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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoWhy the RFU needs to justify its CVC payments
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE recent observation by CVC that rugby union is too fragmented on the...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoEnough! No more ref chat
When is the incessant yapping between players and referees going to end? These appeals and “consultations” are becoming a blight at...
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British and Irish Lions
/ 2 years agoThe day John took on the NZ bully boys
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Barry John shall forever occupy a unique place in the rugby Pantheon in...
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Autumn Internationals
/ 2 years agoAll Blacks in Dublin will be the acid test
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED EARLY February is not obviously the moment to select a highlight of the calendar year. Especially if...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoShort-term ban means Willemse is evading natural justice
Natural justice is conspicuous by its absence in the union game. Think of the relegation-free protectionism of the Six Nations and...
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British and Irish Lions
/ 2 years agoLegend who had no wish to be one
Paul Rees says it was hard not to fall in love with rugby as a young boy, watching his hero play...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoSuperstar who paved the way for many more
BRENDAN GALLAGHER IT’S hard to quantify genius let alone compare one genius with another – although that never stops us trying...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoTake away the contact and you don’t have a game left
With the Six Nations now in full swing the last thing the game needs is further condemnation about how it’s played...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoIreland look like the team to beat
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Heading into week two of the Six Nations we were all wondering...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoCalvet’s likely to step in at Agen
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN France Under-20s coach Sebastien Calvet has emerged as favourite to replace Bernard Goutta on the conveyor-belt of...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoEngland look ready to throw off the chains
SIX NATIONS 2024 PAUL REES CLOSE yet comfortable summed up a contradictory England performance. Exposed in defence at times, they smothered...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoIt wasn’t quite Bazball but George’s men did enough to get the job done
BRENDAN GALLAGHER WELL, it wasn’t quite the ‘Bazball’ rugby that Jamie George apparently aspires to – did we really expect things...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoWhy you don’t give up on your dreams
SIX NATIONS 2024 BRENDAN GALLAGHER It's been said before but needs reiterating on a regular basis but there is no sporting...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoOnce again, the fans are being taken for granted
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE European Cup’s ‘round of 16’ takes some beating when it comes to...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoRFU double standards alive and well
Surprise, surprise, double standards are alive and well at the RFU. The latest example is the decision is to give a...
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English Championship
/ 2 years agoDiamond’s dual role can’t be right
The Twickenham suits are also not averse to turning a blind eye when a conflict-of-interests is involved. Perhaps the RFU’s performance...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoThat was a must-watch match of real quality
JEREMY GUSCOTT SIX NATIONS 2024 THE Six Nations opener in Marseille between France and Ireland was a really good game of...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoConfident Crowley shows why he deserves the keys to No.10
BRENDAN GALLAGHER SIX NATIONS 2024 Regular readers of The Rugby Paper will recall that I told you a very long time...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoI didn’t see that coming! France as flat as a crepe…
NICK CAIN Ireland's trouncing of France in Marseille – a record Irish win on French soil – trashed most pundits prediction...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoTop dogs who build teams in own image
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED According to an article on the American website “Psychology Today”, there is scientific evidence to suggest that...
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British and Irish Lions
/ 2 years agoThe Lions show still sets the standard
Living with Lions, the film released off the back of the compelling British and Irish tour of South Africa in 1997,...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoColossus following in family tradition
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW A teenaged colossus introduced himself to the Six Nations late on Friday night...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoCaulfield saga leaves much to be desired
PETER JACKSON It is not unreasonable to presume that those serving on the judiciary of the Champions Cup are appointed because...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years ago50 years ago, and it’s a different world
RUGBY MATTERS - BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points IT’S funny how some things 50 years...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoUnlucky Bev had just the two caps
It was remiss of this column not to note the passing of former Bristol and England prop Bev Dovey last month...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoWhy Six Nations is pinnacle of game
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME HERE we are at the start of another Six Nations with everything...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoDavidson relief as Castres stop rot
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN The afternoon after the Friday-night chastening Six Nations defeat in Marseille before, a subdued French rugby audience...
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English Championship
/ 2 years agoChamp clubs look set for battle
NICK CAIN The Championship clubs appear to be in no mood for turning, typified by their stand-off with an RFU bureaucracy...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoTier Two deserve a fair shake of the dice
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED YOU don’t have to be a marketing genius of Steve Jobs magnitude to dream up a better...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoLet’s see more put on to the fast track
CHRIS HEWETT IT is just about possible to use the phrase “sweet bird of youth” when discussing the 24st teenager Posolo...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoClouds of confusion hang over Evans
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW At the end of a week when the clouds of confusion thickened over...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoGood to see Bryn enjoying life at 93
PETER JACKSON Throughout his distinguished career for Wales and the Lions as the finest hooker of his generation, Bryn Meredith, right,...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoWhy France are my favourites for the title
JEREMY GUSCOTT Peter O’Mahony’s appointment as Ireland captain for the Six Nations at the age of 34 was a little surprising,...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoEngland will take time to develop
JEFF PROBYN - A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME At last we have confirmation so no wondering what the England...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoFarrell’s jumping from fire…into fire
RUGBY MATTERS I don't know about you but it’s occasionally been a bit of a torture watching Owen Farrell struggle with...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoThe tackle: Different options are available
Dafydd Jenkins’ yellow card last week for Exeter against Bayonne has caused much debate with most people agreeing that is was...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoLyon get it right against Perpignan
JAMES HARRINGTON In a league featuring the likes of Racing 92 and Toulouse, Toulon and La Rochelle, Bordeaux and Stade Francais,...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoEngland must play with the ‘wow’ factor
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK ONE of the biggest talking points of Steve Borthwick’s 2024 Six Nations squad is...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoThe talent is there – now let’s be bold
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK STEVE Borthwick talked of England “turning a corner” when he announced his preliminary...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoNot many will chase after Louis
Louis Rees-Zammit’s decision to chance his arm in American Football could be viewed as a blow to rugby union with the...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoWrong choice for England A
WHEN it comes to competition for places the appointment of Gloucester’s George Skivington and Dom Waldouck as England ‘A’ coaches for...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoWe need a more exclusive guest list
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED HERE’S a little brain-teaser, just to make sure you’ve been paying attention at the back of the...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoLet Louis enjoy his crack at stardom
No one ever accused Louis Rees-Zammit of “training like Tarzan and playing like Jane”, to excavate a funny one-liner from the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoScots should focus on developing own talent
The international merry-go-round continues. After the best part of a decade of striving for England honours Exeter Chiefs prop Alec Hepburn...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoMagnificent tome tells fantastic tales
Take a bow Neil Fissler and Adam Hathaway – much respected members of this parish – for completing a definitive Who’s...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoBorthwick puts club form at top of his list
SIX NATIONS COUNTDOWN Paul Rees says change will be gradual rather than sudden as teams renew after World Cup THE first...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoLouis sets his sights on golden pay day
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW JORDAN Mailata is one of a kind, the only rugby player to make...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoSad to think Feyi-Waboso felt more at home in England
Louis Rees-Zammit and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso share more than an X-factor ability and a double-barrelled surname. They grew up a year or...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoDupont leads the otherwise engaged XV
As the countdown gets ever closer to the launch of the grand old championship in Marseille on Friday week, it is...
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English Championship
/ 2 years agoAll clubs must be able to reach top
JEFF PROBYN SO it’s back to the future with the RFU CEO Bill Sweeney telling the Championship that they either don’t...
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