Columnists
Jeremy Guscott: Foursome! I can’t pick out a winner for Six Nations
Based on where England have gone since the last year’s Six Nations fixture against Wales in Cardiff, and where the Welsh have gone, Maro Itoje’s team...
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Columnists
/ 3 days agoNick Cain: We don’t want these front row giants
It is dire news when a player is forced to retire due to health issues, as happened last week when France’s...
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Columnists
/ 3 days agoNick Cain: England must ditch the hype and make history
The Six Nations decision to play this season’s tournament opener between reigning champions France and Ireland in Paris on Thursday evening...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 days agoChris Hewett: For once, a cheer for the governing classes
Rugby's governing classes have a long track record of not knowing what day of the week it is, so it is...
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Columnists
/ 3 days agoPeter Jackson: Referees need to keep their distance
Behind locked doors at their camp on the Algarve, Ireland’s brains trust will have devoted more time than usual analysing the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 days agoBrendan Gallagher: Why putting your faith in data doesn’t add up
Of all the sports most ill-suited to detailed statistical analysis it strikes me that rugby union comfortably tops this list, which...
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Columnists
/ 1 week agoJeremy Guscott: A fit Fin Smith gets my vote for the No.10 role with England
England’s 9-10 combination of Alex Mitchell and George Ford were at the heart of a strong Autumn series in which they...
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Columnists
/ 1 week agoNick Cain: The Grand Slam is within reach for England
Steve Borthwick’s ship is steady as she goes as England focus on winning a Six Nations Grand Slam for the first...
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Chris Hewett
/ 1 week agoChris Hewett: South Africans must go big – or go home
We cannot know for sure – when it comes to honouring rugby’s code of inner-sanctum omerta, the Bulls of Pretoria have...
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Columnists
/ 1 week agoPaul Williams: At last we can see signs of stability for Steve Tandy’s Wales
Have you ever had someone try to tell you something really important? But instead of taking in that information, you’re instead...
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Columnists
/ 1 week agoNick Cain: Mark McCall’s record is tough to beat
Mark McCall’s decision to step down as Saracens director of rugby after this season will be the end of a 15-year...
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Chris Hewett
/ 1 week agoChris Hewett: No Damien Penaud? That’s what I call bizarre
There are those who believe that Fabien Galthie, the extravagantly bespectacled head coach of France, should order himself a new pair...
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Latest News
/ 1 week agoTalented duo who shared the same dream
PETER JACKSON HUGH Morris, below, grew up in the Seventies hoping to play No.10 for Wales at Cardiff Arms Park and...
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Columnists
/ 1 week agoPeter Jackson: The big fish that Wales let slip away
One reason why England are 1-100 to beat Wales in their opening match of this season’s Six Nations can be traced...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 week agoBrendan Gallagher: Small in stature but big on talent
Back in the day it became almost a cliché that All Blacks forwards were all rugged frontiersmen and farmers – world...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 week ago16 teams to battle it out in Georgia
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER ONE thing you can always be sure of in rugby is that it will make a mess...
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Columnists
/ 2 weeks agoJeremy Guscott: It’s time for Bristol Bears to stand up and deliver
When you’re shipping 49 points, as Bristol Bears did against the Bulls in Pretoria last weekend in the European Cup, you’ve...
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Columnists
/ 2 weeks agoNick Cain: Scott ‘Razor’ Robertson fails to produce a cutting-edge strategy
Scott Robertson’s ‘windmill’ spin breakdancing celebrations were shelved during his tenure as All Blacks head coach.
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 weeks agoChris Hewett: Junior Kpoku on course to power up Red Roses
On the basis that Junior Kpoku is 6ft 8ins and 120kgs, his opponents must be dreading the day they run into...
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Columnists
/ 2 weeks agoPeter Jackson: Blizzard of points is obscuring the view
The Champions Cup, a misnomer if ever there was one, gorged itself last weekend on a feast of tries: 107 at...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 weeks agoBrendan Gallagher: European Champions Cup is still in dire need of an overhaul
The European Champions Cup which, after this weekend, goes back into hibernation for the best part of three months, remains in...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 weeks agoBrendan Gallagher: A Thursday showdown in Paris is nothing new for the Six Nations
There is very little new in rugby and, although much is being made of the ‘controversial’ decision to kick off the...
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Columnists
/ 3 weeks agoJeremy Guscott: Mark McCall’s challenge – to create another dynasty
We don’t often hear Mark McCall making comments about a lack of “attitude and application” in the Saracens squad, and especially...
