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Latest News
/ 4 years agoCall up for Young is common sense now
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Heading home: Wasps flanker Thomas Young deserves his call up to Wales squad PICTURE: Getty...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoEarly bird Baxter got some giant pickings
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW One day more than two years ago, Rob Baxter got up at four...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoVermeulen in not quite such a hurry to join Ulster after all
PETER JACKSON DUANE Vermeulen was only saying the other week about how he ‘couldn’t wait to become part of the Ulster...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoHastings’ historic act won this battle of Murrayfield
PETER JACKSON GEORGE Hastings from Dursley is a name which will still ring a faint bell in the memories of long-standing...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoDash for cash must not damage rugby’s ethos | Nick Cain
THE £32m takeover of Saracens by a polyglot international consortium comes with a health warning as the club’s erstwhile banker and...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoDon’t let new cup trash great Euro comp
NICK CAIN THE capacity of this game to devalue its own gold standard tournaments is illustrated by the idea that the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 years agoRugby Matters: Pro game in this country owes Nigel Wray a huge debt
I’ve always maintained that the long lens of rugby history will view Nigel Wray as a giant amongst pygmies and see...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoFord’s not as sharp as Smith but he’s still class
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK GEORGE Ford is a player I’ve always admired, and I would call him a...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoAlun Wyn stays shtum on private matters
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Say Nothing is an awardwinning book on ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, its...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoAnayi finds TV figures after all
PETER JACKSON THREE years ago PRO12 rugby chose to disconnect a multitude of viewers by wiping their matches off live BBC...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoScott’s renaissance is worthy of a Test recall
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND WALES are set to confirm their squad for a humdinger of an autumn series this...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoReaders complete Rugby XV name game
THANKS to all those prompted by the Max Wiltshire story last week, the assembly of a Place Name XV can now...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoJapan cash could force marquee men u-turn
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Fears over the future contracts of France’s internationals have raised the spectre of a marquee player system...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoExodus of players is real threat for game
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME A few weeks ago this paper had an interview with Peter Winterbottom,...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoWhy Clive Griffiths will dodge All Blacks showdown | Peter Jackson
On the last Saturday of this month, Clive Griffiths could have been watching Wales-New Zealand in Cardiff free of charge. He...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoTime must be called on endless game breaks | Nick Cain
PERPETUAL stoppages have become the scourge of international rugby. The biggest culprits in this regard are South Africa. The world champions...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 years agoRugby Matters: Rugby’s rich Jewish ancestry runs deep
Mention of Jewish rugby players last week, in connection with the forming of the Tel Aviv Heat franchise, centred mainly on...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoToulouse looking to splash the Kolbe cash | James Harrington
Summer recruits scored 32 of La Rochelle’s 59 points against Biarritz last weekend to the delight, no doubt, of Ronan O’Gara...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoSorry seems to be the easiest word
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW RYNO Pieterse’s horizontal hit on Bordeaux scrum-half Maxime Lucu demanded a long sentence....
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoGleeson can bring new dimension to England
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK Fresh thinking: Martin Gleeson with the England players at training last week PICTURE: Getty...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoNo one messed with this mighty Max
PETER JACKSON SOME famous players had to make do with bearing the name of one place in England’s green and pleasant...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWayne Pivac has to nail key combos for World Cup | Shane Williams
I WAS sat down watching Scrum V with a cup of tea last Sunday when Wayne Pivac made a surprise appearance...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoWomen’s team needs increased funding to compete
SHANE WILLIAMS I REALLY hope this autumn can represent a clean slate for Wales women’s side. The team has had an...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoJourneymen Saffers won’t excite the Celtic fans
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST As the first of this season’s Billionaires’ Row derbies between Bristol and Bath, two wealthy clubs separated...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoTethered Ryno has time for a rethink
CHRIS HEWETT YOU can do quite a lot in 12 weeks: walk the full length of the South West Coast Path...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoLoss of county pathway has blocked young stars
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME It’s interesting to note that there are people out there who profess...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoI fear Eddie will revert to old guard in autumn | Nick Cain
BETTER late than never. Eddie Jones has finally rattled the cage in selection, at last making changes that should have happened...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoI don’t see Smith-Farrell working as 10-12 combo | Jeremy Guscott
THE names just keep coming when Eddie Jones selects his England training squads, and his latest 45-man selection is full of...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoRugby needs TV profile to flourish
NICK CAIN CLUB rugby in England is facing a massive visibility problem. It is now completely off the terrestrial TV radar,...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoNathan, the Panther, defied his broken jaw
PETER JACKSON THE French christened him La Panthere Noire, Waka Nathan simply the supreme openside wing forward of his time. New...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoBattle begins for most coveted jersey in Wales
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND THE hairs are standing up on the back of my neck at the prospect of...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoLimiting contact training is right step
SHANE WILLIAMS I WAS fascinated by World Rugby’s report this week which was revealed to help protect player welfare. It suggested...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoBorthwick will give thanks for Ford axe!
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST No one ever called Leicester a quiet club – lest we forget, Austin Healey and Richard Cockerill...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoOne World Cup is fraught, let alone two!
CHRIS HEWETT YOU have to laugh. After years of dissing football as a “below stairs” kind of sport, wholly bereft of...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoDo England have so many coaches to spread blame?
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME As Eddie Jones takes a first look at some of the hopefuls...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoQuesada’s prediction over Stade comes true
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Stade Francais’ head coach Gonzalo Quesada insisted this week that he was thoroughly aware of the state...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoQuinnell’s All Black hat-trick is still supreme | Peter Jackson
When it comes to Welshmen performing hat-tricks on the international stage, Tommy Cooper could claim to have outscored John Charles, Ian...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoRevealed: Aftermath of Willie’s Haka attack
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW For sheer knee-knocking, eye-balling, lip-trembling fury, there has never been a Haka like...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoThey’re missing the inimitable taste of Steele at Scrum V
PETER JACKSON PHIL Steele’s treasure trove of tall stories includes one which illustrates why when it comes to breeding Lions, a...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoOspreys have the talent to head regions’ challenge
SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND So, a new season of club rugby is finally upon us and it’s a new...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 years agoWales to beat All Blacks? They could lose by 30pts!
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK WALES have a few players that are on the cusp of the end of...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoMonye can waltz into a whole new world
CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST When Ugo Monye squeezes himself into a sequined toreador’s jacket, spangly tights and a feather boa for...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 4 years agoRingfence is here, so let’s see adventure
JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Friday night’s Bristol v Saracens match showed some of the drama we...
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James Harrington
/ 4 years agoDominici trophy will offer clubs a respite
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Toulon meet Stade Francais in the weekend’s final Top 14 match this evening. The Sunday night game...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoQuestions the RFU’s new boss ignored
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK TOM Ilube’s first Press conference as RFU board chairman was carefully scripted, and...
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Latest News
/ 4 years agoJordie judgement makes an ass of World Rugby
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Jordie Barrett raises his outstretched right boot high above the ground and the...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoLatest twist in Sam Burgess saga can’t be ignored
THE controversy surrounding Sam Burgess, the Rugby League maestro who took to Rugby Union like a fish to concrete but still...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 years agoWelcome to mad, mad world of modern rugby | Chris Hewett
A single English Premiership campaign is an interesting bunch of competitions. We’ve been treated to old-style fights for the title in...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoI fear these World 12s are only about making money | Shane Williams
The new World 12s proposal has been the talk of rugby and while we must reserve a bit of judgement until...
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Columnists
/ 4 years agoPatient Jacques Rogge got his reward
BY THE sound of it, Jacques Rogge’s passing late last month at the age of 79 has robbed the international game...












