as two clubs, Ealing and Doncaster, have failed the RFU/Premiership ground criteria rules to be...
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Features
/ 4 years agoGalthie looks and acts the part as Brains behind French renaissance
NICK CAIN CHARTS THE KEY CHANGES FABIEN GALTHIE HAS MADE SINCE TAKING CHARGE OF FRANCE FABIEN Galthie’s transformation of France’s fortunes...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoBiarritz’s top-flight dream all but over
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Promotion and relegation matters returned firmly to the forefront of Top 14 rugby minds, after bottom side...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoDenying promotion wasn’t RFU decision
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME I was surprised last week that so many people whom I thought...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoAli knew Beech Bottom by heart
JEFF PROBYN LAST week I attended a memorial for a player, Ali Mills, from one of my very first clubs which...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoBorthwick’s only duty is to his team, get over it!
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Steve Borthwick had enough on his plate during Leicester’s defeat at Saracens in North London last weekend...
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Shane Williams
/ 4 years agoWales must learn to nail crucial moments
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Letting it slip: Antoine Dupont of France steals the ball off Jonathan Davies of Wales...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoExeter’s gain is a big loss for Wales
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW With a surname like his, Tom O’Flaherty sounds as though he ought to...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoSwitching Steward to centre isn’t the answer
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK COME in No.12, your time is now! That is the call that Eddie...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoCups galore but there’s room for one more
PETER JACKSON FOR decade after decade, the old fogies responsible for running the world’s oldest annual international sporting event steadfastly refused...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoJaminet’s boot has given France a new dimension
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK MELVYN Jaminet is for me the key to France, winning Six Nations titles, Grand...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoLock star Jolmes is latest UFO to appear
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The French for UFO is OVNI – which stands for objet volant non identifié. It is a...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoEngland are going in wrong direction
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Going to a full Twickenham stadium last Saturday after virtually a two...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoDupont is heading for greatness like Gareth
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST It has been reported with a high degree of certainty that Aaron Smith, an undeniably brilliant New...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoAustralian rules must have Boon crying into his beer
CHRIS HEWETT BACK in the day, when men were men and Australians considered themselves more masculine than the rest of the...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoHow could Francis be deemed fit to return?
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Professor John Fairclough is staring at a video of the 20th minute collision...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoA right mess entirely of the RFU’s making
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE minority who support ring-fencing can wail and gnash their teeth as much...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoShaun’s turned Achilles heel into French strength
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND There was always a chance whenever I played against France of finding a gap or...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoIn adversity, Italy earn legion of admirers
PETER JACKSON EVER since the Five became Six, no captain had found himself in an emergency as grim as the one...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoHas Jones provided value for money?
NICK CAIN BY the end of his seventh year as England coach, Eddie Jones will have been paid £5.25 million in...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoLack of ball carriers has blunted England attack
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK THERE was some prospect of England doing well in the 2022 Six Nations, although...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoJuggernaut Joseph has found his smile at Pau
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN This has been a bleublanc-rouge letter week for former France U20 phenomenon Jordan Joseph. It started last...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoIt’s time now for Eddie to plan for life after Tuilagi
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME There’s something about England versus Wales that always makes me smile whatever...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoF-bomb was careless but Deano had a case
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Some of the things Ron Atkinson said during a long and lavishly rewarded career as a football...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoAcademies should start at bottom and work their way up
JEFF PROBYN I’M really surprised that the Premiership are actually calling for the Championship to be expanded to include their Academy...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoGood on Diamond for telling it like it is
CHRIS HEWETT HATS off to the straight-talking Steve Diamond, “lead rugby consultant” – aka “new boss” – at Worcester. In this...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoBlack wasn’t always on sunny side in Australia
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW A veritable torrent of tributes has been flowing since Steve Black’s sudden death...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoStorm warning! Get Collier on front line
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK WILL Collier has served his time in the shadows, but, as England face...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoPied Piper Inga was worth his weight
PETER JACKSON AN icy wind blew in off the Tyne the day Sir John Hall interrupted a Spanish holiday to preside...
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Latest News
/ 4 years ago‘Hybrid’ Championship idea must not be given green light
NICK CAIN IT is good to see that the concept of an English Cup competition, pitching Championship clubs against Premiership ‘A’...
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Shane Williams
/ 4 years agoThree tries but Wales pay price for slow start
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Running the show: England fly-half Marcus Smith Where was the Welsh side of the second...
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