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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoWith this record, it’s time Sweeney headed to the exit
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Bill Sweeney will be looking over his shoulder as the Six Nations gets...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoForgive me, but I don’t think I can take anymore
NICK CAIN Common sense would have told the Welsh Rugby Union that banning a song like “Delilah” is doomed. It can...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoAbout time to turn the pointless clock back
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Rising high: Saints win lineout ball against Leicester PICTURES: Getty Images Stop the clock, now and for...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoAnd the award for starting too early goes to…
CHRIS HEWETT Four rounds of knockout rugby and 109 days early, there it was: the longlist for the European Professional Club...
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Peter Jackson
/ 3 years agoQuestions hovering over Blanc departure
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW One year, one month and one week after she left without a peep...
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Peter Jackson
/ 3 years agoHe was gone! Scown joins in the fun over that try
PETER JACKSON So many came to celebrate The Try Of The Century that it might almost have looked like a latter-day...
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Paul Rees
/ 3 years agoBacklash grows over changes to tackle law
SPECIAL REPORT Paul Rees discovers a fair amount of concern over the RFU's plans to alter rules over tackle height When...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 3 years agoGive Bill a break – he’s the best man for the job
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME I really cannot understand why so many people within our game seem...
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James Harrington
/ 3 years agoBordeaux look set for season of turmoil
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Bordeaux lost to Stade Francais in Paris last night in the final match of the 17th round...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 3 years agoTwo fliers who can light up Borthwick’s England
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK Everyone has questions about England, and no-one knows what to expect from Steve Borthwick’s...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years ago‘New’ England need to take their chances
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK A SIX Nations slip-up on home turf to Scotland in his first match...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoTime this autocratic RFU is held to account
NICK CAIN The warning signs that the RFU’s administrative standards have plumbed the depths became a red flashing light on Friday...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoPride and prejudice central to Eddie’s tale
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST JANE Austen lived in Bath, amid the same Georgian splendour as a certain Bruce Craig, albeit not...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoWhy Joe deserves a decent break
CHRIS HEWETT “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all.” These words, or something like them,...
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Features
/ 3 years agoKeep your cool and you’ll have a chance
SHANE WILLIAMS The phoney war is about to end, and we will be getting down to the action in the Six...
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Peter Jackson
/ 3 years agoGatland still has an Irish score to settle
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW AS traumatic Six Nations’ finales go, the one when Ireland under Warren Gatland...
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Peter Jackson
/ 3 years agoHollow words from WRU over ‘toxic sexism’
PETER JACKSON For more than 12 months since her abrupt exit, the Welsh Rugby Union hierarchy offered nothing more than a...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoGeorgia the team to beat in Euro fiesta
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER ALL eyes on the Six Nations but the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoIt’s time to give credit to the URC
RUGBY MATTERS Ok, I think we can all agree that one or two French players have been pacing themselves a little...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 3 years agoPro game can learn from amateur ranks
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Player welfare is something that I think everybody in any sport agrees...
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James Harrington
/ 3 years agoLaporte’s shadow still hangs over game
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Politics at the top of the FFR overshadowed the return of the Top 14 this week, which...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 3 years agoTime for England’s forwards to front up
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK There was a great sense of anticipation of who Steve Borthwick would pick in...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoRFU has no right to deliver this low blow
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The RFU has just introduced one of the biggest changes to the game...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoBorthwick putting faith in his old dogs
The message coming loud and clear from Steve Borthwick’s first England squad selection is that he and his coaching crew believe...
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Shane Williams
/ 3 years agoMorgan shows the way as Ospreys come to life
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND ALL of a sudden, the dials on Welsh rugby are starting to point in the...
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Paul Rees
/ 3 years agoEddie’s ghost won’t haunt Borthwick
Paul Rees says the time has come for England's new coach, who now cuts a confident figure STEVE Borthwick’s first England...
