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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain: Good luck ‘Coventry Wasps’, the great club I joined is dead
This was the week when Wasps supporters and former players said farewell to their club. The London and home-counties based Wasps...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn: Richard Cockerill may ruffle feathers but it’s no reason to sack him
The trials and tribulations of being a rugby fan is a rollercoaster ride full of elation and deflation that must make...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 11 years agoJeremy Guscott: Saracens have the pedigree to top their pool of death
There’s a bit of rough justice about Saracens finishing top of the Premiership and getting to the final of the Heineken...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher: With all these golden oldies, why is therea youth cult?
I have absolutely no idea who comes up with these ideas but today – October 5 – has been designated as...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson: Home-bred Ospreys soar with the eagles
At the height of summer, their players were left to wonder whether they still had jobs to go back to and,...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain looks back at the momentous career of ‘Big Ted’ Andrew Sheridan
Andrew Sheridan was the undisputed strong-man of the pro game, and as he went into retirement this week the 34-year-old England...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn: Get Martin Johnson on board to pass on lessons learned in 2011
So Martin Johnson is reliving the nightmare that was the 2011 RWC England campaign. Although it has been virtually three years,...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 11 years agoJeremy Guscott: The RFU are right to back Lancaster’s long-term plan
There has been interesting debate surrounding Wednesday’s announcement by Ian Ritchie, the RFU chief executive, that Stuart Lancaster and his assistant...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain: Now Stuart Lancaster has a licence to gamble
If Stuart Lancaster sees out his full term as England head coach he will have been in the post for an...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain talks to James Haskell about his world tour of self discovery
James Haskell doesn’t do run-of-the-mill. If the guinea-pig generation of Academy pro-players are among the most pampered but least colourful that...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn: Injuries mount – the way fitness guru Rex warned
A cracking start to the season has seen some high scoring games and some unexpected results, including big losses for Leicester...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Discovering the secrets of those great schools XVs
What makes a great schools rugby team? And which were the best ever school XVs? Two perennial questions that always enliven...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson: Thanks so much Roy, whoever you are!
Roy Giddings had been on the WRU Board for so long that when he started Margaret Thatcher had just become the...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 11 years agoJeremy Guscott: Kyle Eastmond is central to Bath’s new look
No-one should get carried away with Bath‘s 45-0 win over Leicester because you would rather win a game like that in...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain: Martin Johnson’s out and firing – at wrong targets!
Martin Johnson broke cover for the first time in the three years since he resigned as England manager when he gave...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson: Richard Webster – Man of Iron with knobbled knees
After nine operations, Richard Webster’s knees are so shot to bits that he cannot run five metres without seizing up. The...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 11 years agoJeremy Guscott: Welcome back Danny Cipriani, you can be the boy again
What we’ve all got to be pleased about as rugby fans is when a player with undoubted talent lets that talent...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn: Sadly, loyalty seems to be a one-way street for IRB
What price loyalty in rugby? That’s a question that is not as easy to answer as you may think. Back in...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain: VCs are for our military heroes not rugby lads
An essential part of the well-being of any professional (or amateur) sport is having strong and profitable relationships with commercial and...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher and boot camps
It is difficult to be precise about these things but the first whiff of a training camp – or something out...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain talks to World Cup winner Neil Back about England’s back-row
Neil Back wants to accentuate the positives for England in the week that the 2015 World Cup countdown began in earnest....
