ROOM 101

THE BATH BACK ROWER TAKES US THROUGH HIS PET HATES FROM THE RUGBY WORLD AND BEYOND ZACH MERCER 1. Phone obsessives...

Wasps eye moves for Thompson and Socino

LEICESTER have their eye on a couple of Premiership rivals as they look to improve their squad for next season. Wasps...

O’Mahony snubs new Ireland deal

GLOUCESTER are in the race to land Munster captain Peter O’Mahony, who has rejected the Irish Rugby Union’s offer of a...

Premiership clubs ready to swoop on Edinburgh

SAM HIDALGO-CLYNE is ready to leave Edinburgh at the end of the season after Gregor Townsend’s autumn Test snub. Scrum-half Hidalgo-...

ON THE BLIND SIDE

BY NEILFISSLER Follow me on Twitter: @neilfissler HARLEQUINS are in the running to lure former Wallaby centre Ben Tapuai into leaving...

Barrett adds golden boot to ‘double’ world crown

PETER JACKSON consults his stats book to illuminate the Test year in numbers PETER JACKSON Beauden Barrett finishes way out in...

At least Fuller will forever have one claim to fame

ONE of Herbert Fuller’s two claims to fame will disappear at Twickenham on Thursday when Cambridge prop Will Briggs – barring...

RUGBY MATTERS

Varsity war heroes to be honoured at Twickenham BRENDAN GALLAGHER A new weekly look at the game’s other talking points A...

Two more full internationals emerged

Capped: Brian Barley MARK Nelson, once of Sale and now coaching at Rossendale, has been in touch regarding last week’s feature...

Why does rugby get such little love from SPOTY?

THERE was much groaning and cursing in rugby circles earlier in the week at the complete lack of rugby representation in...

Forgotten Billy is leading from front

GLOUCESTER head coach Johan Ackerman was delighted with the win. He said: “We lacked intensity and accuracy at times but to...

Paice’s reckless red scuppers his team

By NEALE HARVEY ANGRY London Irish supremo Nick Kennedy slammed his captain David Paice after the former England hooker was red-carded...

Superb character, but poor discipline

A BEAMING Sale attack coach Paul Deacon was delighted at how the Sharks neutered Worcester’s attacking intent, but disappointed by his...

14-man Sale earn first away win in 14 months

By TOM BRADSHAW Match-winner: Mark Jennings scores Sale’s second try PICTURES: Getty Images Rising star: Josh Adams celebrates scoring Worcester’s try...

Ward wants stronger backbone in defence with Test spine returned to lineup

By NEALE HARVEY MISFIRING Harlequins must shore-up a leaky defence or face ruin against “ruthless” Saracens, according to hooker Dave Ward....

Falcons’ will to win impresses Richards

NEWCASTLE director of rugby Dean Richards believes there is still far more to come from his charges after they ended a...

Saints silenced by Latu’s late stunner

By COLIN NEWBOULT AT the end, there was just silence. No boos, little angst, just mere acceptance of a Northampton side...

Todd in awe of Chiefs back row

TODD Blackadder warned the rest of Europe to beware of Exeter who entertain Leinster in the Champions Cup next Sunday. “If...

Bath blitz is too late to trouble runaway champs

By MIKE SINCLAIR CHAMPIONS Exeter moved ten points clear of third-placed Bath at the top of the Premiership – and for...

We had bottle to win it says Dai

WASPS director of rugby Dai Young said he felt his side always had the win in them. “There was not much...

Rip-roaring as Cipriani returns to fire Wasps

By NICK CAIN THIS WAS the Premiership at its best, with Wasps and Leicester serving up a feast of rugby for...

Drop these quick drops

THE ruse of taking a quick drop-goal conversion after a try to put the kibosh on a TMO review is sharp...

Are Game Board now plotting a ten-team Premier?

WE could be heading back into the shadowlands of clandestine decisionmaking, with the idea being floated that the Premiership could be...

Rolling subs would make mockery of the game

READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK NICK CAIN ROLLING substitutes would be a disaster for Rugby Union, and the siren call...

Hit and miss campaign but some stunning tries

WALES AND LIONS LEGEND SHANE WILLIAMSVERDICT Master controller: Wales key man Dan Biggar, and new openside contender Josh Navidi PICTURE: Getty...

