Letters

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

LETTER: Ten teams is perfect number in Premiership

18 August 2024 0 comments

With the start of the new Premiership season only a month away, we are all excited to see how it will play out.

LETTER: Macclesfield shows RFU doesn’t care about players

11 August 2024 0 comments

I strongly feel that the RFU is killing our rugby clubs as they have shown a serious lack of care towards the players and fans.

LETTER: World Rugby made the game too complicated, attritional

11 August 2024 0 comments

This is a follow on from Raymond Howell’s letter in last weekend’s Rugby Paper about rugby’s loss of wide appeal.

LETTER: RFU not helping English rugby

11 August 2024 0 comments

Steve Borthwick is doing a great job in charge of the national side as are his players and our recent U20 world champions.

LETTER: World Rugby allows scrums to be boring, dangerous

4 August 2024 0 comments

Jeff Probyn says that it takes a long time to learn the ‘dark arts’ of the scrum while David Flatman claims everyone loves a scrum.

New Northampton logo looks like a marketing ploy

21 July 2024 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] IAM Northamptonshire born and bred, played rugby for […]

Unwise to invest in the hope of reaching the top

21 July 2024 0 comments

JON Newcombe writes about how Blackheath in Kent have agreed a £1.5m deal to buy their ground in south-east London. He also describes how they […]

Lions winger was AAA champion

7 July 2024 0 comments

FURTHER to Rob Cole’s article on rugby’s fastest players, John Young played on the wing for England and the Lions (1959 tour) he also won […]

Women’s final was great entertainment

7 July 2024 0 comments

WHAT a shame fewer than 7,000 people had the pleasure of watching one of the best games of rugby for years. The Women’s Premiership final […]

Jeff’s right about game’s direction

7 July 2024 0 comments

I AGREE totally with Jeff Probyn’s column (June 23) “heading in different directions”. How disappointing that the only minor “give-away” by the Premiership/RFU is the […]

I’m hoping Ireland can channel their frustrations in SA

30 June 2024 0 comments

NOW you don’t need me to remind of you of the dominance and skill of the Springboks but not to do so briefly recap would […]

Time to change play-off system

9 June 2024 0 comments

So the Premiership season came to a close this weekend with Northampton Saints and Bath contesting as who will be champions, regardless of the fact […]

Connection to the elite is missing

9 June 2024 0 comments

In last week’s paper, Nick Cain raised issues for Premiership clubs and their acolytes at the RFU to ponder. He asks why the governing body […]

Why didn’t ref stop the clock?

2 June 2024 0 comments

The Champions Cup final was as exciting as we expected, but the decision not to stop the clock in extra-time, while reviewing Josh van der […]

Mercer deserves his chance

2 June 2024 0 comments

What more does Zach Mercer have to do to get a chance with England? Sadly, I wasn’t surprised to see his name omitted from last […]

Matches don’t need lots of tries

2 June 2024 0 comments

I agree with last week’s correspondent regarding bonus points – we don’t need them in rugby. Could you ever imagine the Premier League introducing bonus […]

Time to do away with bonus points

26 May 2024 0 comments

IS it time for a review of the bonus point system? Bath acquired 15 this season to finish second in the league. Bristol, who finished […]

There’s too much dangerous play around the ruck

26 May 2024 0 comments

AS a long-standing player and supporter of local rugby I feel like tearing my hair out when I see or hear about what is being […]

I think RFU could have opinions, too

26 May 2024 0 comments

SO the Premiership name might have to go. Premiership Rugby now have a new “chief growth officer” called Rob Calder who has joined from the […]

Ealing too strong for Championship

19 May 2024 0 comments

Well done to Ealing Trailfinders for winning the Championship – although once Jersey Reds were no longer in the competition it was a foregone conclusion. […]

Include Welsh sides in two-tier Premiership

19 May 2024 0 comments

A couple of letters in last week’s paper along with Nick Cain’s column got me thinking on these subjects of ring-fencing and a possible Anglo-Welsh […]

I agree, bring back England Counties

19 May 2024 0 comments

Agree with Surrey coach Marc Bertrand’s views last week on the Bill Beaumont Cup and the need to bring back England Counties. In ‘the good […]

Stop this constant disregard for laws

12 May 2024 0 comments

LAST weekend I witnessed one of the most blatant forward passes this season. During the Challenge Cup semi-final between Gloucester and Benetton, Zach Mercer tried […]

Courtney is so good, both on and off the pitch

12 May 2024 0 comments

CREDIT where it’s due for the Saints’ own Courtney Lawes. For such a big fella he consistently tackles low, plays a strong game and holds […]

Ten in the Prem is right for England

12 May 2024 0 comments

GREAT to read in your paper that there are no plans to increase the number of teams from the current 10 in the Premiership, particularly […]

