Columnists

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

Nick Cain: Joubert shows refs can’t rule the scrum

28 August 2013 5 comments

Brett Gosper came up with some marketing waffle this week which illustrates how the International Rugby Board have earned a reputation for consistently stuffing-up the […]

Brendan Gallagher: Pomposity overload? Cure it with my minnows

23 August 2013 0 comments

It might surprise you to learn that 131 of the scheduled 184 qualifying games for Rugby World Cup 2015 have already taken place since the […]

Jeff Probyn: Maybe the IRB have got the scrum right at last

23 August 2013 1 comment

Crouch, Touch, Set and off we go as the latest incarnation of the scrum engagement is rolled out across the game. From the original, simple […]

Brendan Gallagher on the new England speedster who is giving his club top priority

22 August 2013 2 comments

Marland Yarde just missed the world renowned St Lucia Jazz festival this year – he was otherwise engaged making music for England in Argentina – […]

Peter Jackson: No favours for Fiji as All Blacks pick Japan

21 August 2013 1 comment

The All Blacks could have played England or Wales in November and charged their going rate for an out-of-window Test of £1m. In refusing both, […]

Jeremy Guscott: All Blacks show they are team to beat once again

21 August 2013 0 comments

The All Blacks showed with their convincing 47-29 victory over the Wallabies in Sydney last night that they will still be the team to beat […]

Peter Jackson: How Toby almost fell into grasp of England

17 August 2013 2 comments

It won’t do them any good now but England will be kicking themselves for allowing Wales to take Toby Faletau from under their noses. In […]

Jeff Probyn: Now we must research the true risk of dementia

16 August 2013 1 comment

With all the excitement of the announcement of the new elite player squad some rather bad news almost slipped under the radar last week. Brain […]

Brendan Gallagher: The Puma underdogs must show teeth again

16 August 2013 1 comment

And now the hard work and the pain really begins. Making their debut in the Rugby Championship last season was an exhilarating but daunting experience for […]

Brendan Gallagher meets the modest architect of Wasps greatness

15 August 2013 1 comment

Rob Smith never sought the limelight as a player, coach or indeed guru to some of England‘s most promising youngsters, so it was typical that […]

Peter Jackson: Kohn’s time turns out to be tweet and short

9 August 2013 0 comments

A new contender has emerged for the shortest international career on record, one whose claims had been lost amid the substitution whirligig. Wales scrum-half Clive […]

Jeff Probyn: Merv…the O’Driscoll axe lacked respect

9 August 2013 3 comments

I had to laugh when I read the comments posted by ‘Merv’ following my article about Brian O’ Driscoll being left out of the Lions […]

Nick Cain: Sevens title could be fool’s gold in Brazil

8 August 2013 0 comments

The suggestion that Sonny Bill Williams and Benji Marshall, two of Rugby League’s biggest stars, could be chasing Sevens gold for New Zealand at the […]

Jeremy Guscott: Lancaster must take England brake off

7 August 2013 1 comment

Stuart Lancaster has real talent to work with and develop, judging by his EPS selection this week, but the big question is: has he enough […]

Nick Cain gives his expert assessment of England’s latest elite squads

7 August 2013 1 comment

Stuart Lancaster’s EPS selection for the new season reveals that England have just a single option in one of the most influential attacking positions on […]

Jeff Probyn: Axed Pollock pays price for Lions’ lack of Plan B

26 July 2013 1 comment

It may be over and finished but the Lions tour is still reverberating throughout the game – and not in a positive way. The criticism […]

Peter Jackson: World Cup is a fitting finale for Hair Bear

26 July 2013 1 comment

PeOnly one prop has lasted long enough to win four Grand Slams – Jason Leonard over a period spanning the last nine years of the […]

Nick Cain looks ahead to the 2015 World Cup showdown between England, Wales and Australia

25 July 2013 1 comment

We are six months closer to the 2015 World Cup Pool of Pain, and the Lions victory over Australia provides a natural watershed from which […]

Nick Cain: North star needs help to twinkle for Saints

24 July 2013 1 comment

When it comes to buying marquee players for the new season no one in the Premiership has done a better job than Northampton. The acquisition […]

Jeremy Guscott: Time for Lancaster to get ruthless with selection

24 July 2013 2 comments

Stuart Lancaster must know by now that the biggest job he has as England head coach is selection. England are two years away from the […]

Peter Jackson: Wales can cap it all with World Cup victory

19 July 2013 0 comments

By the time they finish their next match, Wales will be in serious contention for another title – The Most Capped Team of all. Apart […]

Jeff Probyn: O’Driscoll deserved to end his career with dignity

19 July 2013 3 comments

Okay, okay I admit it, I said that I thought the Aussies would win that third Test and the series and I was wrong. Before […]

Nick Cain: Gatland defies the abuse to hit jackpot

18 July 2013 2 comments

What the 2013 Lions tour revealed is that for all the power inherent in the concept of the four Home Unions united, unity within the […]

Nick Cain says Lions’ selection errors would have proved costly in New Zealand

18 July 2013 1 comment

Sam Warburton says that he has no truck with the defeatist claptrap which says that the Lions cannot win in New Zealand four years from […]

Jeremy Guscott: Lions success was even greater than ‘97

17 July 2013 2 comments

Big congratulations to everyone concerned with the Lions for a scintilating series and a well-deserved triumph. It should not be underestimated quite what an achievement […]

Nick Cain’s tour overview: Do not underestimate this wonderful triumph

17 July 2013 0 comments

The 2013 Lions roared in Sydney, mauling the Wallabies by a record score, but there are some embittered souls for whom the Lions stand in […]

