Nick Cain

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

Arrival of novice advisers is cause for grave concern

11 June 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK There could not have been a bigger catalyst for change at Twickenham than Bill Sweeney’s abject announcement […]

Your chance to join the (£55,000) culture club

11 June 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN The RFU’s failure to put in a robust, stringent regulatory framework has led to three Premiership clubs going bust this season, and hundreds […]

Time to call up X-factor reserves

4 June 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Where can Steve Borthwick find the X-factor players to take England back to the top of the […]

Too many young players rejected too soon

4 June 2023 1 comment

Georgia’s U20 victory over England is an example of one country making the most of their resources, while the other is failing to do so, […]

Strewth, mate! Fast Eddie’s cash jackpot

28 May 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Eddie Jones returned to Twickenham this week as an RFU-made millionaire coach. Jones, who was paid over […]

David Emery honoured at rugby awards

28 May 2023 0 comments

David Emery is the reason that The Rugby Paper exists, and since its inception in September 2008 I have had the privilege of working alongside […]

RFU failed to enforce regulatory standards

21 May 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Nothing holds a mirror up to all that is wrong with the elite end of English rugby […]

Parisse and Ollivon sparkle

21 May 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN Toulon’s 43-19 European Challenge Cup victory over Glasgow was notable not just for the style in which the French club seized the title, […]

England need to get it right at scrum time

14 May 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Steve Borthwick’s decisionion to raid Leicester for his latest scrum coach – and England’s third in the […]

Second tier clubs are ready to play tough

14 May 2023 1 comment

The Championship clubs have taken a long time to become a coherent collective voice for change – with promotion and relegation at its core – […]

Eligibility laws that need to be changed

7 May 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE recent international eligibility law that allows Henry Thomas to be selected by Wales, just because he […]

How a pair of English-born props could foil Red Rose

7 May 2023 0 comments

Tomas Francis, the 71-cap Wales tighthead who has been first choice for Warren Gatland in both his incarnations as Wales coach, shares many characteristics with […]

CVC’s influence may not be in the best interests of clubs

30 April 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Twickenham is the jewel in English rugby’s crown, and there are grave concerns that the mismanagement of […]

‘Incredible’ Lawes, a One-Club-Man

30 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN COURTNEY Lawes confirmed himself as that rarest of breeds in the professional game, a One-Club Man, and one of the greatest there has […]

Stuck with rotten fruits of ring-fenced Prem

23 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK ANOTHER of the RFU’s anonymous review panels reported this week that England were short of the fitness […]

March of the Saints does us no good at all

23 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN The boast that the Premiership is the most competitive league in the world has been trashed. This was demonstrated on Friday night when […]

Retaining the status quo threatens to split game

16 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Club rugby in England is crying out for a new start, based on a sustainable future for […]

Meafou must miss out this time

16 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN Emmanuel Meafou is a one-man army at 6ft 8ins and 22 stone, and with that sort of physical firepower no wonder his adopted […]

A rout which should force Sweeney and O’Shea to go

9 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Those who want to turn rugby union in England into a protectionist franchise sport should reflect long […]

Taking the pizza! RFU is not fit for purpose

9 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN At at time when the Community game in England needs all the help it can get, we are faced with one RFU fiasco […]

Unjustifiable to banish players like Willis

2 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Jack Willis is an inspirational new force for England, but he looks to be on borrowed time. […]

Heartfelt tributes paid to The Judge

2 April 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN Paul Rendall, known as “The Judge”, is one of the game’s great characters and props, and on Thursday the Wasps Legends organised a […]

England need to be fit for purpose

26 March 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK ONE of the crosses that Steve Borthwick’s England team are going to have to bear after another […]

10-minute window to make the correct call

26 March 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN Freddie Steward’s red card being overturned by a Six Nations disciplinary panel was the right outcome because the decision to send him off […]

RFU needs to harness the top coaches

19 March 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Why is it that England’s best coaches are currently inspiring Ireland and France, the nations that are […]

