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Guest columnists
/ 9 years agoLions watch: full-backs and loosehead
Stuart Hogg is the name on everybody’s lips as the candidates for full-back in the 2017 Lions tour party showcase their...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 9 years agoYoung and Solomona top of the list outside bets for Lions
Is there any chance of Warren Gatland coming up with a genuine bolter for the 2017 Lions? Probably not. All four...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 9 years agoBrendan Gallagher on the famous Lions bolters
As far as I can determine the term “bolter” was originally an Australian equine expression used to describe a horse that...
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Peter Jackson
/ 9 years agoPeter Jackson: This Scotland team are a serious item
Scotland reaffirmed their status as title contenders yesterday by treating the faithful to something they had not witnessed for a long...
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Shane Williams
/ 9 years agoShane Williams: Missed chances again, now let Giles try and take them
Wales‘ Six Nations title hopes are now over and they have only themselves to blame. The defeat to England was an...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 9 years agoJeff Probyn: ‘Periodisation’ is a training concept from years back
With the first break in the Six Nations upon us, it gives the chance to look back at what is the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 9 years agoBrendan Gallagher remembers the 1977 Lions tour
History has not been kind to the 1977 Lions and, coming after the triumphs of 1971 and 1974, they were, perhaps,...
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Nick Cain
/ 9 years agoNick Cain: O’Driscoll is on the case to find any Kiwi flaws
When it comes to the lengths New Zealand will go to turn over the Lions there are none with better first-hand...
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Peter Jackson
/ 9 years agoPeter Jackson: No excuses, Rob, you did get it wrong over Moriarty
During the wash-up over the raging tidal wave of emotions unleashed in Cardiff all week, Wales found it necessary to deny...
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Shane Williams
/ 9 years agoShane Williams: Stick with Scott to lead the siege on Murrayfield
Wales’ performance against England was their best for two years – but I just couldn’t understand some of the substitutions Rob...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 9 years agoJeremy Guscott: Start Te’o against Italy and utilise Daly from full-back
In an ideal world Eddie Jones would love to arrive at the 2019 World Cup in Japan with 38 players that...
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Nick Cain
/ 9 years agoNick Cain gets an insight into the mind of England’s new midfield ace Ben Te’o
Ben Te’o and the England ‘finishers’ have got a strut in their step after making the difference in the late wins...
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Columnists
/ 9 years agoIt’s seven heaven for Armitage with Pau
FRENCH COLUMN Life has been somewhat eventful for Steffon Armitage, the back row forward voted the finest player in Europe not...
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Columnists
/ 9 years ago‘Periodisation’ is a training concept from years back
Acres of space: Elliot Daly receives the perfect pass from Owen Farrell to skin Alex Cuthbert PICTURE: Getty Images With the...
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Nick Cain
/ 9 years agoNick Cain: Crooked feeds are making a mockery of our game
These days TV commentators are clearly under orders from broadcasters not to mention them, but our readers say that crooked scrum...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 9 years agoJeff Probyn: Let’s hope it’s not referees who decide this Six Nations
The one thing we didn’t need has already happened and we have only just started what should be a contest between...
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Shane Williams
/ 9 years agoShane Williams: Why I worry for Wales in Edinburgh showpiece
Wales usually expect to win in Scotland, but I think this month’s trip to Murrayfield could be the toughest game of...
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Peter Jackson
/ 9 years agoPeter Jackson: Eddie Jones finds redemption in Welsh Colditz
Eddie Jones had taken a long time to reacquaint himself with Cardiff since the Wallabies gave him the last rites for...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 9 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Joost was a joy to watch and an utter nightmare to play against
Rarely, if ever, have the sporting gods given so abundantly before retracting their favours so suddenly and without sentiment. To see...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 9 years agoJeremy Guscott: It was bench warfare and England had the finishers
England are yet to find their best form in 2017 but, boy, are they making themselves into a phenomenally hard team...
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Peter Jackson
/ 9 years agoPeter Jackson: This farewell to a Bok hero was fit for a king
They carried his oak coffin out of Loftus Versveld a few minutes before three o’clock on Friday afternoon at the end...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 9 years agoJeff Probyn: Bonus points will hamper the development of Italy
Isn’t it strange how sometimes things happen that on the surface seem to be totally unrelated, but then have mind-blowing consequences?...
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Nick Cain
/ 9 years agoNick Cain: Six Nations offers Boks a route to salvation
As the Six Nations gets underway there is an issue that should be uppermost in the minds of its council, and...
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Peter Jackson
/ 9 years agoPeter Jackson: Stern Vern allows himself a smile as Scotland box clever
Murrayfield rejoiced yesterday at catching a glimpse of a moment even more truly historic than the Grand Old Championship‘s first bonus...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 9 years agoJeremy Guscott’s verdict: Te’o and Care’s cameos may force Eddie’s hand
Ben Te’o offered more of a threat in the final 12 minutes than the entire back division in the 68 preceding...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 9 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Play Itoje and Daly in their natural positions
Sometimes we can get carried away and expect too much from out young players with their extravagant talents encouraging us to...
