Brendan Gallagher

This is where you will find all of The Rugby Paper’s Brendan Gallagher news, views, opinion and other content.

Brendan Gallagher’s ten to watch in 2017

5 January 2017 0 comments

Ardie Savea, above: Outrageously gifted All Blacks flanker and younger brother of Julian. Combines at bit of Michael Jones and Jerry Collins. Put all that together […]

Brendan Gallagher: Fasten your seatbelts for a rip-roaring 2017

4 January 2017 0 comments

The great thing about the New Year, for the rugbyhead anyway, is that everything seems to accelerate after January 1. The film speeds up, time […]

Brendan Gallagher: Germans are defying odds to climb up the rankings

22 December 2016 0 comments

So suddenly Germany are ranked 23rd in the world, hard on the heels of recent World Cup qualifiers Namibia and Uruguay and born-again hopefuls Spain, […]

Brendan Gallagher: Lamentable affair which left the Lions in doldrums

15 December 2016 0 comments

From the outside looking in, the 1966 Lions visit to New Zealand seems like a calamitous affair. A first ever Test series whitewash for any […]

Brendan Gallagher: Yes, I have to admit it, England do have momentum right now

7 December 2016 0 comments

For many years I hated the word momentum, used in a rugby context, and tied myself in knots avoiding it – but just occasionally nothing […]

Brendan Gallagher: England roll on but battle-weary Pumas need rest

30 November 2016 0 comments

A gritty, invaluable win by 14-man England against a Pumas side who finish 2016 punch drunk and dispirited after a year spent mainly catnapping at […]

Hall of Fame or a random collection of great names?

24 November 2016 0 comments

by BRENDAN GALLAGHER Like any sporting Hall of Fame – and I’m aware of at least 50 worldwide from ballooning to rodeo and bowling to wrestling […]

Fish and chips? At times this England performance was a banquet of brilliance

23 November 2016 0 comments

Eddie Jones called for fish and chips rugby to beat Fiji – by which I take it he meant basic wholesome no nonsense fare – […]

Have Ireland found template for Lions to beat All Blacks?

18 November 2016 0 comments

Suddenly the biggest match in Irish Rugby history is upon us – well so it seems. New Zealand at home just two weeks after their […]

Brendan Gallagher: Launchbury gives England a world-class look at lock

16 November 2016 0 comments

The record books will point to a very significant historic win – England‘s first over the Boks for ten years – but in truth this […]

Brendan Gallagher: Are China ready to rush through the open door?

4 November 2016 0 comments

Will Rugby ever crack China or indeed vice versa? I ask that question again in light of the rather startling announcement in midweek of a […]

Brendan Gallagher on a 30-day 46-test global spectacular

3 November 2016 0 comments

There was a time when rugby fans looked forward eagerly to THE annual November international, the big match between the touring giants from the Southern […]

Brendan Gallagher: Look away now unless you can think back to England beating South Africa…

28 October 2016 0 comments

England have been playing international rugby for 145 years and there have been a few bad trots over the decades against various opponents, but nothing […]

Brendan Gallagher – Who would earn place in Steve Hansen’s Invincibles?

21 October 2016 0 comments

If New Zealand beat Australia in Auckland on Saturday – and they haven’t lost at Eden Park against anybody for 22 years for heaven’s sake […]

Strong-man Scott Sio wants smooth finish to patchy Australia season

30 September 2016 0 comments

Last Autumn Australia‘s powerful prop Scott Sio made no fewer than four Test appearances in a month at Twickenham and as he says himself there […]

Brendan Gallagher takes a look at the 1930 tour to New Zealand

16 September 2016 0 comments

In many ways the 1930 Lions tour epitomised everything we have grown to love, and occasionally curse, about the trips down under to New Zealand. […]

Brendan Gallagher: Beware the All Blacks ‘in transition’

18 August 2016 0 comments

It seems barely five minutes ago that the Rugby Championship was first mooted and then established and now here we are contemplating the start of […]

Brendan Gallagher remembers the 1908 Lions who halted the rise of Rugby League

11 August 2016 0 comments

The 1908 ‘Lions‘ tour of New Zealand was, at first glance, a miserable failure with humiliating drubbings in two of the three Tests, but strangely […]

Introducing the reigning Olympic rugby champions

4 August 2016 0 comments

15. Charles Doe (Stanford University): Basketball was his first love but he quickly took to rugby. Vice-captain in Paris in 1924 and a gold medallist […]

Brendan Gallagher catches up with Italy boss Conor O’Shea

4 August 2016 0 comments

Conor O’Shea has been moving house this week and barring ferry delays, French customs getting moody and removal vans getting lost en route to Italy, […]

Brendan Gallagher: Built on sand, but Fiji’s Olympics bid will be rock solid

28 July 2016 0 comments

When it comes to stand-out Olympic performances, David Hemery’s 400m hurdles gold for Great Britain in 1968 is right up there and Ben Ryan’s Fiji […]

Brendan Gallagher: The All Black tour that left Olympics in chaos

28 July 2016 0 comments

It’s 40 years pretty much to the day that a rugby tour wreaked havoc with the 1976 Montreal Olympics, a financially precarious Olympiad that could […]

Brendan Gallagher looks back at Harlequins’ 150th history

8 July 2016 0 comments

What’s in a shirt? Harlequins launched their special 150th anniversary 1st XV shirt last week and the famous quartered colours remain to the fore – […]

