Nick Cain

Too many young players rejected too soon

4 June 2023 1 comment

Georgia’s U20 victory over England is an example of one country making the most of their resources, while the other is failing to do so, […]

Strewth, mate! Fast Eddie’s cash jackpot

28 May 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Eddie Jones returned to Twickenham this week as an RFU-made millionaire coach. Jones, who was paid over […]

David Emery honoured at rugby awards

28 May 2023 0 comments

David Emery is the reason that The Rugby Paper exists, and since its inception in September 2008 I have had the privilege of working alongside […]

RFU failed to enforce regulatory standards

21 May 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Nothing holds a mirror up to all that is wrong with the elite end of English rugby […]

Parisse and Ollivon sparkle

21 May 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN Toulon’s 43-19 European Challenge Cup victory over Glasgow was notable not just for the style in which the French club seized the title, […]

England need to get it right at scrum time

14 May 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Steve Borthwick’s decisionion to raid Leicester for his latest scrum coach – and England’s third in the […]

Second tier clubs are ready to play tough

14 May 2023 1 comment

The Championship clubs have taken a long time to become a coherent collective voice for change – with promotion and relegation at its core – […]

Eligibility laws that need to be changed

7 May 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE recent international eligibility law that allows Henry Thomas to be selected by Wales, just because he […]

How a pair of English-born props could foil Red Rose

7 May 2023 0 comments

Tomas Francis, the 71-cap Wales tighthead who has been first choice for Warren Gatland in both his incarnations as Wales coach, shares many characteristics with […]

CVC’s influence may not be in the best interests of clubs

30 April 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Twickenham is the jewel in English rugby’s crown, and there are grave concerns that the mismanagement of […]

‘Incredible’ Lawes, a One-Club-Man

30 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN COURTNEY Lawes confirmed himself as that rarest of breeds in the professional game, a One-Club Man, and one of the greatest there has […]

Stuck with rotten fruits of ring-fenced Prem

23 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK ANOTHER of the RFU’s anonymous review panels reported this week that England were short of the fitness […]

March of the Saints does us no good at all

23 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN The boast that the Premiership is the most competitive league in the world has been trashed. This was demonstrated on Friday night when […]

Retaining the status quo threatens to split game

16 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Club rugby in England is crying out for a new start, based on a sustainable future for […]

Meafou must miss out this time

16 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN Emmanuel Meafou is a one-man army at 6ft 8ins and 22 stone, and with that sort of physical firepower no wonder his adopted […]

A rout which should force Sweeney and O’Shea to go

9 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Those who want to turn rugby union in England into a protectionist franchise sport should reflect long […]

Taking the pizza! RFU is not fit for purpose

9 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN At at time when the Community game in England needs all the help it can get, we are faced with one RFU fiasco […]

Unjustifiable to banish players like Willis

2 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Jack Willis is an inspirational new force for England, but he looks to be on borrowed time. […]

Heartfelt tributes paid to The Judge

2 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN Paul Rendall, known as “The Judge”, is one of the game’s great characters and props, and on Thursday the Wasps Legends organised a […]

England need to be fit for purpose

26 March 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK ONE of the crosses that Steve Borthwick’s England team are going to have to bear after another […]

10-minute window to make the correct call

26 March 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN Freddie Steward’s red card being overturned by a Six Nations disciplinary panel was the right outcome because the decision to send him off […]

RFU needs to harness the top coaches

19 March 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Why is it that England’s best coaches are currently inspiring Ireland and France, the nations that are […]

Time for big guns to make amends

19 March 2023 1 comment

The RFU/Premiership/ Championship panel charged with restructuring the English club leagues is in place, and is trying to grip with the thorny issues threatening to […]

Too much fog to see where we are going

12 March 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The English club game has a great opportunity right now for an urgent overhaul, especially as the […]

Crowley deserves the credit for Azzurri surge

12 March 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN It is a travesty that Italy were fighting to avoid retaining the Wooden Spoon against Wales, because this Azzurri side has galvanised the […]

Borthwick’s news at 10 still signals confusion

5 March 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK If there was a fly-half in England contention who needed Premiership game-time last weekend it was George […]

