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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoNew deals depend on Six Nations silverware
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Two years, or 20 matches if you prefer, is how long it has taken Fabien Galthie and...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoSuddenly, stability is in fashion for coaches
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST It would be stretching things just a little to describe rugby’s pre-World Cup era as an age...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoMacron’s pique opens way for national cup
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE chances of a new variation of Covid coming through was as predictable...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoGriffiths brings fun and games to The Rec
CHRIS HEWETT IT IS not yet a mathematical certainty that Bruce Craig will end his long spell of chairmanship at Bath...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoGriffiths offers Bath fans better future
NICK CAIN THE decision by Bath owner Bruce Craig to pick Ed Griffiths as his successor as chairman is the most...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoWage bill is cutting the clubs to the bone
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME My fellow columnist Colin Boag wrote last week that the salary cap...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoStrong start, good finish… shame about the middle!
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND It’s that time of year again when everyone is handing out awards. So, I thought...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoTime for Amanda to break silence
PETER JACKSON IN THE Forbes’ list of the world’s 100 most powerful women, Amanda Blanc from Treherbert in the Rhondda ranks...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 years agoTen reasons why ‘oldies’ remain the gold standard
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER WILL Greenwood has been there, done it and...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoBristol-boy Genge can be a home town hero
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK IT’S not surprising that Ellis Genge has made a success of being captain of...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 years agoKidney turned PBC into a powerhouse
Brendan Gallagher continues his series looking at rugby’s great schools LAST week it was Christian Brothers College Cork, this week it...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoDupont has the world at his bewitching feet
JEREMY GUSCOTT I EXPECT Antoine Dupont’s world-class credentials to last in much the same way as they did for Dan Carter...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoPerpetual underdogs Connacht do still bite
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Is there anything funnier in team sport – or in any other walk of life, come to...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoColy looks destined to be rival for Dupont
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Depending on your point of view, the fact that France’s so-called ‘golden generation’ shows no sign of...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoVan Graan needs full power to plug Bath
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK JOHANN van Graan is the latest coach expected to plug the gaping hole...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoThis rugby vote is just game for a laugh
CHRIS HEWETT THE right to vote is a deadly serious matter, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good for a laugh:...
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Features
/ 4 years agoBear hugs were PR disaster for Genge
NICK CAIN TIMING is everything in sport, and the Bristol Bears video released this week trumpeting their signing of Ellis Genge...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoHow come Goode has escaped censorship?
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Isn’t it funny how we have only just recovered from the ‘Rassie...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoMis-matches make a mockery of the European Cups
JEFF PROBYN HAVING written last week about the excitement of the European Cup competitions, I’m wondering if we may have been...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoRegions let down by double standards
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND European rugby is in chaos and it’s hard to escape the feeling that the Welsh...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoNew women’s union will offer protection
By PAUL REES DANIELLE Waterman set up the Women’s Rugby Association, which launched last week, to ensure players do not lose...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoNorth to miss start of the Six Nations
By PETER JACKSON In the roar: Joe Marchant celebrates scoring Harlequins’ fourth try against Cardiff PICTURE: Getty Images GEORGE North’s comeback...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoChampions or chumps? Cup caters for them all
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW In the Super League for the overhyped, baseball’s World Series has long been...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 years agoCrying out for candid cameras to shed light
RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER IF nothing else, this week has shown the extraordinary effect of secret tapes and recordings or...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoDupont or Am? They’re both great
JEREMY GUSCOTT I’VE got no complaints with the World Rugby team of the year and Stuart Hogg will be very pleased...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoOh, for those refreshing Heineken Cup years!
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Heineken Cup rugby was once so vibrant and exhilarating – so spellbindingly good, year after year –...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoNew loans aiming to return with interest
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN What do Top 14 back rows Jordan Joseph and Martin Devergie, hookers Guillaume Marchand and Bastien Soury,...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoWhy doesn’t Curry cut mustard for best XV?
CHRIS HEWETT THIS column does not make a habit of agreeing with World Rugby, but this being the season of goodwill,...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoMid-table Racing on top of the JIFF chart
JAMES HARRINGTON THE argument that the French Top 14 is a haven for overseas megaplayers is increasingly hard to defend –...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoRef Pearce has shown how to end back-chat
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Watching the Exeter/Sara cens game it was great to see a referee...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoHeineken can restore love of rugby lost by Lions
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Ronan O’Gara usually stands out in any company, all the more so now...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoFlats and Donncha liven up the commentaries
PETER JACKSON AT THE halfway stage of another weekend of wall-towall live rugby, complete with inter-round summaries from coaches with uneven...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoGalvanised Ospreys can spring a surprise
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND I WAS with James Hook at the start of last week when he mentioned Ifan...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoSilence of WRU over Amanda is baffling
PETER JACKSON FOR the third week in a row, the WRU offered nothing more than a stoney silence over Amanda Blanc’s...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoDupont puts Frenchmen back on top
PETER JACKSON ANTOINE Dupont is the fifth from the Top 14 in the last seven years to be elected European Player...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoPollard’s all-round game will suit Tigers
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK HANDRE Pollard is a brilliant signing for Leicester Tigers to replace the Sale bound...
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Autumn Internationals
/ 4 years agoVirtuoso Slade may have done for Farrell
CHRIS HEWETT THERE’S a question out there that dare not speak its name, but we’ll ask it anyway: is Owen Farrell...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoMercurial Teddy’s off in search of Test rebirth
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN France international winger Teddy Thomas wasn’t even in Racing 92’s squad for this weekend’s Top 14 defeat...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoPennell: Eddie’s wrong on Lawrence
By NICK CAIN Oh yes! Dave Ewers roars his delight after Tom O’Flaherty, right, scores for Exeter Chiefs against bitter rivals...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoPoison is all coming from Eddie not the Press
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK OLLIE Lawrence must be wondering what he did to get in Eddie Jones’...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoEddie has stepped over line in his book
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME I CAN’T help wondering what is happening to our game, as more...
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Champions Cup
/ 4 years agoBristol say No to plea by Scarlets to postpone
By PETER JACKSON BRISTOL Bears have turned down a request from the Covid-marooned Scarlets to postpone next Saturday’s Champions’ Cup tie...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoSuper-fit Price still on the run, even at 70
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Graham Price turned 70 the other week whereupon he treated himself to a...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWill URC’s missing Boks ever return?
PETER JACKSON THE fanfare proclaiming assorted Springbok superstars as an integral part of the United Rugby Championship has yet to live...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoThe cooped-up players deserve our sympathy
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND WALES’ four regions begin their European campaigns this weekend and they will head into the...
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Challenge Cup
/ 4 years agoSaints aim to make a statement in Europe
By PAUL REES ALEX Waller is one of Northampton’s longest serving players, having made his debut 12 years ago, and hopes...
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Challenge Cup
/ 4 years agoBordeaux can be Woki champs
PAUL REES CONSIDERS THE COVID IMPACT ON THIS SEASON’S EUROPEAN CUP Tigers roar in 2002: Leicester will be hoping to revive...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 years agoWalker’s jersey baits the big cats
RUGBY MATTERS Brendan Gallagher THERE’S another world out there. I was recently scrolling through the online brochure for this week’s sports...
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Autumn Internationals
/ 4 years agoA fit Tuilagi is a must in my England midfield
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK THE clearest message from the Autumn Series is that England have a better midfield,...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 years agoJubilant Chiefs go straight to beer tent
By BRENDAN GALLAGHER Exeter ................18pts Tries: O’Flaherty 38, Cowan-Dickie 56 Conversions: J Simmonds 57 Penalties: J Simmonds 25, 64 Saracens...















