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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher looks back at five gems from the European Cup semi-finals
1999: Ulster 33 Stade Francais 27 The English clubs weren’t involved in the 1998-9 competition but frankly nobody really missed them...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson’s column: Justice has arrived late for victim Rhys Patchell
Rhys Patchell would have been appearing in his first European quarter-final yesterday had he not been bludgeoned out of it. The...
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Shane Williams
/ 11 years agoShane Williams’ column: George North will be fit and firing for World Cup if he’s well looked after
I fear for George North and Wales that one of the game’s biggest stars could miss the greatest tournament. It has...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn: Simple way to solve head cases and score more tries
As the concussion story grows and grows with more and more high profile players suffering the effects of serious blows to...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher feature: 125 years of Barbarians
It was 2am on the morning of April 9 1890 that the Barbarians Football club officially came into existence which in...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s feature on Alan Hancock’s try against Scotland in 1965
Everybody is famously allowed 15 minutes of fame, but for Northampton wing Andy Hancock that was abbreviated to 15 seconds. That’s...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s feature: Paul O’Connell can bow out in style
It’s time to start making a fuss of Paul O’Connell which, of course, being the modest type the Ireland captain will...
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Shane Williams
/ 11 years agoShane Williams’ column: Can Welsh half-backs rival Irish brilliance?
Warren Gatland faces one of the biggest tactical challenges of his reign with Wales against an Ireland side that have not...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson’s column: Rory Watts-Jones was too brave for his own good
There was a time when Rory Watts-Jones rubbed shoulders with the brightest and best of his generation on an equal footing....
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain’s column: Danny Cipriani’s return gives Andy Farrell a dilemma
Danny Cipriani‘s decision to turn down a big-money move to France to join European champions Toulon shows how much he wants...
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Shane Williams
/ 11 years agoShane Williams’ column: It’s criminal that Wesley Fofana is wasted by Philippe Saint-Andre
Trying to work out the French is like trying to crack the Enigma machine. Just like the real thing, there appear...
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Shane Williams
/ 11 years agoShane Williams’ column: That Ireland match is looking massive
What a big win, and what an improvement on the two previous matches, but if Wales are going to stay in...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson’s comment on France: This will drive Dr Mias back onto the bottle
In reaffirming their status as serious title contenders, Wales plunged France into such a state of despair that their most revered...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain’s column: We’re on the wrong road to Rio with Joe Lydon
Phil Greening is concerned that Great Britain, and their qualification nominees, England, are taking the wrong road to Rio. The former...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s feature: Big Clive Norling back in charge after the long dark years of battle
Depression – proper full blown depression – can do strange things to the mind as Clive Norling discovered during the seven...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain talks to Dave Attwood about the effect the Bath quartet is having on England
When Dave Attwood grounded the ball over the line at the Millennium Stadium late in the script for what appeared to...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s feature: Glint of gilded youth in Scotland v Italy
And so to the RBS Six Nations annual wooden spoon ‘decider’ between Scotland and Italy – the two nations between them...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn: Italy needs time to reach its full potential
Jeff PCan you believe it? After Italy scored three really good tries against the England team and Wales scored just the...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 11 years agoJeremy Guscott’s column: Get your game-heads on, it will be intense from the off
If you match-up the English and Irish backs it appears on form that they are incredibly close, but four out of...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s feature: England must take heed of Irish warnings from history!
There is no disgrace losing in Dublin – New Zealand are the only team in the world to have avoided that...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain talks to the England forwards coach Graham Rowntree about the exciting new dynamism of his pack
Graham Rowntree wants a pack for all seasons. An England eight that can grind the opposition like a millstone one minute,...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn: Why Olympic Sevens could prove catastrophic for 15s
With the first round of games about to start in the world’s pre-eminent annual rugby competition, this could be one of...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn: Why Olympic Sevens could prove catastrophic for 15s
With the first round of games about to start in the world’s pre-eminent annual rugby competition, this could be one of...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain: England Grand Slam hopes hit by TV rota
If you’ve always believed that the Six Nations is a level playing field, then think again. In the 15 seasons since...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 11 years agoJeremy Guscott’s verdict on England: Let’s make most of Jonathan Joseph’s Midas touch in Dublin
It was the win that was expected but not quite the performance or style that was anticipated after last week’s heroics...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher comment: Why Sergio Parisse will always be a winner in defeat
Sergio Parisse fascinates me. He comfortably makes the top five all-round rugby players I have reported on over the last ten...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson’s column: Mervyn Davies’s lament at putting Phil Bennett on the spot
Long before he passed away, Mervyn Davies confessed that his errant captaincy had cost Wales a third Grand Slam in four...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson: Lions legend Graham Price takes a prop shot at Adam Jones axe
As the only tighthead on the planet to have propped the Lions through 12 consecutive Test matches, Graham Price knows a...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s feature: When Scotland v Wales filled Murrayfield to the max
It’s always intrigued me, that six digit figure of 104,000 from a Five Nations match 40 years ago. What was that...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Mauro Bergamasco keeps on rolling!
