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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson’s column: Winning is same in any language for Michael Cheika
Michael Cheika speaks French, Italian and Arabic. He is also known to be fluent in coarse Anglo-Saxon and looks forward to...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn: Too much expectation riding on the shoulders of England
I’m sure you have all seen the TV adverts featuring the England players being carried on the shoulders of supporters as...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s Rugby World Cup bolters
Danny Barrett (USA): One of the great hopes surrounding the US Eagles Sevens programme is that some of the talent identified...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s column: Scandalous delay that haunts the World Cup
One of the biggest drawbacks of Rugby Union’s obsession with amateurism was that the Rugby World Cup was belatedly dragged kicking...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher previews the Bledisloe Cup
This year’s quick-fire Rugby Championship seems to be hurtling to a conclusion almost before it began but the organisers couldn’t have...
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Shane Williams
/ 11 years agoShane Williams’ column: I’m proof that bolters can earn a late RWC call
Some people may question the need for warm-up games before a World Cup but I am living proof of how they...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 11 years agoJeremy Guscott’s column: Still time for Sam Burgess to prove his vast potential
The big word is that Sam Burgess will get a place in Stuart Lancaster final World Cup squad. It’s big news...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn’s column: You’re right Steve, new maul is ‘bloody boring’
How unusual, a New Zealand coach bemoaning the opposition’s tactics despite winning the game. Steve Hansen’s complaint about the Argentinian driving...
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Shane Williams
/ 11 years agoShane Williams’ column: Wallabies are never beaten, just ask Wales!
Same old players, same old Wallabies. Not for the first time, Australia were the second-best team on the pitch and yet,...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 11 years agoJeremy Guscott’s column: Bok boys can do lot more than just bash
It would be a huge surprise if these sides continue to play this type of expansive rugby in the World Cup,...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s column: Sometimes it’s better just to put your feet up
I don’t know if Wales’ fitness guru Paul Stridgeon and Bristol coach Sean Holley are Jos Stone fans and I certainly...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson’s column: Over-load on players so wrong says Larder
George Ford played 32 matches for club and country last season, more than any of his international contemporaries anywhere in Europe....
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson’s column: Vernon Pugh was right, we’re playing too many Tests
Fifty years ago, Jack Kyle held the record as the world’s most-capped player with 46 matches for Ireland. It had taken...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn’s column: Why do altitude training if it may hinder your speed?
As we approach the Rugby World Cup and hear more and more details of how the teams are preparing, I have...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain looks at the way Michael Cheika is trying to rebuild the Australian scrum
Australian have traditionally struggled to match South Africa for size and strength, but Michael Cheika is on a mission to change...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s Rugby Championship preview
In a World Cup year a short sharp Rugby Championship – each of the four teams plays each other just the...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 11 years agoJeremy Guscott’s column: Michael Cheika can bring best out of talented Wallabies
If we know one thing about Australia it’s that they frequently get it right for World Cups. A lot of their...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain’s column: Stuart Lancaster’s bubbling cauldron is troubling
There are times when the England selection alchemy seems stacked against players who bring something different to the squad. We had...
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Shane Williams
/ 11 years agoShane Williams’ column: I’m really missing all that freezing and wheezing!
World Cup training camps send a shiver down most players’ spines but I have to admit, I really miss it. It’s...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn’s column: So, is the ‘Old Boys’ Club’ in control of rugby again?
Training camps, past managers views and the World Cup have taken the focus off the biggest decision the game faces in...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher meets up with Brad Barritt
By my count there are nine players in the current England long squad who could justifiably harbour hopes, albeit some much...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain talks to Leicester captain Ed Slater
Ed Slater could be an irresistible catalyst for change. That’s because the Leicester captain’s first two main forays in an England...
