Nick Cain - News, interviews, analysis and opinion

Henry Arundell celebrates scoring for England against Fiji with Marcus Smith

Columnists

/ 2 weeks ago

Nick Cain: Don’t exaggerate the importance of bench too much

The eight-man bench is not an aspect of the pro game I support, and the lauding of England’s “Pom squad” as...

By Nick Cain

Tom Roebuck makes the game safe for England

Autumn Internationals

/ 3 weeks ago

England 33-19 New Zealand: Steve Borthwick’s side steamroll jaded All Blacks

There was smoke over Twickenham yesterday evening – black smoke – after an on-fire England team achieved one the rarest of...

By Nick Cain

Tom Pearson playing against All Blacks XV for England A

Columnists

/ 3 weeks ago

Nick Cain: England A team just not up to the job

The Rec was packed with 14,500 Red Rose fans last Saturday, England A were on home turf, and the second-string All...

By Nick Cain

Luke Cowan-Dickie scores the opening try for England

Autumn Internationals

/ 4 weeks ago

England 38-18 Fiji: Battling Fijians give Steve Borthwick’s side plenty to work on

By the time Maro Itoje dived over the top of the tiring Fijian forwards from close range to score England’s sixth...

By Nick Cain

Ryan Baird of Ireland knocks the ball away from Josh Lord of the All Blacks

Columnists

/ 4 weeks ago

Nick Cain: Fault-lines show cracks in the All Black armour

Jordie Barrett’s tour-ending ankle injury against Ireland in Chicago last weekend plays into the hands of an England team hunting their...

By Nick Cain

Columnists

/ 4 weeks ago

David Norrie: 40 years on, and still stuck in the dark ages

The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again – and expect a different result.

By The Rugby Paper Team

Henry Pollock breaks through for the second England try

Autumn Internationals

/ 1 month ago

England 25-7 Australia: Henry Pollock puts England on the road to redemption

Henry “Peroxide” Pollock wants to be noticed, and the bleached-blond young flanker made sure the Wallabies will not forget him in...

By Nick Cain

Ben Earl breaks to score England’s first try against Australia yesterday

Columnists

/ 1 month ago

Nick Cain: Avoid the circus and keep strategy simple

We are told the bench is now the ‘swingometer’ that dictates who wins at international and top club level.

By Nick Cain

Columnists

/ 1 month ago

Nick Cain: Believe it! All Blacks are there for the taking

New Zealand may not be the imperious double World Cup winners they were in 2015, but at the start of the...

By Nick Cain

Letters

/ 1 month ago

Disciplinary decisions were not inconsistent

THE media has an important role to play in the rugby disciplinary system. Informed commentators help explain to the public the...

By The Rugby Paper Team

Letters

/ 1 month ago

Bears in trophy hunt

I READ Nick Cain’s article last week regarding the Gloucester-Bristol game last Friday with interest and whilst he made some valid...

By The Rugby Paper Team

Columnists

/ 1 month ago

Nick Cain: Luke Cowan-Dickie’s reprieve smacks of inconsistency

Luke Cowan-Dickie’s exoneration by an RFU disciplinary panel on Tuesday for a potentially dangerous high tackle on Tom Willis in last...

By The Rugby Paper Team

Columnists

/ 2 months ago

Nick Cain: Time for Maro Itoje & Co to take on the world

Maro Itoje scaled one of the most significant peaks in rugby union as a winning Lions captain this summer, but he...

By Nick Cain

Ed Slater in action during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Gloucester and Leicester Tigers

Latest News

/ 2 months ago

Ed Slater calls for more research into MND

Ed Slater has urged the government to increase funding for research into motor neurone disease after England 2003 World Cup winner...

By The Rugby Paper Team

Columnists

/ 2 months ago

Nick Cain: Absurd rule banning Jack Willis from England

The high esteem in which Jack Willis is held at his club Toulouse, in French rugby circles in general, and regularly...

By Nick Cain

Columnists

/ 2 months ago

Nick Cain: Great result but let’s stay ahead of pack

Congratulations to the England women’s team after winning the 2025 Women’s World Cup, and also going 33 matches undefeated during head...

By Nick Cain

Letters

/ 2 months ago

Worcester Warriors right to ensure claims are legitimate

I was bemused to read Nick Cain’s comments last week regarding Worcester Warriors’ payments to rugby creditors. The RFU have insisted...

By The Rugby Paper Team

Saracens celebrate winning the Champions Cup in 2019

Columnists

/ 2 months ago

Nick Cain: Sorry, Saracens, but you weren’t the first

The attempts by Saracens to rebrand themselves this week as “The Original Club of North London” extends poetic licence beyond the...

By Nick Cain

Filipo Daugunu scoring his second try for Australia against Argentina

Columnists

/ 2 months ago

Nick Cain: Game facing fight to retain its integrity

The Filipo Daugunu try which gave Australia two losing bonus points against Argentina in Sydney last weekend crossed a red line...

