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Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Modern pros would do well to remember the old days
With the season over for all but the chosen few in the Premiership playoffs or the various tours in the next...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher column: Connacht, the ‘poor relations’ of Irish rugby
That which doesn’t break you, makes you. My favourite rugby pictures, and indeed story of the season so far, were the...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: James Davies can use Warren Gatland snub to star in Olympics
According to Warren Gatland, New Zealand is no country for young men to be initiated into the ranks of Test rugby,...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: Wallabies will be formidable on fast ground Down Under
George Smith has always defied convention, and the 35-year-old veteran Aussie openside continues to do so, capping his first – and...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher column: Return to the Exeter Championship title in 2010
The last time Exeter finished second in a regular season and contested the play-offs we witnessed a master class from Rob...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher column: Raise a glass to the Bramley Road faithful
It’s a long way from Bramley Road Southgate to the Grande Stadium Lyon and that journey has taken the best part...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: Mercenaries under fire as Agustin Pichot cries foul
Agustin Pichot was always a visionary scrum-half and the former Argentine captain has wasted no time in getting stuck into the...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Peak fitness has enabled George Kruis to scale new heights
George Kruis gets my vote for Player of the Year. Great players are defined by consistency of performance and what they...
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Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Gregor Townsend’s got his Glasgow Warriors battle-ready for Galway
As the dust settles on a pretty miserable Welsh effort in the Pro12, defending champions Glasgow Warriors are my tip to...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Even with TMOs, referees still miss foul play
At close of play on Friday night, 23 players had been sent off in European club competition this season compared to...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Play-offs should be used to assess tier two quality
The end of the season always spells triumph or disaster for one club or another and this year is no exception....
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Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Final day meltdown was just not acceptable
There’s no escaping the harsh reality that this has been the worst season in the history of Welsh regional rugby. Wales...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: Saracens can batter down the gates of Europe
Two years ago Saracens hit the wall. Then, as now, there was a European and Premiership double for the taking, but...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: This jealous snub only undermines the awards
There is something badly amiss in the shortlist for the 2016 Players’ Player of the Year award. The absence of a...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: New-look backline can tear it up if Leicester’s pack perform
Leicester have plenty of rivalries that stretch back in time, such as those against Northampton and Bath. The rivalry between Bath...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Little big man Harry Robinson joins list of mini victims
Harry Robinson’s first tour as a newly-capped international three years ago ended with a glowing report from the Wales management. Despite...
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Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Great Scott Williams will keep Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies on toes
Warren Gatland will have been grinning from ear to ear at the sight of Scott Williams back at the Principality Stadium...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Quotas undermine teams rather than build them
Oil and water, vinegar and milk…there are certain things that just don’t mix and should always be kept separate. Another is...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher laments the passing of rugby’s great occasion – the Middlesex Sevens
For decades the last weekend of April/first weekend of May always meant the Middlesex Sevens and although time moves on I’m...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: Andrew Cosslett’s new broom sweeps out Rob Andrew
Rob Andrew’s departure from the RFU as their professional rugby director may have been presented as a long-planned exit, but his...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Saracens have weaponry to conquer Europe now
It doesn’t matter whether you’re going for singles, doubles or trebles in terms of trophies and titles at the end of...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: Joe Lauchbury is fixing a steely gaze on his new challenges
Joe Launchbury knows what it is like to be the young, blue-eyed boy of the England pack. The Wasps lock also...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Underdogs Connacht my team of the season
Pat Lam achieved some notable firsts as a player at the end of the 20th century and the start of the...
