Apprenticeships with the seniors is driving up England U20 standards, says Dickens

Alan Dickens has named his side to face Ireland on Friday with both side's unbeaten records on the line

Obano recalled for Ireland showdown as Mako Vunipola is ruled out

Beno Obano in line for first England cap with Saracens star Mako overseas due to family reasons

Cain column: Championship should go down legal route in this bloody battle

Nick Cain questions whether Bill Sweeney is doing the bidding of the Premiership's shareholders

Dai Young leaves Wasps after nine years as director of rugby

Dai Young explains why the time felt right to leave Wasps

England prop Harry Williams anticipates damaging impact on second two

The Exeter Chiefs prop speaks out about how cuts to the second tier 'are not ideal'

Championship cuts: Concerned chairmen issue open letter to Bill Sweeney

The Championship Clubs Committee (CCC) write to RFU CEO Bill Sweeney in The Rugby Paper

Young Guns: Leicester Tigers scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet

One of the young scrum-halves at Leicester forming a line behind senior man Ben Youngs

Top 14 column: Second coming of Jules Plisson is down to TLC of O’Gara

It’s astonishing what careful and empathetic player management can do. Jules Plisson – remember him? – returned to the club where...

Can England Still Win The Six Nations?

It hasn’t been the start to the Six Nations that Eddie Jones and his team would have been hoping for. They...

England need to get smart or pay price against Irish

JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK Making it look easy: Ireland ran round the Welsh defence to score this try...

DREAMTEAM

ALEX TAIT, THE NEWCASTLE FALCONS AND FORMER ENGLAND U20s FULL-BACK, CHOOSES THE BEST XV HE’S PLAYED WITH OR AGAINST… 1. Rob...

Pay-per-view would decimate Six Nations

COLIN BOAG Best game so far: Andrew Conway scores as Ireland beat Wales in Dublin When I was first getting into...

Make your mind up!

I READ with interest and certain amusement Colin Boag’s piece in last week’s Rugby Paper. In his seventh paragraph he writes:...

Jubilee made it three

IN his column last week Peter Jackson stated that the Lions had broken their unwritten rule about not playing at home...

Erratic Eddie now holding us back

NICKCain got it right in his article on Eddie Jones. Despite the scrambled win over a poor Scottish side, England clearly...

Intruders keep out

ONEmust congratulate the RFU with their latest attempt to destroy this completely under valued second level and ensure the Premiership becomes...

How many fans can fly to South Africa?

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: newsdesk@therugbypaper.co.uk SOUTH Africa in Six...

Matt: Get set for Super Saturday numbers game

By JON NEWCOMBE Influential: England fly-half George Ford ENGLAND’S 2003 World Cup-winning scrum-half Matt Dawson predicts “a Super Saturday” finish to...

CLUB-BY-CLUB: HOW THE CHAMPIONSHIP HAS PRODUCED PREMIERSHIP, PRO14 AND ULTIMATELY ENGLAND PLAYERS

Current team in brackets *dual reg Ampthill Karl Garside (Northampton Saints), Ben Earl* (Saracens), Nick Isiekwe* (Saracens), Ralph Adams-Hale* (Saracens), Samson...

Heard about this, Bill? Boks losing to your National League

Brendan Gallagher gives the RFU food for thought with a famous match at Worcester Determination: Duncan Roke, of the National League,...

We have to be careful how we spend money

Bill Sweeney, chief executive of the RFU, answers the clubs’ letter Progress: Exeter were champions in 2017, seven years after winning...

McKenzie stars as Chiefs stay top with big win in Tokyo

Super Rugby WARRENGatland’s Chiefs continued their unbeaten start to the season with a 43- 17 win over the Sunwolves in Tokyo....

Plisson’s revival is down to some TLC

Reborn: Jules Plisson is on the up after leaving Stade Francais for La Rochelle PICTURE: Getty Images It’s astonishing what careful...

Booth in frame for top job at Liberty Stadium

By STEFFAN THOMAS THE OSPREYS have narrowed their search for a new head coach with Harlequins assistant Toby Booth the leading...

Dumped Smith on mission to impress Pivac

NEWS EXTRA By STEFFAN THOMA DISCARDED Wales prop Nicky Smith is confident he can turn the Ospreys’ season around as he...

Burnfield try ignites ferocious Saracens retaliation

By TOM HOLMES SARACENS recovered from a poor start to comfortably earn the bonus point against Richmond. Two tries from Jodie...