Focus on aspiration

12 May 2024 0 comments

THE Championship clubs deserve far more than they are getting in terms of RFU funding and access to the top flight. Numerous internationals have learnt […]

Camborne defeat a concern

5 May 2024 0 comments

LAST weekend’s 109 points to nil win by Dings over Camborne in National Two West should have set alarm bells ringing at Twickenham. Cornwall is […]

Harsh reality is that PRL costs must be cut

5 May 2024 0 comments

CAN we afford a PGP? The short answer, unfortunately, has to be a “yes” since, with the Premiership clubs controlling the contracts of all top […]

Ten selfish Premiership clubs

5 May 2024 0 comments

I FEEL sorry for Newcastle Falcons for not being relegated, which would be good for their future, but more sorry for Ealing Trailfindersbeing banned from […]

Time for officials to stop favouring teams in top six

28 April 2024 0 comments

ONCE again rugby referees at the top end are under scrutiny, but the people concerned appear to be bombproof as they stroll along into top […]

Pay women a sustainable wage

28 April 2024 0 comments

I WAS interested to read the article on Shaunagh Brown last week. My wife, a former England U19 pack leader in 2003, made the decision […]

Stop tinkering with laws

21 April 2024 0 comments

WORLD Rugby needs to stop tinkering with the laws to try and eliminate some of the problems in the professional game. At that level they […]

Jeff’s right, we must protect the grassroots

21 April 2024 0 comments

I COULDN’T agree more with Jeff Probyn highlighting the importance of the RFU being able to ensure a fair slice of central funding for grassroots […]

So which is the fairer?

21 April 2024 0 comments

JEFF Page wrote last week a letter headlined ‘easier to spot the fairer competition’ in which he compared Leicester unfavourably with Leinster. Leicester is a […]

Champ teams must hold on to players

21 April 2024 0 comments

READING letters, Sunday 14/4, Alec Jones makes a very valid point re Newcastle’s non relegation. Then alongside I see Exeter is pilfering Jimmy Roots from […]

Easy to spot the fairer competition

14 April 2024 0 comments

BRENDAN Gallagher reports on Leinster’s convincing win over Leicester Tigers in the European Champions Cup last 16. The Leinster side is drawn from a variety […]

Six minutes wasted

14 April 2024 0 comments

TO increase ball-in-play time I suggest that if a a try is scored under the posts it be an automatic seven points, as it’s always […]

Losers survive

14 April 2024 0 comments

WITH four games to go it looks like Newcastle might go down but, I forgot there is no relegation for losing every match in the […]

A one-point ‘try’

14 April 2024 0 comments

I KNOW the ball never goes in straight at scrum or lineout, there are forward passes galore and the jackal is a joke. But the […]

Ban wholesale replacement of the front row

7 April 2024 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] I READ with interest Paul Rees’ article fearing […]

Time to encourage ambitious clubs

7 April 2024 0 comments

IN a recent issue of The Rugby Paper, Jon Newcombe wrote that the RFU has emphasised its wish to make the Championship ‘more commercially viable’. […]

Calling all players!

7 April 2024 0 comments

HOW many more England players moving abroad will it take for the RFU to change their selection policy? I feel for head coach Steve Borthwick […]

Red menace? Don’t get sent off in first place

31 March 2024 0 comments

A STRONG contender for the 2024 Quote of the Year award should be The Rugby Paper columnist Chris Hewett for his witty verdict on the […]

Yorkshire rugby has been shafted

31 March 2024 0 comments

YORKSHIRE rugby won the 1987 County Championship with England inter nationals such as Peter Winterbotom, Rob Andrew and Rory Underwood. Yet Premiership ring fencing means […]

Penalty so unfair on Earl

24 March 2024 0 comments

BEN Earl has reason to feel aggrieved with the decision to award a penalty for a no-arms tackle in the last minutes of England’s final […]

Ford’s resolve is impressive to see

24 March 2024 0 comments

ALL the top sports players have one standout quality – composure – which George Ford has in abundance, along with his stoicism! A masterful player, […]

My Lions for 2025

24 March 2024 0 comments

BASED on performances in 2024 Six Nations Championship and potential retirees, how about this as a potential Lions touring squad to Australia in 2025, with […]

Referees are too quick to take the easy option

24 March 2024 0 comments

I READ the match report for last week’s Hull Ionians v Tynedale game with interest. The report asked a very pertinent question, “why is a […]

Time to ban tactical subs

24 March 2024 0 comments

CHRIS Hewett’s article bemoaning the size of French players offered what I believe to be the correct solution to the future of professional rugby, namely, […]

Credit Borthwick for changing his approach

24 March 2024 0 comments

ENGLAND’s revival in their inspirational final Six Nations displays v Ireland and France thankfully should end the failed power rugby ethos inherited from the side’s […]

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