All posts tagged "Top 14"
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Latest News
/ 4 days agoBrookes signs for Munster
FORMER England tight-head Kieran Brookes has signed a two-year deal with Munster after two seasons with Top 14 side Perpignan. Stoke-born...
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Champions Cup
/ 4 days agoEuropean Rugby Champions Cup fixtures revealed for 2026-27 campaign
Defending champions Bordeaux Bègles will begin their Champions Cup title defence at Gloucester, while Premiership winners Northampton Saints face Cardiff in...
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Latest News
/ 4 days agoSmith is another smart NZ selection
LOOK out. With the 2027 World Cup beginning to hove into view, New Zealand are making some canny appointments. Dave Rennie,...
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Latest News
/ 4 days agoMiotti opts to chase Italian chance
ANOTHER club, another fly-half who sprang a surprise this week. Montpellier’s Argentine Domingo Miotti has decided to switch international allegiances and...
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Top 14
/ 4 days agoAgeless fly-half still calls the shots
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN WHOEVER said that rugby is a young person’s game clearly never met near-ageless Argentine fly-half Benjamin Urdapilleta....
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Latest News
/ 2 weeks agoToulouse are hit by huge fine
TOULOUSE, who beat Montpellier in last weekend’s Top 14 final to clinch their fourth successive league title, have been fined €2.47...
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Columnists
/ 2 weeks agoJeremy Guscott: Test matches are the lifeblood of the game
Jeremy Guscott argues international rugby must remain the sport’s priority, defending the expanded Test schedule and the financial reality behind it.
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Latest News
/ 2 weeks agoWillis is my main man in dream XV
JACK Willis’s player-of-the-match performance for Toulouse in the Top 14 final last weekend at the end of another blockbuster season for...
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Club Rugby
/ 3 weeks agoStephen Varney the vital cog in Exeter Chiefs’ Prem rise
Exeter Chiefs’ rise from bottom but one in the Premiership to the final at Twickenham followed a number of shrewd signings...
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Chris Hewett
/ 3 weeks agoChris Hewett: When ‘record highs’ can be low on quality
Chris Hewett questions whether rugby’s growing number of one-sided finals and record scorelines signal a sport in danger of tipping the...
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Latest News
/ 3 weeks agoGalthie is banking on energy
FRANCE HEAD coach Fabien Galthie is without players from the Top 14 finalists, Toulouse and Montpellier, for the opening match against...
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Latest News
/ 3 weeks agoQuesada missing his big names
ITALY ITALY must do without star men full-back Ange Capuozzo (Toulouse) and hooker Giacomo Nicotera (Stade Français) this summer against Japan,...
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Latest News
/ 3 weeks agoOnce again, France show how it’s done
SEASON after season after season, the Top 14 has been showing the English Prem how to turn the play-off semi-finals into...
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Features
/ 3 weeks agoWill Genia: Henry Pollock’s approach is so good for the game – I love it, he creates excitement
Ben Jaycock speaks to former Australia scrum-half Will Genia ahead of the Nations Championship
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Miscellaneous
/ 3 weeks agoThe new boys who showed the way
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Looking good: Junior Kpoku in Champions Cup action for Toulon against Glasgow PICTURES: Getty Images showed the...
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Club Rugby
/ 4 weeks agoNorthampton Saints crowned champions as George Furbank signs off with Prem glory
George Furbank admitted he felt drained of emotion after enjoying the perfect farewell to his Northampton Saints career by hoisting up...
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Latest News
/ 4 weeks agoFurbank enjoys ‘an incredible finish’
that means so much to you. It’s been a hell of a journey. I owe a lot to a lot of...
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International Rugby
/ 4 weeks agoFrance XV 35-19 England XV: Steve Borthwick’s side still lack that final flourish
England’s second string weren’t lacking for endeavour at the end of a long season when they lost to their French counterparts...
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Features
/ 4 weeks agoPeter Jackson: Paul Gustard pulls Stade Francais out of the red zone
Peter Jackson names the guilty – and not-so-guilty – when it comes to red, orange and yellow cards dished out this...
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Features
/ 4 weeks agoMy Life in Rugby: Karl Dickson – Like most 9s, I had plenty to say to refs
Karl Dickson, the former Bedford Blues and Harlequins scrum-half turned international referee, reflects on his life in rugby.
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Latest News
/ 4 weeks agoKouo key for Les Bleuets
FRANCE FRANCE will be among the favourites to lift the title and continue a remarkable era of success at age-grade level....
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 weeks agoBrendan Gallagher: Exeter Chiefs’ revival an example to us all
Brendan Gallagher examines Exeter Chiefs’ remarkable revival and asks why Test coaches so often insist successful rebuilds must take years.
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Miscellaneous
/ 4 weeks agoSadourny told: Get it right this time
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN CASTRES Olympique have spent much of this week busily confirming the new arrivals for the 2026/27 campaign...
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Miscellaneous
/ 4 weeks agoTop 14 final available to UK audience
A MAJOR late-season bonus for fans of French rugby in the UK – next Saturday’s Top 14 final will be streamed...
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International Rugby
/ 1 month agoScotland boss Gregor Townsend calls up two uncapped hookers for the Nations Championship
Gregor Townsend has called up two uncapped hookers in Scotland’s 36-man squad for the Nations Championship with George Turner and Dave...
