Brendan Gallagher

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

Hogg was one of the best in the business

16 July 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points So farewell then Stuart Hogg. Try scorer extraordinaire and creator par excellence; […]

How Habana put the Rainbow Nation back on right course

16 July 2023 0 comments

World Cup Icons: 2007 – Brendan Gallagher looks back at the players who shone on the biggest stage South African Rugby was looking for a […]

England don’t panic but fall at the final hurdle

16 July 2023 0 comments

Rugby World Cup 2007 was a big-time tournament with a big-time feel with massive storylines to match. France were superb hosts even if, yet again, […]

Young stars need more room to grow

9 July 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER A fascinating Junior World Cup has reached the business end of affairs […]

The day Jonny saved his best until the final play of the game

9 July 2023 0 comments

Brendan Gallagher looks back at the players who shone on the biggest stage Johnno or Jonny? Who was the iconic English player of RWC2003? Hard […]

When Johnno’s Dad’s Army had one last hurrah

9 July 2023 0 comments

There are those, and I would be one, who still consider RWC2003 the best run and most enjoyable tournament to date although 2007 ran it […]

Great to see Dupont going for Paris gold

2 July 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS – BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Rather overlooked during a hectic end of season in France which […]

Pride clear to see at London Irish

2 July 2023 0 comments

Well that didn’t take long. No sooner had we mentioned in this column and elsewhere that London Irish were looking to pre-sell 750 collectors’ editions […]

We need more diversity at the top

2 July 2023 0 comments

At the time of writing World Rugby boasts 132 members and affiliate nations and at the forthcoming World Cup nine of the 20 participating teams […]

John Eales, the quiet man who became an inspiring skipper

2 July 2023 0 comments

Brendan Gallagher looks back at the players who shone on the biggest stage, this time focusing on John Eales’ leadership in Australia’s 1999 RWC triumph […]

Lamaison brought the house down

2 July 2023 0 comments

The 1999 World Cup was a curate’s egg of a tournament, combining the crass with the truly historic. This was the one World Cup for […]

Eligibility rules are cause for concern

25 June 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER These newish eligibility regulations are still open to opportunists and if not […]

Hoping a phoenix can rise from the ashes…

25 June 2023 0 comments

The London Irish story has taken a horrible, cruel, turn recently but remains an extraordinary tale worth telling and in the club’s 125th anniversary year […]

Sensational Jonah, the game’s first global star

25 June 2023 0 comments

Brendan Gallagher looks back at the players who shone on the biggest stage, this time he goes back to 1995 and Jonah Lomu’s incredible tournament […]

Mandela inspires rainbow nation

25 June 2023 0 comments

The 1995 World Cup is a multi stranded story we never tire of. Nelson Mandela, elected at South Africa’s first President only a year earlier, […]

Who will be next on the production line?

18 June 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER The Junior World Cup makes a welcome return after a four-year hiatus next week down in South Africa and I for […]

Samoan underdogs and an Australian masterclass stole the show in ’91

18 June 2023 0 comments

The Rugby World Cup really started to hit its stride in 1991, scaling up from the inaugural event in 1987 in terms of spectacle and […]

When Kirk took the All Blacks right to the top of the world

11 June 2023 0 comments

Brendan Gallagher begins a series on the star man at each global gathering Being the first in anything often confers iconic status on those involved. […]

How a boat trip on the Seine swung the vote

11 June 2023 0 comments

The IRB took the momentous decision to stage a first World Cup in March 1985 in strange circumstances. Prior to their annual council meeting in […]

We must find a way to stop vicious spiral

11 June 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Heaven knows The Rugby Paper has been warning of a Domesday scenario […]

When I needed a helping hand…

11 June 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER You could fill a noisy bar with the journalists past and present queuing to buy David Emery a thank you drink. […]

Stunning Munster are the best of the bunch

4 June 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS – A weekly look at the game’s other talking points What with an epic Champions Cup final and a very high-quality conclusion to the […]

Bastareaud deserves his cheering send-off, too

4 June 2023 0 comments

Sergio Parisse’s long farewell has taken centre stage recently but let’s hear it also for Mathieu Bastareaud who also took his farewell at the Stade […]

Farrell shows who’s the master

28 May 2023 0 comments

BRENDAN GALLAGHER It was billed as a titanic head-to-head between Owen Farrell and George Ford but in truth rugby, a game involving 30 players on […]

Ireland mustn’t copy this breakdown flaw

28 May 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER The tumultuous happenings in Dublin last week were on such a large […]

