Lilley wants fear factor back in his Bath pack

BATH scrum coach Mark Lilley is relishing a rigorous test of his side’s burgeoning set-piece dominance in West Country derby clashes...

Farrell v Biggar: The Testosterone Test

NICK CAIN LOOKS AT THE TWO CENTRAL FIGURES IN NEXT WEEK’S BIG CLASH Farrell special: Elliot Daly dives past Alex Cuthbert...

Nineties making these men nervous

THESE are hard times for those stuck in the Nervous Nineties. Nobody will have a better idea of how they feel...

Whatever happens, it won’t match the bile of 1980

ONEoutcome of England- Wales can be predicted without fear of contradiction, that it will not be as nasty on or off...

The Sheriff needs to ride tall at Twickenham

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Bad run: Alun Wyn Jones has lost four of his last five matches...

Maturing Maunder ready for next Test

■By NEALE HARVEY Kicking on: Jack Maunder in action for Chiefs against Sale Celebrating Denny Solomona’s winning try for England against...

England face early exit after shock defeat to Spain

■By ADAM ELLIS On the rebound: Dan Norton scores against Wales ENGLAND were left needing a miracle win over New Zealand...

South African XV who have adorned the Five/Six Nations

Grand Slams: Pieter de Villiers 1 Pieter de Villiers (France) Native of Malmsbury in the Western Cape. Made 31 appearances for...

Powerhouse Boks get the French firing

Brendan Gallagher looks at the history of great lock pairings during France’s golden eras of rugby Threat: Bernard le Roux of...

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Tonga confirmed as fourth Autumn Test

ENGLAND will play Tonga at Twickenham in a November Test series that includes fixtures against New Zealand, Australia and Argentina. It...

Rams are head-butted by RFU points deduction

■ By NEALE HARVEY Hit hard: Gary Reynolds RAMS chief executive Gary Reynolds believes his club have been harshly treated by...

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PRO14 bid makes Blackett wait on Cov offer

Decision: Blackett COVENTRY look to have late competition in their bid to land Lee Blackett as they look to replace head...

Bok lock Marvin says Yes to Tigers

Lion: Marvin Orie LEICESTER Tigers look to have ended their search for a new second row following talks with Lions ace...

Freddie quits Bath to try out life in France

Marksman: Freddie Burns has 1,342 Prem points FREDDIE Burns is weighing up moving abroad after telling Bath he won’t be staying...

Du Toit snubs Quins to wait for Lions tour

HARLEQUINS have suffered a blow after World Player of the Year Pieter- Steph du Toit turned down a move to the...

May in big charity run

FORMER England centre Tom May is running a loop of London which will finish at Twickenham next week ahead of the...

Baldwin joins the Chiefs as Hill cover

BY NEIL FISSLER Follow me on Twitter: @neilfissler Move: Corey Baldwin EXETER Chiefs have agreed to a two-year deal that will...

CRAIG TRENIER

ROOM 101 THE EALING TRAILFINDERS PROP TAKES US THROUGH HIS PET HATES 1. Carnivore guilt I don’t like being made to...

Edwards bedevils old employers

THE stupidity of the WRU in not giving Shaun Edwards a four-year extension came back to haunt them last week. The...

Biggar’s behaviour sets a bad example

LAST Sunday we read in TRP about a subject which has been getting worse for several seasons in an article where...

Better, England

LAST Sunday against Ireland was the best England have played for a while. First half was good, but second half we...

Rude welcome awaits

IN THE wake of RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney’s announcement to slash funding to the Championship and across the 2000+ clubs...

Funds aren’t available to follow French route

Decline: Yorkshire Carnegie over-extened to fund huge wage bill PICTURE: Getty Images SO now the answer to English rugby’s problems is...

Expand Prem and bring in playoffs

THE age old problem of to ring fence or not keeps rearing its ugly head. The fact Newcastle look likely to...

Excuse me Colin, but Pirates are certainly ambitious

I READ with much interest two articles in last week’s Rugby Paper. The first was brilliantly written by your Nick Cain,...

