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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Game’s flashpoints stem from inconsistent refereeing
Empathy. Consistency. Clarity. Accuracy. All those crucial factors were missing for large tracts of the officiating in the Wild West Premiership...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Fitzy’s, fiddlers and film stars..no, we’ll never forget the craic
It won’t just be London Irish fans and members bidding a fond farewell to Sunbury next month when the JCBs start...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: It’s a worry when even Tredegar ‘hit rocks’
As the birthplace of Aneurin Bevan and cradle of the National Health Service, Tredegar has a history of global renown. The...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Matt Giteau counts his blessings amid sun, sea and rugby stars
There was a fascinating cameo for people watchers at the end of Toulon‘s mighty win over Leinster at Stade Felix Mayol...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Reduce top-flight payments and grow grassroots game
The debate by the RFU council this week about the restructuring of lower leagues has opened a can of worms that...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: John Bull agenda is robbing England of some top talent
There is much to admire about Stuart Lancaster‘s England but I remain unconvinced by this “Little England” attitude which bars prospective...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoJeremy Guscott: Gavin Henson’s coming back to best – and it’s great to see
Gavin Henson proved the other week against Brive what we have all known throughout his career: the guy can really play....
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Why life’s not so simple in this new European utopia
Delays, debates and rows, just another week of life in the sport we recognise as professional rugby. The delays in the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Brive and bloody, the short reign of French mavericks
It is 16 years since Brive clashed with Bath in the 1998 Heineken Cup final in Bordeaux and at the time...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain talks to Joe Launchbury about Wasps’ late season challenges and his advancement with England
Joe Launchbury does not conform to the old school second row stereotype. His face doesn’t look as if it’s been flirting...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: Village that beat the All Blacks is rotting away
Of all the villages in Britain, only one can lay claim to a dual role in a victory over the All...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Here’s how All Blacks Test could have moved
There are times when it is blatantly obvious that the standards of excellence now demanded of England’s professional rugby players are...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Steve Diamond has more polish but can still spot a gem
There was a time Sale boss Steve Diamond might have brooded for a week or more after the disappointing Amlin Cup...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Penalties are becoming too important in rugby
Some interesting ideas have come from Australia this week as they prepare to launch the new National Rugby Championship which they...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Balm before the storm: England’s 1914 Slam
Exactly 100 years ago the rugby season in England was fast drawing innocently to a close. In those days, with most...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain talks to Saracens lock George Kruis
George Kruis believes that Saracens have an edge when it comes to the business end of the season because they know...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoJeremy Guscott: Manu Tuilagi and Luther Burrell would be a true force of nature
The impact that Manu Tuilagi has had to date in 23 England matches – including scoring 11 tries – gives him...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Wembley bonanaza shows the way ahead
If anyone had had the temerity to suggest 20 years ago that a game between Saracens and Harlequins would set a...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: Hanno Dirksen heads the new foreign invasion
France will be free to pick another South African next season and install Rory Kockott as their prospective scrum-half for the...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: It was the Scotland game that cost England the title
Sometimes in life everything conspires to bring about the right outcome and make dreams come true, even if it takes a...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Yes, BOD was great, but not the greatest
That Brian O’Driscoll is one of the great players is undisputed. However, justice was done when Mike Brown won the 2014...
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British and Irish Lions Tour
/ 12 years agoNick Cain picks his new Lions team from the evidence of the Six Nations championship
Selecting a 2014 Lions side confirms more than anything just how long a year in rugby can be. If the Lions...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoJeremy Guscott: England lead the way in my team of Six Nations
There was not much separating the four top sides in this year’s Six Nations, as the tournament took us on a...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: The sevens wonder of the world still going at 75!
Over the years camp followers have suffered from severe sunburn, hypothermia and trench foot watching the HSBC Rosslyn Park School Sevens...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: 150 years on and rugby’s oldest rivalry just as fierce
They have been knocking lumps out of each other for 150 years now so it was probably fitting that Richmond and...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Is it coincidence that scrums become messy with Gethin Jenkins?