By Nick Cain

Columnists

/ 3 months ago

Nick Cain: Four roaring Lions make my star-studded World XV

Two years out from the 2027 World Cup, at the midway point of the 2025 Rugby Championship, with the 2025 Lions...

By Nick Cain

Premiership

/ 3 months ago

French leap to defence of game’s honour

IT SHOULD be a high old time for the union game. The pool stage of the Women’s World Cup may have...

By The Rugby Paper Team

Letters

/ 3 months ago

French rugby deserves praise regarding scrum laws

French rugby deserves high praise for its brave decision to expose World Rugby’s woeful mismanagement of a key rugby union law....

By The Rugby Paper Team

Columnists

/ 3 months ago

Nick Cain: Steve Borthwick snared in unworkable fudge with new player welfare stipulation

If international rugby union is the “shop window of the game”, the part that fires the imaginations and ambitions of young...

By Nick Cain

Latest News

/ 3 months ago

Freddie Burns is on a rugby journey we should all admire

Rugby nomads are a tribe unto themselves, pitching up in all manner of out-of-the-way places for reasons best known to...

By The Rugby Paper Team

Columnists

/ 3 months ago

Nick Cain: Two-team model in Welsh rugby has little chance of success

The precipice on which Welsh rugby is perched rests on two disastrous decisions made on either side of the Millennium which...

By Nick Cain

Jeff Probyn

/ 3 months ago

Don’t blame RFU for selection dilemma

JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME IAGREE with Nick Cain that England or any other country should not...

By The Rugby Paper Team

Columnists

/ 3 months ago

Nick Cain: Steve Borthwick must not select this Bristol Bok, Benhard Janse van Rensburg

Benhard Janse van Rensburg is as South African as “boerewors”, and the idea of the Bristol centre being picked by England,...

By The Rugby Paper Team

Columnists

/ 3 months ago

Nick Cain: Wallabies too slow to make most of Will Skelton

The 2025 Lions gave the Wallabies a long overdue wake-up call on the pitch, as well as doing them a favour...

By The Rugby Paper Team

Latest News

/ 3 months ago

Nick Cain: NFL a tough nut to crack for Louis Rees-Zammit and co

Hot on the heels of Louis Rees-Zammit’s return to rugby union with Bristol after his 18 month tilt at getting on...

By The Rugby Paper Team

British and Irish Lions

/ 4 months ago

Nick Cain: Wallabies paid price for unprofessionalism during Lions Tour

The Lions are back on the winning trail, but the high stakes surrounding the 2025 tour, whether sporting or commercial, means...

By Nick Cain

British and Irish Lions

/ 4 months ago

Nick Cain: No return to Australia for the Lions without legal guarantees

Should Australia get the Lions back in 12 years? The answer is that Rugby Australia would have to commit to a...

By Nick Cain

Brendan Gallagher

/ 4 months ago

Brendan Gallagher: British and Irish Lions tour no longer rugby’s Everest

The dust is beginning to settle on the 2025 Lions tour and that is a process that should be encouraged and...

By Brendan Gallagher

British and Irish Lions

/ 4 months ago

Australia 22-12 British and Irish Lions: Wallabies cash in on their storm troopers

Australia ........................... 22pts Tries: Pietsch 8, Jorgensen 55, McDermott 71 Conversions: Donaldson 56, 72 Penalty: Lynagh 34 British & Irish Lions...

By The Rugby Paper Team

British and Irish Lions

/ 4 months ago

Nick Cain: Joe Schmidt’s bogus words jeopardise Lions’ future

There was a chance of three whitewashes taking place this weekend. The first was whether the Lions would claim a 3-0...

By Nick Cain

Latest News

/ 4 months ago

Nick Cain: Without a deal, R360’s credibility is on the line

The R360 phantom is up-and-running again with Louis Rees-Zammit rumoured to be involved following his exit from the Jacksonville Jaguars and...

By Nick Cain

British and Irish Lions

/ 4 months ago

British and Irish Lions 29-26 Wallabies: Hugo Keenan’s last-gasp lunge seals epic victory

Australia ........................... 26pts Tries: Slipper 23, Gordon 29, Wright 31 Conversion: Lynagh 29 Penalties: Lynagh 5, 11, 54 British & Irish...

By Nick Cain

Columnists

/ 4 months ago

Nick Cain: Henry Pollock must play with 7 on his back

Henry Pollock looked lost at times against a First Nations & Pasifika selection which wanted to get in the faces of...

By Nick Cain

Latest News

/ 5 months ago

Jack Nowell on right road to lift La Rochelle

After a gruelling campaign in France’s Top 14, Jack Nowell returned to his native Cornwall this summer – not just to...

By The Rugby Paper Team

British and Irish Lions

/ 5 months ago

British and Irish Lions 27-19 Wallabies: Round One to the Lions as Finn Russell pulls strings

Australia ............................19pts Tries: Jorgensen 28, Tizzano 67, McDermott 78 Conversions: Donaldson 68, 78 in association with British & Irish Lions ........

By Nick Cain