Letters

This is where you will find all of The Rugby Paper’s Letters, opinion and other content.

Unfair to remove Kirill Gotovtsev’s Russian flag

19 January 2025 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] I have to respectfully disagree with your correspondent […]

We are all paying for the financial errors of the RFU

19 January 2025 0 comments

Who, other than for self-aggrandisement, is going to invest in rugby? The Premiership has never ever returned a profit. Several leading clubs are currently in […]

Anthony Watson was so special

19 January 2025 0 comments

It’s such a shame to see that Anthony Watson has retired. He’s the most talented attacker this country has produced since Jason Robinson. I remember […]

Sorry, Nick, but it’s different in France

12 January 2025 0 comments

NICK Cain has spent several issues arguing the case for promotion from the Championship and made an unfavourable comparison with French rugby. Unfortunately, it is […]

No room for Gerald

12 January 2025 0 comments

PETER Jackson’s excellent tribute to rugby’s latest knight in last week’s paper gave rise to the thought: Would Gerald Davies get a game in today’s […]

Flag of inconvenience

12 January 2025 0 comments

I AM glad to see the authorities have finally caught up with Kirill Gotovtsev and the Russian flag that has been on show on the […]

Is Bill Beaumont the right man for the job?

12 January 2025 0 comments

Rugby Union’s dire inability to handle the crisis threatening a great sport’s future is reflected in Sir Bill Beaumont’s hasty appointment as interim Rugby Football Union chairman.

Time for a root change to way we run our sport

5 January 2025 0 comments

I note that much has been written about the future of the RFU CEO Board which hopefully will be resolved in the not-too-distant future. However […]

We need return to the County game

5 January 2025 0 comments

In Rugby Paper December 29, Paul Rees refers to Exeter’s Rob Baxter, whose club were bottom of the Premiership after eight successive defeats. Exeter are […]

Too easy to blame governing body

5 January 2025 0 comments

Congratulations to Paul Rees for his piece last week offering a reasoned and balanced assessment of the risks associated with a peremptory sacking of the […]

Great to see a big match on ITV

5 January 2025 0 comments

Big game: Tommy Reffell on the attack for Leicester against Harlequins PICTURE: Getty images WELL said Peter Warren, TRP letters 29/12/2024. If you enjoy a […]

£10 a month does not seem excessive

29 December 2024 0 comments

Don Pearson in a recent issue of The Rugby Paper complains about having to pay extra for European games on Premier Sports. But £10 per […]

Sale Sharks bring Bristol Bears crashing to earth

29 December 2024 0 comments

I fear Bristol’s bid for the title will be derailed by the injury to AJ MacGinty, expeially with Max Malins out for the season. Last […]

Bill Beaumont will need all the help he can get

29 December 2024 0 comments

A massive thank you, to the three ex chairs of the RFU Messrs Thomas, Cattermole and Baister and ex CEO Baron, not to mention numerous […]

Wrong to have so many outsiders at London Scottish

29 December 2024 0 comments

Looking at the London Scottish side in yesterday’s game against Chinnor, I make it nine Harlequins in the starting XV and three more on the […]

Dual registration needs to be put under microscope

22 December 2024 0 comments

IT IS interesting to read in last Sunday’s TRP Luc Jones’s thoughts on the adverse impact of wholesale dual registrations of Premiership clubs’ junior players […]

Dual registration needs to be put under microscope

22 December 2024 0 comments

IT IS interesting to read in last Sunday’s TRP Luc Jones’s thoughts on the adverse impact of wholesale dual registrations of Premiership clubs’ junior players […]

Please don’t make the game irrelevant

22 December 2024 0 comments

FULL-BACKS and wingers now have to be able to leap in the air, I’ve long ago forgotten what hookers are for and forwards run into […]

Please don’t make the game irrelevant

22 December 2024 0 comments

FULL-BACKS and wingers now have to be able to leap in the air, I’ve long ago forgotten what hookers are for and forwards run into […]

Promotion still needs too much hoop-jumping

15 December 2024 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] I’m very pleased to see the possibility of […]

Hundreds of voices cannot be ignored

15 December 2024 0 comments

FOLLOWING Nick Cain’s TRP articles and others in the national press, and the calls from the three former RFU chairmen for a challenge to the […]

Penalise collapsing mauls in open play

15 December 2024 0 comments

THE officiating at the maul needs to be reviewed. When are referees going to penalise collapsing mauls in open play? Twice in the recent Scotland […]

TV deals are driving fans away from game

8 December 2024 0 comments

HAVING spent large sums of money over the years, attending live rugby and subscribing to Sky Sports and TNT to watch televised games I was […]

