News By Brendan Gallagher
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Club Rugby
/ 1 week agoGloucester 26-30 Bath: Atkinson double act gives champions a real test
It wasn’t the win that Gloucester badly need but it was, perhaps, the performance to galvanise their season as George Skivington’s...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 week agoBrendan Gallagher: Small in stature but big on talent
Back in the day it became almost a cliché that All Blacks forwards were all rugged frontiersmen and farmers – world...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 weeks agoBath 63-10 Edinburgh: Alfie Barbeary powers hosts into last 16
England don’t exactly lack for back-row candidates at present, but a rampaging Alfie Barbeary must come into the Six Nations equation...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 weeks agoBrendan Gallagher: European Champions Cup is still in dire need of an overhaul
The European Champions Cup which, after this weekend, goes back into hibernation for the best part of three months, remains in...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 weeks agoBrendan Gallagher: A Thursday showdown in Paris is nothing new for the Six Nations
There is very little new in rugby and, although much is being made of the ‘controversial’ decision to kick off the...
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Champions Cup
/ 3 weeks agoCastres 20-43 Bath: Johann van Graan’s side find their feet and race to the top
Bath made a reassuring return to top form in the south of France to take charge of their pool and, with...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 weeks agoBrendan Gallagher: State school game is in good health
English rugby’s over-reliance on private schools has been cited by some – notably Eddie Jones – as an issue in recent...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 weeks agoBrendan Gallagher: It’s no surprise Harlequins are finding the going tough
I’m surprised that so many people are surprised at Harlequins’ travails this season. It was always going to happen.
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Club Rugby
/ 4 weeks agoNewcastle Red Bulls 25-19 Gloucester: At last! Alan Dickens’ side find their wings
Newcastle Red Bulls, the team that had forgotten how to win, remembered just in time as they clung on against Gloucester...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 weeks agoBrendan Gallagher: Fran Cotton recalls the ‘indestructible’ Tony Bond
Sport is full of sliding doors moments and that was certainly the case with former England centre Tony Bond, who died...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: Magnums all round in my all-star awards
A cycling mate of mine – award-winning journalist Daniel Friebe – annually ranks the sport’s three Grand Tours using emojis denoting...
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Club Rugby
/ 1 month agoLeicester Tigers 45-14 Gloucester: Freddie Steward is starting to show he’s the man
Leicester Tigers, developing a midfield to threaten the best, outplayed a profligate Gloucester to add fresh impetus to a Premiership season...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: Hollie Davidson leads by example
By any criteria, Hollie Davidson must currently rank as one of the three or four best referees in the game, with...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: How you could rebuild an old but great empire
The last time I talked rugby with the late Eddie Butler was on The Rugby Paper podcast, not long after the...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 months agoSharks 28-23 Saracens: Sarries looking good but fail to take chances
This was a game Saracens could and should have won despite travelling to Durban with a much-changed team after putting Clermont...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: I fear the worst in Rugby World Cup mismatches
Rugby’s obsession with micro-management long ago became a disease, a sort of nervous disorder, and a full manifestation of this will...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Bravo referee Matt Carley for taking no nonsense
Of all the subjects that have irritated me in recent years – apart from the hardy annual of blatant forward passes...
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Autumn Internationals
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Time for Wales to build attack around Louis Rees-Zammit
In the macho unforgiving world of elite sport and especially rugby there is meant to be no consolation in defeat and...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Awards season has its problems
It’s the awards season and time to issue my annual warning about the vaguely ridiculous nature of awards – remember that...
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Autumn Internationals
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Keep the faith! This improving England team are made of the right stuff
Whisper it quietly but England are beginning to become street wise and savvy, they are learning from their mistakes and they...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: A bolt of brilliance in that Arctic winter
The old sporting, and indeed show business, maxim of leaving the punters wanting more has never rung truer than with Richard...
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Autumn Internationals
/ 3 months agoIreland 41-10 Japan: Irish take their time to get into right gear
Ireland’s power off the bench saw them home against a spirited Japanese side, but this was not a performance to put...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: When Pumas gave Wales a tough time
The record books tell us that Wales and today’s opponents, Argentina, have contested 22 Tests since their first official meeting in...
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Autumn Internationals
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Keep it simple, England, and forget the gimmicks
Trying to get a handle on this England team is not always easy, but after their eighth win on the bounce,...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: We need a full-time eligibility supremo
This column grew hoarse a few years back, arguing for World Rugby to loosen their belts just a little and spend...
