Rugby Matters

Warrior spirit at heart of the game

1 October 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points I’VE been surprised that some have been surprised at Antoine Dupont’s determination […]

Shame of the RFU blazers

1 October 2023 0 comments

It’s funny what tugs at your emotions and I was caught unaware last week by the traditional pre-season picture of the Premiership club skippers or […]

Time for Italy to play like big boys

24 September 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER AS keen observers of sport, we are all amateur psychologists and, with that in mind, it’s been fascinating watching Italy grapple […]

Another fine mess! Pinto ban so unfair

24 September 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER WORLD Rugby and their disciplinary officials have come up with some crass […]

Wallabies benefit from Fiji brilliance

17 September 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER NATIONALITY is a pretty fluid concept in the South Pacific with families […]

Stick with 20 teams but bring in Trophy

10 September 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points IT’S very rare, in fact unique, for me to disagree with anything […]

Diagram shows how difficult it is to tackle head-on

10 September 2023 0 comments

THE RFU are of course totally correct in their desire to improve and “make safe” tackling techniques at grassroots and junior rugby but it does […]

Mixed reviews on opening nights…

3 September 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER NOT long now … but first comes the ubiquitous opening ceremony that […]

Tricky to get the message

3 September 2023 0 comments

So apparently we will be watching something called the Investec Champions Cup this season – all mention of Europe now seems to have been binned […]

Big beasts need to set the right mood

27 August 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points SO where did the last four years go? The final warm-up matches […]

Brothers linking arms for Chile

27 August 2023 0 comments

Chile is a minute rugby community compared with many giants of the game and is inevitably centred on geographical pockets of enthusiasm for the game…and […]

The cruellest time to suffer an injury

20 August 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER The agony of these eve of World Cup injuries! I thought I […]

Samoa look ready to spring surprise

13 August 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER This column has had its say – whinge – about certain individuals […]

Italy need to protect their stars

13 August 2023 0 comments

We are barely halfway through the dreaded World Cup warm-up season and Italy in particular are feeling the pain from these, frankly, bloody awkward fixtures. […]

At last! Spain show us what they can do

6 August 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER IT’S BEEN a bittersweet roller coaster five or six years for Spanish […]

The time that Dixon bolted out of the blue

6 August 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS Bolters seem to be less common in top rugby these days but as teams finalise their World Cup squads the experience of the […]

A phoney war that has little to tell us

30 July 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER AND suddenly the World Cup warmups, or the summer internationals as the […]

Hasta la vista! It’s a Spanish decider

30 July 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS THE World U20 Trophy final today in Nairobi is an all Spanish speaking affair between Uruguay and Spain with the winners taking their […]

Arendse can light up the World Cup

23 July 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER NO sooner had it started than the abbreviated Rugby Championship is nearly […]

Modern-day Lions seem to be tone deaf

23 July 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER So the Lions itinerary is out for their 2025 Australia tour and, although there is much to commend it, yet again […]

Hogg was one of the best in the business

16 July 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points So farewell then Stuart Hogg. Try scorer extraordinaire and creator par excellence; […]

Young stars need more room to grow

9 July 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER A fascinating Junior World Cup has reached the business end of affairs […]

Great to see Dupont going for Paris gold

2 July 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS – BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Rather overlooked during a hectic end of season in France which […]

Pride clear to see at London Irish

2 July 2023 0 comments

Well that didn’t take long. No sooner had we mentioned in this column and elsewhere that London Irish were looking to pre-sell 750 collectors’ editions […]

We need more diversity at the top

2 July 2023 0 comments

At the time of writing World Rugby boasts 132 members and affiliate nations and at the forthcoming World Cup nine of the 20 participating teams […]

Eligibility rules are cause for concern

25 June 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER These newish eligibility regulations are still open to opportunists and if not […]

Hoping a phoenix can rise from the ashes…

25 June 2023 0 comments

The London Irish story has taken a horrible, cruel, turn recently but remains an extraordinary tale worth telling and in the club’s 125th anniversary year […]

Who will be next on the production line?

18 June 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER The Junior World Cup makes a welcome return after a four-year hiatus next week down in South Africa and I for […]

Toulouse play to win…everything!

18 June 2023 0 comments

Toulouse aren’t short of a bob or two and can, if they so wish, buy virtually any player on the planet. But their Academy, with […]

We must find a way to stop vicious spiral

11 June 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Heaven knows The Rugby Paper has been warning of a Domesday scenario […]

When I needed a helping hand…

11 June 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER You could fill a noisy bar with the journalists past and present queuing to buy David Emery a thank you drink. […]

Stunning Munster are the best of the bunch

4 June 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS – A weekly look at the game’s other talking points What with an epic Champions Cup final and a very high-quality conclusion to the […]

Bastareaud deserves his cheering send-off, too

4 June 2023 0 comments

Sergio Parisse’s long farewell has taken centre stage recently but let’s hear it also for Mathieu Bastareaud who also took his farewell at the Stade […]

Ireland mustn’t copy this breakdown flaw

28 May 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER The tumultuous happenings in Dublin last week were on such a large […]

Let’s hope technology passes trial

28 May 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER Be careful for what you wish for! World Rugby are carrying out their promise to trial chip technology in the match […]

Sharks deserve far more recognition

21 May 2023 0 comments

BRENDAN GALLAGHER Rugby has its favourites and we in the media are as guilty as any of promoting them above others but I’ve always been […]

New Zealand schools side in ’93 was the best ever

21 May 2023 0 comments

The greatest national schools team ever? That debate kicked off on Twitter recently and my mind immediately went back 30 years to 1993 and interviewing […]

Refs must demand immediate release

21 May 2023 0 comments

Another game, yet another big “jackal” injury, this time it was the unfortunate Ben Curry as he bent low to turnover Leicester, was violently rolled […]

On the clock: Who put the minutes in?

14 May 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER I’m indebted to stats guru Stuart Farmer who has faithfully logged the […]

Leinster turn out at the Aviva more often than Ireland

14 May 2023 0 comments

Much debate, some of it a tad heated, recently about the massive advantages real or perceived that Leinster enjoy over other teams in the United […]

60 years on…The tour with no jet lag

14 May 2023 0 comments

Sixty years go this week England embarked on their first ever overseas tour and it remains a splendid exercise in both madness and false optimism. […]

Players must keep a licence to thrill

7 May 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER If, God forbid, I ever find myself in the dock I will be hiring Sam Warburton KC to defend me. The […]

How about a sharp shot of summer fun?

7 May 2023 0 comments

So there we go, it’s May 7 and seven of the 11 Premiership teams have no competitive rugby now until the Premiership Cup starts in […]

Treviso standing on the edge of history

30 April 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points AT the last count, Benetton Treviso had won 15 Italian Championships and, […]

Let’s hope this new-look Cup has meaning

30 April 2023 0 comments

So the Premiership Cup is to remuster in yet another guise this autumn as a joint competition with the Championship sides which I would greet […]

Ashton did it all his way, and we can only applaud

23 April 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Over the years, I’ve probably had more abuse and slagging off over […]

Tall poppy syndrome or a case to answer?

16 April 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER For all sorts of reasons, all conquering Leinster seemed to be getting […]