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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoTactical subs are spoiling the game
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK REDUCING the number of tactical substitutes is something I’ve wanted for a long time,...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoTime for Borthwick to put faith in Itoje
nick cain READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK STEVE Borthwick struck a positive note this week when he made it clear...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoMass rotation could end up a crowd killer
The Premiership wants to be taken seriously, but then makes the cardinal error of not taking itself seriously by trashing its...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoClass acts who have inspired a generation
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED Jack Rowell, the man behind Bath’s “golden decade” at the back end of the amateur era, bore...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoTime for Borthwick to look to the future
According to reports, as the television news broadcasters like to say, Billy Vunipola is toying with the idea of a move...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoBorthwick puts his foot on the accelerator
Paul Rees looks at how England, without Owen Farrell at the helm, could turn into an attacking force Steve Borthwick’s England...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoWhen the selectors made the right calls
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER IT’S 2024 – a belated Happy New Year...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoSir Dicky’s New Year honour is hugely deserved
Everybody west of the Tamar, and indeed way beyond, was delighted that Dicky Evans was elevated to Sir Dicky in the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoThe day Bancroft created history
TODAY sees the 130th anniversary of the first successful penalty kick in Test rugby with Billy Bancroft, below, landing a tricky...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoTime for new flier to make his choice
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW IMMANUEL Feyi-Waboso has been given a timely reminder that Wales wishes him to...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoDazzling Penaud out for a repeat
Given what they achieved throughout the old year, perhaps only Mary Earps and Pep Guardiola had reason to ring in the...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoSet-piece domination still the key to victory
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME I always try to be honest in what I write, but I...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoFarrell’s future the only talk in town…
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Fabien Galthie will have a reduced training squad for the 2024 Six Nations after a player release...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoEngland’s attack has to have a revamp
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK The England attack has been mediocre since 2019 – and that’s giving it some...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoRFU has utterly failed to bring the game together
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK HERE’S wishing The Rugby Paper’s loyal readers, and fans of the game everywhere,...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoReasons to be cheerful for rugby’s year ahead
Paul Rees canvasses the views of Premiership directors of rugby and finds there is a fair amount of optimism IT IS...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoAll Blacks destined to regain top spot
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED IT USED to be said in New Zealand that failure to win the World Cup endangered the...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoAt last we are going in right direction
It is always easier to bury English rugby’s alleged leaders than to praise them, but it would run counter to the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoWhen Merlene Ottey’s leotard grew nine sizes
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points NEW Year’s Eve and rugby always brings to...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoBiden steals the show in RAG awards
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Contrary to common belief, rugby’s event of the year did not happen in...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoFarewell to these fine men of rugby
Come hell or high water, The Grim Reaper never fails to take a day off from scything through his grisly business....
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoProud men who graced the game
Brendan Gallagher recalls the achievements of those from across the globe that the world of rugby lost in 2023 Sydney Millar...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoTalented players will still miss out
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME With the start of a new year, it’s the beginning of a...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoSimmonds is facing a fight for survival
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN THE final weekend of 2023 – and we’re almost at the halfway point of the Top 14...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoI can see why Dupont has gold in his sights
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK IT is very hard to think of France without Antoine Dupont as a driving...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoHere’s my England squad for Six Nations
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK There will have been times when the honeymoon period predicted for Steve Borthwick’s...
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English Championship
/ 2 years agoSweeney’s words causing deep anger
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK There is something radically wrong when the chief executive of the RFU –...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoToulouse are the most entrancing side of them all
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED Dupont or no Dupont, Ntamack or no Ntamack, this latest edition of the Champions Cup may well...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoGorging on a Christmas feast of non-stop rugby
CHRIS HEWETT Rugby has always been a game of Big Ideas: Carwyn James, the patron saint of Stradey Park, was a...
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Challenge Cup
/ 2 years agoThe French out in front? That’s not how it looks
With 12 victories in 16 games, Paul Rees reflects on a promising start by English clubs in the Champions Cup It...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoTime of goodwill to all (well, nearly all)
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER hands out his Christmas goodies... HO HO HO. I’m normally more of a scrooge than a Santa...
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British and Irish Lions
/ 2 years agoDay when the tears flowed for Devereux
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW THE Brewery Field in Bridgend last Wednesday night offered more than a few...
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Challenge Cup
/ 2 years agoDreadful night for Scarlets
When they drank Llanelli dry the day the Scarlets beat New Zealand 51 years ago, the public houses to run out...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoSecrets of learning about the dark arts
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME LAST week’s paper, and in particular Nick Cain’s article, put a smile...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoO’Gara’s problems keep on coming
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Australian hooker Tolu Latu went straight into La Rochelle’s matchday squad for pre-Christmas trip to Stade Francais,...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoHenry’s French leave won’t hold him back
JEREMY GUSCOTT IT’S time for the RFU/Premiership to wake up and go, ‘Wow, what’s wrong with us that a young player...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoHunt is on for next generation of props
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Five years ago there was a scrum feature in The Rugby Paper which...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoSo-called ‘partners’ deserve justice
NICK CAIN One of the most incomprehensible aspects of this season is that the PGP (Professional Game Partnership) is missing one...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoEngland don’t need a comfort blanket
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED According to the industrious Alex Sanderson, who will surely be in the running for a senior place...
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Challenge Cup
/ 2 years agoDungeon of obscurity needs to be shut
CHRIS HEWETT Barely able to buy a round of drinks, let alone a win – the good men and true of...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoToulouse’s victory over Quins is top of my list
RUGBY MATTERS THE greatest single performance in the Heineken Cup? That’s a tricky one, there have been so many, but when...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoMillar knew how to keep ref onside
RUGBY MATTERS Dr Syd Millar was many things – Ballymena stalwart, redoubtable Ireland Test prop, successful Ireland coach and innovative rugby...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoFollowing in fathers’ footsteps
RUGBY MATTERS The tradition of “sons of” playing for France U20 is well and truly established now and seems to know...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoRyan has to wise up and show respect
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Maybe one day James Ryan will find it in him to send a...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years ago70 years on and two remain
PETER JACKSON This weekend marks the 70th anniversary of the rarest result in Test rugby. On Saturday, December 19, 1953, Wales...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoThe day Syd needed his teeth to be in
PETER JACKSON Syd Millar’s Himalayan climb along the cutting edge of rugby history encompassed three momentous events: the invincible Lions tour...
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Challenge Cup
/ 2 years agoSocial media can hurt even the best
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Last weekend saw some of the best rugby we have seen this...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoOlympics causing financial headache
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The new cycle of French senior men’s rugby starts here – a month-and-a-half after the 2023 Rugby...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoFrench power will be so tough to overcome
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK English clubs are up against it in the Champions Cup because they are competing...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoThe Viking will put steel back into Bath
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE Viking – a.k.a. RG Snyman – is expected to arrive in Bath...
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