Columnists

RFU has utterly failed to bring the game together

31 December 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK HERE’S wishing The Rugby Paper’s loyal readers, and fans of the game everywhere, a happy and healthy […]

Reasons to be cheerful for rugby’s year ahead

31 December 2023 0 comments

Paul Rees canvasses the views of Premiership directors of rugby and finds there is a fair amount of optimism IT IS another year the professional […]

All Blacks destined to regain top spot

31 December 2023 1 comment

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED IT USED to be said in New Zealand that failure to win the World Cup endangered the government of the day. […]

At last we are going in right direction

31 December 2023 0 comments

It is always easier to bury English rugby’s alleged leaders than to praise them, but it would run counter to the seasonal spirit not to […]

When Merlene Ottey’s leotard grew nine sizes

31 December 2023 1 comment

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points NEW Year’s Eve and rugby always brings to mind England’s slightly eccentric […]

Biden steals the show in RAG awards

31 December 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Contrary to common belief, rugby’s event of the year did not happen in Paris on the last […]

Farewell to these fine men of rugby

31 December 2023 0 comments

Come hell or high water, The Grim Reaper never fails to take a day off from scything through his grisly business. A sample of his […]

Proud men who graced the game

31 December 2023 1 comment

Brendan Gallagher recalls the achievements of those from across the globe that the world of rugby lost in 2023 Sydney Millar CBE (Ballymena, Ireland, Barbarians, […]

Talented players will still miss out

31 December 2023 0 comments

JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME With the start of a new year, it’s the beginning of a new RFU and Premiership […]

Simmonds is facing a fight for survival

31 December 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN THE final weekend of 2023 – and we’re almost at the halfway point of the Top 14 season. There’s still a […]

I can see why Dupont has gold in his sights

24 December 2023 0 comments

JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK IT is very hard to think of France without Antoine Dupont as a driving force as both scrum-half […]

Here’s my England squad for Six Nations

24 December 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK There will have been times when the honeymoon period predicted for Steve Borthwick’s first year as England […]

Sweeney’s words causing deep anger

24 December 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK There is something radically wrong when the chief executive of the RFU – who is responsible for […]

Toulouse are the most entrancing side of them all

24 December 2023 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED Dupont or no Dupont, Ntamack or no Ntamack, this latest edition of the Champions Cup may well turn out to be […]

Gorging on a Christmas feast of non-stop rugby

24 December 2023 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT Rugby has always been a game of Big Ideas: Carwyn James, the patron saint of Stradey Park, was a thinker of weight and […]

The French out in front? That’s not how it looks

24 December 2023 0 comments

With 12 victories in 16 games, Paul Rees reflects on a promising start by English clubs in the Champions Cup It has been a chastening […]

Time of goodwill to all (well, nearly all)

24 December 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER hands out his Christmas goodies… HO HO HO. I’m normally more of a scrooge than a Santa at Christmas but, to […]

Day when the tears flowed for Devereux

24 December 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW THE Brewery Field in Bridgend last Wednesday night offered more than a few famous old faces in […]

Dreadful night for Scarlets

24 December 2023 0 comments

When they drank Llanelli dry the day the Scarlets beat New Zealand 51 years ago, the public houses to run out of beer included The […]

Secrets of learning about the dark arts

24 December 2023 0 comments

JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME LAST week’s paper, and in particular Nick Cain’s article, put a smile on my face that […]

O’Gara’s problems keep on coming

24 December 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Australian hooker Tolu Latu went straight into La Rochelle’s matchday squad for pre-Christmas trip to Stade Francais, days after completing a […]

Henry’s French leave won’t hold him back

17 December 2023 0 comments

JEREMY GUSCOTT IT’S time for the RFU/Premiership to wake up and go, ‘Wow, what’s wrong with us that a young player with the talent of […]

Hunt is on for next generation of props

17 December 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Five years ago there was a scrum feature in The Rugby Paper which forecast that unless England […]

So-called ‘partners’ deserve justice

17 December 2023 2 comments

NICK CAIN One of the most incomprehensible aspects of this season is that the PGP (Professional Game Partnership) is missing one crucial component. There is […]

England don’t need a comfort blanket

17 December 2023 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED According to the industrious Alex Sanderson, who will surely be in the running for a senior place in the England coaching […]

