Shark hunter Hastings holds reins as Glos prepare for Exiles onslaught

By PAUL REES Settled: Adam Hastings GEORGE Skivington says Adam Hastings is ready to make his mark on the Premiership after...

Preview: Irish keep faith despite being winless in ten

PREVIEW... London Irish v Gloucester Today. Kick-off 3pm, Brentford Stadium London Irish have gone ten matches without a league victory in...

Saturday slot for Sale

SALE’s attendance of 8,214 for Friday night’s visit of champions Harlequins to the AJ Bell was disappointing, and shows just how...

Mercer can return a better player

THERE has been some wailing and gnashing of teeth following Zach Mercer’s decision to leave Bath and join Montpellier this season....

War-bonnets are just a salute to courage

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE problem that the ExChiefs4Change pressure group has is that it is annexing...

Davies: Switch from Wales has given me new lease

By GARY FITZGERALD Kicking on: Aled Davies SARACENS scrum-half Aled Davies is loving his new English “adventure” and has no regrets...

Preview: McNally relishing re-branded Rec style

PREVIEW... Bath v Saracens Today. Kick-off 3pm, The Rec FIT-AGAIN lock Josh McNally has welcomed the transformation in Bath’s style as...

Sanderson: ‘Raffi can be even better than Faf’

SALE boss Alex Sanderson reckons rising star ‘Raffi de Klerk’ could be even better than World Cup-winning South African Faf de...

Sale 28-22 Harlequins: Super Quirke sends message to Eddie

RAFFI Quirke will hope to make the England squad for the Autumn Internationals tomorrow after his delightful double in front of...

Lam: Too much ‘me’ out there, we gifted that game away

BRISTOL DoR Pat Lam is pleased to have a byeweek coming up given their long injury list, which saw him make...

Newcastle 13-5 Bristol: Connon the marksman guns down sorry Bears

NEWCASTLE fly-half Brett Connon redeemed himself for his second-half sinbinning by sealing Falcons first win against a poor Bristol side since...

Josh Navidi is out for six months, Wales told

WALES have been hit by yet another crippling blow with Josh Navidi out for as long as six months. The multi-purpose...

Brown: I’m still ready for you Eddie

By PAUL REES MIKE Brown is primed and ready to add to his 72 England caps – even at the age...

Six Nations 2022 Preview

The Six Nations is just around the corner and, with it, the chance to see if England can recover from last...

Top 5 Tips When Planning Your Rugby Stag Do Activity This Year

Stag do events are a great opportunity to ‘bid farewell’ to your bachelor friends in style. If you are in the...

It’s bad for my nerves – George

GLOUCESTER’S head coach, George Skivington, was relieved to have held off Sale’s stunning comeback. “My nerves are shot but I’m used...

Gloucester 33-32 Sale: Sharks late bite back just fails to prove fatal

WITH the last kick of the match, Sale replacement Tom Curtis missed a touchline conversion as his side just failed to...

Thomas: Early errors cost us

HEAD coach Jonathan Thomas blamed Worcester’s heavy defeat on a failure to turn their early pressure into points. “There were opportunities...

Exeter 42-5 Worcester: Sam Simmonds comes roaring back to fire up Chiefs

THE Lions returned and Sam Simmonds burst out of the cage to resume where he left off last season. The Premiership’s...

Ford’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...

DREAM TEAM

RICHARD MAYHEW, THE FORMER NORTH HARBOUR, NEWCASTLE, ESHER AND YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE BACK ROW, CHOOSES THE BEST XV HE HAS PLAYED WITH...

Ditch World Rugby, put northern pros in charge

COLIN BOAG It’s not unknown for me to be critical of World Rugby, but last week a much more significant voice...

Smart money’s on a depressing winter

LEICESTER versus Saracens last week was a bore-fest. With international half-backs on both sides, by my reckoning there was a kick...

Plan to re-shape and safegaurd our community game

A LOT has been said about players leaving the game due to travel, and commitments in playing lower leagues rugby. Maybe,...

How long will this kow-towing go on?

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: newsdesk@therugbypaper.co.uk REGARDING Nick Cain’s piece...

