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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: Shameful memories for Wales in South Africa
As the top man in the world game, Bernard Lapasset paid due homage to Nelson Mandela on behalf of “the rugby...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher talks to Nigel Owens about the challenges – and joy – of reffing around the world
It might surprise you to learn – although possibly not – that the pre-eminent referee in world rugby in 2013 has...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: France’s ‘Little Napoleon’ is trying to rule in Europe
When it comes to exercising absolute power within a rugby fiefdom there is no one who comes close to Pierre Camou....
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Enough! We don’t want more League coaches
The news that Steve McNamara is staying at his post in Rugby League – part time with England and assistant coach...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoJeremy Guscott: Saracens and Leicester Tigers can still fly English flag in Europe
The chances of an English club winning the Heineken Cup have receded, but that’s no big reality check because the most...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: South African link would make Stuart Lancaster happy
Last week I said the Premiership would have to look further afield if they wanted to find a replacement for those...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain talks to Nick Easter about his rebirth as a lock
Nick Easter’s nickname suggests he is a man who has plenty of credit in the bank. The soubriquet that the Harlequins...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: Top dogs in Europe have bark but no bite
When they opened the roof after the Wallabies had done their level best to bring the house down, Wales were left...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher talks to John Carter, the Varsity captain who doesn’t put winning first
John Carter may look like Sebastien Chabal’s younger, wilder, brother and when his battered body can be welded together for 80...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: No, Kenny your call to ring-fence is so wrong
Exeter finished bottom of National 3 and were relegated to National 4 along with Clifton in 1995, the year that the...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoJeremy Guscott: England only third in ‘group of death’
The Autumn Internationals provide an obvious point from which to do a stock-take on where England, Wales and Australia are two...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Fans are shortchanged twice in one bad week
What do the RFU and the Premiership have in common? First, both have hit the headlines this week with announcements that...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: Luke Charteris’ uncool hands mean try wait goes on
Luke Charteris threw himself back into the day job in France at the weekend, wondering why there is still no international...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoJeremy Guscott: All Blacks dominate my best of the autumn XV
This has been New Zealand‘s year, and their unbeaten run continued over the course of the autumn series. That is why,...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: IRB must take the blame for debacle over George North
In what appears to be a clear case of mistaken identity, Premiership Rugby have decided that Northampton are the bad guys...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoMartyn Thomas – “Mark McCafferty should go – he led us into wilderness”
Ever since the Anglo-French club pact was formed Martyn Thomas has predicted that the Top 14 clubs would fold like a...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: The joke’s wearing thin for Warren Gatland
This is getting beyond a joke. The more Wales fail to answer needling jibes about their ‘mental barrier’, the more the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Aussie kids who changed the face of rugby for ever
It’s hard to credit in this era of 12 or 13 Test matches per calendar year by all the major Test...
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Sevens World Series
/ 12 years agoTom Mitchell: Sevens deep in the desert
Of all the nine tournaments on the IRB series, the Dubai 7s is perhaps the one that best brings home the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher on Fiji’s duty to end 100 years of lost opportunities
There is a myth that the full All Blacks have never played in Fiji which is not quite true. In 1913,...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: Wales will count cost of vanishing 70,000 fans
For the second time in six days, Wales went about their business in Cardiff on Friday night in front of more...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: World Cup schedule is IRB-made shambles
The England 2015 Rugby World Cup fanfare gets underway for real at Twickenham on Wednesday when the IRB announce their ticketing...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain uncovers the ticking time bomb of Red Rose tour to New Zealand
The buzz-phrase after the autumn series is that ‘England are building’. However, exactly what structure Stuart Lancaster and his side build...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Joe Marler has moved above Mako Vunipola in the prop order
As the end of this season’s Autumn Internationals are approaching, what have we learned? England set a goal of three wins...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoJeremy Guscott: Owen Farrell must play flat if England are to score tries
England‘s attack has been a hot topic this week after an autumn of few tries against the better teams. This is...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: The good, bad and ugly of the scrum machines
So at last we have the answer to all scrum problems – the new scrum machine being used by Bath Rugby...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain talks to Nick Mallett about the growing threat of South Africa
Nick Mallett knows a thing or two about being in charge of “the most dominant team in the history of the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoKeith Wood: Only Ireland’s very best for 80 minutes will suffice
Only five nations on this rugby planet have beaten New Zealand in a Test match in 110 years of trying so...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: Departure of Jonathan Davies highlights WRU feud
Jonathan Davies will more than double his money at Clermont this season, a move into the £400,000-a-year bracket befitting a player...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Get scrum right Alain – or be kicked into touch
When Alain Rolland was introduced at the Millennium Stadium last weekend as the referee for the Wales v South Africa match...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoJeremy Guscott’s verdict: Scrum has the X factor now we need some backs
England might lack an individual with real X factor at the moment but their collective dog and spirit is their special...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s autumn verdict: McCaw & co look like world champions elect to me
England gave it a rattle and for once New Zealand seemed to come off second best with the ref but still...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson’s verdict: Wales know the precise problem
George North knew he needed something special to reassure the faithful shocked at the sight of Bryan Habana giving their gigantic...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: What chance a real scrum when refs can’t get it right?
