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Latest News
/ 5 years agoLegitimate questions deserve real answers
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK BILL Beaumont might well be wondering who controls the global game. Is it...
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Chris Hewett
/ 5 years agoRoberts adds more glitter to his CV
CHRIS HEWETT THE title “Renaissance Man” is a big one to bestow on a mere rugby player, but all things considered,...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 5 years agoSouth African question will take years to answer
JEFF PROBYN THE news that South Africa have signed an extension to continue in the Rugby Championship until at least the...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoMemory of Gibbs’ try never fades for Dafydd
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Storm Dudley howled along the Porthcawl seafront as if defying a middle-aged Lion...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoBiggar looks like he’s enjoying himself
PETER JACKSON DAN Biggar, duly lauded for the dropgoal which did for Scotland last week, is to be congratulated for something...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 5 years agoEngland need to stay calm to land KO punch
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK THERE are moments in games like England were involved in last weekend at Murrayfield...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoKick for points, Ben – this isn’t a Prem game!
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK TOM Curry should have no shortage of helpers, or advice, as England’s embryo...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoLedesma is beaten by the bubbles
NICK CAIN THE attraction of coaching at World Cups appears to have lost some of its gloss – or at least...
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Chris Hewett
/ 5 years agoWe must make Italy offer they can’t refuse
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Hard as it is to sympathise with someone who shoots two men during dinner –a shameful waste...
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James Harrington
/ 5 years agoToulouse suffer fifth defeat in a row
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN No Top 14 matches were originally scheduled for this weekend – the second of the Six Nations...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoLet’s hear it for those little guys
NICK CAIN IT is great to see small wingers with dancing feet and blistering pace, like Scotland’s Darcy Graham (5ft 9ins)...
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Chris Hewett
/ 5 years agoAllow me to leap to Eddie’s defence!
CHRIS HEWETT WHENEVER we talk of Edward I, which admittedly is not an everyday occurrence, we invariably refer to him as...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 5 years agoEddie has got away with his ref attack
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME The start of the Six Nations last week had everything we have...
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Features
/ 5 years agoSuddenly the wonders of Rome hold perils for Eddie
NICK CAIN ASSESSES THE ANSWERS ENGLAND MUST PROVIDE AGAINST ITALY TODAY IF England stick with the excuse-ridden mindset post- Murrayfield that...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 years agoNew, sleek French are the masters of motion
BRENDAN GALLAGHER VERDICT Rugby is more prone to hype than most sports with a large element of the big fight weigh...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoIrish imports pay their way better than Welsh
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Ireland showing Wales the way goes beyond what happened in the Six Nations...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoLet’s tip a top hat to Varsity showman
PETER JACKSON EXACTLY 150 years ago last Thursday, Oxford beat Cambridge in the inaugural Varsity match under the captaincy of a...
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Shane Williams
/ 5 years agoWales find solutions to the problems of Dublin
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Debut to remember: Jac Morgan PICTURE: Getty Images Dan Biggar, left, and Jonathan Davies celebrate...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoGolden boy Jean-Pierre inspired a generation
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THERE are too many Englishmen happy to genuflect at the altar of “French...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoBrain injury rules must be more stringent
NICK CAIN RUGBY Union’s governing bodies must urgently take action to make concussion protocols far more stringent. World Rugby and...
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Chris Hewett
/ 5 years agoThese late, late shows are a test of nerve
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Funny places, rugby Press boxes. It was comedy gold, listening to the antediluvian correspondent of a middle-market...
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Columnists
/ 5 years agoMoney alone can’t buy success
PAUL REES SPEAKS TO PREMIERSHIP DIRECTORS OF RUGBY ABOUT THE SALARY CAP CUTS As Pat Lam wrestles with the question whether...
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Chris Hewett
/ 5 years agoSerendipity enhances Euro Cup’s Round of 16
CHRIS HEWETT UNINTENDED consequences? You can’t move for them in the Union game, whether the governing class is ring-fencing the Premiership...
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James Harrington
/ 5 years agoOverseas players facing the squeeze
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN It turns out the week leading up to the first round of the Six Nations – the...