Nick Cain reflects on the highs and lows of the Lions tour leading up to the pivotal Test

12 July 2013 0 comments

The last round of Wallaby jaw-jaw before the battle for the 2013 Test series came to a climax at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney yesterday […]

Jeff Probyn: High ticket prices will keep kids away from World Cup

12 July 2013 2 comments

Well that’s it for another four years (12 if you’re Australian), the end of another Lions tour with all the angst and controversy, heroes and […]

Nick Cain: O’Driscoll was lucky even to be on tour

11 July 2013 8 comments

The notion held by some media pundits and fans – not all of them Irish – that Brian O’Driscoll is a rugby martyr because he […]

Nick Cain’s tour verdict: Gatland shows he has Midas touch

11 July 2013 0 comments

After the gunsmoke had cleared at the ANZ Stadium, the massed ranks of Lions fans waited to cheer on the 2013 Lions before they exited […]

Jeremy Guscott: Our sixteen years of pain end in 80 minutes

10 July 2013 2 comments

Forward dominance has been fundamental to this series from the off and yesterday the Lions power pack well and truly stuffed the Wallabies to set […]

Peter Jackson: The first time ten Welsh stars won it for the Lions

10 July 2013 1 comment

Lewis Jones was playing cricket in Plymouth one Saturday afternoon long ago when he took the first step towards joining the original Welsh monopoly of […]

Peter Jackson: Don’t be fooled, the Lions are no angels

5 July 2013 3 comments

Every once in a while, the game is brought into more disrepute by the judiciary than by those dragged before them charged with breaking the […]

Nick Cain: Horwill’s escape is latest great stitch-up

4 July 2013 0 comments

The James Horwill incident is the straw that broke the camel’s back. When the Australian captain was exonerated by Kiwi QC James Hampton for a […]

Jeff Probyn: Cuthbert’s knee-drop was as bad as Horwill’s ‘stamp’

4 July 2013 1 comment

The IRB’s decision to call for a re-trial of Australian captain James Horwill re the stamping charge he was cleared of last Sunday is unprecedented […]

Jeremy Guscott: Lions must play Welsh way and look for tries

3 July 2013 0 comments

As much as we Lions supporters didn’t want it to go to the last game we really do have something special in store now and […]

Peter Jackson: Watch out England, Wales find new Cullen

27 June 2013 2 comments

Sean Fitzpatrick caught a glimpse of the slight figure slicing through the muscle-bound Springboks and a famous name sprang to mind: Christian Cullen. The object […]

Jeff Probyn: Now Gatland knows some players aren’t good enough

27 June 2013 1 comment

A disaster, a loss of momentum, overplaying in the conditions and a drop in standards were the words and phrases used to describe the Lions […]

Nick Cain: Lions tour? Aussies couldn’t give S***!

26 June 2013 1 comment

On the eve of the Brumbies game there was a Wallabies v Lions gala dinner held in the great hall of the Australian Parliament in […]

Jeremy Guscott: North and Folau made this a truly great Test

26 June 2013 0 comments

What a match, what an occasion. So many times these events don’t live up to the hype. But the entrance price was worth it just […]

Jeff Probyn: Lions must copy All Blacks hatred of complacency

21 June 2013 0 comments

As the Lions continue their winning ways Down Under putting virtual cricket scores on all they meet, there are still some who are not satisfied. […]

Nick Cain sizes up the task ahead of the Lions in Saturday’s first Test in Brisbane

21 June 2013 0 comments

Mike Phillips versus Will Genia is the one clash which seems to encapsulate better than any the differences between the Lions and Wallabies ahead of […]

James Haskell: Paul O’Connell could take over from captain Sam Warburton

20 June 2013 1 comment

There have been some stand-out performances by the Lions and perhaps more questions raised than answered. It’s disappointing the opposition haven’t fielded full-strength sides although […]

Nick Cain: Remember Finlay Calder and stick with Sam Warburton

20 June 2013 1 comment

Sam Warburton‘s selection as Lions captain was under serious scrutiny before last night’s crushing of the Waratahs, but the Welsh openside has made a habit […]

Peter Jackson: Richard Hibbard, from dog-house to life with the big cats

19 June 2013 0 comments

Richard Hibbard came home from Australia this time last year fearing the worst, that he would never play for Wales again. The management blamed their […]

Jeremy Guscott: Croft gets my vote and there’s no Sam!

19 June 2013 0 comments

Warren Gatland wanted standout performances to cement Test selection and he certainly got some against the Waratahs. A handful of guys have made a big […]

Jeff Probyn: No retaliation? That leaves players open to attack

14 June 2013 1 comment

I apologise if I sound like angry from Tunbridge Wells but am I the only one a little puzzled by all this fuss about the […]

Jeremy Guscott: Our power defence will have worried Wallabies

14 June 2013 0 comments

There’s a reason why this was billed as the fourth Test and the Reds duly obliged in asking questions of Warren Gatland‘s men from the […]

Peter Jackson: Why it may pay to keep faith with Vunipolas

13 June 2013 1 comment

Before she takes morning service at Avenue Methodist Church in High Wycombe today (last Sunday), the Reverend Singa Vunipola will say a private prayer for […]

Nick Cain: The folly of Foley could kill off the Lions tours

13 June 2013 0 comments

Michael Foley played against the 2001 Lions four times. Once at hooker for the Queensland Reds, and three times for the Wallabies, starting two of […]

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