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Columnists
/ 3 weeks agoNick Cain: One area where Ealing Trailfinders leave Bath in the shade
You have got to admire Ealing Trailfinders. The staying power that has seen them go 19 matches unbeaten in the Champ,...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 weeks agoChris Hewett: Why we need to see more of referee Luke Pearce
Alfie Barbeary turned in an eye-catching performance as Bath squeaked their way past Exeter at a rapt Recreation Ground last weekend....
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Columnists
/ 3 weeks agoPeter Jackson: Wales head coach Steve Tandy is facing a mountainous task
The Welsh Rugby Annual of 1991 appeared in the form of a death notice, its front cover etched in a rectangle...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 weeks agoBrendan Gallagher: State school game is in good health
English rugby’s over-reliance on private schools has been cited by some – notably Eddie Jones – as an issue in recent...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 weeks agoWhen Balding raced home for Light Blues
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER IAN Balding, who died earlier this month aged 87, is of course best known as a legendary...
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Chris Hewett
/ 1 month agoChris Hewett: We must guard our friends in the north
There are a mere 320 miles of road separating Exeter from Newcastle, the geographical poles of top-flight rugby in England, and...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: It’s no surprise Harlequins are finding the going tough
I’m surprised that so many people are surprised at Harlequins’ travails this season. It was always going to happen.
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Columnists
/ 1 month agoJeremy Guscott: Tommy Freeman adds to England’s options
The good news for England going into the New Year, and the 2026 Six Nations, is that their centre stocks are...
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Columnists
/ 1 month agoNick Cain: England can bank on speed merchants
Speed could be England’s greatest asset as the Red Rose squad contemplate a New Year in which a Six Nations Grand...
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Chris Hewett
/ 1 month agoBut you’re part of the problem, Beirne
CHRIS HEWETT TADHG Beirne is one of the quiet marvels of the rugby age, so it is worth listening especially hard...
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Latest News
/ 1 month agoPeter Jackson: Weird and wonderful in my New Year’s honours
What with Reggie Rabbit playing up in Australia, a dog called Dougal eating a New Zealand passport, Major League franchises vanishing...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoThe WRU missed a trick with Morris
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER TALKING of sliding doors moments, I can’t help thinking that one of the many opportunities the WRU...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: Fran Cotton recalls the ‘indestructible’ Tony Bond
Sport is full of sliding doors moments and that was certainly the case with former England centre Tony Bond, who died...
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Nick Cain
/ 1 month agoAre Chiefs in danger of going ‘Twang’?
NICK CAIN TONY Rowe has gone full circle. Exeter’s chairman and main backer was an ardent proponent of promotion-relegation when the...
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Columnists
/ 1 month agoJeremy Guscott: The striking cobra Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is my star of 2025
When it comes to my highlights of 2025, South Africa has to be at the top of the international list because...
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Columnists
/ 1 month agoNick Cain: Without promotion we will all be losers
Top of my New Year’s wish-list for rugby union is for promotion and relegation to be restored as the cornerstone of...
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Chris Hewett
/ 1 month agoChris Hewett: Five reasons for us to cheer in the New Year
A Champions Cup so lacking in substance and purpose, it resembles a ghost searching for someone to haunt; a pre-shrunk Lions...
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Columnists
/ 1 month agoPeter Jackson: Nations Cup suffers from travel sickness
England, Scotland and Wales may soon be on the receiving end of a gift more bounteous than most of those delivered...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: Magnums all round in my all-star awards
A cycling mate of mine – award-winning journalist Daniel Friebe – annually ranks the sport’s three Grand Tours using emojis denoting...
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Columnists
/ 2 months agoNick Cain: Now Ellie Kildunne needs to keep the flame burning bright
Ellie Kildunne’s popularity as the poster girl of the world champion England women’s team was confirmed this week when she was...
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Columnists
/ 2 months agoJeremy Guscott: Wales busting a gut to get back in contention
Wales will recover as a competitive top-tier rugby nation, but the main question is when?
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Columnists
/ 2 months agoNick Cain: Referees must be told to cut out the forward pass
Here is a message to all the referees, assistant referees, and television match officials confirmed this week for the 2026 Six...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 months agoChris Hewett: Time to restore some meaning in Europe
The ability to fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time...
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Columnists
/ 2 months agoPeter Jackson: Best in Wales setting up home in England
When Wales beat England 1-0 at The Racecourse during the final year of football’s annual Home International Championship, they did so...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Hollie Davidson leads by example
By any criteria, Hollie Davidson must currently rank as one of the three or four best referees in the game, with...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: How you could rebuild an old but great empire
The last time I talked rugby with the late Eddie Butler was on The Rugby Paper podcast, not long after the...
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Columnists
/ 2 months agoJeremy Guscott: Bath will need the big boys to shine
Bath have got a squad now which, when at full strength, and at home, can take on anyone, whether it’s in...
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