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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoYoung stars need more room to grow
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER A fascinating Junior World Cup has reached the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoGreat to see Dupont going for Paris gold
RUGBY MATTERS – BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Rather overlooked during a hectic end of...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoPride clear to see at London Irish
Well that didn’t take long. No sooner had we mentioned in this column and elsewhere that London Irish were looking to...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoWe need more diversity at the top
At the time of writing World Rugby boasts 132 members and affiliate nations and at the forthcoming World Cup nine of...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoEligibility rules are cause for concern
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER These newish eligibility regulations are still open to...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoHoping a phoenix can rise from the ashes…
The London Irish story has taken a horrible, cruel, turn recently but remains an extraordinary tale worth telling and in the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoWho will be next on the production line?
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER The Junior World Cup makes a welcome return after a four-year hiatus next week down in South...
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Rugby Matters
/ 2 years agoToulouse play to win…everything!
Toulouse aren’t short of a bob or two and can, if they so wish, buy virtually any player on the planet....
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoWe must find a way to stop vicious spiral
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Heaven knows The Rugby Paper has been warning...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoWhen I needed a helping hand…
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER You could fill a noisy bar with the journalists past and present queuing to buy David Emery...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoStunning Munster are the best of the bunch
RUGBY MATTERS - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points What with an epic Champions Cup final and a very...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoBastareaud deserves his cheering send-off, too
Sergio Parisse’s long farewell has taken centre stage recently but let’s hear it also for Mathieu Bastareaud who also took his...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoIreland mustn’t copy this breakdown flaw
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER The tumultuous happenings in Dublin last week were...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoLet’s hope technology passes trial
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER Be careful for what you wish for! World Rugby are carrying out their promise to trial chip...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoSharks deserve far more recognition
BRENDAN GALLAGHER Rugby has its favourites and we in the media are as guilty as any of promoting them above others...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoNew Zealand schools side in ’93 was the best ever
The greatest national schools team ever? That debate kicked off on Twitter recently and my mind immediately went back 30 years...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoRefs must demand immediate release
Another game, yet another big “jackal” injury, this time it was the unfortunate Ben Curry as he bent low to turnover...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoOn the clock: Who put the minutes in?
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER I’m indebted to stats guru Stuart Farmer who...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoLeinster turn out at the Aviva more often than Ireland
Much debate, some of it a tad heated, recently about the massive advantages real or perceived that Leinster enjoy over other...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years ago60 years on…The tour with no jet lag
Sixty years go this week England embarked on their first ever overseas tour and it remains a splendid exercise in both...
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Rugby Matters
/ 3 years agoPlayers must keep a licence to thrill
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER If, God forbid, I ever find myself in the dock I will be hiring Sam Warburton KC...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoHow about a sharp shot of summer fun?
So there we go, it’s May 7 and seven of the 11 Premiership teams have no competitive rugby now until the...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoTreviso standing on the edge of history
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points AT the last count, Benetton Treviso had won...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoLet’s hope this new-look Cup has meaning
So the Premiership Cup is to remuster in yet another guise this autumn as a joint competition with the Championship sides...
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Rugby Matters
/ 3 years agoAshton did it all his way, and we can only applaud
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Over the years, I’ve probably had more abuse...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoTall poppy syndrome or a case to answer?
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER For all sorts of reasons, all conquering Leinster...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoThere’s no place for jackals and crocodiles in rugby jungle
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER I don't watch enough David Attenborough – frankly his droning voice is my go-to remedy for insomnia...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoIt’s not British Bulldogs … needs of the defender matter as well
RUGBY MATTERS - BRENDAN GALLAGHER As the subject de jour seems to be rugby absurdities let me highlight an instructive moment...
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Rugby Matters
/ 3 years agoAt last minnows will have their chances
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER It's an ill wind that blows no good....
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoReject this mad idea to shorten Six Nations
RUGBY MATTERS SO it seems the Six Nations will be further shortened from seven to six weeks, with just one fallow...
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Rugby Matters
/ 3 years agoDupont’s strength defies all science
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Where to start with Antoine Dupont’s extraordinary try...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoMY TOP FIVE TRY SAVING TACKLES
RUGBY MATTERS 1= Antoine Dupont (Fr) on Mack Hansen (2023): An unparalleled demonstration of strength and mind over matter to deny...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoItaly benefit from the brotherhood
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER I have a half-baked theory that the comparative...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoGone too soon, a young man destined to be England’s No 1
RUGBY MATTERS Can it really be 20 years since young Harlequins and England scrum-half Nick Duncombe passed away – Friday, February...
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Rugby Matters
/ 3 years agoWe need laws for the ages, not for a season
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER A few weeks back, the first round of...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoGeorgia the team to beat in Euro fiesta
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER ALL eyes on the Six Nations but the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoIt’s time to give credit to the URC
RUGBY MATTERS Ok, I think we can all agree that one or two French players have been pacing themselves a little...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoThe golden voice… that glorious try…
RUGBY MATTERS WE are fast approaching the 50th anniversary of what many consider the greatest try ever scored and frankly there...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoThrilling finish in ‘73 never to be repeated
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER What with Italy looking more competitive, the 2023...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoDickson wrong to ignore his TMO
For me there are only two reasons for a TMO. First to adjudicate whether a try has been legally scored and...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoTake five: Looking back, and forward
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER FIVE BEST MEMORIES OF 2022 1: Italy’s Ange...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoWhen the old European Cup was just the ticket
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER This column has been warning about the decline...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoHamza improves on rugby’s record
RUGBY MATTERS Rugby has a decent record in Strictly Come Dancing – think Austin Healey and Matt Dawson although perhaps not...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoHow baseball kept Bish on right track
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Ken Poole, the head of economic development for...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoMystery surrounds Robinson departure
BRENDAN GALLAGHER It was a week of departures for Romania, one unexpected but the other less so. First the shock resignation...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoIsrael banking on the Heat to build profile
RUGBY MATTERS - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER One of the more unusual modern days...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoSo who is the real villain here?
RUGBY MATTERS - Brendan Gallagher Newcastle's Carl Fearns has been at the sharp end of professional rugby for nearly 14 years...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoEngland toiling in the foothills
RUGBY MATTERS I will leave it to others to do the heavy lifting in dissecting the sacking of Eddie Jones but...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoRemarkable band of Rogue Heroes
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER The BBC drama series Rogue Heroes concluded on Sunday...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoOnly the pin-ups win top awards
RUGBY MATTERS What have the following got in common? Brian O’Driscoll, Eben Etzebeth, Malcolm Marx, Fourie Du Preez, Taulupe Faletau, Ma’a...