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher: One hundred years on…the Varsity heroes are honoured
It was a Cambridge man, and a half decent rugby player to boot, who famously mused that should he die there...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain talks to Stephen Myler – the fly-half driving Northampton’s challenge to retain their Championship
Stephen Myler is the Stuart Lancaster‘s most experienced fly-half and, on the evidence of the last six months, offers a mix...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Referee the mark and straight feed and scrums will be fine
Here we are just two weeks into the season and already my old front row partner Brian Moore is banging on...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Europe’s suddenly got a lot tougher for the Irish
Soon after Brian O’Driscoll had been revealed as the latest jewel in BT Sport’s ever-expanding crown of former international pundits he...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: Imports are making a mockery of IRB rule
During his time in charge of Wales, Graham Henry took what could be politely described as a cavalier attitude to capping...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: When rugby passed its screen test
Gareth Thomas is launching his new updated biography Proud on Thursday – which is probably why that amiable old Hollywood slugger...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain talks to Exeter’s Henry Slade about his outside hopes for the World Cup
How could Henry Slade give up on the dream of winning the 2015 World Cup final for England when the last...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Expect Saracens to cash in on the World Cup wobbles
It’s great when the season restarts and the politics takes second place and we can get on to actually playing and...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: So sad that Sinbad’s voyage never sailed fair despite its wonderful beginning
On paper it looked like the worst mismatch of all, Jonah Lomu against James Simpson-Daniel. A global superstar of gigantic proportion...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Magician who turned invisible for England
James Simpson-Daniel was one of those players, who, like David Campese and Gerald Davies before him, was touched by the rugby...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: We should never forget the ghosts at the feast
Relegation is a fact of life in any sport with leagues, or at least should if that league structure is to...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: A friendly settlement? Don’t you believe it
Just about a fortnight ago, the warring Welsh factions were ‘miles away’ from ending their stand-off. Now that the smoke of...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: These All Blacks are just fitter, not better
With the undoubted exception of England, circa 2001-2003, I’ve always thought New Zealand, year-in year-out, look at least ten per cent...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Delayed start to season will benefit clubs in long run
Here we go again, as soon as there is the slightest potential to extract some money from the RFU, the Premiership...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Lions must show their teeth in South Seas
Having been among those agitating for New Zealand finally to pay a debt of honour to the Samoan people and play...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: Old-time All Blacks stand test of history
They could be found in Auckland on Thursday night sinking some grog and spinning old yarns worthy of the occasion –...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher – So, is Maggie Alphonsi the retiring type?
All good things come to an end but you can sense Maggie Alphonsi’s reluctance to leave the international scene. England‘s openside...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Well done girls, but let’s keep it in perspective
I read somewhere this week that the Women’s World Cup was a tipping point for the sport. As much as I...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Delaying EPS selection is big step in right direction
It has taken time but at last there has been some common sense from the Premiership in their relationship with the...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: Wales pay price for the pursuit of money
Gareth Edwards achieved many famous things, not least playing 53 consecutive matches for Wales. From start to finish, it took him...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: They think the ball’s over … it isn’t now!
Today – August 17 – is exactly 20 years since a certain George Gregan made his Bledisloe Cup debut in Sydney...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain talks to Will Fraser about Saracens’ new challenge in Europe
Will Fraser faces a new start this season, and one of the main yardsticks by which the Saracens No.7 and most...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoJeremy Guscott’s verdict: You only get one shot with this brilliant side… take it!
We have only to see a little sign of weakness to jump on a bandwagon thinking that this New Zealand side...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Let’s draft top young talent each season
What do Dan Cole, Billy Twelvetrees, Tom Youngs and Owen Farrell of the current England squad have in common? The answer...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Glory will always be given to the coach
Coaches or captains? Who should get the glory, who should take the blame and, who should be the visible face of...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: It’s time for WRU to stop hiding from the public
Barack Obama gave a presidential news conference at the White House last week, answering some 15 questions on world affairs during...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Revealed – Referees do turn blind eye to some laws
Refereeing at the elite end is reaching crisis point, and the IRB’s professional referees’ manager, Joel Jutge, needs to get a...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoJeremy Guscott’s verdict: That great aura of invincibility has left the All Blacks now
It’s harsh, but rugby, like life, is all about taking opportunities when they come – and Australia did not do that...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain meets the fully-fit, revitalised and agreeably confident Christian Wade
Christian Wade knows it’s all about being in the right place at the right time. It is the golden rule of...
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