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Latest News
/ 1 month agoGloucester sign Samoan prop
GLOUCESTER have signed Samoa tighthead Marco Fepulea’i for next season. The 31-year-old started this season on a short-term deal with Top...
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Features
/ 1 month agoPeter Jackson: Once again, Bordeaux are leaders of the attendance pack
During a season when the Pied Pipers of Bordeaux raised their average crowd towards an all-time high of 35,000, Leinster found...
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Peter Jackson
/ 1 month agoGiorgi boy is setting a high bar for try scoring
GIORGI Melikidze did something in Paris a fortnight ago which barely caused as much as a ripple on this side of...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: Premiership Bonus point system just plain nonsense
I did take one last lingering look at the table this week to lodge it in my shell for recall if...
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Top 14
/ 1 month agoGalthie’s handed selection present
FABIEN Galthie is expected to unveil an initial list of 28 players on Monday, after this weekend’s ‘barrage round’ play-off matches...
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Club Rugby
/ 1 month agoSale Sharks are looking for some French tips
Alex Sanderson plans for a makeover at Sale Sharks over the summer will take him to French champions Toulouse.
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Features
/ 2 months agoPaul Rees: Ireland’s big boys must stand up after European heartache
Paul Rees says last weekend’s ‘European’ finals proved a chastening experience for Leinster and Ulster.
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Chris Hewett
/ 2 months agoChris Hewett: A fine French feast that could feed us all
Chris Hewett examines why French club rugby is becoming the game’s biggest attraction, and asks whether more supporters are turning to...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Success in Europe not all about the money
The European finals in sweltering Bilbao proved to be a humbling weekend for Irish sides with both Ulster and Leinster taking...
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Columnists
/ 2 months agoJames Harrington: France boss Fabien Galthié looks close to giving Shaun Edwards le chop
Fabien Galthié is on the brink of making a major change to his coaching set-up ahead of their Nations Championship challenge,...
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Latest News
/ 2 months agoNew Rugby Paper Roundup: Why are France dominating Europe? Top 14 boom + Rugby overtaking football
Assistant Editor Ben Jaycock is joined by Robert Graham from the Rosbifs Rugby podcast to break down the extraordinary rise of...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 months agoMagnifique! It’s a Bordeaux-Begles Champions Cup double
Bordeaux-Begles secured back-to-back Champions Cup titles with a 41-19 demolition of Leinster in Bilbao.
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Letters
/ 2 months agoBristol’s try bonus point ‘a nonsense’
BRENDAN Gallagher, in his report of the Saints v Bears game, rightly remarked on the nonsense of Bristol earning a bonus...
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Challenge Cup
/ 2 months agoMontpellier 59-26 Ulster: Billy Vunipola is enjoying his days in the sun
Billy Vunipola starred as Montpellier ended Ulster’s hopes of a first trophy in 20 years with a ruthless triumph in Bilbao...
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Latest News
/ 2 months agoCardiff give us reason to cheer
IT is asking a lot, admittedly, but we should at least try to find a way of rising above the negatives...
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Top 14
/ 2 months agoEdwards will need to boost defence
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Under pressure: France defence coach Shaun Edwards and, inset, Geoffrey Doumayrou, top, and Aurelien Cologni PICTURES: Alamy,...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 months agoCaelan Doris leads Leinster with Lions stars at his disposal for Champions Cup final
The ever-reliable Leinster and Ireland back row Caelan Doris will captain his side in Bilbao as they chase a long-awaited fifth...
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Latest News
/ 2 months agoRitchie moving on
FORMER Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie will not play again for Perpignan after the struggling Top 14 club confirmed the flanker has...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 months agoHenry Arundell is ready to go again after near miss with Bath
Henry Arundell against Louis Bielle-Biarrey was one of the match-ups to savour when Bath met Bordeaux-Begles in the Champions Cup semi-final...
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Club Rugby
/ 2 months agoNorthampton Saints 94-33 Bristol Bears: Sizzling Saints make it hell for tame Bears
Northampton Saints predictably bounced back from their no-show against bitter rivals Leicester Tigers last week... but nobody could have envisaged this...
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Columnists
/ 2 months agoTop 14 roundup: Louis at double as Bordeaux hit back
With two rounds of the Top 14 still to play, the play-off situation is becoming increasingly clear
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Top 14
/ 2 months agoBordeaux need to seal deal for Louis
JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN TO describe Louis Bielle-Biarrey as hot rugby property is an understatement so criminal it would go straight...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 months agoBordeaux Begles vs Bath: We have the belief to do the job – Beno Obano
Beno Obano believes Bath can upset the odds today and knock the champions out of Europe.
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Challenge Cup
/ 2 months agoMontpellier vs Dragons: Filo Tiatia’s side will need to be at their best to take down French giants
Dragons are daring to dream of a first European final in over a decade as they head to France to face...
Autumn Internationals
Guy Pepper: Argentina fans have football-crowd mentality but England can ‘shut them up’
International Rugby
School of Hard Knocks youngsters enjoy unforgettable Barbarians experience
Autumn Internationals
Jamie George: Owen Farrell’s helping England flyer Noah Caluori get it right
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