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Peter Jackson
/ 9 years agoPeter Jackson: Open or shut case at Millennium Stadium
Just as the United Nations have America and the Mexican wall on their agenda, so the Six Nations have had Wales...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 9 years agoJeff Probyn: They’re all out to derail Eddie’s English chariot
In just a few more days, the waiting will be over and the greatest rugby tournament in the world will begin....
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Nick Cain
/ 9 years agoNick Cain: Sherylle Calder will keep focus on big prize
Sherylle Calder’s capacity to make a difference as a visual skills coach can be measured by the three-year contract she has...
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Shane Williams
/ 9 years agoShane Williams: Wales can challenge but Ireland are my tip
I’m confident Wales can challenge for the Six Nations title. Rob Howley did well in November to get three wins on...
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Nick Cain
/ 9 years agoAlchemist Eddie must again find the right formula
England go into the Six Nations in the grip of an injury drought that will test their well of playing talent...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 9 years agoJeremy Guscott: Finn’s big question is can he keep Ireland guessing
Finn Russell will be a big part of how Scotland do against Ireland in next weekend’s Six Nations game in Edinburgh,...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 9 years agoJeff Probyn: RFU mustn’t blame ‘incomers’ for increase in abuse of refs
With the excitement of the closely-fought battles for Champions Cup quarter-final places in this year’s competition, it would be easy to...
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Shane Williams
/ 9 years agoShane Williams: Let’s hear it for Howley’s gamble on young guns
I’ve said for a while that I would like to see a few new faces in the Wales squad for the...
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Nick Cain
/ 9 years agoThis is no way to treat the minnows of Europe
That Rugby Union has one set of rules for the rich and another for the poor was highlighted starkly this week....
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 9 years agoHair Bear Adam Jones finds happy new lair at the Stoop
One of the best, most direct and honest, Rugby autobiographies written in recent years was Bomb by Adam Jones which modestly...
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Peter Jackson
/ 9 years agoPeter Jackson: Like it or not George, facts are facts!
George North put his two big feet into the concussion debate the other day in sneering contempt of the media over...
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Nick Cain
/ 9 years agoHow Eddie Jones aims to tame the French monsters
When Dylan Hartley was knocked cold after colliding with the knee of Uini Atonio, France‘s gargantuan Kiwi-Samoan tight-head, in Paris last...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 9 years agoJeremy Guscott: A reborn Warburton can still make big Lions contribution
There are not many who have achieved what Sam Warburton has in the game, and even fewer who have done it...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 9 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Payback as Lions bare their teeth in New Zealand
Only those of a certain age can fully appreciate the excitement, and sheer disbelief, as news filtered back in the summer...
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Nick Cain
/ 9 years agoNick Cain talks to Des Seabrook, the coach of the North who beat the All Blacks in 1979
Des Seabrook was the architect of one of the greatest wins an English team has had over the All Blacks, when...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 9 years agoJeremy Guscott: Patience needed while refs negotiate the speed bump
The focus on the refereeing of high tackles has grown massively since last weekend’s games. The high tackles by Brad Barritt...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 9 years agoJeff Probyn: Modern referees are paid professionals, so act like it
Sometimes you get things wrong and then, when you realise and try to even things up for those you feel you...
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Peter Jackson
/ 9 years agoPeter Jackson: Warburton’s too good to be left in the cold for long
In hindsight, Sam Warburton might have seen the writing on the wall as well as everywhere else on the day of...
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Shane Williams
/ 9 years agoShane Williams – This won’t rule Sam out from Lions role
Sam Warburton‘s decision to give up the Wales captaincy won’t be one he’s taken lightly, but I think it’s the right...
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Nick Cain
/ 9 years agoCaptain? First Alun-Wyn must earn his place!
One of the oldest truisms in the game – and especially where Lions selection is concerned – is that the captain...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 9 years agoJeff Probyn: New tackle laws could help bring attacking rugby back
The start of a new year always brings anticipation for what lies ahead but also the chance to take a look...
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Peter Jackson
/ 9 years agoPeter Jackson: The day Big Bad Jim forgot his old pals act
The years keep rolling by but when it comes to dispensing their own brand of rough justice, a pair of Welsh...
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Shane Williams
/ 9 years agoShane Williams: Halfpenny should go to Scarlets, not Blues!
Leigh Halfpenny has a big decision to make on his future – but I believe it’s time for him to come...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 9 years agoBrendan Gallagher previews the last two rounds of the Champions Cup
The European Champions Cup – which will forever remain the ‘Heineken’ for those of a certain age – can sparkle at...
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