Time for big guns to make amends

19 March 2023 1 comment

The RFU/Premiership/ Championship panel charged with restructuring the English club leagues is in place, and is trying to grip with the thorny issues threatening to […]

Too much fog to see where we are going

12 March 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The English club game has a great opportunity right now for an urgent overhaul, especially as the […]

Crowley deserves the credit for Azzurri surge

12 March 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN It is a travesty that Italy were fighting to avoid retaining the Wooden Spoon against Wales, because this Azzurri side has galvanised the […]

Borthwick’s news at 10 still signals confusion

5 March 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK If there was a fly-half in England contention who needed Premiership game-time last weekend it was George […]

France will provide true test for scrum

5 March 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN England’s attempted scrum fix resulted in small steps of improvement against Wales. Kyle Sinckler, who had a good game in the loose, was […]

Borthwick right to ask for eligibility changes

26 February 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Steve Borthwick has had the guts, and the gumption, to state that the RFU’s ban on selecting […]

French will want all angles covered

26 February 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN The French will be twitchy about any repeat against Scotland in Paris today of the defective TMO process which awarded the James Lowe […]

Ealing poised to break up cartel

19 February 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK ARE Ealing Trailfinders finally about to break the grip of an RFU-backed Premiership cartel which has now […]

Wasps likely to be caught in a tangled web

19 February 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN The Atlas Group’s purchase of Worcester Warriors from administrators Begbies Traynor, which includes the Sixways stadium, the site, and the name, is a […]

Urgent problems that RFU needs to address

12 February 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK England go into the second round of this Six Nations as the only team that Italy have […]

Borthwick right to give Farrell chance at 10

12 February 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN Steve Borthwick is paid to make tough calls, and credit to him for grasping the Marcus Smith-Owen Farrell nettle and bringing a halt […]

With this record, it’s time Sweeney headed to the exit

5 February 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Bill Sweeney will be looking over his shoulder as the Six Nations gets underway, and with good […]

Forgive me, but I don’t think I can take anymore

5 February 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN Common sense would have told the Welsh Rugby Union that banning a song like “Delilah” is doomed. It can ban its performance at […]

‘New’ England need to take their chances

29 January 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK A SIX Nations slip-up on home turf to Scotland in his first match as England head coach […]

Time this autocratic RFU is held to account

29 January 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN The warning signs that the RFU’s administrative standards have plumbed the depths became a red flashing light on Friday when senior administrators were […]

RFU has no right to deliver this low blow

22 January 2023 2 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The RFU has just introduced one of the biggest changes to the game in its 152-year history, […]

Borthwick putting faith in his old dogs

22 January 2023 0 comments

The message coming loud and clear from Steve Borthwick’s first England squad selection is that he and his coaching crew believe they can teach Eddie […]

RFU helps Farrell stay in England contention

15 January 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK England were facing a fly-half fiasco this week when Owen Farrell went in front of the RFU […]

It’s time Max made his return to No.10

15 January 2023 0 comments

The disciplinary convolutions surrounding Owen Farrell’s early return to match action against Scotland shines a spotlight on England’s chronic shortage of flyhalf stocks. Among the […]

England need scrum firing on all cylinders

8 January 2023 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Here is a New Year prediction. The scrum will be hugely influential in the 2023 World Cup […]

Time to ban the curse of the caterpillar

8 January 2023 1 comment

NICK CAIN The stop-watches are in play with a view to speeding-up the game by putting time limits on goal-kickers, setting scrums, forming lineouts, and […]

Time to use technology to help out referees

31 December 2022 2 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The noxious abuse of referees is one of the most urgent issues confronting rugby union, and World […]

Christmas gift which shows soft mentality

31 December 2022 1 comment

NICK CAIN In a league with a genuine competitive edge teams do not throw away points in the way that Harlequins did against Bristol in […]

Selection maze the big test for Borthwick

23 December 2022 2 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK STEVE Borthwick’s brave new world, launched on Monday when he was confirmed as England’s head coach, faces […]

Jones had no right to take England to finals

18 December 2022 0 comments

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK It is predictable hearing England players who were virtually given selection sinecures by Eddie Jones singing his […]

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