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Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: New-look backline can tear it up if Leicester’s pack perform
Leicester have plenty of rivalries that stretch back in time, such as those against Northampton and Bath. The rivalry between Bath...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Little big man Harry Robinson joins list of mini victims
Harry Robinson’s first tour as a newly-capped international three years ago ended with a glowing report from the Wales management. Despite...
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Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Great Scott Williams will keep Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies on toes
Warren Gatland will have been grinning from ear to ear at the sight of Scott Williams back at the Principality Stadium...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Quotas undermine teams rather than build them
Oil and water, vinegar and milk…there are certain things that just don’t mix and should always be kept separate. Another is...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher laments the passing of rugby’s great occasion – the Middlesex Sevens
For decades the last weekend of April/first weekend of May always meant the Middlesex Sevens and although time moves on I’m...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: Andrew Cosslett’s new broom sweeps out Rob Andrew
Rob Andrew’s departure from the RFU as their professional rugby director may have been presented as a long-planned exit, but his...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Saracens have weaponry to conquer Europe now
It doesn’t matter whether you’re going for singles, doubles or trebles in terms of trophies and titles at the end of...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: Joe Lauchbury is fixing a steely gaze on his new challenges
Joe Launchbury knows what it is like to be the young, blue-eyed boy of the England pack. The Wasps lock also...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Underdogs Connacht my team of the season
Pat Lam achieved some notable firsts as a player at the end of the 20th century and the start of the...
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Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: We’ll see who thrives in pressure cauldron
Next Saturday’s Judgement Day could be just that for the Welsh regions and some players hoping to get into Warren Gatland‘s...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Sorry Jerry Guscott, but I disagree with your Pro12 prognosis
I read with interest last week’s article by Jerry Guscott and his thoughts on why he thinks the Pro12 has failed...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher: How Richmond aim to be most ‘professional’ of amateurs …
It’s six weeks ago now, after a regular Tuesday night training session, that Richmond director of rugby Steve Hill and club...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: Mercenaries must be mixed with local talent
Jake White’s mercenary march at Montpellier has been gathering a head of steam. South Africa‘s 2007 World Cup-winning coach may have...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Ignore the balance sheet, our grassroots game is in crisis
And so it begins. Australian rugby‘s announcement of a A$9.8 million (£5.3m) loss for the 2015 season, up from A$6.3 million...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain: Nathan Hughes must prove he has the clout to withstand the wolfpack assault
When it comes to individual clashes the Wasps against Saracens line-ups in the European Cup semi-finals at the Madejski flash like...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Johnny McNicholl bid mocks the registration rules
Johnny McNicholl has no Welsh ancestry. Nor has he set foot in Wales, but already he has spoken about his desire...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Come on Celts, it’s time to be the great entertainers
What a wonderful advert last weekend’s quarter-finals were for European Cup rugby, with the elite clubs of England and France going...
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Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Innovator Lyn Jones could be a great fit for Harlequins
Lyn Jones is one of rugby‘s great innovators and Harlequins could do far worse than appoint the Newport Gwent Dragons head...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain: No bluffing, Eddie Jones wants improvement– and fast!
If anyone was under any illusions about the relentless work-rate that Eddie Jones expects of himself, and, more significantly, of those...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain Column: Refs must crackdown to prevent this abuse
The growing unease in English Rugby Union’s refereeing ranks about the rise in football-style abuse of officials, as well as a...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher talks to Colin Deans 30 years on from his big Lions let-down
Thirty years ago this week – April 16, 1986 – Colin Deans finally achieved his ambition of starting at hooker in...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Aaron Mauger can turn Manu Tuilagi into an even more lethal weapon
Another breakthrough moment for Manu Tuilagi will come when he develops an understanding of what other players can do playing off...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Buy Dragons? No way on God’s earth! says David Moffett
The Dragons‘ ‘For Sale’ signs had no sooner gone up at Rodney Parade than a controversial figure began putting some distance...
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Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Pro12 must have all its star players on display
The Guinness Pro12 is in danger of becoming completely over-shadowed if something major is not done to raise its profile. Organisers...
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Columnists
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: If you want to hear a racist rant listen to Phil Bennett
What a surprise! World rugby‘s discipline hearing against Joe Marler saw him plead guilty, was given a ban and a fine...
