Brendan Gallagher pays tribute to Bakkies Botha

It’s all a bit rock’n’roll for Bakkies Botha at present. Farewell gigs in Cape Town, Tokyo and, most recently, at the...

Wallabies can exploit Red Rose uncertainty says Matt Burke

Wallabies legend believes Australia can make it a hat-trick of World Cup wins on UK soil.

Room 101: Tommy Taylor – Sale hooker

1. The Kardashians The Kardashian family seem to have been on every news item for the past year but for no...

Strong Ireland change six to take on England

Joe Schmidt has made six changes to his Ireland side as he decided to field what looks like his strongest XV...

Scotland welcome back Maitland and Seymour for French Test

Scotland Head Coach Vern Cotter today welcomed the return of Sean Maitland and Tommy Seymour for this Saturday’s World Cup warm...

Tomas Francis and Sam Hill sign new Exeter deals

Exeter Chiefs have today announced long-term contract extensions for Wales international Tomas Francis and centre Sam Hill. Tighthead prop Francis is...

Sam Warburton returns to lead Wales

Sam Warburton returns to the Wales starting line-up to lead his side against Italy in their final World Cup warm-up on...

Worcester Warriors sign Donncha O’Callaghan

Worcester Warriors have today confirmed the signing of Ireland international Donncha O’Callaghan. The giant lock, 36, moves to Sixways after 17...

Nick Cain on why Brad Barritt is England’s go-to centre

Brad Barritt has a reputation for being England‘s midfield rock. We are talking about a centre who is not just teak-tough...

Workaholic Henry Slade was never going to be fazed

Exeter academy manager Robin Cowling has backed rookie Henry Slade to take his World Cup call-up in his stride. Slade’s superb...

20 Questions: Thomas Waldrom – Exeter No.8

How’s pre-season going? We’ve had a tough few weeks as it always is at Exeter but we had a week off...

WIN tickets to the world premiere of Pacific Warriors

The Rugby Paper has teamed up with Pacific Warriors to give the opportunity to three of our readers to win a...

Scotland lock Jim Hamilton retires from Test rugby

Jim Hamilton has today announced his retirement from international rugby after missing out of Vern Cotter’s Scotland World Cup squad. The...

Jeff Probyn’s column: We’re running out of time to get the scrum working

As Stuart Lancaster tears up the selectors’ hand book and does what was expected, the whole of England’s rugby community will...

Nick Cain’s verdict on England’s World Cup squad

Apart from Stuart Lancaster saying that he had to make choices that brought tears to his eyes, it was business as...

Premiership plans to expand top flight could be ‘dead’ forever

Proposals for a 14-team Premiership and a moratorium on promotion and relegation from season 2016-17 are dead. The Rugby Paper can...

Injury forces Italy into World Cup squad change

Italy have called up Glasgow flanker Simone Favaro to their World Cup squad for injured winger Angelo Esposito. Esposito, 22, picked up...

Brad Barritt to make England return against Ireland

Brad Barritt will make his long-awaited return to the England starting XV to take in Ireland in Dublin on Saturday. The...

My Life in Rugby: Robin Cowling – former England prop

With my family background I suppose I was destined to play rugby. My dad came from County Durham and played Rugby...

Chris Wyles to captain USA at World Cup

Chris Wyles will captain the USA at the World Cup it was confirmed today. The Saracens back is part the 31-man...

Scotland name World Cup squad

Head Coach Vern Cotter today named scrum-half Greig Laidlaw as captain of the 31-man Scotland squad for the World Cup. The...

Shane Williams’ verdict: At last we’ve seen the real Wales again, bring it on!

Now that was more like it! What a difference experience can make to a side. Two weeks ago Wales were all...

Nick Cain: Man-of-the-match Justin Tipuric holds the key to unlocking the breakdowns

They are coming round the corner hard, fast, and in numbers, as Warren Gatland‘s sides tend to do – and England...

Nemani Nadolo plans Pool of Death opener shock for England

Fijian juggernaut Nemani Nadolo has England in his sights and intends to blow the World Cup wide open with victory on...

Andrew Trimble misses out on Ireland World Cup squad

Andrew Trimble has been left out of Ireland‘s World Cup squad with Joe Schmidt opting to take just two scrum-halves. The...