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Shane Williams
/ 11 years agoShane Williams’ column: Wales can’t ignore the threat of soccer
Can football overtake rugby union as the national game of Wales? It’s a question I am asking myself more and more...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s feature: A gentle boot-camp and warm-up for the Cup? Tell that to the Marines
The thing about World Cup camps is that the handbrakes come off and, especially among Tier One Nations, the notoriously tight-fisted...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 11 years agoJeremy Guscott’s column: Treasure this camp, lads – time passes in a blink
The great upside of getting into England training camp early is that the excitement builds from the minute you arrive at...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain’s column: Bad referees must pay the price in World Cup
It doesn’t matter if you don’t penalise crooked feeds, or if you stuff up monumentally as a 2015 World Cup referee,...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain gets out his crystal ball and the form book to pick his 2017 Lions
Two years from now the Lions will be in the midst of a three Test series against a New Zealand side...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain’s column: Time for Lions to show claws over intinerary
The 2017 Lions itinerary, which was due to be announced in May but is now expected later this summer according to...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn: Heading off to the hills on another mission from God
Training camps and altitude training in far-flung foreign fields do make you wonder what the game is coming to. As big...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson’s column: Accept it, Gatland’s Law is now a nonsense
Like Mo Farah’s front doorbell when the drug testers came calling, Warren Gatland‘s eponymous law has much to answer for. As...
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Shane Williams
/ 11 years agoShane Williams’ column: Liam Williams’ loss gives the likely lads a chance
There’s no hiding from the fact that losing Liam Williams would be a major blow to Wales. It would have been...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher speaks to Firebrand Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu about preaching the message of alofa
As well as being a cracking Test centre and fly-half and a ‘have boots will travel’ professional for a decade or...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 11 years agoJeremy Guscott’s column: In-form Matt Banahan would be my first choice wing
Wingers are try-scorers first and foremost, as they always have been, but in the modern Test arena they’ve had to develop...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain talks to England captain Chris Robshaw
Chris Robshaw does not come from the Eric Evans school of England captaincy. Evans, who was captain of the 1957 Grand...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn: Let’s hope Ian Ritchie’s warning does not stop team bonding
As England prepare to jet off to their Colorado training camp the words of RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie must be...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson: When Bill Samuel kept Gareth Edwards from lure of football
The making of Gareth Edwards as a rugby superstar, humble human being and now knight of the realm, would probably never...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain casts an expert eye over last week’s European Champions Cup draw
The recruitment rosters of the Premiership and Pro12 teams make them look like a pop-gun parade compared to the heavy artillery...
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Shane Williams
/ 11 years agoShane Williams’ column: Will even champs Toulon escape the Pool of Death?
What a draw we saw for the European tournaments this week – and what a vindication of the decision to move...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 11 years agoJeremy Guscott: You can bet Richie McCaw and Dan Carter will be ready
One of the big stories so far in the Super 15 is the Crusaders failing to make the play-offs for the...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain’s column: Megabucks Toulouse give Manu Tuilagi a dilemma
Manu Tuilagi has one year left on his Leicester Tigers contract and Toulouse have sounded out the 24-year-old England centre about...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s feature: The day South Africa was cleared for take-off
It’s 20 years ago today that President Nelson Mandela presented Francois Pienaar with the World Cup at Ellis Park to bring down...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson’s column: Signing up Kiwis and Boks mocks the rules
Exactly five years ago this coming Wednesday, in a football stadium where a local boy called Messi used to play, New...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s feature: Bionic Jacques Burger is on his last crusade
After the best part of ten months at the coal face on behalf of Premiership champions Saracens, Jacques Burger is taking...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn’s column: Union right to ride roughshod over Leicester Tigers’ American dream
The question of who is running rugby in America came under the spotlight this week as Leicester Tigers were forced to...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain’s column: Memo to Stuart Lancaster: Avoid the dwarves
The inexorable trend towards spin over substance in the running of the professional game reached new peaks this week. As part...
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Shane Williams
/ 11 years agoShane Williams’ column: Jonathan Davies’ loss more disruptive than Manu Tuilagi’s
With fewer than 100 days until the World Cup, Stuart Lancaster will be far happier than Warren Gatland is right now...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson: Bull-dozing Ross Moriarty may be Wales’ missing link
When Wales beat Australia in the World Cup for the first and only time, amid the geothermal geysers of Rotorua, their...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher: The 69-match journey to the World Cup
Nations Cup The tenth year of this competition and the ninth to be held in Bucharest. Only the inaugural tournament, in...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn’s column: Stuart Lancaster’s left with more questions than answers
Well, well at last the bridesmaids have become the brides as Saracens stormed to victory last weekend in the Premiership final...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain discusses the political dangers which are threatening Championship clubs
Chris Pennell’s superb two-try contribution to the thrilling 30-30 draw in the second-leg of the Championship final at Sixways on the...
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