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Columnists
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: Gypsygate opens a can of worms for World Rugby
Where does offensive, derogatory or discriminatory language, or behaviour, begin and end? That is the question that World Rugby are going...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Stripe me! How can this Zebre side be Champions?
Zebre have lost their last four away matches by scores that could double up as opening stands at the T20 World...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: I see Italy becoming a real powerhouse of the North
Brendan Gallagher‘s feature on the future of Italian rugby last week got me thinking – and not just about the Azzurri...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Saracens have found the answer to repeated success
Having won the Premiership for the first time in 2011 and then not achieving much in the immediate season afterwards, a...
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Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Senior men must take the blame at Ospreys
Ospreys held on for a good win at Newport Gwent Dragons on Friday night but it looks too little too late...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: James Haskell can add muscle to GB’s bid for Rio gold
Great Britain’s campaign to become the first team to win Sevens gold at the Rio Olympics is in such dire straits...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Good luck Conor O’Shea in saving Italy!
The great Sergio Parisse, and I use the word in its truest sense, was visibly outraged last week when the vultures...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Ravaged All Blacks offer hope to Wales
The striking similarities between Julian Savea and Nehe Milner-Skudder extend beyond the fact that each has scored eight tries in his...
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Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams column: Wales must believe they can upset the All Blacks
Flexing your muscles on the beach is one thing – doing it in the ring is quite another. I’m sure the...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Stuart Hogg’s a worthy winner but Sarries pair push him close
George Kruis did not get onto the shortlist for the Six Nations Player of the Year, but along with the runner-up,...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Treating players like men helped win Grand Slam
Reflecting on last week’s Grand Slam I can’t help thinking how much the team has changed from the latter days of...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain talks to Eddie Jones about the way ahead for his Grand Slam team
Eddie Jones clearly believes in the saying that “success starts on Monday”. No sooner had the England head coach returned from...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain picks his Lions team based on their Six Nations form
It may still be some 14 months before the British & Irish Lions leave these shores to take on the formidable...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Onfield revival is just one of many battles facing England
What a week for English rugby! Congratulations to Eddie Jones and his coaching team for completing England‘s first Six Nations title...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoHave Calders got answer for England’s twin peaks?
Brendan Gallagher says the Curry brothers may be chasing one international place but that precedent has been set by a pair...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson column: Glen Webbe shows laughter is still the best medicine
Glen Webbe was the first black British player to appear in the World Cup and the first of any colour to...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain column: Lay off Joe Marler, PC brigade – boys will be boys!
When did the word gipsy, which has been used to describe Romany people in Britain for centuries, become non-permissible? To my...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 10 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s Six Nations review
Round One: Parisse’s moment of madness What so soon? My jacket pockets were still stuffed with World Cup ticket stubs and...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 10 years agoJeremy Guscott column: Straight-talking Eddie Jones has flicked the right switch
Eddie Jones has used his personality as an asset everywhere he’s gone, and it’s been the same since he took over...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson: Phew, a Grand Slam at last and not yet another grand shambles
And so ‘Fast Eddie’ has lived up to his name. A Six Nations Grand Slam at the first attempt made all...
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Shane Williams
/ 10 years agoShane Williams: It was great to see George North equal my try-scoring record
That’s more like it. After the nightmare of Twickenham it was great to see Wales putting that performance to bed with...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 10 years agoJeff Probyn column: Sorry, Serge but you were a bit-part player in that try
Browsing through a bookshop the other day, I picked up a copy of The Sunday Times Great Sporting Moments of the Twentieth...
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoSean Fitzpatrick: Lions will have the talent to test All Blacks
Sean Fitzpatrick and Jason Robinson come from different sides of the rugby spectrum in every sense, but this week the indestructible...
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Peter Jackson
/ 10 years agoPeter Jackson’s column: Time is on your side, Ian, but are Wales?
As career records go, it surely stands supreme – three Six Nations’ tournaments, three Six Nations titles and two Grand Slams....
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Nick Cain
/ 10 years agoNick Cain’s column: Kurtley Beale’s hit jackpot, now he must deliver
Kurtley Beale has made a habit of unsettling Australia‘s rugby suits, and he was at it again this week with the...















