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Latest News
/ 4 years agoTest match? More a cash match, Ian!
PETER JACKSON THE latest in the neverending series of mismatches between Wales and New Zealand ought to have left certain All...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoDon’t ignore Hayman
PETER JACKSON CARL Hayman’s distressing diagnosis of early-onset dementia, as revealed by New Zealand journalist Dylan Cleaver in his gripping interview...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoArgentina makes more RWC sense than USA
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST There is a very good reason why rugby’s dollar-desperate establishment has failed to secure a place for...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoJapan has a yen for showing clubs matter
CHRIS HEWETT ALL that publicity about the setting up of a new “global” 12-a-side tournament and positioning it as rugby’s answer...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWorld Rugby must act to battle the lure of the yen
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE devaluation of the international game was emphasised this week after it was...
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Shane Williams
/ 4 years agoWales threw away 20 points – that’s criminal
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Big doubt for the Boks: Alun Wyn Jones walks off injured PICTURE: Getty Images Rhys...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoFull-back deserves to be a specialist position
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK THE image of a fullback that sticks in the memory during my early years...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoBattered Sandy takes his secret to the grave
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Every now and then, whenever the x-certificate stuff reared its ugly head during...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoAzema in for Collazo at Toulon – at a price!
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Two stories have gripped French rugby this week – the changing of the coach at Toulon, and...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoNonu’s coming to America, better tell San Diego!
PETER JACKSON MA’A NONU’S tendency to make Vasco da Gama look a trifle seasick by comparison still knows no bounds. As...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoPerfect match for Eddie to unleash his new generation
NICK CAIN SAYS ENGLAND MUST BLOOD THEIR NEW BOYS AGAINST TONGA IF England were playing Tonga’s top team of players at...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoAmerica’s RWC bid is dream for World Rugby
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Who said that dreams don’t come true? First we had the Premiership’s...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoThe old guard will be on bus to France for 2023
JEFF PROBYN HOW old is too old to play interational rugby – and who should be the judge? That’s a question...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoStrange to snub George like this
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST WHAT is it with Jamie George? Or, to put the same question in a different, more accurate...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoToo much of Wales has become a rugby wasteland
CHRIS HEWETT The Rhinogydd range, rough and remote; the micro-breweries of Gwynedd; RS Thomas, the fierce preacher-poet of the Llyn Peninsula...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoEddie’s delay could prove deadly for England
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK EDDIE Jones has become the rugby equivalent of a shape-shifter, being hailed in...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoTo win, Wales will need a performance of the ages
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND WHEN Steve Hansen picked me to face New Zealand at the 2003 World Cup, he...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoEddie musn’t load Smith down with tactical data
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK THE England squad of 35 picked by Eddie Jones for the autumn series is...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoShanklins suffer twice at hands of All Blacks
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW The Shanklin family from Pembrokeshire knows exactly what it takes to go the...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoNtamack at 12 with Jalibert 10 is the plan
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN After this weekend’s Top 14 matches, Fabien Galthie’s chosen 42 will head to FFR’s spartan ‘Marcatraz’ headquarters...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoAutumn series may be best for some years
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME If there was one thing that last week’s game between Bath and...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoMy concussion test puts me in the clear – for a few years anyway!
JEFF PROBYN AROUND five years ago, I took part in a brain study and the results have just been published so...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWar-bonnets are just a salute to courage
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE problem that the ExChiefs4Change pressure group has is that it is annexing...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoCall up for Young is common sense now
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Heading home: Wasps flanker Thomas Young deserves his call up to Wales squad PICTURE: Getty...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoEarly bird Baxter got some giant pickings
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW One day more than two years ago, Rob Baxter got up at four...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoVermeulen in not quite such a hurry to join Ulster after all
PETER JACKSON DUANE Vermeulen was only saying the other week about how he ‘couldn’t wait to become part of the Ulster...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoBig question is who does Eddie play outside Smith
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK WHEN Marcus Smith first broke through as an apprentice I saw him as having...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoHastings’ historic act won this battle of Murrayfield
PETER JACKSON GEORGE Hastings from Dursley is a name which will still ring a faint bell in the memories of long-standing...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoA lot rests on Kolbe’s shoulders – and knee
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Toulon have welcomed a few global superstars down the years – but it’s difficult to imagine any...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoDiversity’s problem? Lack of Asian stars
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Why is rugby so keen to raise issues and set out to...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoDash for cash must not damage rugby’s ethos | Nick Cain
THE £32m takeover of Saracens by a polyglot international consortium comes with a health warning as the club’s erstwhile banker and...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoAlun Wyn stays shtum on private matters
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Say Nothing is an awardwinning book on ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, its...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoDon’t let new cup trash great Euro comp
NICK CAIN THE capacity of this game to devalue its own gold standard tournaments is illustrated by the idea that the...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoAnayi finds TV figures after all
PETER JACKSON THREE years ago PRO12 rugby chose to disconnect a multitude of viewers by wiping their matches off live BBC...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoScott’s renaissance is worthy of a Test recall
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND WALES are set to confirm their squad for a humdinger of an autumn series this...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoReaders complete Rugby XV name game
THANKS to all those prompted by the Max Wiltshire story last week, the assembly of a Place Name XV can now...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoFord’s not as sharp as Smith but he’s still class
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK GEORGE Ford is a player I’ve always admired, and I would call him a...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoJapan cash could force marquee men u-turn
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Fears over the future contracts of France’s internationals have raised the spectre of a marquee player system...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoExodus of players is real threat for game
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME A few weeks ago this paper had an interview with Peter Winterbottom,...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 years agoRugby Matters: Pro game in this country owes Nigel Wray a huge debt
I’ve always maintained that the long lens of rugby history will view Nigel Wray as a giant amongst pygmies and see...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoJourneymen Saffers won’t excite the Celtic fans
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST As the first of this season’s Billionaires’ Row derbies between Bristol and Bath, two wealthy clubs separated...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoSorry seems to be the easiest word
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW RYNO Pieterse’s horizontal hit on Bordeaux scrum-half Maxime Lucu demanded a long sentence....
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoTime must be called on endless game breaks | Nick Cain
PERPETUAL stoppages have become the scourge of international rugby. The biggest culprits in this regard are South Africa. The world champions...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoTethered Ryno has time for a rethink
CHRIS HEWETT YOU can do quite a lot in 12 weeks: walk the full length of the South West Coast Path...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoNo one messed with this mighty Max
PETER JACKSON SOME famous players had to make do with bearing the name of one place in England’s green and pleasant...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWayne Pivac has to nail key combos for World Cup | Shane Williams
I WAS sat down watching Scrum V with a cup of tea last Sunday when Wayne Pivac made a surprise appearance...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWomen’s team needs increased funding to compete
SHANE WILLIAMS I REALLY hope this autumn can represent a clean slate for Wales women’s side. The team has had an...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoGleeson can bring new dimension to England
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK Fresh thinking: Martin Gleeson with the England players at training last week PICTURE: Getty...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoWhy Clive Griffiths will dodge All Blacks showdown | Peter Jackson
On the last Saturday of this month, Clive Griffiths could have been watching Wales-New Zealand in Cardiff free of charge. He...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoLoss of county pathway has blocked young stars
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME It’s interesting to note that there are people out there who profess...
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