Day and Francis named in Wales’ World Cup squad

Dom Day and Tomas Francis have been named by Warren Gatland in Wales World Cup squad. The Bath lock and Exeter...

Dream Team: Kelly Brown – Saracens, Scotland and former Borders back row

1. Cian Healy – Clearly spent a significant part of his life in the gym, strong, good in the set-piece and...

Steve Meehan tips English clubs to challenge French giants

Toulon‘s new backs coach Steve Meehan believes the financial disparity between English and French clubs is closing and sees no reason...

Young Gun: Owain James – Wasps full-back

Owain James is still coming to terms with mixing it up alongside his idols at training, but next week he will...

Brendan Gallagher recalls the biggest World Cup upsets in history

Shock results – upsets – are not a common occurrence at World Cups where generally thing go very much to form. Indeed...

Ashley Johnson is hooking up to a whole new ball game

Barnstorming South African will not settle for the No.16 shirt.

Room 101: Chris Walker – Yorkshire Carnegie flanker

1. Man buns Man buns’ otherwise known as ‘top knots’ are horrendous and have no place in society. I’m not the...

Stuart Lancaster name England’s World Cup squad

Former Rugby League star Sam Burgess included in 31-man party.

Scotland ring the changes for round 2 against Italy

Vern Cotter has made 14 changes to his Scotland team ahead of the their clash against Italy on Saturday at Murrayfield....

George North to return to action against Ireland

George North will make his long awaited return to action against Ireland on Saturday after being named on the wing by...

Sila Puafisi to join Glasgow Warriors

As reported by Neil Fissler in The Rugby Paper on Sunday, Gloucester prop will join the Glasgow Warriors once his World...

Nick Cain’s column: James Horwill axe shows how the mighty can fall, fast

James Horwill’s arrival at The Stoop to join his new Harlequins team-mates will probably come sooner than he expected following his...

Jeremy Guscott’s column: Fortune will favour the brave in Ireland

The England–Ireland World Cup warm-up game on September 5 has huge significance for both sides. The managements can spin this however...

Peter Jackson’s column: Ironman’s meteoric rise stands test of time

The eighth World Cup will generate more money than the previous seven. It may even produce a Six Nations winner but...

Openside duo key for Wallabies says George Smith

Breakdown master George Smith has backed Australia to cause England and Wales no end of trouble in the ‘Pool of Death’...

20 Questions: Scott Steele – London Irish scrum-half

How’s pre-season going? We’ve just started our second block of training and it’s ramped up from the first three weeks we...

Premiership Sevens finals squads

Exeter: Sam Skinner, Stuart Townsend, Sam Simmonds (Capt,), Jack Maunder, Pete Laverick, Adam Hughes, Adam Worth, Matt Eliet, Tom Holdsworth, Harry...

Jeff Probyn’s column: Two ‘big hits’ not enough to put Sam Burgess ahead of Henry Slade

Looking back at last week’s game and the England team’s performance against France at Twickenham, I have the feeling that I...

Shane Williams’ column: Absolute honour to play with a true great like Ryan Jones

Of the hundreds of memories I cherish from playing with Ryan Jones for the Ospreys, Wales and the British & Irish...

Nick Cain takes stock of how the England pack rates against the world’s best

Forwards, and how many of them he needs, will be at the top of Stuart Lancaster‘s agenda as he contemplates cutting...

Alex Lewington commits to London Irish

Alex Lewington has committed his future to London Irish by signing a contract extension ahead of the start of the 2015/16...

Catherine Spencer blasts RFU for ‘wasting’ World Cup win

Former England captain Catherine Spencer has launched a stinging attack on the RFU for wasting legacy opportunities from the 2014 World...

Dylan Hartley could still play in World Cup

Dylan Hartley could still play at the World Cup despite being dropped by Stuart Lancaster back in June. The England hooker...

My Life in Rugby: Tommy Hayes – former Waikato, Glasgow & Bristol fly-half

When I moved over to Scotland from New Zealand in the late Nineties I was warned to pack plenty of coats...

Scotland drop seven players ahead of World Cup

Scotland head coach Vern Cotter has released seven players from his World Cup training squad on the back of Saturday’s 16-12...