Brendan Gallagher Archives - Page 18 of 19

Brendan Gallagher

Brendan Gallagher reminisces about some unique times with a hell-raising rugby fanatic

26 December 2013 1 comment

The security guard’s radio crackled around a deserted Twickenham: “Lawrence Of Arabia and a Man Called Horse are leaving the stadium. Please see these gentlemen […]

Brendan Gallagher talks to Nigel Owens about the challenges – and joy – of reffing around the world

19 December 2013 0 comments

It might surprise you to learn – although possibly not – that the pre-eminent referee in world rugby in 2013 has never sat down and […]

Brendan Gallagher talks to John Carter, the Varsity captain who doesn’t put winning first

11 December 2013 0 comments

John Carter may look like Sebastien Chabal’s younger, wilder, brother and when his battered body can be welded together for 80 minutes he often plays […]

Brendan Gallagher: Aussie kids who changed the face of rugby for ever

4 December 2013 0 comments

It’s hard to credit in this era of 12 or 13 Test matches per calendar year by all the major Test sides but Australia did […]

Brendan Gallagher on Fiji’s duty to end 100 years of lost opportunities

29 November 2013 0 comments

There is a myth that the full All Blacks have never played in Fiji which is not quite true. In 1913, on the way back […]

Keith Wood: Only Ireland’s very best for 80 minutes will suffice

21 November 2013 0 comments

Only five nations on this rugby planet have beaten New Zealand in a Test match in 110 years of trying so perhaps Ireland shouldn’t beat […]

Brendan Gallagher’s autumn verdict: McCaw & co look like world champions elect to me

20 November 2013 0 comments

England gave it a rattle and for once New Zealand seemed to come off second best with the ref but still the All Blacks, without […]

Brendan Gallagher’s fallen heroes

14 November 2013 1 comment

1914 06 09 14 Xavier ‘Gastofer’ Mayssonnie (France): The only Toulouse player in France’s first Five nations game. Adjutant 259ème Regiment d’Infanterie. KIA Meuse 14 […]

Brendan Gallagher’s verdict on Wales

13 November 2013 0 comments

And still Wales can’t make the breakthrough the nation demands and expects and their talent warrants. For all their excellence on the European scene – […]

Brendan Gallagher: League legend Ray French never let ‘Cold War’ sour his Union links

8 November 2013 0 comments

Somewhere up in Ray French’s attic, amid thousands of programmes, is a dusty typed letter from the RFU clearing him to re-continue his voluntary coaching […]

Brendan Gallagher remembers the 2003 World Cup triumph with Lawrence Dallaglio

31 October 2013 0 comments

Lawrence Dallaglio wipes his plate clean – the monster ‘Magnifica’ breakfast at Carluccios in Richmond having been routed with lip-smacking relish – orders fresh coffee […]

Brendan Gallagher: Gregor Townsend still getting to grips with the enigma of French rugby

24 October 2013 0 comments

Gregor Townsend, who did rather more than simply survive five seasons of club rugby in France, has always insisted that one day he will write […]

Brendan Gallagher: Heroic, tragic and downright eccentric, yes rugby has it all

17 October 2013 1 comment

A mate of mine, literary agent David Luxton, has had the brilliant idea of organising the inaugural London Sports Writing Festival this week at Lord’s […]

Brendan Gallagher: The quiet-man keeping that Tigers’ roar loud and clear

10 October 2013 0 comments

A small, bald-headed gent has been taking centre stage at Leicester on match days this autumn but the volume and quantity of ‘chat’ has diminished […]

Brendan Gallagher: Don’t let the big boys’ Euro row put an end to Treviso dream

3 October 2013 0 comments

While the ERC blazers, club representatives from England and France and TV executives squabble endlessly over the future of a European club competition, the likes […]

Brendan Gallagher: At last, John Dawes gets his rightful recognition

26 September 2013 0 comments

Why is ‘legendary’ status conferred on some outstanding rugby personalities but denied others? Who decides these things and how? Does the rugby pubic instinctively recognise […]

Brendan Gallagher: Will tickets be banana skin that upsets RWC 2015?

19 September 2013 0 comments

Two years out from the 1987 World Cup the competition didn’t exist, it was just a concept being kicked around by IRB Blazers and the […]

Brendan Gallagher: When Pooler were top dogs, amid the blood, mud and beer

12 September 2013 1 comment

Exactly 30 years ago Pontypool embarked on a season, the likes of which we will never see again in Britain or Ireland. In just under […]

Brendan Gallagher finds an intriguing cultural exchange occurring at the Stoop

6 September 2013 0 comments

Nick Evans may be on the verge of becoming a British citizen and proud UK passport holder and he has chosen to make his home […]

Brendan Gallagher gets the inside track on how England’s academies are producing players to progress on the international pathway

30 August 2013 1 comment

Until this June, England – despite its vast player resources – had never won the IRB U20 World Championship or indeed its predecessor the IRB […]