Peter Jackson

Legend of the ‘Bearded Beast’ Esteve

12 November 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON FOR sheer bloodthirsty brutality, no international fixture of the last half century has come remotely close to matching France-Wales in Paris of the […]

Like Dr Luyt, the game is still far too one-eyed

5 November 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW THE first World Cup dinner after a South Africa-New Zealand final since 1995 apparently ended without a […]

‘Pence’, the most humble superstar

29 October 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW When the curtain comes down on his international career next Saturday, Leigh Halfpenny will need a removal […]

Final bow for these veterans

29 October 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON Now that the World Cup has come and gone, so, too, has a distinguished team of veterans with matching track records. While the […]

60 years on and what a day it was!

29 October 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON Monday marks the 60th anniversary of surely the greatest single act of giant-killing by a club team against the All Blacks: Newport 3 […]

Put Kolbe fast show on the big TV screen

22 October 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Seven days on, Thomas Ramos will still be kicking himself over falling victim to the mother of […]

Johnny should be OK by 2051

22 October 2023 0 comments

Sean Fitzpatrick, suitably jubilant over the All Blacks’ gigantic win over Ireland, offered Johnny Sexton some sobering advice on how long it takes to recover […]

Regions facing a battle to stay afloat

15 October 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW ACCORDING to the official blurb, Wales’ match against the Barbarians next month is designed as a homecoming […]

History backing France

15 October 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON For reasons that defy all logic, France have never failed to reach a World Cup final once every 12 years: Auckland 1987, Cardiff […]

Blocking out the noise

15 October 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON The Springboks have been warming up for tonight’s semi-final against France to the overpowering sound of an ecstatic Gallic multitude ringing in their […]

Too many matches that don’t matter

8 October 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW FROM my lofty perch in Block D, Row 11, Seat 8 of the Stade Atlantique, it looked […]

Battling North has history in his sights

1 October 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW REAL champions get back up even when (they think) they can’t – the words of Jack Dempsey, […]

Macron’s winning ways with Shaun

24 September 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON Shaun Edwards has been winning friends and admirers all his rugby life. Now he has a new one who calls the Elysee Palace […]

The double agents who have enjoyed two lives

24 September 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW “We can have no 50-50 allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing […]

PJ keeps on rolling, against all the odds

17 September 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW THE rain hadn’t long stopped sheeting down when the Grand Old Man of the World Cup made […]

Why Vernon would take a dim view of this kicking game

17 September 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON Roughly 30 years ago, a new coach took charge of a junior club in a suburb of Cardiff, a drop goal or two […]

Dai Watkins, a magnet for every hit-man in north

10 September 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW David Watkins used to be fond of telling two anecdotes from his bruising initiation into Rugby League. […]

Camberabero was light years ahead of his time

10 September 2023 0 comments

Didier Camberabero is in his early Sixties now, twice as old as when he decorated a work of French art at Twickenham worthy of beatification […]

Healy sorry to be joining Crocks XV

3 September 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW After 14 years at the sharp end of Test combat, Cian Healy never had a better chance […]

Springboks flick the power switch

3 September 2023 0 comments

South Africa beat everyone to the punch by having the nerve to turn their substitute bench into virtually a complete auxiliary pack. Whether they will […]

Teague’s TV block

3 September 2023 0 comments

Mike Teague, a Lion among Lions during the series victory in Australia, says he has no intention of watching the World Cup in which case […]

When Deans & Co enjoyed free beer

3 September 2023 0 comments

When the Scottish and Welsh pioneers landed in New Zealand for the first World Cup, they saw an advertisement that made them think they had […]

Veteran Earls out on his own

27 August 2023 0 comments

Like his native Limerick, there has never been anything flash or fancy about Keith Earls which goes some way to understanding why he might have […]

Treacherous route for top-ranked team

27 August 2023 0 comments

Before they know it, a pair of sacked England coaches will be back in Paris on World Cup business to oversee the second momentous collision […]

Top Cat’s rousing farewell journey

27 August 2023 0 comments

Finlay Calder shall never forget how Clive Rowlands stood four-square behind him after the Lions’ traumatic start to their victorious series in Australia. More than […]