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Peter Jackson
/ 3 years agoThe Sheriff riding in to rescue Wales
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Somewhere up there on the Elysian Fields, word might have reached Eric Evans...
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Peter Jackson
/ 3 years agoThe real glam rockers back in town
Sir Gareth Edwards and some of his famous old contemporaries strode into the Arms Park where over a period of 14...
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Peter Jackson
/ 3 years agoThirsty fans prepare for opening time
The whiff of the Six Nations is blowing on the wind, its imminent arrival heralded by proclamations in Dublin and Cardiff...
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Peter Jackson
/ 3 years agoMcConnochie heads ‘home’
Ruaridh McConnochie says that it has been a ‘childhood dream’ to play for Scotland. In that event, some may find it...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoThe golden voice… that glorious try…
RUGBY MATTERS WE are fast approaching the 50th anniversary of what many consider the greatest try ever scored and frankly there...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 3 years agoThe French connection that will aid Borthwick
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME So I was wrong, I admit it. Joe Marler didn’t have his...
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James Harrington
/ 3 years agoGibbes given his marching orders after Tigers mauling
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Christophe Urios will take charge at Top 14 side Clermont on Monday, after the “breathing space” afforded...
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James Harrington
/ 3 years agoFrance must wait for Meafou
Remember last year’s Patrick Schickerling incident? When Exeter’s Namibian front row thought he had qualified to play for England through residency,...
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Paul Rees
/ 3 years ago‘I’m blessed to have spent my career at Exeter’
Paul Rees talks to big Dave Ewers, a crowd favourite at Sandy Park, about leaving Zimbabwe and making a life for...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 3 years agoTime right for Evans to fire up England
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK Nick Evans is a good appointment as England attack coach, and good luck to...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoRFU helps Farrell stay in England contention
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK England were facing a fly-half fiasco this week when Owen Farrell went in...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoIt’s time Max made his return to No.10
The disciplinary convolutions surrounding Owen Farrell’s early return to match action against Scotland shines a spotlight on England’s chronic shortage of...
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Shane Williams
/ 3 years agoGatland will want players on edge
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Main man: Dan Biggar is in line to be captain PICTURES: Getty Images IT is...
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Features
/ 3 years agoPlaying rugby with style, class and fun
David Duckham, who has died at the age of 76, will be remembered as one of the all-time greats of the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoPart Roger Moore, part Obolensky…as cool as hell and dripping with X-factor
BRENDAN GALLAGHER I have cursed David Duckham every winter’s day since late in 1971, which is an odd state of affairs...
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James Harrington
/ 3 years agoTriple top! Galthie has tough ‘to-do’ list
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Delight: Fabien Galthie celebrates beating England to secure the 2022 Grand Slam PICTURE: Getty Images FRANCE coach...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 3 years agoGatland must find new blood up front
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK WARREN Gatland has been very successful throughout his coaching career, and it would be...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoEngland need scrum firing on all cylinders
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Here is a New Year prediction. The scrum will be hugely influential in...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoTime to ban the curse of the caterpillar
NICK CAIN The stop-watches are in play with a view to speeding-up the game by putting time limits on goal-kickers, setting...
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Shane Williams
/ 3 years agoGatland has great chance to make a big difference
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND It was a pleasant and pretty reassuring sight seeing Warren Gatland back in the stands...
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Peter Jackson
/ 3 years agoFrom the Mad Giraffe to Zatopek’s protege
PETER JACKSON And so to the New Year list with a difference, Honours and Dishonours in roughly equal measure thereby ensuring...
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Paul Rees
/ 3 years agoWe want to hear that Twickenham roar
Paul Rees talks to England's new defence coach Kevin Sinfield and finds out what drives him When Eddie Jones took over...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoThrilling finish in ‘73 never to be repeated
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER What with Italy looking more competitive, the 2023...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoDickson wrong to ignore his TMO
For me there are only two reasons for a TMO. First to adjudicate whether a try has been legally scored and...
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