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Letters
/ 2 years agoDream Team – Jake Sharp
JAKE SHARP, THE FORMER SARACENS, BEDFORD, LONDON SCOTTISH & COVENTRY FLY-HALF, WHO IS NOW TRANSITION MANAGER FOR NORTHAMPTON SAINTS, CHOOSES THE...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoJeremy Guscott: I can’t call a winner, but it’ll be exciting
By Jeremy Guscott OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK The beauty of the last Premiership season was it was incredibly competitive, and...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoWe must work on attracting more people into the game
Thank you to Tracey Turner for the lengthy appraisal of the challenges facing English rugby and the suggested solutions. Thank you,...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoPremiership Cup better with 20 teams
Whilst having some sympathy with both Cambridge and Chinnor, newly promoted to the RFU Championship I feel I must take issue...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoQuite right, Brendan, don’t indulge All Blacks
I couldn't agree more with Brendan Gallagher’s suggestion that we must stop indulging the All Blacks and their haka. He missed...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoThe haka is indeed a dance of welcome, and not a challenge
Brendan Gallagher is correct in saying that the haka is not a challenge. If this were really the case, why would...
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Club Rugby
/ 2 years agoLETTER: RFU rewards failure in Premiership Cup
Following my previous letter on the subject, the RFU decision to bar Cambridge and Chinnor from the Premiership Cup now looks...
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Latest News
/ 2 years agoLETTER: England Rugby needs a coaching pathway
Is England’s inability to select the right coaches, ones committed to the challenge, due to the hierarchy and structure of English...
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Latest News
/ 2 years agoLETTER: Finn Russell third choice for 2021 British & Irish Lions
How can Jeremy Guscott claim Finn Russell was the No.1 fly-half selection after the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to...
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Latest News
/ 2 years agoLETTER: Four-day trip to see France vs England in 1931 only £5
I was most interested in Brendan Gallagher’s article last week on French rugby and spending 16 years in the wilderness.
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Latest News
/ 2 years agoLETTER: England Rugby wrong to focus solely on money
Firstly, I agree with Colin Boulton in Peter Jackson’s column last week: so much has gone out of the game in...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoClubs should be in Premiership Cup
SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: newsdesk@therugbypaper.co.uk SPEAKING as a Coventry...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoI’m feeling sorry for the Wallabies
AS an England supporter, I used to revel in Australia being beaten, mainly because it was so rare. However, now I’m...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoLosing Jones is bad news for England
FELIX Jones quitting as England defence coach shows a lot is going wrong behind the scenes in Steve Borthwick’s coaching staff....
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Letters
/ 2 years agoLETTER: Twickenham name change to Allianz Stadium welcome
I wholeheartedly agree with Chris Hewett regarding the forthcoming Twickenham name change to the Allianz Stadium.
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Letters
/ 2 years agoLETTER: Premier Sports is not what rugby needs
Once again, the powers that be in rugby have decided to reduce the potential audience for our beloved sport.
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Letters
/ 2 years agoLETTER: Ten teams is perfect number in Premiership
With the start of the new Premiership season only a month away, we are all excited to see how it will...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoLETTER: Macclesfield shows RFU doesn’t care about players
I strongly feel that the RFU is killing our rugby clubs as they have shown a serious lack of care towards...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoLETTER: World Rugby made the game too complicated, attritional
This is a follow on from Raymond Howell’s letter in last weekend’s Rugby Paper about rugby's loss of wide appeal.
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Letters
/ 2 years agoLETTER: RFU not helping English rugby
Steve Borthwick is doing a great job in charge of the national side as are his players and our recent U20...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoLETTER: World Rugby allows scrums to be boring, dangerous
Jeff Probyn says that it takes a long time to learn the ‘dark arts’ of the scrum while David Flatman claims...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoNew Northampton logo looks like a marketing ploy
SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: newsdesk@therugbypaper.co.uk IAM Northamptonshire born and...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoUnwise to invest in the hope of reaching the top
JON Newcombe writes about how Blackheath in Kent have agreed a £1.5m deal to buy their ground in south-east London. He...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoLions winger was AAA champion
FURTHER to Rob Cole’s article on rugby’s fastest players, John Young played on the wing for England and the Lions (1959...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoWomen’s final was great entertainment
WHAT a shame fewer than 7,000 people had the pleasure of watching one of the best games of rugby for years....