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Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: We’ll see who thrives in pressure cauldron
Next Saturday’s Judgement Day could be just that for the Welsh regions and some players hoping to get into Warren Gatland’s...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Sorry Jerry Guscott, but I disagree with your Pro12 prognosis
I read with interest last week’s article by Jerry Guscott and his thoughts on why he thinks the Pro12 has failed...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher: How Richmond aim to be most ‘professional’ of amateurs …
It’s six weeks ago now, after a regular Tuesday night training session, that Richmond director of rugby Steve Hill and club...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: Mercenaries must be mixed with local talent
Jake White’s mercenary march at Montpellier has been gathering a head of steam. South Africa’s 2007 World Cup-winning coach may have...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Ignore the balance sheet, our grassroots game is in crisis
And so it begins. Australian rugby‘s announcement of a A$9.8 million (£5.3m) loss for the 2015 season, up from A$6.3 million...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain: Nathan Hughes must prove he has the clout to withstand the wolfpack assault
When it comes to individual clashes the Wasps against Saracens line-ups in the European Cup semi-finals at the Madejski flash like...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Johnny McNicholl bid mocks the registration rules
Johnny McNicholl has no Welsh ancestry. Nor has he set foot in Wales, but already he has spoken about his desire...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Come on Celts, it’s time to be the great entertainers
What a wonderful advert last weekend’s quarter-finals were for European Cup rugby, with the elite clubs of England and France going...
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Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Innovator Lyn Jones could be a great fit for Harlequins
Lyn Jones is one of rugby‘s great innovators and Harlequins could do far worse than appoint the Newport Gwent Dragons head...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain: No bluffing, Eddie Jones wants improvement– and fast!
If anyone was under any illusions about the relentless work-rate that Eddie Jones expects of himself, and, more significantly, of those...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain Column: Refs must crackdown to prevent this abuse
The growing unease in English Rugby Union’s refereeing ranks about the rise in football-style abuse of officials, as well as a...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher talks to Colin Deans 30 years on from his big Lions let-down
Thirty years ago this week – April 16, 1986 – Colin Deans finally achieved his ambition of starting at hooker in...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Aaron Mauger can turn Manu Tuilagi into an even more lethal weapon
Another breakthrough moment for Manu Tuilagi will come when he develops an understanding of what other players can do playing off...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Buy Dragons? No way on God’s earth! says David Moffett
The Dragons‘ ‘For Sale’ signs had no sooner gone up at Rodney Parade than a controversial figure began putting some distance...
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Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Pro12 must have all its star players on display
The Guinness Pro12 is in danger of becoming completely over-shadowed if something major is not done to raise its profile. Organisers...
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Columnists
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: If you want to hear a racist rant listen to Phil Bennett
What a surprise! World rugby‘s discipline hearing against Joe Marler saw him plead guilty, was given a ban and a fine...
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Columnists
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: Gypsygate opens a can of worms for World Rugby
Where does offensive, derogatory or discriminatory language, or behaviour, begin and end? That is the question that World Rugby are going...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Stripe me! How can this Zebre side be Champions?
Zebre have lost their last four away matches by scores that could double up as opening stands at the T20 World...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: I see Italy becoming a real powerhouse of the North
Brendan Gallagher‘s feature on the future of Italian rugby last week got me thinking – and not just about the Azzurri...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Saracens have found the answer to repeated success
Having won the Premiership for the first time in 2011 and then not achieving much in the immediate season afterwards, a...
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Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Senior men must take the blame at Ospreys
Ospreys held on for a good win at Newport Gwent Dragons on Friday night but it looks too little too late...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: James Haskell can add muscle to GB’s bid for Rio gold
Great Britain’s campaign to become the first team to win Sevens gold at the Rio Olympics is in such dire straits...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Good luck Conor O’Shea in saving Italy!
The great Sergio Parisse, and I use the word in its truest sense, was visibly outraged last week when the vultures...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Ravaged All Blacks offer hope to Wales
The striking similarities between Julian Savea and Nehe Milner-Skudder extend beyond the fact that each has scored eight tries in his...
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Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Wales must believe they can upset the All Blacks
Flexing your muscles on the beach is one thing – doing it in the ring is quite another. I’m sure the...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Stuart Hogg’s a worthy winner but Sarries pair push him close
George Kruis did not get onto the shortlist for the Six Nations Player of the Year, but along with the runner-up,...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Treating players like men helped win Grand Slam
Reflecting on last week’s Grand Slam I can’t help thinking how much the team has changed from the latter days of...
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