Saracens let Liam go early

NEWS EXTRA SCARLETS have confirmed Wales full-back Liam Williams has joined the region for the remainder of the 2019-20 season. The...

Test duo return to boost Connacht

Preview Kings v Connacht Today, Kick-off 1pm IRISH internationals Ultan Dillane and Dave Heffernan are both included for Connacht’s trip to...

Dragons gifted victory by Cheetahs late call to run

■By ROGER PANTING A LAST minute penalty by Sam Davies kept Dragons’ slim hopes of an end of season play-off spot...

Lousi red card kills Scarlets’ chances

■By DARAGH SMALL Flashpoint: Scarlets’ Sam Lousi tussles with Munster players, before receiving a red card PICTURE: Huw Evans Agency INDISCIPLINE...

Cockerill’s table-toppers find a way to grind out win

■By GARY HEATLY EDINBURGH did not hit the heights of previous performances, but they did enough to defeat Cardiff Blues on...

Baird gets unbeaten Leinster off to flyer

Leinster ……….55 Glasgow ……….19 YOUNGSTER Ryan Baird and Dave Kearney both scored hat-tricks as Leinster maintained their unbeaten start to the...

Booth can herald new era at Ospreys

FINALLY, there is some clarity at the Ospreys. For my old region to appoint Toby Booth as their new head coach...

Recalling Liam and Josh would be panic

SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Put him on bench: Wales’ Liam Williams evades the tackle of France’s Gael Fickou PICTURE:...

Webb thrown straight in for derby day

■By NEALE HARVEY Test quality: Welsh ace Rhys Webb WALES international scrum-half Rhys Webb is handed a first start for Bath...

Wasps making late surge for play-off spots

■By NEALE HARVEY Flyer: Hassell-Collins Knockout king: Malakai Fekitoa relishes a crack at ‘play-off footy’ PICTURE: Getty Images BUOYED by last...

Road trip sets up spirit of adventure for second-placed Sale

No hotel: Steve Diamond SALE director of rugby Steve Diamond wanted to replicate a home fixture for his side so decided...

Kingsholm falls again as Gloucs pay penalty

■By ROGER PANTING Thanks, Dan: Marland Yarde scores Sale’s third try after a Cipriani mis-pass PICTURES: Getty Images Threat: Tom Marshall...

Solomons slams his ‘ridiculous’ defence

WORCESTER’S Alan Solomons raged at his team’s faulty defence after their fifth successive defeat in the Premiership. “It was ridiculous,” fumed...

McPhillips ends Tigers bad run against Warriors

■By ROB WILDMAN Away: Tigers’ Telusa Veainu breaks through the tackle of Nick David PICTURES: Getty Images Early hope: Perry Humphreys...

Ref Carley ignores the mind games

THE scrum war instigated by a Welsh campaign to highlight French ‘illegalities’ ahead of last weekend’s clash thankfully failed to get...

It’s about time CVC told us what they are up to

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE most visible face of CVC, the private equity firm currently investing huge...

Hopefully Eddie will see game says Earl

SARACENS supremo Mark McCall hailed his men as heroes “It was a great performance for lots of reasons,” he said. “After...

Biggar in knee scare ahead of Wales date

■By NEALE HARVEY Punching: Ben Earl breaks clear to roar in for his try ahead of Corbus Reinach PICTURES: Getty Images...

Bracken: Gatland right for England

■ By GARY FITZGERALD WARREN Gatland would be the best man to succeed Eddie Jones if the RFU decide not to...

Six Nations to go behind Sky paywall for £300m

■ By PETER JACKSON EXCLUSIVE Taking over? Sky THE Six Nations is in ‘very real danger’ of vanishing from free-toair television...

England U20 champion Dom Barrow quits rugby after spells at Leicester and Northampton

The lock came through the academy at Leeds and also played for Newcastle

TEAMS: Rhys Webb to make Bath debut against rivals Bristol

Bath and Bristol make several changes for Sunday's derby clash at the

‘He’s a new man’ – Johan Ackermann commends Cipriani and Gloucester

Gloucester will be promoting mental health awareness and the #BeKind campaign at Friday night's Premiership match