What we need is good leadership from the RFU

8 December 2024 0 comments

WE represent 50 former Blackheath Rugby Club players – the world’s oldest open club – including Doug Hursey, President of Kent. We write in response […]

World 7s is a waste of time and money

8 December 2024 0 comments

WHY do we participate in the travelling circus that is the World Sevens Series? Rugby 7s is now very rarely played in clubs, never discussed […]

Martin Johnson would not have put up with it

1 December 2024 0 comments

Danny Care has alleged in his book that Eddie Jones was a bully, confirming what anybody with a half a brain had deduced a long […]

Forbidden fruit is now too tempting

1 December 2024 0 comments

Just when you thought that it couldn’t get any worse at the RFU, CEO Billy Sweeney receives a ‘bonus’ of £358,000, taking his salary for […]

Great to see Coventry doing so well

1 December 2024 0 comments

Last Saturday I went to Butts Park Arena to watch Northampton Saints edge out my team Coventry by 19-10 in the Premiership Cup clash, the […]

Don’t be in awe of ‘The System’

1 December 2024 0 comments

AS a long-time England supporter I feel compelled to express my concerns about the performances and results of our team. Much debated selection issues play […]

Warren Gatland is not the man to blame

1 December 2024 0 comments

As expected, the critics are circling Warren Gatland following the latest Wales defeats. These people, however, often ignore the fact that he has a proven […]

Tough for clubs to get permission for 10,001

1 December 2024 0 comments

I HAVE every sympathy with my old friend Simon Halliday, the outgoing Chairman of the Championship Board, and the Championship clubs having read his comments […]

Wharfedale show the way ahead

1 December 2024 0 comments

Last weekend Wharfedale – currently fifth in National Two North – played league leaders Lymm with 13 homegrown players in the starting line-up. Just before […]

Patience is running out

24 November 2024 0 comments

I DON’T like to say it, but I think that England could be heading for a first-ever Six Nations wooden spoon in 2025. Could you […]

Paul Sheehan

24 November 2024 0 comments

French show how it’s done AFTER five successive defeats, should England get rid of its overseas player rule? While they’re about it, the RFU should […]

We need an agenda for regeneration and change

24 November 2024 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] SACKING head coach Steve Borthwick and RFU CEO […]

Kolbe’s majesty is a delight to behold

24 November 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED CHESLIN Kolbe won the “man of the match” award for his two-try contribution to South Africa’s victory over England, thereby proving […]

Parisse deserves place in pantheon

24 November 2024 0 comments

TALKING of “modern greats” – no, we’re not referring to the Oxford University degree course of the same name, which sporting hearties of the privileged […]

I fear that young players will be lost to the game if chances missed

17 November 2024 0 comments

I REFER to Geoff Stalker’s letter of October 27 regarding schools rugby. Some points perhaps need to be amplified so that RFU leadership hear or […]

England look like a clueless rabble

17 November 2024 0 comments

Another one bites the dust: England feel the pain against Wallabies I WATCHED with a g rowing sense of bewilderment as England yet again took […]

Two great games in one day

17 November 2024 0 comments

I SAW two of the best matches of the season last Saturday. The first was “live” between Stow on the Wold and Longlevens, a Level […]

Too many mistakes

17 November 2024 0 comments

ENGLAND have the players to be successful but they seem to lack the mental fortitude to get over the line. They have lost six tight […]

What we can learn from other sports

10 November 2024 0 comments

HAVING watched round one of the Autumn Internationals I revelled in the copying of NFL style referee announcements so the thousands in the ground all […]

Give Joe Cokanasiga a run on the wing

10 November 2024 0 comments

Steve Borthwick has proven during his career that he is a great coach and he is starting to show that he is a good selector […]

The game was ours to lose – and we did

10 November 2024 0 comments

HISTORY really does repeat itself, England’s team selection is proof of that. Why take Marcus Smith off ? He was having a terrific game kicking […]

Dream Team – Donovan O’Grady

10 November 2024 0 comments

DONOVAN O’GRADY, THE SWITZERLAND AND BLACKHEATH SCRUM-HALF WHO WORKS FOR THE RPA, CHOOSES THE BEST XV HE HAS PLAYED WITH OR AGAINST… Forwards 1. Simon […]

England front row not good enough

3 November 2024 0 comments

I AGREE with Jeremy Guscott and Nick Cain in last week’s article. England’s front row are not good enough. I’ve been saying that since England’s […]

Throw plans to segregate fans into the dustbin

3 November 2024 0 comments

THE fact that Premiership administrators are considering segregating away supporters demonstrates that people charged with managing the game have very little understanding or empathy with […]