Peace talks go ahead in agents’ fees row

By NEIL FISSLER PREMIERSHIP clubs were last night facing massive pressure to back down in their stand-off with players’ agents over...

Adams up for challenge of ‘world class’ club

By STEFFAN THOMAS JOSH Adams plans on putting himself into the world class category by dominating against the best this autumn....

Care: Let Alex Dombrandt show just how great he is

DANNY Care has urged Eddie Jones to not just pick Alex Dombrandt but stick with him throughout the entire Autumn campaign....

Wallabies not giving up just yet

AUSTRALIA coach Dave Rennie still has hope of persuading Louis Lynagh to play for the Wallabies. Harlequins winger Lynagh – the...

Injury-hit Marcus Watson playing for his future at Wasps

MARCUS Watson aims to start persuading Wasps he deserves a new contract by putting Northampton to the sword today. Constant setbacks...

Forthcoming fixtures

Week beginning Sunday, October 10, 2021 It is advisable to check matches and kick-off times with the clubs ... Continue reading......

Women’s World Cup countdown: Alphonsi hired to inspire

By STELLA MILLS ONE year out from the Women’s World Cup, headline sponsor Mastercard have named England hero Maggie Alphonsi as...

Japan 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...

Wales prepare for testing Autumn

By SAM JACKSON Skipper: Siwan Lillicrap THE Wales Women coaching team have selected a squad of 36 for the Autumn Internationals...

BRITISH RUGBY RESULTS AND FIXTURES

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Opportunity knocks for Adam Beard after Hill and Ball departures from Wales scene

ADAM Beard plans on making the most of the departure of Cory Hill and Jake Ball from Welsh rugby. Ospreys second...

Billingham celebrates 21st with a hat-trick

Championship Cup round-up By ROB COLE AARON Billingham marked his 21st birthday with a hat-trick of tries as Bedwas put Tata...

Fish shows his quality to deny Pontypridd

Cardiff......................29 Pontypridd.............. 15 CARDIFF claimed victory over regional rivals Pontypridd on Friday night, but the margin wasn’t as big as expected...

Greggains sparks Newport fightback against Merthyr

Newport...................27 Merthyr.................... 16 NEWPORT celebrated their first game at Spytty Park with a comeback victory over Premiership big spenders, Merthyr. In...

Monster Lloyd punt helps see off Steelmen

RGC............................. 17 Ebbw Vale............... 13 RGC CLAIMED their first victory of the season with a narrow win over Ebbw Vale, which...

Edwards keeps Aberavon flying high

Premiership Cup By ALEX BYWATER Carmarthen Q........... 3 Aberavon.................26 ABERAVON maintained their 100 per cent Premiership Cup record with a comfortable...

Ravens soar after old-boy Jones turns it on

Premiership Cup By HUW S THOMAS Llandovery............. 19 Bridgend..................25 BRIDGEND overturned a 14-point half-time deficit to record a stunning win at...

Struggling Llanelli no match for ruthless Swansea

Swansea..........53 Llanelli.............. 15 SWANSEA secured their first victory of the season with a bonus-point demolition of rivals Llanelli. The home side...

Let Hallam Amos fill the void at 15 for Wales, says Dai Young

HALLAM Amos has been tipped to fill the full-back void left by Liam Williams and Leigh Halfpenny for Wales’ daunting autumn...

Rugby 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...

Clubs act to curb powers of Union hierarchy

NEWS EXTRA By PETER JACKSON WELSH rugby’s rank-andfile clubs are being asked to back a radical plan devised to prevent the...

RWC kit swap to tackle colour blindness

NEWS EXTRA WALES and Ireland may have to change their traditional shirt colours at the 2027 Rugby World Cup if facing...

Carwyn will follow cousins’ footsteps to the top

NEWS EXTRA By STEFFAN THOMAS SIONE Kalamafoni has firmly established himself as the Scarlets’ first-choice No.8 but he believes he will...

Bracken backs Sarries to push Quins hard

HARLEQUINS’ tasty mixture of young and old talent could ensure they successfully defend their title, while Kyran Bracken is also backing...

Nathan Earle eyes England lift-off at Falcons

NATHAN Earle is hoping his move to Newcastle will put him back into England contention after his time at Harlequins was...