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Club Rugby
/ 3 months agoNorthampton Saints 43-31 Saracens: Fantastic Tommy Freeman keeps Saints on top
Tommy Freeman, undoubtedly aware of the long queue of wings old and new pressing for England starting spots, chose the perfect...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Don’t hold Noah Caluori back – he’s too good
So a supernova named Noah Caluori, whose vapour trails lingered long in the sky over Hendon last Saturday night, is now...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Emily Scarratt has left a stellar legacy
We can, if we want, measure Emily Scarratt’s extraordinary career in bald facts.
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Club Rugby
/ 4 months agoGloucester 34-49 Bristol Bears: Cherry and Whites’ woe allows Bristol Bears to pounce
Gloucester continued their worst Prem start in history with defeat against Bristol Bears, compounded by injuries to three front line wingers.
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: David Bishop – Unforgiven and unforgettable
Not many sporting books have been cobbled together with the co-authors flat on their backs 200 miles apart, but that’s what...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: No-one is immune to this awful disease
I wonder if, by chance, you can guess what the following had in common: American photographer Eddie Adams; Japanese karate master...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Furious little bull who was as hard as nails
Imagine being a French rugby international in the tumultuous decade between 1971 and 1981.
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Club Rugby
/ 4 months agoBath 28-16 Sale Sharks: Ben Spencer steers Bath through the storm
On a wet and stormy night at the Rec, skipper Ben Spencer plotted safe passage for the champions with yet another...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Decline of Samoa is sad to see
Despite the expansion of the World Cup to 24 teams for RWC 2027, Samoa now run a serious risk of not...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Why it’s right time to invest in the ‘have nots’
A massive hat-tip to all those involved in both organising the Women’s World Cup and those behind England’s triumph, on and...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: The legacy of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s grandfather
Sensational fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is going to be a household name in South Africa – if not already – but we...
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Latest News
/ 4 months agoHarlequins 31-47 Bath: Champions take their time to get into top gear
Champions Bath hit the accelerator firmly after half time with a five-try burst to leave Harlequins for dead although a brace...
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Club Rugby
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: 15 who can light up the Prem
Brendan Gallagher chooses the players he thinks could be making a name for themselves in the coming season
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: World Cup 2035 has to be held in Europe
World Rugby fires the starting gun next week for those with dreams of hosting RWC2035, which seems an eternity away but...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoBrendan Gallagher: In my book, you’re a beauty, Beauden Barrett
I nearly choked on my coffee the other morning when watching the All Blacks against South Africa at Eden Park.
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoExeter Chiefs All-Time XV: All hail to best of the Chiefs
What would be the greatest all-time XV your club could field if you could travel back in time and select everybody...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Remarkable Los Pumas an example to us all
I've always eyed the World Rugby rankings with a little suspicion, possibly because I’ve never fully understood their machinations and how...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Hats off to England – a great first night at the Women’s World Cup
So England started with an 11 try romp, a World Cup record attendance of 42,723 and a performance to send a...
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Club Rugby
/ 5 months agoGlory boys for the glory days: Brendan Gallagher’s all-time Saracens XV
What would be the greatest All-time XV your club could field if you could travel back in time and select everybody...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Pioneers of Women’s rugby deserve to take the credit
I had to smile recently when reading that World Rugby had quickly stepped in to ensure that the teams from New...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Red Bull may herald the start of something big
The Red Bull takeover at Newcastle Falcons is intriguing on many levels but the question I keep asking myself is why...
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Latest News
/ 6 months agoLeicester’s all-time XV: Talented Tigers burning bright
What would be the greatest All-time XV your club could field if you could travel back in time and select everybody...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoBrendan Gallagher: British and Irish Lions tour no longer rugby’s Everest
The dust is beginning to settle on the 2025 Lions tour and that is a process that should be encouraged and...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoBrendan Gallagher: These tourists have been nowhere near as good as they should have been
For a long while I have held the sometimes unpopular view that Nic White was the most influential player at Sandy...
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Latest News
/ 6 months agoBrendan Gallagher’s All-Time Bath XV: Their beauties – and beasts…
What would be the greatest All-time XV your club could field if you could travel back in time and select everybody...












