Thankfully the Lions will keep their spin purely for their passes

THOSE of us granted the dubious privilege of reporting on the worst Lions tour of the professional era will have been...

How could the mighty Ospreys fall so far?

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Glory days: Ospreys beat Leicester Tigers to win the 2008 Anglo-Welsh Cup Ospreylia...

Leo’s champions are a class above

By DECLAN ROONEY Pointing the way: Cian Healy celebrates as Rónan Kelleher scores the game’s only try TEAMS LEINSTER: Larmour 6...

Madigan’s magic boot puts Ulster into the final

By BRYN PALMER ULSTER staged a stunning second-half fightback at Murrayfield to become only the second team after Scarlets to win...

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Unpaid Tier 2 players may have contracts cancelled

By NEALE HARVEY Lucky: David Williams ON-LOAN Leicester wing David Williams claims Championship players are going unpaid as tier two clubs...

Italian powerhouse Pierluigi was a man of many talents

Lock star: Camiscioni ONE of the more colourful Italian internationals of recent years, Pierluigi Camiscioni, has passed away aged just 67....

Rugby’s looking at rocky ride to Tokyo

AND it was all going so smoothly! The reintroduction of rugby, in the form of Sevens, to the Olympic movement has...

Rosslyn Park 7s will be even more prestigious

BRENDAN GALLAGHER RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Team to beat: Sedbergh won back-to-back Rosslyn Park...

Luke may try XVs to keep dream alive

By ALEX BYWATER LUKE Treharne refuses to give up on his Olympic dream but has called on Wales to contract their...

Edinburgh talking to Blue Bull Ferreira

ANDRIES Ferreira, the Blue Bulls lock and former South Africa A international, is looking to move to the United Kingdom. Ferreira,...

Sharks bide time to sign Manu long-term

New Shark: Manu Tuilagi DRAGONS have signed prop Greg Bateman, who will join Dean Ryan’s side after leaving Leicester. Newcastle have...

Luther could opt to play semi-pro

Exit: Luther Burrell FORMER England international Luther Burrell is set to leave Super League outfit Warrington Wolves just over a year...

Warriors look south for new lock

BY NEILFISSLER ON THE BLIND SIDE Follow me on Twitter: @neilfissler WORCESTER Warriors are looking to strengthen their squad for the...

ROOM 101

THE DINGS CRUSADERS TIGHT-HEAD TAKES US THROUGH HIS PET HATES FROM THE RUGBY WORLD AND BEYOND JOSH LLOYD 1. Buttering bread...

New season, new format for European tournament

SUCH are the strange times that we live in that next season’s European Champions Cup will get underway on December 11,...

STATE OF THE TEAMS POST LOCKDOWN

Leinster No player movement of any consequence during lockdown. At one stage there was bad news concerning world class lock James...

Saracens head for their great showdown

BRENDAN GALLAGHER LOOKS AT THE MAKE-UP OF THE EUROPEAN CUP QUARTER-FINALS Ticking: Jamie George AFTER five or more months on a...

Youngsters are in for a shock when fans return

WASN’T it great seeing a few fans watching the Scottish derby match at Murrayfield last weekend. The lucky 700 were the...

Emotional to finish ride alongside MJ’s two boys

WE celebrated what would have been Matthew Watkins’ 42nd birthday in style last week with a 100 mile bike ride from...

Louis is on track to be Wales’ next wing king

SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Ihad the pleasure of being involved in a podcast with Louis Rees-Zammit the other day...

Plethora of errors killed us – Solomons

ALAN Solomons said his Worcester side contributed to their own downfall. Warriors director of rugby said: “We made a rod for...

Lam blasts officials for ‘cheap shot’ on Semi

By ROGER PANTING PAT LAM pleaded with officials to safeguard his players, and in particular star man Semi Radradra, after the...

Why mess with this great Heineken Cup format?

The word “aggregate” has secured its own place in the darkest corner of the rugby lexicon, along with “biting”, “gouging”, “match-day...

Another bashing for battered Dylan

CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST IF, FOR some peculiar reason, you ever wondered how to sound like an irritable magistrate of the...

