DREAMTEAM

JACK ROBERTS, THE JERSEY AND FORMER LLANDOVERY, ROTHERHAM, LEICESTER, CARDIFF AND DONCASTER CENTRE, CHOOSES THE BEST XV HE’S PLAYED WITH OR...

No complaints from me about rotation – I love it

COLIN BOAG Fierce rivals: Leicester Tigers and Bath Chris Foy wrote a piece in the Daily Mail lamenting what he perceived...

Bored to tears by 5m lineout mauls

AM I the only rugby fan bored to tears with the 5 metre lineout drive? It has become a weapon so...

Yes support has reduced, but it’s not all RFU’s fault

TONY Dunkerley rightly flags the issue of falling senior men’s playing numbers in his letter last week, but I fear that...

Please keep quiet and apply the laws

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: newsdesk@therugbypaper.co.uk HOW disappointing to see...

Conlon’s back with an eye on coaching

■ By NEALE HARVEY Excited: Joel Conlon FORMER Saracens and Exeter flanker Joel Conlon has his eyes on a professional coaching...

Wales suspend Sevens team

WALES’ Sevens men’s team has been suspended for the ‘foreseeable future’ because of Covid-19’s impact. Former Wales captain Ryan Jones, now...

Radradra? I tackled big Billy at Sarries!

■ By ROB COLE NICK Tompkins will be using the old pals act with his Saracens team-mates in the next few...

Bears bring in front row reinforcements

BRISTOL have signed former Connacht pair Peter McCabe and Niyi Adeolokun until the end of the season and Cardiff Blues prop...

Parling Zooms in to help Stockton

■ By JON NEWCOMBE AMBITIOUS Stockton RFC have announced a new-look coaching team that includes former England lock Geoff Parling. Parling,...

Enever aims to make Tigers stay ‘awesome’

■ By NEALE HARVEY DETERMINED Aussie lock Blake Enever cites financial security and the challenge of making Leicester great again as...

Quins honoured to pilot fans-return scheme

■ By JON NEWCOMBE THE return of fans to the Twickenham Stoop cannot come soon enough for Quins attack coach Nick...

Goze: Clubs will need State help to survive winter

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Tension is understandably mounting in French rugby circles as the start of the new season gets so...

So special playing for Wales alongside Scott

THE FORMER WALES, LLANELLI, RICHMOND, SARACENS, CARDIFF BLUES AND WORCESTER FORWARD MY LIFEIN RUGBY CRAIG QUINNELL Magic moment: Craig Quinnell celebrates...

Penny drops back into Falcons set-up

DEAN Richards has resigned centre Tom Penny for Newcastle’s return to the Premiership, following his spell at Harlequins earlier this season....

Burgess goes back to school

■ By SAM JACKSON OLYMPIC silver medallist Phil Burgess will join Cranleigh School – 2019 winners of the Daily Mail Trophy...

Ben’s happy to shout the odds at the Rec

■ By JON NEWCOMBE BEN SPENCER is happy to have made a big noise in the short time he has been...

Grassroots players don’t want no-contact

JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Catch me if you can: Touch rugby The restarted professional game is...

Wonderful Warwick have made a home at Twickers

Brendan Gallagher continues his series looking at rugby’s great schools IT would be stretching a point to claim that Warwick have...

YOUNG GUNS

RUBENMOXHAM EALING TRAILFINDERS CENTRE Ruben Moxham is a man on a mission after failing to make the cut at Bath last...

Razor’s the best coach I’ve seen, Lions would be lucky to have him

Former Wales wing Mark Jones has made a splash coaching the Crusaders in New Zealand. He tells NEALE HARVEY about his...

Boston still must wait

WHEN it comes to erecting statues of former players, Manchester City do not let the grass grow under their feet. David...

‘Homely’ Chiefs don’t need Bears’ cash riches

EXETER Chiefs’ secondstring scored a famous win at Ashton Gate on Tuesday night with a squad of 23, only one of...

Bevan boy finds a helping hand from Shankland

APART from teaching Tony Jacklin everything he knew about winning Open championships as revealed in this column last week, Bill Shankland...