Championship cuts:the great debate…

Give us a two-year moratorium at least Dear Bill Top prop: Harry Williams has gone from Jersey to Exeter and England...

Mawi joins champions

SARACENS have signed Fijian prop Eroni Mawi. The 23-year-old joins the club as injury cover for Ralph Adams-Hale and adds an...

Cov recruit back three cavalry

COVENTRY have signed Louis Brown and Ryan Olowofela to cover the back three with James Stokes (London Irish) and Henry Purdy...

Tyro Tigers look for the hat-trick

NEWS EXTRA LEICESTER Tigers U18s are hunting a third successive national title with London Irish standing in their way at Sixways...

England ease past Scotland to go top of table

NEWS EXTRA CHAMPIONS England beat Scotland 53-0 in freezing conditions to go top of the women’s Six Nations table. The match...

YOUNGGUNS

JACK VAN POORTVLIET LEICESTER SCRUM-HALF Ahealthy queue of effervescent young No.9s has formed behind Ben Youngs at Leicester. Joining Ben White...

Eddie’s insults may have lost the players

It may not have been pretty, but at last England have kickstarted the journey to France 2023 with a much-needed win...

Bid to beat the storm fails as rivals slog it out

By TIM LEWIS RGC 1404 ……..15 Carm Quins ….15 THESE rivals braved Storm Dennis to play out a draw in Colwyn...

Champions rocked by first-minute Whites try

By PAUL HOPKINS Merthyr …………5 Swansea ……..10 SWANSEA earned a shock victory over champions Merthyr as The Wern took a storm...

Impressive Ivybridge make light of wind and rain

South West Premier IVYBRIDGE used the wet and windy conditions to their advantage to send runaway leaders Barnstaple to a fourth...

Blaydon’s late surge sends them to top

Northern Premier THE positions at the top of the table could not be tighter, with three clubs fighting it out for...

Channel Islanders lead – but it’s still tight

London & South East Premier IT’s getting ever tighter at the top of the table, with Rochford Hundred and Guernsey battling...

Training with Eddie driving U20 standards says Dickens

By NEALE HARVEY England ‘apprentice’: Josh Hodge ENGLAND’S chances of achieving a first U20s Six Nations Grand Slam since 2016 have...

MY LIFEIN RUGBY

THE FORMER SALE SHARKS, NORTHAMPTON AND NOTTINGHAM BACK ROWER MARK EASTER WHETHER he knows it or not, my brother Nick (the...

Six of the best is enough for St Eds

By JOHN CROYSDILL Sutton & Epsom ..12 Bury St Edmunds 36 BURY wrapped up a league double over Sutton & Epsom...

Four-try Owsley seals the glory

By RHODRI MORGAN Worthing …………….10 Clifton ………………..24 CLIFTON secured a comfortable win with the addition of a bonus point over Worthing...

Hawks hit the front in bonus triumph

By ALISTAIR BENYON Henley…………..29 Westcliff…………5 HENLEY Hawks had to contend with both Storm Dennis and a resolute Westcliff defence to climb...

Hull run amok as winds lift them higher

By RICHARD GORE Hull……………….34 Sheffield T……21 HULL made the most of the first-half winds at their backs to run up a...

Caldy grit extends run to 22 unbeaten

By CHRISTIAN EVANS Fylde………………….7pts Caldy………………..15pts CALDY head coach Matt Cairns lavished praise on his team after a pivotal win against Fylde...

Johnson steals show at Hoppers

By MIKE MITCHELL Preston GH …………..3 Hinckley …………….33 HINCKLEY piled further relegation fears on a young Preston Grasshoppers side as a...

Juddians win but fall from summit

By GARETH WITHERS Tonbridge J ……….26 Old Albanian ……..24 TONBRIDGE Juddians overcame the conditions and a second-half fightback to down Clifton,...

NEWS EXTRA

Fatialofa on feet again WORCESTER lock Michael Fatialofa has taken his first steps after a serious spinal injury. Fatialofa spent four...

Stortford stalemate after Club fightback

By JOHN ALLANSON Bishop’s Stort ……10 Blackheath …………10 A PENALTY try 15 minutes from time earned Blackheath a draw away to...

Chinnor in seventh heaven at Canterbury

By JACK JOHNSON CHINNOR dug deep to overcome Canterbury and Storm Dennis to extend their unbeaten away run to seven games....