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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoSorry to see European Champions Cup lose its shine
The quality of rugby union’s competitions is crucial to its future as a professional sport. However, what we are witnessing is...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years ago£750,000 payoff for Jones just staggering
We have now discovered that Eddie Jones was almost certainly paid the equivalent of a full year’s £750,000 salary in a...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoMinnows can make splash of a whale
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED ACCORDING to Donald J Trump – you may have heard of him – “losers” are the lowest...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoWe need outcome that we can trust
It has been heading our way for many months, but now it seems horribly real. The concussion lawsuit laid against three...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoA team stuffed full of captains
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER I was having one final lingering look at...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoI can’t see how a single action can cover it all
Lawyers and the legal system move in mysterious ways but as a layman it’s difficult to understand how the law firm...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoToo many are being pushed to the edge
Paul Rees says it's time to ensure players spend less time in the gym and more with the ball in their...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoRace for the top is going to be close
The Premiership is taking a short rest after eight rounds and by Christmas will have reached the halfway stage. It is...
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Columnists
/ 2 years agoIt’s time for Lions to hunt change
By JOE SANTAMARIA Crunch: Jonny Wilkinson weathered the storm to kick three late points to earn the Lions a draw against...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoNo room at the top for Welsh regions
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW AS Anglo-Welsh duels of the blood-and-guts variety go, one springs foremost to mind:...
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British and Irish Lions
/ 2 years agoOnly right that the Lions play in Ireland
The Lions used to go out of their way to make friends in little towns not much bigger than villages. Now...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoExtreme views we can do without
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME I can't help but wonder what is happening to this game of...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoDavies enjoying life in a new lake
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN SWAPPING Dragons for a new challenge at Grenoble – and the lens of Welsh rugby for relative...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoGood on Farrell for putting his family first
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK Owen Farrell’s decision to step away from England duty was a surprise, but almost...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoItoje is the best man to captain England
NICK CAIN - READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Maro Itoje should be England’s next captain following Owen Farrell’s decision to...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoDon’t confuse hatred on social media with responsible debate
NO-ONE in their right mind wanted to see Owen Farrell exit the international stage after announcing this week that he wants...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoFalcons are trapped with nowhere to go
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED IT WAS a clear-cut case of “capitalism gone mad” as the loadsamoney class snapped up English club...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoExodus of talent isn’t always a disaster
Sabbaticals are all the rage. Sam Cane, the New Zealand captain who chased gold at the recent World Cup but ended...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoJohn was the first to sidestep celebrity
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW OWEN Farrell‘s maternal grandfather had only just begun creating the ultimate Anglo-Irish dynasty...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoNos Da, Dennis, my lovely boy
Dennis Gethin would have been highly amused had someone told him that his 12-year presidential reign on this side of the...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoCane is on message as a Goliath
Sam Cane made sure of saying all the right things about the Japanese League on his arrival in the Land of...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoA case of third time lucky for Neville
RUGBY MATTERS - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Sport is full of sliding doors moments,...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoTime to enforce law on quick tapped penalties
RUGBY MATTERS I can't remember the last time I saw a quick tapped penalty taken correctly yet refs and assistant refs...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoBig clubs ready to rumble
Paul Rees looks forward to the Champions Cup, kicking off this weekend THE Champions Cup returns this week with a tweaked...
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European Challenge Cup
/ 2 years agoGeorgia happy to be joining the party
The Challenge Cup is being used to widen boundaries. A Georgian side, Black Lion which will play its home matches in...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoBaxter’s right to call for the return of ‘traditional’ scrum
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME LAST week in almost all of the articles that I read, national...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoTwenty years on and still looking good…
Brendan Gallagher looked on as England’s World Cup winners from 2003 got together recently WAISTLINES have expanded and hairlines receded while...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoLaporte & Co hit the panic button
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN A week after ripping out their coaching set-up and employing an Etch-a-Sketch style reset to their season,...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoFearing players going abroad is a false storm
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK WORLD Cups provide rugby union with an opportunity to reset, and the actions taken...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years ago20 years on and little to give us any real hope
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THIS week saw the 20th anniversary celebrations of the 2003 England squad winning...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoOur starting XV for 2027
NICK CAIN An England team for the 2027 World Cup is a long shot which would leave most snipers well wide...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoDupont deserves to be on Olympic stage
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED There are exceptions to the general rule – the best three-minute pop songs, James Joyce’s stories in...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoWithout any mystery, it’s barely a game at all
Here's a brain-teaser for you: why do so many techno-wizards at the cutting edge of “artificial intelligence” seem to be missing...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoDay Wales played a game of four halves
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW It’s built beneath the mountain, beneath the coal and clay, It’s where we...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoShaw stood the test of time
When they come to rank the all-time great individual performances by British and Irish Lions, Simon Shaw’s in the forbidding temple...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoCockerill off to the guillotine
When it comes to sacking those in charge of losing teams, French rugby has beaten English football to the punch. While...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 years agoA game in desperate need of some answers
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points IF THERE is one thing I have learned...
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Paul Rees
/ 2 years agoSet-pieces which make the difference
Paul Rees canvasses expert opinion on how scrums and lineouts can separate the two codes of rugby Last month, World Rugby...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 2 years agoCourt case that could define game’s future
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME AS WE approach what could be a defining moment in the future...
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James Harrington
/ 2 years agoCockerill goes out, Collazo comes in
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TIME was very firmly called on Richard Cockerill’s brief run as Montpellier manager six days ago, after...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 2 years agoRussell has the mastery to push Bath to the top
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK Finn Russell is, with out a doubt, an ultra talented fly-half and the Scot...
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English Championship
/ 2 years agoWelfare of rugby in England is at stake
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The Championship clubs are standing up to be counted by sticking an iron...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoThe Tank who is adding weight to Bath’s attack
Thomas du Toit may not have featured in as many headlines as Finn Russell, but the South African prop has been...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoWe can’t afford a weak Six Nations
There was a ray of sunshine for the Lions this week when their preparations for the 2025 tour of Australia were...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoLaunchbury can make Borthwick think again
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED SIMON Shaw mastered a wide range of rugby’s arts and sciences, but not even he could find...
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 years agoGood to see Phil pick up whistle
So Phil de Glanville, an England captain in his prime and a smooth-operating sports administrator in the years since, has reached...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoThe day that Jonah paid his £3 to play
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Aberavon Naval Rugby Football Club exists in name only, an enduring exercise in...
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Peter Jackson
/ 2 years agoWRU braced for another rough ride
The Welsh Rugby Union will be braced for another rough ride today, its annual meeting coming hot on the heels of...
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Features
/ 2 years agoScottish genie turning on the magic at Bath
Paul Rees looks at Finn Russell, the big-money signing who is making a name for himself in the West Country Big-name...
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Features
/ 2 years agoUnassuming Charlie, the water carrier
One of the attractions of rugby union is that it is a game which provides a refuge for the likes of...
Features
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