Wales in good place insists Gatland

WARREN Gatland insists he’s happy for Wales to go into the Six Nations under the radar after his side sealed a...

Hadleigh comes across the world to fulfil his rugby dreams in Cardiff

By PETER JACKSON at Principality Stadium Pace to burn: Elliot Daly scores for Wasps in their tight win over Leicester PICTURE:...

Manu back and aiming for a big Six Nations

By GARY FITZGERALD MANU Tuilagi can make up for lost time this Christmas and prove he has lost none of his...

Young Guns: Leicester Tiger scrum-half Harry Simmons

The Tigers youngster talks to TRP about his work with mentor Ben Youngs

The Ella brothers: the pop stars of Aussie rugby

Brendan Gallagher remembers the wonderful Junior Wallaby side that boasted a fabulous trio...

Jackson: North’s good for Wales but what about the region?

(Picture: Getty Images) By Peter Jackson George North arrived at Franklin’s Gardens from West Wales one year after Chris Ashton left...

Cain column: Chatty refs have aided the growth of dissent

By Nick Cain Dissent is an evil genie that was always going to escape from the bottle when Rugby Union referees...

Shane Williams column: Learn lessons and put South Africa to the sword!

Wales must learn from New Zealand loss and be more clinical against the Boks this weekend...

Room 101: Gloucester centre/wing Ollie Thorley

The Gloucester back admits he gets frustrated by issues preventing a breakthrough in nuclear fusion engineering

Guscott column: Eddie needs more power to reach All Black level

(Picture: Getty Images) By Jeremy Guscott England are deserved No.2 in the world after beating Argentina, Australia and Samoa. That’s because...

My Life in Rugby: Former England and Bath No.8 Dave Egerton

Dave Egerton reflects on his career with England & Bath, where motivation was borne out of a desire to be considered...

Dream Team: Leicester Tigers centre Matt Smith

Matt Smith picks the best player he has played with and against in his rugby career

Welsh dreams are blown All Blacks shooting star to dust by called Ioane

From NICK CAIN at Principality Stadium Determination: Gareth Davies breaks the All Black defence to score PICTURES: Huw Evans & GettyImages...

Five-timer by Breach condemns Canada to whitewash

England W ……69 Canada W………19 ENGLAND women ran in 11 tries as they beat Canada in the final Test at Twickenham...

So far so good for England but scrum coaching must be reviewed

JEFF PROBYN COMMENT Still winning: Eddie Jones after Samoa victory With the autumn internationals drawing to a close, what have we...

Eddie needs more power to reach All Black level

OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE…EVERY WEEK JEREMY Needs to find his mojo: Jonathan Joseph has been quieter than usual England are deserved No.2...

None of these would get in 2003 team – Robinson

JASON Robinson says not one of Eddie Jones ‘ players would get into England ‘s World Cupwinning side from 2003. Robinson,...

Foundations in place to make Coventry great says Narraway

By JOE BYRNES Old school: Luke Narraway WITH11 league wins from 11 Coventry stand head and shoulders above the pack in...

Ashton try touch can ‘t save Toulon strugglers

FRENCH COLUMN The last time Toulon lost three games in a row they ended the season as domestic and European champions....

RUGBY SHORTS

Brookes out for 6 weeks TIGHT-HEADKieran Brookes has been ruled out for six weeks after fracturing his hand in Saints ‘...

Protheroe benefiting from time with Bruce

GIFTED full-back Mat Protheroe believes testing himself under Premiership legends Pat Lam and Bruce Reihana at Bristol will help him fulfil...

Glover gets nod for Dubai

By SAM JACKSON SIMON Amor has named an experienced squad as England Sevens kick-off their World Sevens Series in Dubai next...

Maynard drives the Drovers to a hard-fought victory

By PETER HUGHES Llandovery ….21 Aberavon ……….8 JACK Maynard produced a fine display for Llandovery as they laboured to victory over...

RGC stay on track after edging past Swansea in a thriller

By DEAN JONES RGC1404……….35 Swansea ………34 RGC remain in control of the Principality Premiership West after a tense home win over...

Lockyer seals bonus-point triumph for Pontypridd

By CARL FIELD Pontypridd ….26 Bargoed ……….13 SKIPPER Dafydd Lockyer ‘s try two minutes from time bagged a bonus point for...