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Columnists
/ 5 years agoIntrepid Robin was reliant for telling truth
PETER JACKSON NOBODY understood the old tribalism of Welsh club rugby better than Robin Davey. As chief rugby correspondent of the...
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Columnists
/ 5 years agoSmith does enough to give England hope
JEREMY GUSCOTT Bright spark: Marcus Smith Considering this was the first away game for Marcus Smith in an England jersey, and...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 5 years agoWhat a stupid time to change the scrum laws!
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Wouldn’t you know it? Just days before the first major tournament with...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoSidestep on booze is as weak as the new beer
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW The Welsh Rugby Union’s half-hearted attempt to rectify their stadium’s portrayal as the...
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Shane Williams
/ 5 years agoBrilliant Basham is one reason to be cheerful
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Outstanding: Taine Basham scores PICTURE: Getty Images Must start: Ross Moriarty Let’s face it, that...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoGatland’s available if Eddie fails again
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE main impediment to changing international coaches in the two years leading into...
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Latest News
/ 5 years ago£500,000 to swap helmets is woke joke
NICK CAIN THE Exeter Chiefs, North American Indianstyle, are dead, but hail to the Dumnonii Chiefs! Catchy it isn’t, but apparently...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 years agoThe Rugby Paper’s Six Nations preview: Green giants can cast long shadow over rivals
Amid the clinking cutlery and a few chinking glasses, The Rugby Paper’s brain’s trust gathered at Jeremy Guscott’s favourite Bath watering...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoA Murrayfield ambush waits for England
ENGLAND Nick Cain assesses England’s opening match and their wider issues THE Scots are an ambush outfit, and the last thing...
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James Harrington
/ 5 years agoFrance must deliver… and Galthie knows it
FRANCE Fans expect this to be best year yet under Galthie, writes James Harrington Talisman: Antoine Dupont is expected to be...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 5 years agoBattle of the 10s will be exciting at Murrayfield
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK MARCUS Smith playing opposite Finn Russell at fly-half is an intriguing head-to-head going into...
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James Harrington
/ 5 years agoRelief as Dupont returns to action
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Forty-nine days after he last played rugby, scrum-half, Antoine Dupont returned to action last night, alongside international...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoSexton and Biggar aim to break tradition
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Johnny Sexton sets out on Saturday aiming to be the first flyhalf to...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 5 years agoThe importance of a Test captain is exaggerated
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME There’s just a week to go before the start of what I...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoBlue means yellow in Wayne’s world
PETER JACKSON WAYNE Barnes, admirably true to form, set a shining example of how referees ought to react when players confront...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoPearce advice falls on deaf ears
PETER JACKSON A CURIOUS exchange took place outside the Ulster dressing room last Saturday night, one which highlighted the professional game’s...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoA crocks XV to take on the best
PETER JACKSON SO MANY established internationals will be missing from the Six Nations starting grid that it’s easily possible to pick...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoMoriarty’s physicality will be vital in Dublin
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Momentum is everything in the Six Nations and whoever comes out on top in the...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoSix Nations hits £20m jackpot of prize cash
By PETER JACKSON THE Six Nations will be playing for record sums in prize money of around £20m when the tournament...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoChatty men Sexton and Biggar give refs earache
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW The most argumentative of fly-halves to be found in Europe, or anywhere else...
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Chris Hewett
/ 5 years agoIt’s time to rethink a British and Irish League
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST The best we can say for the United Rugby Championship is that the revamped tournament is having...
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James Harrington
/ 5 years agoGalthie’s surprise UFO lands his chance
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN France coach Fabien Galthie revealed his squad selection for Les Bleus’ first training camp ahead of the...
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Latest News
/ 5 years agoGloucester have No.9 factory
PETER JACKSON SINCE the turn of the century, three Gloucester scrum-halves have played for England: Willi Heinz, Peter Richards and Andy...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 5 years agoWarp-speed Radwan is the new Jason Robinson
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK WHAT struck me about the announce- ment of England’s Six Nations squad by Eddie...
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Chris Hewett
/ 5 years agoRugby needs this new ITV audience
CHRIS HEWETT WHO out there remembers what occurred immediately after the great Ashes series of 2005? To be clear: pretty much...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 5 years agoMy double Slam means more now
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Last week I wrote about the first of our back-toback Grand Slams...
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