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Letters
/ 2 years agoJeff’s right about game’s direction
I AGREE totally with Jeff Probyn’s column (June 23) “heading in different directions”. How disappointing that the only minor “give-away” by...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoI’m hoping Ireland can channel their frustrations in SA
NOW you don’t need me to remind of you of the dominance and skill of the Springboks but not to do...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoTime to change play-off system
So the Premiership season came to a close this weekend with Northampton Saints and Bath contesting as who will be champions,...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoConnection to the elite is missing
In last week’s paper, Nick Cain raised issues for Premiership clubs and their acolytes at the RFU to ponder. He asks...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoWhy didn’t ref stop the clock?
The Champions Cup final was as exciting as we expected, but the decision not to stop the clock in extra-time, while...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoMercer deserves his chance
What more does Zach Mercer have to do to get a chance with England? Sadly, I wasn’t surprised to see his...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoMatches don’t need lots of tries
I agree with last week’s correspondent regarding bonus points – we don’t need them in rugby. Could you ever imagine the...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoTime to do away with bonus points
IS it time for a review of the bonus point system? Bath acquired 15 this season to finish second in the...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoThere’s too much dangerous play around the ruck
AS a long-standing player and supporter of local rugby I feel like tearing my hair out when I see or hear...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoI think RFU could have opinions, too
SO the Premiership name might have to go. Premiership Rugby now have a new “chief growth officer” called Rob Calder who...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoEaling too strong for Championship
Well done to Ealing Trailfinders for winning the Championship – although once Jersey Reds were no longer in the competition it...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoInclude Welsh sides in two-tier Premiership
A couple of letters in last week’s paper along with Nick Cain’s column got me thinking on these subjects of ring-fencing...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoI agree, bring back England Counties
Agree with Surrey coach Marc Bertrand’s views last week on the Bill Beaumont Cup and the need to bring back England...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoStop this constant disregard for laws
LAST weekend I witnessed one of the most blatant forward passes this season. During the Challenge Cup semi-final between Gloucester and...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoCourtney is so good, both on and off the pitch
CREDIT where it’s due for the Saints’ own Courtney Lawes. For such a big fella he consistently tackles low, plays a...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoTen in the Prem is right for England
GREAT to read in your paper that there are no plans to increase the number of teams from the current 10...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoFocus on aspiration
THE Championship clubs deserve far more than they are getting in terms of RFU funding and access to the top flight....
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Letters
/ 2 years agoCamborne defeat a concern
LAST weekend’s 109 points to nil win by Dings over Camborne in National Two West should have set alarm bells ringing...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoHarsh reality is that PRL costs must be cut
CAN we afford a PGP? The short answer, unfortunately, has to be a “yes” since, with the Premiership clubs controlling the...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoTen selfish Premiership clubs
I FEEL sorry for Newcastle Falcons for not being relegated, which would be good for their future, but more sorry for...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoTime for officials to stop favouring teams in top six
ONCE again rugby referees at the top end are under scrutiny, but the people concerned appear to be bombproof as they...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoPay women a sustainable wage
I WAS interested to read the article on Shaunagh Brown last week. My wife, a former England U19 pack leader in...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoStop tinkering with laws
WORLD Rugby needs to stop tinkering with the laws to try and eliminate some of the problems in the professional game....
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Letters
/ 2 years agoJeff’s right, we must protect the grassroots
I COULDN’T agree more with Jeff Probyn highlighting the importance of the RFU being able to ensure a fair slice of...
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Letters
/ 2 years agoSo which is the fairer?
JEFF Page wrote last week a letter headlined ‘easier to spot the fairer competition’ in which he compared Leicester unfavourably with...