Question: What are the reasons for scrums? I was asked the same question by a friend who currently occupies a high...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: Brave rebel Byron Hayward is still blazing his own trail
Of the 1,109 players capped by Wales, only one began by scoring a hat-trick of tries on debut as a second-half...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Stuart Lancaster ducks his big chance to be bold
Little more than a week ago Stuart Lancaster called the next 12 months a “defining year” for his team. The England...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain talks to World-cup winning coach Wayne Smith about the All Blacks, Australia and England
Wayne Smith is hardwired with the All Black genome from the soles of his feet to the last hair on his...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s fallen heroes
1914 06 09 14 Xavier ‘Gastofer’ Mayssonnie (France): The only Toulouse player in France’s first Five nations game. Adjutant 259ème Regiment...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s verdict on Wales
And still Wales can’t make the breakthrough the nation demands and expects and their talent warrants. For all their excellence on...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoJeremy Guscott’s verdict on England
As thoughts turn to New Zealand do you judge Chris Robshaw’s team on their first half performance or that inexplicably poor...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher: League legend Ray French never let ‘Cold War’ sour his Union links
Somewhere up in Ray French’s attic, amid thousands of programmes, is a dusty typed letter from the RFU clearing him to...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: Wales must speak out over shame of Mike Phillips
According to Alain Afflelou, only his presidential intervention prevented Bayonne giving Mike Phillips the order of the boot 12 months ago. Afflelou...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain: Leave the subs on the bench for better results
There is a ‘tinkerman’ alive and kicking inside every coach, so here’s a plea to Stuart Lancaster, Andy Farrell and Graham...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: England still need balance between backs and forwards
It’s hard to believe that ten years have passed since that great night in Sydney when an England team finally delivered...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 12 years agoJeremy Guscott’s verdict: I didn’t think I’d ever see Owen Farrell score a try like that
It was a good win for England if not the most convincing of performances – but coaches and players are, in...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain assesses the challenge a warring Argentina will set for England this week
Patricio Albacete is Argentina‘s most experienced forward, and is widely regarded as one of the best locks in the game, yet...
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Peter Jackson
/ 12 years agoPeter Jackson: Threadbare Wales are on a wing and a prayer
Wales will go into their annual home bash at the Southern Hemisphere down to the bare bones in specialist wings. They...
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Nick Cain
/ 12 years agoNick Cain previews Twickenham’s opening match of the autumn internationals
When it comes to being two-faced, Stuart Lancaster‘s England win the prize hands down. The question is which face will we...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 12 years agoBrendan Gallagher remembers the 2003 World Cup triumph with Lawrence Dallaglio
Lawrence Dallaglio wipes his plate clean – the monster ‘Magnifica’ breakfast at Carluccios in Richmond having been routed with lip-smacking relish...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 12 years agoJeff Probyn: Alcohol abuse is affecting more players than drugs
The announcement this week of just five positive results out of a total of 617 drug tests in the RFU‘s anti-doping...
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