Well, well, well, what’s going on? The long held view that the front row is made up of men who are...
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Sevens World Series
/ 12 years agoTom Mitchell: Konichiwa from Japan’s capital
Konichiwa! That is pretty much the extent of our grasp of the lingo out here. Of all our stops on the...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Yes, they’re good – but England are a way off being great
If England can make the same progress over the next 18 months that they have made in the last year then...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: Warren Gatland’s Robocops must find new game
Heavy depressions hanging over Wales in between World Cups are not a new phenomenon even if the latest one may take...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Moaning Robin McBryde should face all the facts
If Robin McBryde wants to know why Gethin Jenkins was sin-binned against England last weekend he does not need to go...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Brian O’Driscoll was never a victim again after this act of brutality
The thud and thunder of battles won and lost will never recede entirely, nor will those lightning forks of brilliance that lit...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoJeremy Guscott’s verdict: Even Manu Tuilagi can’t step straight into this ace side
The final weekend may not have gone entirely to script for Stuart Lancaster’s side but the England head coach should be...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Why Barbados against mighty All Blacks will be no rum do
It’s a bleary-eyed Sunday morning on Aldershot Garrison Common where the icy wind knifes you in two and the freezing rain...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Why we have to keep Georgia on our minds
While the rest of the rugby world would be delighted to avoid playing New Zealand in the World Cup, Georgia will...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Taller props are causing more front row injuries
Last week Nick Cain asked where are all the tighthead props – when what he could have asked is, why are...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Let’s hear it for the new glory boys wearing 15
For decades it was the pin-ups at half-back who always seemed to hold sway, the mercurial playmakers and distributors who were...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: No wonder stone-face Steve Hansen has a smile at last
Here’s Stuart Lancaster’s nightmare scenario. The week before England are due to play the first Test of their three Test June...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoJeremy Guscott: England must stop Jamie Roberts – and this is how to do it!
A fit Jamie Roberts is very important to Wales in a specific way. The power of his carrying gets the Welsh...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Disco kids can lead Wales a dance
Danny Care and Owen Farrell have been dancing to a new beat this season. It emerged this week that when the...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: Man-for-man Wales hold the edge over England
There was a time when Wales lorded it over England at Twickenham, an affluent corner of London town which they never...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain investigates the great mystery: where have all the tight-heads gone?
Where have all the tight-heads gone? That was the question giving England fans pause for thought this week as they contemplated...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Barrie-Jon Mather’s baptism must be a warning for Sam Burgess
The fanfare that has followed the news that Sam Burgess is to play for Bath next year is once again fostering...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Yapping at the man in the middle has to stop
Having been immune from the scourge of football-style dissent and badgering, or intimidation, of match officials for the best part of...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: How WRU made the Euro deal possible
As the English clubs and Welsh regions edge towards victory in the war over Europe, their commanders must be tempted to...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoJeremy Guscott’s verdict on England: England are growing into World Cup contenders
England took another major step towards being genuine World Cup contenders with this dogged, back to the walls display against Joe...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s verdict on England: Stuart Lancaster’s tough love is paying off
A little bit of faith, albeit combined with tough love, can go a long way in sport as Stuart Lancaster is...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain’s verdict on Wales: French can’t breach Shaun Edwards’ stone wall
Any sense that Wales were going to go quietly into the Six Nations night, relinquishing their champion status without a fight,...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: ‘Aggro’ Joe Marler is just a big chicken!
Joe Marler has a reputation for not walking away if the opposition are looking for a bit of aggro. Scotland were...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Scotland’s slump is so bad for Northern Hemisphere
I know it may sound strange but I am really saddened by the Calcutta Cup game last Saturday, not the result...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: The Ultimate Warrior Chris Pennell stands tall in the battle for survival
There was a fascinating and rather poignant moment down at Sixways the other night as Worcester trooped off after losing to...
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