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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoSerendipity enhances Euro Cup’s Round of 16
CHRIS HEWETT UNINTENDED consequences? You can’t move for them in the Union game, whether the governing class is ring-fencing the Premiership...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoMoney alone can’t buy success
PAUL REES SPEAKS TO PREMIERSHIP DIRECTORS OF RUGBY ABOUT THE SALARY CAP CUTS As Pat Lam wrestles with the question whether...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoIntrepid Robin was reliant for telling truth
PETER JACKSON NOBODY understood the old tribalism of Welsh club rugby better than Robin Davey. As chief rugby correspondent of the...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoSmith does enough to give England hope
JEREMY GUSCOTT Bright spark: Marcus Smith Considering this was the first away game for Marcus Smith in an England jersey, and...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoWhat a stupid time to change the scrum laws!
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Wouldn’t you know it? Just days before the first major tournament with...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoOverseas players facing the squeeze
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN It turns out the week leading up to the first round of the Six Nations – the...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoSidestep on booze is as weak as the new beer
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW The Welsh Rugby Union’s half-hearted attempt to rectify their stadium’s portrayal as the...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoGatland’s available if Eddie fails again
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE main impediment to changing international coaches in the two years leading into...
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Latest News
/ 4 years ago£500,000 to swap helmets is woke joke
NICK CAIN THE Exeter Chiefs, North American Indianstyle, are dead, but hail to the Dumnonii Chiefs! Catchy it isn’t, but apparently...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoBattle of the 10s will be exciting at Murrayfield
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK MARCUS Smith playing opposite Finn Russell at fly-half is an intriguing head-to-head going into...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 years agoThe Rugby Paper’s Six Nations preview: Green giants can cast long shadow over rivals
Amid the clinking cutlery and a few chinking glasses, The Rugby Paper’s brain’s trust gathered at Jeremy Guscott’s favourite Bath watering...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoMoriarty’s physicality will be vital in Dublin
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Momentum is everything in the Six Nations and whoever comes out on top in the...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoA Murrayfield ambush waits for England
ENGLAND Nick Cain assesses England’s opening match and their wider issues THE Scots are an ambush outfit, and the last thing...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoSexton and Biggar aim to break tradition
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Johnny Sexton sets out on Saturday aiming to be the first flyhalf to...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoThe importance of a Test captain is exaggerated
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME There’s just a week to go before the start of what I...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoBlue means yellow in Wayne’s world
PETER JACKSON WAYNE Barnes, admirably true to form, set a shining example of how referees ought to react when players confront...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoFrance must deliver… and Galthie knows it
FRANCE Fans expect this to be best year yet under Galthie, writes James Harrington Talisman: Antoine Dupont is expected to be...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoPearce advice falls on deaf ears
PETER JACKSON A CURIOUS exchange took place outside the Ulster dressing room last Saturday night, one which highlighted the professional game’s...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoRelief as Dupont returns to action
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Forty-nine days after he last played rugby, scrum-half, Antoine Dupont returned to action last night, alongside international...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoA crocks XV to take on the best
PETER JACKSON SO MANY established internationals will be missing from the Six Nations starting grid that it’s easily possible to pick...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoSix Nations will bring certainty amid chaos
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND What a crazy time it has been for the Welsh regions in both their domestic...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoWarp-speed Radwan is the new Jason Robinson
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK WHAT struck me about the announce- ment of England’s Six Nations squad by Eddie...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoReduce the Welsh Prem to increase quality
SHANE WILLIAMS MORE and more regional youngsters are being sent on loan to English Championship clubs this season to get significant...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoIt’s time to rethink a British and Irish League
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST The best we can say for the United Rugby Championship is that the revamped tournament is having...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoRugby needs this new ITV audience
CHRIS HEWETT WHO out there remembers what occurred immediately after the great Ashes series of 2005? To be clear: pretty much...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoSix Nations hits £20m jackpot of prize cash
By PETER JACKSON THE Six Nations will be playing for record sums in prize money of around £20m when the tournament...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoChatty men Sexton and Biggar give refs earache
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW The most argumentative of fly-halves to be found in Europe, or anywhere else...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoGloucester have No.9 factory
PETER JACKSON SINCE the turn of the century, three Gloucester scrum-halves have played for England: Willi Heinz, Peter Richards and Andy...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoMy double Slam means more now
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Last week I wrote about the first of our back-toback Grand Slams...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoMet Uni duo keep it classy
PETER JACKSON THEY are remembered at Cardiff Metropolitan University as ‘the king of the cream cakes’ and ‘the Cornish pastie kid’:...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoLeagues have caused the loss of playing numbers
JEFF PROBYN COLIN Boag’s article last week struck a number of chords that many have argued about the unavoidable future for...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoGalthie’s surprise UFO lands his chance
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN France coach Fabien Galthie revealed his squad selection for Les Bleus’ first training camp ahead of the...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoThe ‘great selector’ is causing confusion again
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE ‘Fast Eddie’ nickname first coined in this column to describe Eddie Jones...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoNow RFU must find TV deal for ALL clubs
NICK CAIN THE new terrestrial broadcast deal struck between the Premiership and ITV is good news, but also long overdue. Disappearing...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 years agoWatching over his teammates, a giant tribute to Kawa
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER AMPO Ordizia –a small Basque club riding high...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 years agoBarnstorming ‘Bill’ put even the Liddells in the shade
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER I am indebted to Andrew Beattie, the archivist at Eltham College, for more ‘gen’ on AL ‘Bill’...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoEngland don’t know what world class means
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Will the Arctic icecap last long enough to witness another Italian victory in the Six Nations? Why...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoKeyboard warrior Hepburn hits wrong target
CHRIS HEWETT ALEC Hepburn’s energetic campaign to make today’s loosehead prop community more interesting than the majority of their forerunners continues...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWales lose Faletau and eight more Lions
By PETER JACKSON TAULUPE Faletau will miss the start of the Six Nations, leaving Wales to defend their title minus nine...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoIoan shows little guys can make big impact
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Had Cheslin Kolbe been watching Bristol’s last Premiership match at his pied a...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoName of Ravenhill will always be special
PETER JACKSON FOR those born and bred on the northern side of the Irish border, Ravenhill will forever be synonymous with...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoGet the front row right, Eddie, and it all follows
NICK CAIN LOOKS AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK’S ENGLAND SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT WITH SOME ADVICE FOR EDDIE JONES SIX Nations Grand Slams are...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoEuro rugby chiefs have made a right mess of it
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME If there has been more muddled thinking by a sports governing body...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoQuins defeat cost me my form admits Simmonds
By PAUL REES A YEAR after captaining Exeter to the Premiership and Champions Cups double, Joe Simmonds found himself on the...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoGrand Slam glories 30 years on…
JEFF PROBYN IT’S FUNNY to think that 30 years ago this year I took part in something that happened only five...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoDupont is suddenly a doubt for Six Nations
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN No matter what Leinster thought about the situation when the news broke, European rugby officials took one...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoCourtney’s got the drop in captaincy shoot-out
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK COURTNEY Lawes would be my choice of captain for the 2022 Six Nations...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoFront row rankings put Quins pair first
NICK CAIN CAN Eddie Jones deliver on his vow to make England’s scrum great again? After the 2021 Six Nations and...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWomen’s contracts mean their game can take off
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Chance to better themselves: Kelsey Jones of Wales is tackled by Ireland’s Hannah Tyrrell and...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoMarcus reminds me of great King John
SHANE WILLIAMS WHAT a shame there were no fans at the Arms Park to watch that great European clash between Cardiff...