Dungeon of obscurity needs to be shut

17 December 2023 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT Barely able to buy a round of drinks, let alone a win – the good men and true of Kingsholm are up against […]

Toulouse’s victory over Quins is top of my list

17 December 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS THE greatest single performance in the Heineken Cup? That’s a tricky one, there have been so many, but when pressed I normally opt […]

Millar knew how to keep ref onside

17 December 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS Dr Syd Millar was many things – Ballymena stalwart, redoubtable Ireland Test prop, successful Ireland coach and innovative rugby administrator at the dawn […]

Following in fathers’ footsteps

17 December 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS The tradition of “sons of” playing for France U20 is well and truly established now and seems to know no boundaries. Indeed, England […]

Ryan has to wise up and show respect

17 December 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Maybe one day James Ryan will find it in him to send a note of gratitude to […]

70 years on and two remain

17 December 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON This weekend marks the 70th anniversary of the rarest result in Test rugby. On Saturday, December 19, 1953, Wales beat New Zealand and […]

The day Syd needed his teeth to be in

17 December 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON Syd Millar’s Himalayan climb along the cutting edge of rugby history encompassed three momentous events: the invincible Lions tour of 1974, the inaugural […]

Social media can hurt even the best

17 December 2023 0 comments

JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Last weekend saw some of the best rugby we have seen this season, including the World […]

Olympics causing financial headache

17 December 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The new cycle of French senior men’s rugby starts here – a month-and-a-half after the 2023 Rugby World Cup ended, and […]

French power will be so tough to overcome

10 December 2023 0 comments

JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK English clubs are up against it in the Champions Cup because they are competing against French clubs which […]

The Viking will put steel back into Bath

10 December 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE Viking – a.k.a. RG Snyman – is expected to arrive in Bath this summer, and given […]

Sorry to see European Champions Cup lose its shine

10 December 2023 0 comments

The quality of rugby union’s competitions is crucial to its future as a professional sport. However, what we are witnessing is gold standard club/provincial competitions […]

£750,000 payoff for Jones just staggering

10 December 2023 0 comments

We have now discovered that Eddie Jones was almost certainly paid the equivalent of a full year’s £750,000 salary in a severance package negotiated with […]

Minnows can make splash of a whale

10 December 2023 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED ACCORDING to Donald J Trump – you may have heard of him – “losers” are the lowest of the low, “suckers” […]

We need outcome that we can trust

10 December 2023 0 comments

It has been heading our way for many months, but now it seems horribly real. The concussion lawsuit laid against three governing bodies – World […]

A team stuffed full of captains

10 December 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER I was having one final lingering look at that 2003 England reunion […]

I can’t see how a single action can cover it all

10 December 2023 0 comments

Lawyers and the legal system move in mysterious ways but as a layman it’s difficult to understand how the law firm Rylands Garth hopes to […]

Too many are being pushed to the edge

10 December 2023 0 comments

Paul Rees says it’s time to ensure players spend less time in the gym and more with the ball in their hands Max Malins […]

Race for the top is going to be close

10 December 2023 0 comments

The Premiership is taking a short rest after eight rounds and by Christmas will have reached the halfway stage. It is a consequence of a […]

It’s time for Lions to hunt change

10 December 2023 0 comments

By JOE SANTAMARIA Crunch: Jonny Wilkinson weathered the storm to kick three late points to earn the Lions a draw against Argentina in Cardiff in […]

No room at the top for Welsh regions

10 December 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW AS Anglo-Welsh duels of the blood-and-guts variety go, one springs foremost to mind: a humdinger of a […]

Only right that the Lions play in Ireland

10 December 2023 0 comments

The Lions used to go out of their way to make friends in little towns not much bigger than villages. Now that they have to […]

Extreme views we can do without

10 December 2023 0 comments

JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME I can’t help but wonder what is happening to this game of rugby that I love […]

Davies enjoying life in a new lake

10 December 2023 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN SWAPPING Dragons for a new challenge at Grenoble – and the lens of Welsh rugby for relative anonymity in southeast France […]

Good on Farrell for putting his family first

3 December 2023 0 comments

JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK Owen Farrell’s decision to step away from England duty was a surprise, but almost all of the comments […]

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