Play-offs are long shot now – Boyd

CHRIS Boyd admitted Northampton’s play-off chances were left shattered and scattered all over Franklin’s Gardens by Exeter’s ‘B’ team. He said:...

Saints unravelled by Chiefs second-string

By GARY FITZGERALD Crash ball: Sean Lonsdale smashes George Furbank to score Exeter’s first try PICTURES: Getty Images ROB Baxter admits...

Jimmy gets job done for Blackett

JIMMY Gopperth tweeted: “Such a proud moment to lead the lads on my 100th game for Wasps. What a win! The...

Wllis try caps fine win for makeshift Wasps

By MIKE SINCLAIR OWEN Farrell’s red card – and the inevitable consequences – should not take the gloss off an inspired...

Set-piece tries disappointed me, admits frustrated Kidney

Concern: Declan Kidney IRISH’S director of rugby Declan Kidney was frustrated with his side’s inability to take advantage of key moments...

Gloucester rally to put Europe in their grasp

By ROGER PANTING Over: Ollie Hassell-Collins scores for London Irish Corner ball: Louis Rees-Zammit goes over for Gloucester GLOUCESTER virtually sealed...

Red-card Farrell set to miss Leinster

By MIKE SINCLAIR Crunch: Owen Farrell catches Charlie Atkinson on the head ENGLAND captain Owen Farrell looks certain to be banned...

Boks given full backing to play in 8 Nations

By PETER JACKSON THE Six Nations have joined forces in a united attempt to bring South Africa into the European fold...

Q&A – Mark Jones: Razor’s the best coach I’ve seen

Another great year for Welsh coach Mark Jones in New Zealand with the Crusaders

Ex-AFL ace Kurt Heatherley hopes to lift Jersey Reds

6'4" Heatherley played at Hawthorn in the AFL, but was brought up in New Zraland loving rugby

TEAMS: Alex Goode reaches major milestone for Saracens

Ever-present Goode will reach 300 appearances in this weekend's clash with Wasps

TEAMS: Edinburgh make eight changes for play-off bow

The PRO14 reaches the knockout stages of its 2019-20 season this weekend in Dublin and Edinburgh

Leicester lock Blake Enever reflects on uncertainty of Australian rugby at start of outbreak

Enever had been in prime position to represent the Wallabies before Rugby Australia finances cracked

Rebels coach Geoff Parling zooms in to help hometown club Stockton

The Melbourne-based former England lock has been calling in to Stockton RFC while coaching the Rebels in Super Rugby AU

Saracens sign prop Robin Hislop on loan from Doncaster Knights

Hislop joins as injury cover at loosehead for the rest of Saracens' Prmeiership campaign

‘With every try I score I honour my best mate who died’ – Stuart Hogg

The Scotland captain was involved in a car accident which he was fortunate to escape from a decade ago

Yorkshire Carnegie renamed and pledge to get ‘back to roots’

Carnegie will become Leeds Tykes once again, says new chairman

Tackling Radradra? I used to face Billy Vunipola in training, says Nick Tompkins

Dragons centre Nick Tompkins is already looking forward to the Challenge Cup quarter-final against Bristol Bears

Jackson column: James Whitcombe keeping the great prop dynasty alive

Four generations of Whitcombes that are steeped in history and, in young Leicester prop James' case, promise

Ex-Leicester Tigers head coach Aaron Mauger leaves Highlanders

Only the Chiefs laid behind the Highlanders in the Super Rugby Aotearoa standings

Could Sonny Bill Williams Return to Rugby Union?

Things haven’t looked rosy of late for dual-code megastar Sonny Bill Williams. The All Black veteran of 58 caps crossed codes once...

Former Gloucester coach linked with Georgia role

Georgia are being lined up to replace Japan in the Eight Nations tournament this autumn

Rugby Matters: Double helping of the Curry twins may be on Eddie’s menu

Ben Curry is closing the gap on his Test brother after starring for Sale on the Premiership's restart

Cain column: Flattery can even help you win the Rugby World Cup

Nick Cain shares his view on the report highlighting how the Springboks got on the right side of World Cup final...

What is required from Ben Spencer to be England’s regular No.9?

Scrum-half Ben Spencer is looking to find his voice at Bath now he is out of the shadow at Saracens, a...