Whitcombe keeping the great prop dynasty alive

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW The cradle of rugby’s oldest bespoke manufacturing business can be found across the...

No blame on captain Hooper

IF THOSE holier-thanthou southern hemisphere types who condemn English and French clubs for splashing the cash while supporting the gold rush...

Clifford’s U20’s class was such a mixture

JACK Clifford’s enforced retirement from rugby at the depressingly young age of 27 was a miserable moment. Eddie Jones knew what...

Some stats are simply codswallop…not these

CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST Some years ago, a small group of Twickenham modernisers introduced a trendy statistical software package designed to...

Ireland elated after long years of hurt in France

Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby’s most enduring images, their story and why they are still so impactful Iconic Rugby...

Beirne must fill big boots of Snyman

■ By ADAM ELLIS Preview Munster v Connacht Today. Kick-off 3pm MUNSTER head coach Johann van Graan is set to lean...

Zebre pick kids for derby day baptism

■ By ADAM ELLIS Preview Zebre v Benetton Today. Kick-off 7pm ZEBRE have named a team formed entirely of Italians for...

Navidi has a trick up his sleeve to combat Tipuric factor

■ By ALEX BYWATER Test: Josh Navidi JOSH Navidi counts himself fortunate to play alongside one of rugby’s most complete players...

Owens’ big day brings big win for his Scarlets

■ By ROGER PANTING SCARLETS’ skipper, Ken Owens, celebrated his 250th appearance for the region with a convincing bonus point win...

Cockerill sets challenge to land a first knockout win

■ By BRYN PALMER RICHARD Cockerill has challenged his Edinburgh players to prove they can handle the pressure of knockout rugby...

Muderack on mission to ‘paint the rugby world red’

■ By ALEX BYWATER NEWS EXTRA SCARLETS hope to follow Manchester United’s model of success as new executive chairman Simon Muderack...

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Frustrated Blackeath boss Shanahan calls for action

■ By WARREN MUGGLETON BLACKHEATH director of rugby James Shanahan says ‘stop messing about’ and get community rugby started again. NCA...

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Keep in touch with The Rugby Paper wherever you are at home and abroad! It is now available as an online...

How can World Rugby count rucks when we don’t have any!

THERE are of course lies, damned lies and statistics and with that in mind I must raise a quizzical eyebrow at...

Double helping of Curry may be on Eddie’s menu

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Tracing the career trajectory and development of Ben...

Harrison try keeps ‘Tahs in play-off race

SUPERRUGBY ■ By ADAM ELLIS THE WARATAHSkept their Super Rugby AU play-off hopes alive in a tense ninetry thriller to edge...

Georgia have Rory in mind

Interest: Rory Teague RORY TEAGUE is a possible contender to became the new head coach of Georgia, who are being lined...

Vakatawa could follow pal Semi to Premiership

Stunning footwork: Virimi Vakatawa FRENCH international Virimi Vakatawa could move to the Premiership next summer after seeing how much his close...

Tigers on the prowl for front row cover

LEICESTER TIGERS are looking to get a head start in their recruitment for the 2021/22 campaign even though the opening date...

Wasps keep it zipped on Zoom

WASPS took media prevention to a whole new level last week at a time when the sport needs all the coverage...

McCall in market for loosehead

Looking: Mark McCall ON THE BLIND SIDE BY NEILFISSLER Follow me on Twitter: @neilfissler SARACENS have started an emergency search for...

ROOM 101

THE HULL IONIANS PROP TAKES US THROUGH HIS PET HATES FROM THE RUGBY WORLD AND BEYOND BENJAMIN BELL 1.Rubbish postmatch meals...

STUART HOGG ON…

…why he wanted to be Scotland captain I wanted to be the middleman and take some of the pressure on myself…...

‘With every try I score I honour my dead pal’

NICK CAIN TALKS TO EXETER AND SCOTLAND FULL-BACK STUART HOGG High standards: Rob Baxter The special sign: Stuart Hogg makes his...

Here’s hoping Hard Ground is a tough nag

NOTmany people know this, but in 1979 the Grand National winner, Rubstic, was owned by the former Scotland and British &...