Nick Cain

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

What has gone wrong with the once-mighty Leicester Tigers?

13 May 2020 0 comments

The Premiership’s most successful team are still well supported, but their DNA has changed

Cain column: Bill’s right, Six Nations owe Sanzaar nothing

12 May 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain slams the revolutionary-styled bid of Agustin Pichot, geared towards a Sanzaar bias borne out of envy

Lions tour contenders RANKED – Courtney Lawes can win showdown with du Toit

8 May 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain explains why Lawes fits what Warren Gatland needs from his No.6

Jonny Hill: I’m my worst critic, when I watch myself on TV I cringe

8 May 2020 0 comments

With a Premiership title and Champions Cup knockout stage to fight for, Exeter lock Hill is full of optimism

Cain column: Steve Hansen still sucking sour grapes over Lions

6 May 2020 0 comments

Reversal of penalty against Ken Owens in the third Test still rankles with the Kiwis three years on

Ten of Premiership Rugby’s 13 member clubs consider breakaway

5 May 2020 0 comments

BT Sport’s deal with PRL is up next year and has hastened talk of a breakaway to allow club’s outright control of negotiations

Lions tour contenders RANKED – Itoje can compete with Bok giants

1 May 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain ranks the locks who can form a formidable second row to unsettle the Boks in 2021

Picking a greatest England team from the four World Cup squads to have reached finals

1 May 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain selects a composite XV mined from the four England teams to have reached a Rugby World Cup final

Cain column: Our Golden Goose is an endangered species

29 April 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain says rugby can come through its most precarious challenge if it becomes more transparent

Special report: Question time at Twickenham

28 April 2020 0 comments

The RFU has been accused of showing ‘disrespect’ towards Championship Clubs by a former chair of the management board

Analysis: So, how do you fix this mess called the scrum?

27 April 2020 0 comments

TRP’s mailbag is teeming with letters regarding the scrum every week. Nick Cain examines what’s wrong and how it can be fixed

Lions tour contenders RANKED – test of strength at tighthead could sway series

24 April 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain looks at the depth available to Warren Gatland at tighthead for the Lions

Cain column: The hustings buzz with the promises of Agustin Pichot

22 April 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain says the campaign to become World Rugby chairman is verging on ageism

Lions Tour contenders RANKED – Jamie George faces challenge from bolters

17 April 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain ranks the five hookers leading the way to start for the Lions against the Springboks in 2021

Cain column: Thinking cap back on please, Laporte!

15 April 2020 0 comments

Bernard Laporte made some outlandish claim to ditch the Champions Cup without any evidence of its limitations

The briefest argument for why the Championship is invaluable to English rugby

14 April 2020 0 comments

Nottingham chairman Alistair Bow explains how some Premiership clubs still want to keep links with the Championship – but others aren’t so keen

Lions Tour contenders RANKED – England’s No.1 Joe Marler can stymie Malherbe

10 April 2020 0 comments

Ireland prop Cian Healy does not make the list of looseheads…

TRP’s 2019-20 Premiership Team of the Season… so far

10 April 2020 0 comments

Eight Englishmen and seven others from over the border or signed from overseas make up Nick Cain’s XV

Cain column: Earn your wedge, Eddie by enthusing Joe Marler to carry on

7 April 2020 0 comments

Eddie Jones will have to make it a priority to keep Joe Marler around

We must go down, reprieve would cause bitterness – Saracens coach Alex Sanderson

2 April 2020 0 comments

In our extensive interview with Saracens defence coach Alex Sanderson, he tells TRP it’s only right they are relegated

Cain column: These RFU cuts should be permanent

31 March 2020 0 comments

The RFU top brass can help Championship clubs and the grassroots by making their 25 per cent wage cuts permanent

Cain column: This rush to closure just creates even more confusion

24 March 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain writes on how life in the Championship have been sent into more controversy by the RFU

Cain column: Manu Tuilagi ban is a travesty and insult to courage

17 March 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain says rugby risks losing its definition as a contact sport if a red card is what was warranted to Manu Tuilagi

Cain column: Chris Ashton exits Diamond’s salary cap roundabout

13 March 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain looks at the exit of Chris Ashton from Sale and the Simon Orange’s past comments about the salary cap

Italy game would have been ideal for England’s impactful trio to fully showcase talent

12 March 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain explains the difficulties for England in giving more game time to replacements and fringe players

Cain column: It is about time CVC told us what they are up to

4 March 2020 0 comments

As CVC plot a takeover of major competitions in northern hemisphere rugby, Nick Cain writes about how little is known

Cain column: Pro D2 can show the RFU how to run a second tier

26 February 2020 0 comments

Former Bath captain and Worcester DoR, Richard Hill, is currently in charge at Rouen in the second tier of French rugby

Cain column: Championship should go down legal route in this bloody battle

18 February 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain questions whether Bill Sweeney is doing the bidding of the Premiership’s shareholders

Cain column: Enigma of Eddie Jones is a problem for England

11 February 2020 0 comments

Is this England team veering from one extreme to the other after the World Cup defeat?

