Chris Hewett

Five Lions tours, seven World Cups, dozens of major international matches on four continents - Chris wasn't selected for any of them, despite captaining the mighty Walcot Old Boys for a whole season (give or take the odd 60-day suspension).

Happily, he had the good fortune to spend a quarter of a century covering the union game's great occasions as a journalist, mostly as rugby correspondent of The Independent newspaper.

Chris cut his teeth as a sportswriter on the Bristol Evening Post, moved into magazines after the 1995 global tournament in South Africa and then surfaced in Fleet Street.

During his spell on the Indy, working alongside some of the most gifted wordsmiths in the profession, he ghosted columns with a starry cast of coaches: Jack Rowell, Andy Robinson, Eddie Jones, Brian Ashton and Brian Smith.

After the closure of the paper in 2016, he penned the autobiographies of such oval-ball luminaries as Rob Andrew, Ian Robertson and Warren Gatland.

Having finally accepted that Jeremy Guscott, a fellow Walcot man, was the better player, he spends his time composing a weekly column for The Rugby Paper.

News By Chris Hewett

Chris Hewett
/ 5 years ago

Big freeze at World Rugby | Chris Hewett

SO World Rugby, the non-governing governing body, continues to move at the speed of stasis in reshaping the global calendar. Nothing...

By Chris Hewett
Chris Hewett
/ 5 years ago

Return of the ruck will save our game | Chris Hewett

Bring on the counter-ruck by taking out the 'ball-killers', writes Chris Hewett

By Chris Hewett
Chris Hewett
/ 5 years ago

Djokovic should take notice of Eddie | Chris Hewett

Eddie Jones' perfect quip in response to tennis' deluded anti-vaxxer, Novak Djokovic, after his outspoken views on Australia's Covid-19 restrictions

By Chris Hewett
Chris Hewett
/ 5 years ago

Enemies of academies get their facts wrong | Chris Hewett

Chris Hewett looks at how solid production within Premiership academies doesn't always prove to be a saving grace

By Chris Hewett
Chris Hewett
/ 5 years ago

Time to stop humiliating teams at World Cups | Chris Hewett

Chris Hewett looks at how some of the Tier 2 nations have a tall ask of progressing from World Cup pool...

By Chris Hewett
Chris Hewett
/ 5 years ago

The Eagles need to start flying | Chris Hewett

Will rugby ever smash its way into the mainstream of sport Stateside?

By Chris Hewett
Chris Hewett
/ 5 years ago

Cameron Redpath must tread own path to the top | Chris Hewett

Ex-England U20 Redpath should not be persecuted for taking the decision to make every go of Test rugby with Scotland, writes...

By Chris Hewett
Chris Hewett
/ 5 years ago

The Boks are all deserting their barren rugby land | Chris Hewett

Chris Hewett bemoans the overloading of South African talent across European teams, and the effects on rugby in South Africa itself

By Chris Hewett
Chris Hewett
/ 5 years ago

Uncapped, yet so special this team of club heroes | Chris Hewett

Chris Hewett builds a team of leadership and impact players who have not received full credit for the value their give...

By Chris Hewett
Chris Hewett
/ 5 years ago

Matera’s new video won’t hide his nasties | Chris Hewett

THIS column is no friend of Pablo Matera and his fellow Pumas, the lock Guido Petti and the hooker Santiago Socino....

By Chris Hewett
Chris Hewett
/ 5 years ago

Last laugh for donkies in earning rates among pro players | Chris Hewett

IT COMES as no great surprise that on average across the three major leagues in Europe, outside-halves command the biggest salaries....

By Chris Hewett
Chris Hewett
/ 5 years ago

Alfie Barbeary could become The Boss – but not yet | Chris Hewett

Barbeary's time out with gives teams plenty of changes to identify weaknesses to his seemingly unstoppable game

By Chris Hewett
Chris Hewett
/ 5 years ago

Paul Gustard should tell it as it is more often | Chris Hewett

The Harlequins head of rugby Paul Gustard spoke honestly during an on-air interview during the defeat to Racing 92

By Chris Hewett
Columnists
/ 5 years ago

Festive fun as Henson overcomes Fearns KO | Chris Hewett

Chris Hewett offers a digest of Christmas stories to warm the cockles

By Chris Hewett
Columnists
/ 5 years ago

Hewett column: Guscott’s Lions plea resonates so strongly

Chris Hewett laments the focus on defence by England against France, asking where the free reign in attack is for players...

By Chris Hewett
Columnists
/ 5 years ago

Hewett column: Have World Rugby the wit to save our game?

Chris Hewett questions whether rugby is stuck in a time warp, unable to modernise with sound logic at its core

By Chris Hewett
Columnists
/ 6 years ago

Hewett column: Why mess with a format that made the Champions Cup great?

Home and away knockout legs in the Champions Cup? Oh EPCR, what have you done?

By Chris Hewett
Columnists
/ 6 years ago

Hewett column: Heads out of the bunker chaps and point the way!

The sound of silence across the spectrum of rugby's powerbrokers is profound during this crisis, writes Chris Hewett

By Chris Hewett
The Rugby Paper
/ 6 years ago

Whenever play resumes,listen to Hewett

THE RFU released their ‘return to rugby roadmap’ last week,concerning the return of the community game. It shows there has been...

By Chris Hewett
Columnists
/ 6 years ago

Hewett column: Dan Leo is the Rashford figurehead rugby needs

Leo's examinations of World Rugby's governance, or lack thereof, can create pertinent change

By Chris Hewett
Columnists
/ 6 years ago

Hewett column: In a galaxy far, far away lives World Rugby men

Would the little green men out there in the universe be baffled by rugby?

By Chris Hewett
Columnists
/ 6 years ago

Hewett column: Lansdown argument all about gaining monopoly

Bristol and Bath hold the advantage in the Premiership with their financial muscle, writes Chris Hewett

By Chris Hewett
Columnists
/ 6 years ago

Hewett column: Reduce the size of the bench? It can’t happen

It's 40 years since Robin Cowling played through a dislocated shoulder against French great Robert Paparemborde

By Chris Hewett
Columnists
/ 6 years ago

Hewett column: Bill Beaumont wears the crown, others wield the power

Chris Hewett shares his view that World Rugby's governance makes FIFA look like a beacon of democracy

By Chris Hewett
Columnists
/ 6 years ago

Hewett column: Now, more than ever, the game needs strong leadership

Never let a good crisis go to waste. Winston Churchill, no less, was busily preparing the ground for the formation of...

By Chris Hewett