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Club Rugby
/ 3 years agoEngland’s Jersey trip leaves RFU all at sea
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK English club rugby has never been more in need of coherent, strong, farsighted...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoGrand plan which just makes it all murkier
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Rugby used to be a simple affair: you played, you lost, you pretended to the media that...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoMatawalu magic is set to light up Ponty
By Chris Hewett They were the best of days. Time and again, a Heineken Cup trip to Pontypridd delivered on the...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 3 years agoThis could be the most defining season – ever
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Here we are at the start of September anticipating what could be...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoTime for stars to shine at World Cup Sevens
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points The Rugby World Cup Sevens is upon us...
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Club Rugby
/ 3 years agoRichmond back from voyage of discovery
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW A famous old club sets sail from London this week on a south-westerly...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoElvis still has a few more hits left in him
By Peter Jackson Old rock ‘n’ rollers dusting down their blue suede shoes for the new season will rejoice at the...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 3 years agoPollard the man to help Tigers retain their title
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK Steve Borthwick has proved himself to be a tremendous operator who never leaves a...
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Club Rugby
/ 3 years agoSalary cap is forcing clubs to invest in youth policy
PAUL REES Worcester’s plight at a time when the salary cap has been reduced by some 20 per cent to £5m...
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Club Rugby
/ 3 years agoLeinster to edge it over SA new boys
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Back with Cardiff: Taulupe Faletau is a world class player A brand-new United Rugby Championship...
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James Harrington
/ 3 years agoToulouse will take title, say coaches
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Toulouse will win the Top 14 title at the end of another tight season – according to...
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Club Rugby
/ 3 years agoUpping salary cap is not the answer
Colin Boag Last week was when the Premiership chickens started to come home to roost. From a purely rugby perspective, Worcester...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoLawes gets my nod but Eddie has a tough call – Dean Richards
FORMER ENGLAND No.8 'Big boys don’t cry’ sang Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons (I know it’s girls really but just...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoFinancial grief puts sport in a sorry state
CHRIS HEWETT A few days ago, the proposed transfer of the Senegalese footballer Ismaila Sarr from Watford to Aston Villa disappeared...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoMinnows still thrown to sharp shooters
CHRIS HEWETT Many of the most gruesome blood sports have been legislated out of existence. It’s called progress. You don’t see...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoExpect Pivac to pick his best side from here on
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND With the Rugby World Cup just over a year away, Wayne Pivac will likely have...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoEngland will relish American challenge
ROCKY CLARK England's most capped player and World Cup winner A Summer full of high-profile women’s sport is followed by an...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoFans need to buckle up for a bumpy ride
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER It feels like the Gallagher Premiership is tottering...
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Club Rugby
/ 3 years agoFrance set to rock with the best league in the world
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW French flair: La Rochelle may be champions of Europe but they finished fifth...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoRemembering DK, the speedster who made a name for himself
PETER JACKSON KEN Jones died last Wednesday, barely a fortnight after his 82nd birthday and some 60 years after becoming the...
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Club Rugby
/ 3 years agoThe game paying too much for its players
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Top gun: Semi Radradra is a marquee player for Bristol PICTURE: Getty...
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Club Rugby
/ 3 years agoConcern as refs switch to other side
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Another of French rugby’s leading gamekeepers turned coach this week, as Top 14 referee Maxime Chalon put...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoNo need to read beyond the headline with Jones
Colin Boag Eddie Jones, master of creating headlines and tweaking tails, did it again when he suggested that the English independent...
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Features
/ 3 years agoVan Graan must rectify three key areas at Bath
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK Rugby union does not have football’s profile, but in many other ways I would...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoAll Blacks have missed a trick
New Zealand did well to beat South Africa at Ellis Park last weekend, but they have missed a trick by not...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoRising stars who give us reasons to be cheerful
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Peerless: England’s Freddie Steward scores against Australia PICTURE: Getty Images Now for the...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoTime to apply law on forward passes
NICK CAIN The only blot on the landscape in last weekend’s Rugby Championship clashes was the continued tolerance for forward passes....
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoDecision makers must put rugby first
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Pick a number, any number – 9, 14, 10, 12. This lottery of Welsh rugby...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoTo sign or not to sign… how 60-cap rule is splitting Wales
PAUL REES Tommy Reffell started last season looking to establish himself as a regular in title-winning Leicester’s back row and finished...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoRight move to rest Marx, he’s crucial for World Cup
NEIL DE KOCK THE FORMER SOUTH AFRICA AND SARACENS SCRUM-HALF Two rounds into the Rugby Championship and each team has won...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoExcellent Am is up there with South Africa’s best ever backs
It’s beyond me if Lukhanyo Am is not already touted as one of South Africa’s finest ever backline players. The centre...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoWhen poor selection causes the problems
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST A bad moon had risen over Brisbane when England emerged from the Lang Park tunnel on an early...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoRobinson gets lost in a maze of his own making
Chris Hewitt So the movers and shakers at the top end of professional rugby in New Zealand union are every bit...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoFoley’s return smacks of Aussie desperation
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Ever since Australia made him carry the can for their last World Cup,...
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Club Rugby
/ 3 years agoSo sad to see Grav’s pride and joy is now a ghost club
Ray Gravell adored his “Rocky Mountain home in the west”, Mynyddygarreg in Carmarthenshire where he helped friends and neighbours create a...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoHaving DMP in the league is vital for women’s game
ROCKY CLARK ENGLAND WORLD CUP WINNER On the eve of the Women’s Allianz Premier XVs fixtures announcement, the league postponed the...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoGloucester-Hartpury power up for challenge to break top four
Big signings for Gloucester-Hartpury: Alex Matthews, centre, with Sarah Beckett, left, Sam Monaghan, top, Siwan Lillicrap, bottom, and Laura Delgado, right...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoA rugby soap opera that has us hooked
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER For a tournament that is meant to be...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 years agoWhy Wade should have been a superstar
Christian Wade was great value on The Rugby Paper podcast earlier this week, the scorer of three of four of the...
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Features
/ 3 years agoArgentina show they can take on the best
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME It's hard to believe that Argentina were at the top of the...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoTransfer market that never sleeps
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Accepted wisdom has it that the shortest period of time is the New York Second – helpfully...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoWorld Rugby should jump start on MND
Cheered home: Ed Slater completes his 350-mile cycle challenge this week COLIN BOAG I wanted to avoid mentioning concussions this week,...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoJones blaming others for his own failings
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Eddie Jones pressed the class-war button this week with a blanket criticism of...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoWe need the figures on schools
NICK CAIN Before the 2015 World Cup, when most aspects of English rugby union looked rosy, the RFU launched a scheme...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoBest packs dominate
NICK CAIN The pick of the forwards on show over the course of the season has underlined the primacy of the...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 years agoHooper deserves support from us all
CHRIS HEWETT We are not sure how many of the New Zealand starting line-up actually read the anonymous fax sent to...
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Columnists
/ 3 years agoIkey fights to save life of his only daughter
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW In his line of duty for Wales and the Lions, Ian ‘Ikey’ Stephens...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoSullivan, the soccer player …
PETER JACKSON THIS column’s plaintive cry for the city 0 Cardiff to recognise Jim Sullivan has prompted admirers to delve into...
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Latest News
/ 3 years agoOne day,two defeats for All Blacks
PETER JACKSON THAT New Zealand once lost six international matches in a row is a fact but there is more to...
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Club Rugby
/ 3 years agoTalent everywhere you look in URC
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND With the United Rugby Championship season fast approaching I’ve been having a good look at...