Gatland sets pace

9 February 2020 0 comments

EARLY days, but Warren Gatland is beginning to put pressure on his old Waikato teammate Ian Foster. The new All Black coach has not fired […]

Hernan’s try double keeps Slam defence on course

9 February 2020 0 comments

By SAM JACKSON Deuce: Mark Hernan MARK Hernan crossed twice as Ireland kept their hopes of securing back-toback U20s Grand Slams on track with a […]

Doherty’s late dash seals comeback win

9 February 2020 2 comments

By GARY FITZGERALD Clinical: Connor Doherty scores the winning try for England PICTURE: Getty Images ALAN Dickens praised his team’s character and composure after England […]

French rally to victory after trailing for 70 minutes

9 February 2020 0 comments

France U20 ………31 Italy U20 ………19 FRANCE recovered from a slow start to secure a bonuspoint victory over Italy. Les Bleus came into the game […]

Le Bleues rebound in style

9 February 2020 0 comments

France Women…45 Italy Women ……10 CYRIELLE Banet scored two tries as France bounced back from Sunday’s opening defeat to England with a bonus-point success over […]

Fleetwood braced for Scots backlash

9 February 2020 0 comments

By ADAM ELLIS PREVIEW… Scotland Women v England Women Today. Kick-off 12.10pm, Scotstoun Stadium Versatile: England flanker Vicky Fleetwood RED ROSES flanker Vicky Fleetwood is […]

Wales in confident mood despite loss

9 February 2020 1 comment

PREVIEW… Ireland Women v Wales Women Today. Kick-off 1pm, Energia Park, Donnybrook FLANKERS Manon Johnes and Alisha Butchers will make their first Test starts of […]

Enigma of Eddie is a problem for England

9 February 2020 0 comments

READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK ENGLAND have become an enigma under Eddie Jones, and the signs are that the outcome at Murrayfield will not […]

TV deals may stall Boks arrival in 6 Nations

9 February 2020 0 comments

REPORTS that South Africa are planning to join the Six Nations are nothing new, not least because the size of the broadcast revenue from a […]

Cain column: Pressure can turn even the best refs into homers

5 February 2020 0 comments

EDDIE Jones has a habit of stirring the pot, and he did it in the build-up to England‘s Six Nations opener against France in Paris, […]

The two serious flaws in Eddie Jones’ masterplan to make England the best in the world

30 January 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain points out the two areas clearly holding back Eddie Jones from his endgame

Cain column: PRL lynch mob make Saracens climb scaffold

29 January 2020 0 comments

Level playing field? The Premiership is about as level as the north face of the Eiger, writes Nick Cain

Cain column: Vindictive owners get their pound of flesh off Saracens

22 January 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain believes the punishment served to Saracens bears no relation to their crimes

Cain column: The Fabien Galthie guillotine could chop up rivals

14 January 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain dissects the youth movement France head coach Fabien Galthie is has endorsed for the Six Nations

Northampton’s restoration under Chris Boyd owes much to freedom of youth

10 January 2020 0 comments

The Northampton Saints director of rugby hasn’t been afraid to offer opportunity to the club’s brighest academy prospects

Cain column: Wray leaving could see salary cap storm linger

9 January 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain shares his views on what the retirement of Nigel Wray as chairman means for Saracens

A wishlist for rugby in 2020: Nick Cain’s wants an England Grand Slam

2 January 2020 0 comments

Nick Cain reveals his wishlist for England and the sport of rugby in general this year

My wish for 2020: A Grand Slam and a star scrum-half

29 December 2019 0 comments

THE Rugby World Cup saw South Africa and host nation Japan emerge as the big winners in 2019. South Africa’s third coronation as world champions […]

Salary cap? This is about forward scrap says Dennis

29 December 2019 0 comments

By NEALE HARVEY SKIPPER Dave Dennis insists Exeter are more concerned about the physicality Saracens will bring than salary cap breaches as two giants of […]

Wigglesworth: Saracens spirit has been immense

29 December 2019 0 comments

Experienced head: Richard Wigglesworth SARACENS scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth says Exeter will provide the acid test of his side’s ability to overturn their huge points deficit. […]