Mauro Bergamasco was playing international rugby a year before Brian O’Driscoll pulled on an Ireland shirt and two years before Italy...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson’s verdict: Lights go out for Warren Gatland’s galacticos
England had waited so long in the tunnel for any sign of the opposition that Chris Robshaw asked the referee: “How...
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Shane Williams
/ 11 years agoShane Williams: Warren Gatland knows how to get George North twinkling
Even the best players need a good size ten up the backside sometimes and George North is no different. George was...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher’s verdict: No more Mr Nice Guy as Robbo’s men get ruthless
Chris Robshaw isn’t one of rugby‘s great smilers but the megawatt beam on his face on Friday night at the Millennium...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 11 years agoJeremy Guscott’s verdict: Fitness tells and so do Jonathan Joseph’s twinkle toes
England’s victory over Wales in Cardiff was about energy, discipline and defence, and they proved that when those three elements come...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn: ‘Bridesmaid’ Sam Burgess must be judged next season
There is always a sense of excitement as we enter the New Year and await the announcement of the squad that...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson: Silence greeted the hero of Cardiff
When they come to write the colourful history of Anglo-Welsh rivalry, one of England‘s forgotten full-backs will justify a chapter all...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher: The demons of Cardiff that will forever haunt England
England have found the going tough in Cardiff over years both at the Arms Park and the Millennium Stadium. Indeed at...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn: Championship needs help but who supplies the cash?
I read with interest Dean Ryan’s take on the Championship in last week’s Rugby Paper and how he believes blame should...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson: Pied Piper of Wasps leads them to new era
Dai Young and his ailing Wasps were bumping along on skid row three years ago, losing around £50,000-a-week and almost disappearing...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Medicine gives Tom Rees a challenge he craves
He was, all the critics were agreed, going to be the England rugby captain for a very long time. That rare...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain: Tom Who? can make a name for the Exiles
Tom Coventry’s appointment as the new coach of London Irish following the early departure of Brian Smith has probably prompted a...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 11 years agoJeremy Guscott: Suddenly Danny Cipriani can tackle – shame about his kicking
The best thing that’s happened to Danny Cipriani this season is that we are talking about him being good rugby player...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn: Concussion findings could bring back drift defences
As a former Wasp it’s hard to say… but here goes: Well done, Saracens, not for how you play or the...
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Peter Jackson
/ 11 years agoPeter Jackson: Warren Gatland’s Law only applies to James Hook
The writing has been on the wall for so long now that James Hook could be forgiven for ignoring it and...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher: The Test job? It’s a real loss but mavericks need not apply
Last November Jim Greenwood, who died in 2010, was voted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame and next week his...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain: A global season must still cater for the British & Irish Lions
A global season is one of the items at the top of World Rugby‘s new year agenda, and great institutions like...
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 11 years agoJeremy Guscott: Luther Burell must tackle his weight to be world class
Luther Burrell is playing well in a Northampton team that is sitting on top of the league with 48 points having...
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Jeff Probyn
/ 11 years agoJeff Probyn: Give promoted teams more money to level playing field
Here we are at the start of another year and, as usual, the hopes and aspirations of all rugby players and...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 11 years agoBrendan Gallagher: Get ready for a crescendo…. just like the Olympics
Suddenly it’s World Cup year and the tournament is hurtling towards us as the pace quickens. No longer can we talk...
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Nick Cain
/ 11 years agoNick Cain meets Jamie Gibson who has left academia to chase his rugby dream
Jamie Gibson is a scholar and a gentleman, a true blue Oxford University-educated boffin who, inspired by the philosophy of Socrates,...
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