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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoLeinster’s workload merits little sympathy
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK LEINSTER are worried about the pressure that could prevent them from winning a...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoCrunch time for red lines
The crunch is coming as negotiations between the Championship and the RFU/Premiership over promotion-relegation intensify, with the Premiership ring-fence moratorium finishing...
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Club Rugby
/ 2 years agoKick off with Cup
The Papa Johns Cup has staggered into its second season with almost as many walk-overs as matches played, despite an increase...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoThe boys down west who know how to win
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED The way they see it down Exeter way, only one team is flying the flag for the...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoThe day Sir John picked up the bill
Steve Diamond always had a way with words – some of his stories concerning Danny Cipriani during the wayward outside-half ’s...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoWales on a mission to survive or decline
Paul Rees asks whether the country which has won 12 Grand Slams can still afford to run four regional sides A...
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Autumn Internationals
/ 2 years agoWales no longer the big shots
The schedule of 21 Tests over five weekends in November offers renewed evidence of the spiralling gap between Ireland and Wales....
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoAwayday struggles
Having endured more than their share of hard times in following a club which once described itself in all immodesty as...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years ago‘Ireland in blue’ will provide stiffest test
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Phil Dowson and Leo Cullen first crossed paths in European action 10 seasons...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years ago35 years on and Tim’s charity still full of hope
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER If you believe rugby is the ultimate team sport – which I still do – it is...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoPGP deal is nothing but a waste of time
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME I can't help thinking that the new Professional Game Partnership (PGP) is...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoRecord crowds flock to matches
JAMES HARRINGTON - FRENCH COLUMN More people than ever are flocking through the turnstiles of Top 14 and ProD2 matches, according...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoBarrett’s Leinster move seems strange to me
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK JORDIE Barrett’s signing by Leinster on a six-month contract from December until the end...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoEngland must take Quins pair to NZ
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK WILL Collier and Fin Baxter have been showered with praise following Harlequins epic...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoBan teams who pick reserves for knock-out stages
The Bulls are not the first outfit to undermine the European Cup by picking an understrength team, with some French clubs...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoEnvious eyes fall on Leinster’s recruits
Leinster's ability to cherry-pick two of the 2023 World Cup final’s biggest stars, signing All Black centre Jordie Barrett to augment...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoRobertson will cash in on Barrett move
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED LOOKING at it from Leinster’s point of view, the signing of the world’s best inside centre is...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoTry-fest with big issues below the surface
The Paris Games, more formally known as the XXXIII Olympiad, are almost upon us and the Rugby Sevens schedule is full...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoOutsiders aiming for a place in the final
Paul Rees looks ahead to the Champions Cup semi-finals where Quins and Saints are facing an uphill battle BEFORE this season’s...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoLion who enjoyed a taste of Italy
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW ANDREA Gazzi’s grave lies on the Inner Hebridean island of Islay, a long...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoBarrett, the man for every occasion
As a centre-three-quarter par excellence, there is nothing Jordie Barrett cannot do. Nobody in his position can truck it up the...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoThe Sheriff will be sorely missed
PETER JACKSON The gods played a dirty trick in denying Ken Owens a farewell appearance for his beloved Wales and...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoS Africa is crying out for its own league
RUGBY MATTERS - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER IF I remember my A level geography...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoGreat to see Swiss move up the ladder
There will be a new name mixing it with the bigger teams in the Rugby Europe Championship next season after Switzerland...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoHow Lomu changed the way we played
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME IT SEEMS the spectre of size has raised its head again with...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoJIFF looks likely to play a vital role
JAMES HARRINGTON - FRENCH COLUMN It's logical – as the final stop-start sprint in a hard-fought Top 14 season begins –...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoThe pinball wizard who can fire Exeter
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK IMMANUEL Feyi-Waboso was a pretty unknown factor before the Six Nations, but the 21-year-old...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoDawson predicts the battle at 10 will benefit England
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The Fin Smith–Marcus Smith fly-half debate was given a good airing when Matt...
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English Championship
/ 2 years agoRFU needs a sense of proportion
The RFU has always maintained that promotion-relegation is sacrosanct, even though the RFU Council agreed in February 2021 to a so-called...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoAnother barmy idea from the men in suits
The Ministry of Silly Walks was a Monty Python sketch which lampooned bureaucratic inefficiency. Rugby Union requires something similar to shame...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoTime for props to take their share of the glory
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED OVERMATCHED teams usually find themselves facing the music without having to listen to any. It was different...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoWe need Biarrtitz back to their best
SERGE Blanco, the finest full-back ever to grace the union game, spent his entire club career at Biarritz. So did the...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoRugby schedule has little to do with player welfare
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW A roll of drums and a fanfare of trumpets late last summer heralded...
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Challenge Cup
/ 2 years agoPienaar heads the list for Europe’s golden oldies
In the course of wheeling their way into the Challenge Cup quarter-finals last weekend against the Cheetahs, the Michelin Men of...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoTime to create a new dynasty
Paul Rees looks at what Mark McCall needs to do at Saracens as several big names head for the exit door...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoAndré, high priest of French running rugby
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Andre Boniface, who died earlier this week aged...
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English Championship
/ 2 years agoWe need a fairer deal for all levels
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME I cannot believe that there is any way an agreement between the...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoBiarritz’s future is back in its hands
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN To the relief of fans, white smoke was finally seen over the stand tops of Biarritz’s Parc...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoEngland need access to their overseas stars
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK ENGLAND and New Zealand, who meet in a two-Test series this summer, find themselves...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoToo much tinkering is causing confusion
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Rugby Union is in the grip of the “the law of unintended consequences”,...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoSecond fine for Tigers is case for concern
The recent announcement of a second salary cap infringement by Leicester indicates that the Premiership’s policing of its own financial regulations...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoModernise the scrum, don’t allow it to die
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED IF WE take the Book of Ecclesiastes as our guide – ancient though it may be, it...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoIt’s all a difficult question of trust
Leicester's latest fine for salary cap irregularities – their second in as many years – throws up an interesting question or...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoThe day Crane had final word at Cardiff
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW The Millennium Stadium once staged a trio of penalty shoot-outs in four years...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoVile keeps his record as Care steps down
Tommy Vile and Danny Care were born in the same decade of different centuries, the former in Newport during the first...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoIt’s still all to play for in race to the finishing line
Paul Rees predicts a nerve-racking end to the Premiership season where bonus points will prove crucial THE two-month Premiership break has...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoHere’s hoping we see another drop of magic
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER IT’S Northampton against Munster in Europe today and...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years ago25 years of hurt and counting for Scotland
Scotland fans should look away now but this week – April 10 to be precise – will be the 25th anniversary...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoScrums can provide the best attacking platform
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Why the scrum is having to fight to stay a part of...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoTell players to stay focused – or face axe
There are some interesting excuses from coaches as to why there are such variations in results in the Premiership week by...
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