France will provide true test for scrum

5 March 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN England’s attempted scrum fix resulted in small steps of improvement against Wales. Kyle Sinckler, who had a good game in the loose, was […]

Borthwick right to ask for eligibility changes

26 February 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Steve Borthwick has had the guts, and the gumption, to state that the RFU’s ban on selecting […]

French will want all angles covered

26 February 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN The French will be twitchy about any repeat against Scotland in Paris today of the defective TMO process which awarded the James Lowe […]

Ealing poised to break up cartel

19 February 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK ARE Ealing Trailfinders finally about to break the grip of an RFU-backed Premiership cartel which has now […]

Wasps likely to be caught in a tangled web

19 February 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN The Atlas Group’s purchase of Worcester Warriors from administrators Begbies Traynor, which includes the Sixways stadium, the site, and the name, is a […]

Urgent problems that RFU needs to address

12 February 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK England go into the second round of this Six Nations as the only team that Italy have […]

Borthwick right to give Farrell chance at 10

12 February 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN Steve Borthwick is paid to make tough calls, and credit to him for grasping the Marcus Smith-Owen Farrell nettle and bringing a halt […]

With this record, it’s time Sweeney headed to the exit

5 February 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Bill Sweeney will be looking over his shoulder as the Six Nations gets underway, and with good […]

Forgive me, but I don’t think I can take anymore

5 February 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN Common sense would have told the Welsh Rugby Union that banning a song like “Delilah” is doomed. It can ban its performance at […]

‘New’ England need to take their chances

29 January 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK A SIX Nations slip-up on home turf to Scotland in his first match as England head coach […]

Time this autocratic RFU is held to account

29 January 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN The warning signs that the RFU’s administrative standards have plumbed the depths became a red flashing light on Friday when senior administrators were […]

RFU has no right to deliver this low blow

22 January 2023 2 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The RFU has just introduced one of the biggest changes to the game in its 152-year history, […]

Borthwick putting faith in his old dogs

22 January 2023 0 comments

The message coming loud and clear from Steve Borthwick’s first England squad selection is that he and his coaching crew believe they can teach Eddie […]

RFU helps Farrell stay in England contention

15 January 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK England were facing a fly-half fiasco this week when Owen Farrell went in front of the RFU […]

It’s time Max made his return to No.10

15 January 2023 0 comments

The disciplinary convolutions surrounding Owen Farrell’s early return to match action against Scotland shines a spotlight on England’s chronic shortage of flyhalf stocks. Among the […]

England need scrum firing on all cylinders

8 January 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Here is a New Year prediction. The scrum will be hugely influential in the 2023 World Cup […]

Time to ban the curse of the caterpillar

8 January 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN The stop-watches are in play with a view to speeding-up the game by putting time limits on goal-kickers, setting scrums, forming lineouts, and […]

Time to use technology to help out referees

31 December 2022 1 comment

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The noxious abuse of referees is one of the most urgent issues confronting rugby union, and World […]

Christmas gift which shows soft mentality

31 December 2022 1 comment

NICK CAIN In a league with a genuine competitive edge teams do not throw away points in the way that Harlequins did against Bristol in […]

Selection maze the big test for Borthwick

23 December 2022 2 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK STEVE Borthwick’s brave new world, launched on Monday when he was confirmed as England’s head coach, faces […]

Jones had no right to take England to finals

18 December 2022 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK It is predictable hearing England players who were virtually given selection sinecures by Eddie Jones singing his […]

Clubs still in limbo as RFU fail to plan ahead

18 December 2022 0 comments

Wasps are in the Championship next season following the RFU board’s approval of their structure under new owner Chris Holland, and their move to a […]

Call for Sir Clive! It’s time to rebuild bridges

11 December 2022 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE end of Eddie Jones’ seven-year era following his sacking on Tuesday has highlighted why the RFU […]

This is one ludicrous idea we don’t need

11 December 2022 0 comments

NICK CAIN The RFU has plumbed the depths by considering a raft of changes which would reduce a new Premiership-Championship Cup to an experimental farce. […]

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