Peter Jackson

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

Peter Jackson: Greatest Lions of all miss their lost mates

20 June 2014 1 comment

At a push, they could pass for a platoon of D-Day veterans rather than the only rugby team to survive three months in the African […]

Peter Jackson: Victor Matfield’s return can help Wales come good

13 June 2014 0 comments

Wales made their first stand in the Southern Hemisphere 50 years ago in the place they used to call the last outpost of the British […]

Peter Jackson: Willie John’s Lions are dwarfed by Toulon titans

6 June 2014 1 comment

When the Lions secured their only series win against New Zealand in 1971, they did so with a pack averaging 15 stone-a-man. Back then long […]

Peter Jackson: Yes, it all goes South when we head South

30 May 2014 0 comments

Every June the home countries fly south of the Equator in a battered state of semi-resignation to what awaits them. Almost as a matter of […]

Peter Jackson: Warren Gatland’s Law takes a mauling from WRU!

23 May 2014 0 comments

Warren Gatland made a strange announcement last Tuesday over the resurrection of the Welsh trial match, buried long ago with other traditional fixtures beneath the […]

Peter Jackson: A couple of England-Wales tickets, sir? That’ll be £630

16 May 2014 0 comments

The last England-Wales match at Twickenham grossed around £5m in ticket money. The next one will top £20m. For the World Cup showdown between the […]

Peter Jackson: I’ll be back, says David Moffett as ceasefire is called

8 May 2014 1 comment

The hierarchy of the Welsh Rugby Union could have been excused for heaving a collective sigh of relief last Wednesday evening. Flight QF8002 had climbed […]

Peter Jackson: So, have the roaring 40s blown Brad Thorn off course?

2 May 2014 1 comment

Brad Thorn was saying only the other day how he planned to be playing ‘top level footy’ at 40, a long-distance landmark beyond the reach […]

Peter Jackson: Big Man’s dynasty is thriving at Tigers

25 April 2014 1 comment

When Frank Whitcombe signed for Broughton Rangers at Belle Vue in Manchester, they gave him £100 and a keeper’s job at the local zoo. Nine […]

Peter Jackson: It’s a worry when even Tredegar ‘hit rocks’

18 April 2014 0 comments

As the birthplace of Aneurin Bevan and cradle of the National Health Service, Tredegar has a history of global renown. The townsfolk at the top […]

Peter Jackson: Village that beat the All Blacks is rotting away

10 April 2014 0 comments

Of all the villages in Britain, only one can lay claim to a dual role in a victory over the All Blacks like no other […]

Peter Jackson: Hanno Dirksen heads the new foreign invasion

28 March 2014 1 comment

France will be free to pick another South African next season and install Rory Kockott as their prospective scrum-half for the World Cup. As from […]

Peter Jackson: Warren Gatland’s Robocops must find new game

20 March 2014 1 comment

Heavy depressions hanging over Wales in between World Cups are not a new phenomenon even if the latest one may take some lifting. Doom and […]

Peter Jackson: Man-for-man Wales hold the edge over England

5 March 2014 0 comments

There was a time when Wales lorded it over England at Twickenham, an affluent corner of London town which they never failed to paint red […]

Peter Jackson: How WRU made the Euro deal possible

27 February 2014 0 comments

As the English clubs and Welsh regions edge towards victory in the war over Europe, their commanders must be tempted to issue a joint communiqué […]

Peter Jackson: James Hook plays the Invisible Man come hail or shine

20 February 2014 1 comment

The Invisible Man of the Six Nations could be seen down by the Mediterranean the other day, literally warming up for his club’s fight to […]

Peter Jackson: Ordeal of Iestyn Harris is a warning to Sam Burgess

13 February 2014 0 comments

The Welsh Rugby Union’s first central contract, as awarded to Iestyn Harris, amounted to £1.6m with half of it paid to Leeds Rhinos in a […]

Peter Jackson’s verdict on Wales: It screamed out for a gamble on James Hook

12 February 2014 0 comments

In the privacy of the team room just before the Six Nations began, Warren Gatland urged Wales to play with ‘a bit of a strut’. […]

Peter Jackson: The ancient battleground welcomes Warren Gatland again

6 February 2014 0 comments

So Warren Gatland has felt it necessary to make a pre-emptive strike aimed at reducing the hostility level towards him in Dublin next Saturday. The […]

Peter Jackson’s verdict on Wales: So close as Wales dodge a Tyson KO

5 February 2014 0 comments

For a few startling minutes towards the end, Wales ran the risk of falling victim to the biggest upset in Six Nations‘ history. Michele Campagnaro’s […]

Peter Jackson: Dr Ron still at the head of Grand Slam pack

31 January 2014 3 comments

It has been said of Dr Ronald Cove-Smith that he never turned up on a Saturday afternoon without his little black surgical bag to ensure […]

Peter Jackson: Rookie 10s can shape outcome of Six Nations

24 January 2014 1 comment

The Six Nations cast for 2014 includes seven fly-halves who have yet to play in the tournament and seven more who cannot be sure of […]

Peter Jackson: Italy arrive in Wales on a wing and a blessing

17 January 2014 0 comments

Italy come to Cardiff for the opening match in the Six Nations next month armed with something different, a Papal blessing. Judged on their biennial […]

Peter Jackson: Let’s spare a thought for Toggie and Tanky

10 January 2014 0 comments

Freddy ‘Tanky’ Turner captained Scotland one hundred years ago, a Liverpudlian by birth who worked in the family printing business and played cricket for Lancashire’s […]

Peter Jackson: Cliff was out of this world, but Barry was untouchable!