Brendan Gallagher remembers the Battle of the Somme

1 July 2016 0 comments

Today we are commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme which history has generally condemned as the greatest insanity of World War […]

Brendan Gallagher verdict: Thanks to Saracens, Eddie has turned England into natural-born winners

29 June 2016 0 comments

The thing about winning, like any addiction, is that you can’t live without it. You can’t function properly without that regular fix. It becomes your […]

Brendan Gallagher verdict: Eddie’s made England box-office again

22 June 2016 0 comments

There was a moment early in the game yesterday – the 12th minute to be precise – when you knew for sure that England were […]

Brendan Gallagher column: For first Lions, cash not glory was top of bill

17 June 2016 0 comments

Whisper it quietly but the first Lions tour to New Zealand in 1888, which took in Australia as well, was all about money and the […]

Brendan Gallagher verdict: England claim redemption

15 June 2016 0 comments

Never underestimate the power of redemption and the urgent bloody-minded need to prove yourself right and the other buggar wrong. It’s the strongest motivator in […]

Brendan Gallagher on Italy and Scotland’s summer scrutiny

10 June 2016 0 comments

Most eyes will inevitably be looking south this summer with England, Wales and Ireland going head to head with the Southern Hemisphere giants in a […]

Brendan Gallagher looks back at the career of Imanol Harinordoquy

10 June 2016 0 comments

So it’s farewell to Imanol Harinordoquy who will be an ex-rugby player by the end of the month, perhaps sooner. His name still manages to […]

Brendan Gallagher looks at how Wales have never yet come to terms with touring in New Zealand

3 June 2016 0 comments

Wales don’t travel to New Zealand often and when they do it’s usually calamitous but history will show that their first ever tour in 1969 […]

Brendan Gallagher column: Alex Goode now epitomises the modern day attacking No.15

1 June 2016 0 comments

The outstanding Alex Goode has always struck me as a slightly unlucky player. First, he is blessed with an all court game which alas sometimes […]

Brendan Gallagher: England’s colourful history of touring Australia

27 May 2016 0 comments

Compared with New Zealand and South Africa, an England trip to Australia is sometimes seen as a ‘softer’ tour but the bare statistics don’t really […]

Brendan Gallagher: Premiership final preview

26 May 2016 0 comments

It’s been a long haul but nobody can question that the two best and most consistent club sides in England will be contesting the Premiership […]

Brendan Gallagher column: Connacht, the ‘poor relations’ of Irish rugby

20 May 2016 0 comments

That which doesn’t break you, makes you. My favourite rugby pictures, and indeed story of the season so far, were the Scott of the Antarctic […]

Brendan Gallagher column: Return to the Exeter Championship title in 2010

19 May 2016 0 comments

The last time Exeter finished second in a regular season and contested the play-offs we witnessed a master class from Rob Baxter – then a […]

Brendan Gallagher column: Raise a glass to the Bramley Road faithful

18 May 2016 0 comments

It’s a long way from Bramley Road Southgate to the Grande Stadium Lyon and that journey has taken the best part of two decades but […]

Brendan Gallagher laments the passing of rugby’s great occasion – the Middlesex Sevens

5 May 2016 0 comments

For decades the last weekend of April/first weekend of May always meant the Middlesex Sevens and although time moves on I’m not quite sure rugby […]

Brendan Gallagher: How Richmond aim to be most ‘professional’ of amateurs …

28 April 2016 0 comments

It’s six weeks ago now, after a regular Tuesday night training session, that Richmond director of rugby Steve Hill and club chairman Peter Moore called […]

Brendan Gallagher talks to Colin Deans 30 years on from his big Lions let-down

15 April 2016 0 comments

Thirty years ago this week – April 16, 1986 – Colin Deans finally achieved his ambition of starting at hooker in a Lions “Test” and […]

Brendan Gallagher: Good luck Conor O’Shea in saving Italy!

1 April 2016 0 comments

The great Sergio Parisse, and I use the word in its truest sense, was visibly outraged last week when the vultures circled looking to pick […]

Have Calders got answer for England’s twin peaks?

24 March 2016 0 comments

Brendan Gallagher says the Curry brothers may be chasing one international place but that precedent has been set by a pair of famous Scottish forwards. […]

Brendan Gallagher’s Six Nations review

24 March 2016 0 comments

Round One: Parisse’s moment of madness What so soon? My jacket pockets were still stuffed with World Cup ticket stubs and rail tickets but time […]

Brendan Gallagher verdict: I’ve never seen a more brilliant 21-year-old than Maro Itoje

16 March 2016 0 comments

Maro Itoje is only 21 and on Saturday was just his second start in a senior England shirt but I’m struggling to think of a […]

Brendan Gallagher feature: Georgia have success at Japan 2019 on their mind

11 March 2016 0 comments

Georgia might have been mobbed at Tbilisi airport at some ungodly hour on their return from RWC2015 and, yes, a week of celebrations and partying […]

Brendan Gallagher feature: No matter what your nationality, you can’t beat a good singsong

4 March 2016 0 comments

We are slap bang in the middle of the rugby anthems season – official and unofficial – but where do they come from, why do […]

Brendan Gallagher comment: That tackle by Jack Nowell embodies new spirit

2 March 2016 0 comments

Eddie Jones threw plenty of verbal punches before yesterday’s game and, for the record, I thought bringing Jonny Sexton’s parents into the war of words […]