Hardly the sound of a world in harmony

20 August 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW THE majority of the all-Australian trio responsible for clearing Owen Farrell will be on World Cup duty […]

Hesford built on the family tradition

20 August 2023 0 comments

Bob Hesford did more than his bit to extend and enhance the family’s unique tradition of appearing in cup finals across three footballing codes. His […]

So sad to see WRU still living in the past

13 August 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW IT TOOK both sides at The Battle of the Big Little Horn 50 years to bury the […]

Golden oldies make decent team

13 August 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON Johnny Sexton will not be the oldest player on starting grid when the chequered flag goes up on the World Cup in 26 […]

Top Cat: charisma, sermons and style

6 August 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW IF ONLY Mark Twain had been born half a century later, on the banks of the Tawe […]

Norton never forgot his friend Murdoch

6 August 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON Tane Norton never lost sight of one image from his first UK tour as an All Black, that of Keith Murdoch saying goodbye […]

How the £1m man found true love in Llanelli

30 July 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW THE sorrow of Trevor Francis’ sudden death extended beyond the cavernous theatres of English football to the […]

The day Sir Gregory tore Wales to shreds

30 July 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON LONG before they began losing their way on the field at the Arms Park, England once endured the absurdity of losing a player […]

French starting to believe in miracles

23 July 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Those fearful that France have cornered the market in the supernatural will not be surprised to learn […]

New shirts which fair take your breath away

23 July 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE RFU and WRU reacted to the cost-of-living crisis by joining forces in a display seen by many fans as another exercise in […]

Through thick, thin…and now thinner

23 July 2023 1 comment

PETER JACKSON The Gallagher Premiership could hardly have chosen a more challenging week for the release of next season’s fixtures than one when The Ashes […]

Still silent over Dai

23 July 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON CARDIFF suspended Dai Young without a word of explanation just before their last match of the season on April 22. Three months later, […]

70 years on, it’s now tears of joy for Boston

16 July 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW AT HOME in Angelina Street one Friday evening during the early spring of 1953, Billy Boston thought […]

Eddie still happy to dole out the advice

16 July 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON Far from being cowed at the sight of his team being stopped a long way inside the distance by the Springboks, Eddie Jones […]

Wales pull another one from nowhere

9 July 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW When it comes to finding players from anywhere and nowhere for World Cups, Wales can be relied […]

Cripps, the hard man overlooked by Big Five

9 July 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON Brandon Cripps earned his stripes in the twice-weekly mayhem of the Welsh club scene during an era when more than one wounded English […]

Recalling when all roads led to the sea

2 July 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW As any half-decent student of European history knows, the first Russian Revolution of 1905 paved the way […]

Familiar faces find some new identities

25 June 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Nine New Zealanders, four Australians, a goalkicking Irishman and an English prop are on track to make […]

Limited by a flawed structure

25 June 2023 0 comments

Back in those blessed years when the Heineken Cup often delivered matches of greater passion and technical skill than the Six Nations, the draw for […]

Mullen is so sorry to see his club fall

18 June 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW BRIAN Mullen has spent his working life helping a multitude of people keep a roof over their […]

Ireland fears are building for Sexton

18 June 2023 0 comments

Four weeks after the event, European Club Rugby is still investigating Johnny Sexton’s confrontation with all three match officials at the end of Leinster’s Champions’ […]

He’s quite some man, that Emery…

11 June 2023 0 comments

David Emery 1946-2023 Peter Jackson looks back on the life and times of a giant in the world of sport and newspapers The Sixties hadn’t […]

Safety first as red cards rise to an all-time high

11 June 2023 0 comments

Peter Jackson finds that only Ireland kept on the right side of every referee as the game gets to grips with improved safety Red cards […]

Top Cat happy to recall the glory days

11 June 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW THE only man to captain Wales, coach Wales, select Wales, manage Wales, and the Lions, is sitting […]

There’s no stopping Ramos

11 June 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON Thomas Ramos is en route to finishing the season 100 or so points clear of his nearest challenger across Europe’s three major Leagues. […]

Peter Jackson

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