3 January 2014 2 comments

New Year gongs will be all the rage all too soon, a good enough excuse to enter the festive spirit and award a few of […]

Peter Jackson: All Blacks chase the dollar in Big Apple

27 December 2013 0 comments

The All Blacks have announced their intention to cash in on the American market with a match in New York next November. Not to be […]

Peter Jackson: Shameful memories for Wales in South Africa

20 December 2013 0 comments

As the top man in the world game, Bernard Lapasset paid due homage to Nelson Mandela on behalf of “the rugby family”. The 66-year-old French […]

Peter Jackson: Top dogs in Europe have bark but no bite

12 December 2013 2 comments

When they opened the roof after the Wallabies had done their level best to bring the house down, Wales were left to stare at the […]

Peter Jackson: Luke Charteris’ uncool hands mean try wait goes on

6 December 2013 0 comments

Luke Charteris threw himself back into the day job in France at the weekend, wondering why there is still no international try to his name […]

Peter Jackson: The joke’s wearing thin for Warren Gatland

4 December 2013 0 comments

This is getting beyond a joke. The more Wales fail to answer needling jibes about their ‘mental barrier’, the more the Australians succeed in tripping […]

Peter Jackson: Wales will count cost of vanishing 70,000 fans

29 November 2013 5 comments

For the second time in six days, Wales went about their business in Cardiff on Friday night in front of more than 25,000 empty seats. […]

Peter Jackson: Departure of Jonathan Davies highlights WRU feud

21 November 2013 1 comment

Jonathan Davies will more than double his money at Clermont this season, a move into the £400,000-a-year bracket befitting a player of his status. While […]

Peter Jackson: Brave rebel Byron Hayward is still blazing his own trail

15 November 2013 1 comment

Of the 1,109 players capped by Wales, only one began by scoring a hat-trick of tries on debut as a second-half substitute. He finished the […]

Peter Jackson: Wales must speak out over shame of Mike Phillips

8 November 2013 3 comments

According to Alain Afflelou, only his presidential intervention prevented Bayonne giving Mike Phillips the order of the boot 12 months ago. Afflelou should know. This time […]

Peter Jackson: Threadbare Wales are on a wing and a prayer

1 November 2013 1 comment

Wales will go into their annual home bash at the Southern Hemisphere down to the bare bones in specialist wings. They have picked just two […]

Peter Jackson: Fifty years on, the kick that rocked the world as Newport beat the All Blacks

25 October 2013 1 comment

Dick Uzzell and his old comrades will be given the freedom of Newport next week in belated recognition of something they did half a century […]

Peter Jackson: Ireland’s new star is made in Wales

18 October 2013 0 comments

At the end of a week when English football got its knickers in a nationality twist, Ireland‘s next scrum-half can be identified as a former […]

Peter Jackson: Regrets? I’ve got a few about Cup admits Ring

10 October 2013 0 comments

Once upon a time long ago, Mark Ring found himself within touching distance of lifting the European Cup in his very own backyard. With the […]

Peter Jackson: Pullin much more than a master of the one-liner

4 October 2013 1 comment

John Pullin has long deserved special mention in the folklore of Anglo-Irish rugby, not so much for what he did on the field but what […]

Peter Jackson: Ignore all that ghostly talk, Phillips is a fixture

27 September 2013 0 comments

At the end of the Lions tour, Mike Phillips used his newspaper column to suggest that he might soon be calling time on Wales. “It’s […]

Peter Jackson: Ah You Irish? Well, that’s complicated, Rodney!

20 September 2013 1 comment

Rodney Ah You arrived in Belfast as a hefty member of the baby All Blacks in 2007 and duly went home with the Junior World […]

Peter Jackson: Ten years on, Coombs is overnight sensation!

13 September 2013 1 comment

When it comes to recurring rejection in pursuit of a professional career, Andrew Coombs deserves to be out on his own at the top of […]

Peter Jackson: Peerless Morgan, a master of all trades

5 September 2013 1 comment

Tony O’Reilly described Cliff Morgan as “the greatest of them all”, an accolade based on the ketchup king’s appreciation of his multi- dimensional Welsh contemporary. […]

Peter Jackson: Groundhog Day, and Gav blinks back into the light

29 August 2013 0 comments

During the course of fox-trotting his way into five clubs over 20 months, Gavin Henson has danced to the same old tune. Every move, every […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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