Let’s hope technology passes trial

28 May 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER Be careful for what you wish for! World Rugby are carrying out their promise to trial chip technology in the match […]

Leinster finally pay the price for their cynicism

21 May 2023 0 comments

BRENDAN GALLAGHER Every journo is surely allowed one “told you so” moment in their career and mine arrived last night when Leinster, off the scale […]

Sharks deserve far more recognition

21 May 2023 0 comments

BRENDAN GALLAGHER Rugby has its favourites and we in the media are as guilty as any of promoting them above others but I’ve always been […]

New Zealand schools side in ’93 was the best ever

21 May 2023 0 comments

The greatest national schools team ever? That debate kicked off on Twitter recently and my mind immediately went back 30 years to 1993 and interviewing […]

Refs must demand immediate release

21 May 2023 0 comments

Another game, yet another big “jackal” injury, this time it was the unfortunate Ben Curry as he bent low to turnover Leicester, was violently rolled […]

Fazzball too much for Jekyll and Hyde team

14 May 2023 0 comments

BRENDAN GALLAGHER Saracens might still be searching for their European mojo but domestically they were in regal form Sunday as the dismissed a Northampton side […]

On the clock: Who put the minutes in?

14 May 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER I’m indebted to stats guru Stuart Farmer who has faithfully logged the […]

Leinster turn out at the Aviva more often than Ireland

14 May 2023 0 comments

Much debate, some of it a tad heated, recently about the massive advantages real or perceived that Leinster enjoy over other teams in the United […]

60 years on…The tour with no jet lag

14 May 2023 0 comments

Sixty years go this week England embarked on their first ever overseas tour and it remains a splendid exercise in both madness and false optimism. […]

How about a sharp shot of summer fun?

7 May 2023 0 comments

So there we go, it’s May 7 and seven of the 11 Premiership teams have no competitive rugby now until the Premiership Cup starts in […]

Let’s hope this new-look Cup has meaning

30 April 2023 0 comments

So the Premiership Cup is to remuster in yet another guise this autumn as a joint competition with the Championship sides which I would greet […]

Tall poppy syndrome or a case to answer?

16 April 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER For all sorts of reasons, all conquering Leinster seemed to be getting […]

There’s no place for jackals and crocodiles in rugby jungle

9 April 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER I don’t watch enough David Attenborough – frankly his droning voice is my go-to remedy for insomnia – to know if […]

It’s not British Bulldogs … needs of the defender matter as well

9 April 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS – BRENDAN GALLAGHER As the subject de jour seems to be rugby absurdities let me highlight an instructive moment which popped up in […]

Ireland’s passion play in classic confrontation

12 February 2023 0 comments

BRENDAN GALLAGHER Touts were reportedly asking €1,000 for a ticket outside the Aviva yesterday morning ahead of kick off and frankly, by the end of […]

Italy benefit from the brotherhood

12 February 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER I have a half-baked theory that the comparative health and success of […]

Gone too soon, a young man destined to be England’s No 1

12 February 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS Can it really be 20 years since young Harlequins and England scrum-half Nick Duncombe passed away – Friday, February 14, 2003 – suddenly […]

A wonder try, one of the best ever seen in Calcutta Cup history

5 February 2023 0 comments

BRENDAN GALLAGHER And hey presto, Scotland will find themselves ranked five in the world on Monday morning when the World Rugby computer fires up and […]

Georgia the team to beat in Euro fiesta

29 January 2023 2 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER ALL eyes on the Six Nations but the Rugby Europe Championship also […]

It’s time to give credit to the URC

29 January 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS Ok, I think we can all agree that one or two French players have been pacing themselves a little in this most important […]

The golden voice… that glorious try…

22 January 2023 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS WE are fast approaching the 50th anniversary of what many consider the greatest try ever scored and frankly there is little more to […]

Part Roger Moore, part Obolensky…as cool as hell and dripping with X-factor

15 January 2023 0 comments

BRENDAN GALLAGHER I have cursed David Duckham every winter’s day since late in 1971, which is an odd state of affairs as he was/is probably […]

Thrilling finish in ‘73 never to be repeated

8 January 2023 1 comment

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER What with Italy looking more competitive, the 2023 Six Nations could be […]

Dickson wrong to ignore his TMO

8 January 2023 0 comments

For me there are only two reasons for a TMO. First to adjudicate whether a try has been legally scored and second to identify foul […]

Take five: Looking back, and forward

31 December 2022 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER FIVE BEST MEMORIES OF 2022 1: Italy’s Ange Capuozzo cutting an absolutely […]

Brendan Gallagher

Recent Posts

Search