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

Rugby Matters: Make Pacific Islands rugby’s West Indies

17 October 2019 0 comments

The West Indies cricket team can be selected from 15 Caribbean island nations. Brendan Gallagher asks if the same can be applied to rugby and the Pacific Islands

Bristol ready for bidding war to make England ace a Bear

16 October 2019 0 comments

Pat Lam wants to bring fly-half George Ford back to the south-west

Jackson column: Kamikaze man ‘Shiggy’ has made real impact

16 October 2019 0 comments

Peter Jackson charts role of Shigeru Konno as one of the forefathers of Japanese rugby

Hagibis was a shock but Eddie did warn us says Jamie George

15 October 2019 0 comments

England hooker Jamie George on the team’s move north away from Tokyo to avoid the effects of Typhoon Hagibis

Young Guns: Exeter Chiefs centre Barrie Karea

15 October 2019 0 comments

Karea spent the summer training with the Exeter Chiefs first team

Guscott column: Semi Radradra has been my player of the tournament

15 October 2019 0 comments

Jeremy Guscott was impressed by Fiji’s performance, albeit ending in defeat, against Wales

Williams column: Cancelled game will help Welsh chances

13 October 2019 0 comments

WALES are battered and bruised, but they are also battle-hardened for the World Cup‘s quarter-finals and that is where you want to be instead of […]

Probyn column: Crooked feed call has cost Scotland

13 October 2019 0 comments

Jeff Probyn examines Gregor Townsend’s comments made about Japan’s win against Samoa, a result aided by a call by referee Jaco Peyper

Probyn column: The truth about why Mendez punched Paul Ackford

10 October 2019 0 comments

The first shock result of the World Cup fittingly provided by the hosts, Japan, against Ireland will certainly have focused the minds of all the Tier […]

Exeter Chiefs keeping an eye on Welsh scrum-half Rhys Webb

10 October 2019 0 comments

Current first-choice scrum-half Nic White will leave Sandy Park at the end of the season and here’s why Webb could leave Toulon

World Rugby cancels England’s clash with France as ‘violent’ Typhoon Hagibis stays on course

10 October 2019 0 comments

Tournament organisers cancel two matches with concerns now being raised about Scotland’s crunch match against Japan

Jackson column: England v Wales in World Cup final, says John Gallagher

9 October 2019 0 comments

As the first Englishman to win the World Cup and the only one to retire unbeaten, John Gallagher made the most implausible of journeys – […]

Cain column: There’s no pleasure in Domes full of sweat

9 October 2019 0 comments

Nick Cain explores the sweltering conditions of Japan made more energy-sapping by the closure of the roof at stadiums such as Oita

Williams column: Hope has turned into belief after win over Aussies

8 October 2019 0 comments

How Wales’ win over the Wallabies changed their outlook for the rest of the World Cup

Problems will exist in the Pacific until we get a professional team, says Fiji coach McKee

8 October 2019 0 comments

John McKee reflects on the issues facing Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, with all three nations set to exit the World Cup in the pool stage

Young Guns: Leicester Tigers tighthead prop Osman Dimen

4 October 2019 0 comments

Dimen talks about his time at Loughborough Students last season in National One and his future at Welford Road

My Life in Rugby – Hugo Southwell: Former Scotland, Edinburgh, Stade Francais and Wasps full-back

3 October 2019 0 comments

Southwell recalls the World Cup heartache of 2007 when the Scots were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Argentina

Jackson column: Class act as Manuel Diana remembers the fallen

3 October 2019 0 comments

Uruguay back row Manuel Diana paid tribute to the people of Kamaishi as a player who heralds from a club devastated in its own past

Cain column: Bravo Japan… now give us World Cup for Tier 2

2 October 2019 0 comments

Nick Cain outlines why a World Cup exclusive to Tier 2 nations is needed in the wake of Japan’s shock win over Ireland

Probyn column: Aggressive scrums are a recipe for more injuries

2 October 2019 0 comments

Jeff Probyn airs his view on how the scrum is functioning under the current laws

Guscott column: Ford-Farrell combination is dependent on Manu’s defence

1 October 2019 0 comments

Jeremy Guscott talks England’s plans for their back-line with games against tougher opposition beckoning

Exeter Chiefs hunt for successor to veteran Gareth Steenson

1 October 2019 0 comments

Rob Baxter is leading the race for a highly-rated fly-half at a Premiership rival

Williams column: This Wales side have got Michael Cheika worried

29 September 2019 0 comments

Shane Williams previews the big clash in Pool A between Wales and Australia

Gallagher column: Tonga and Samoa should have a base in Auckland

26 September 2019 0 comments

Brendan Gallagher’s focusses on the lineage of Tonga, Samoa and Fiji’s squads, most of whom are based in New Zealand and Australia

Leicester Tigers send head of recruitment shopping for players in Australia

25 September 2019 0 comments

Tigers already have an eye on the 2020-21 season and are targeting some Wallabies

Cain column: Japan gets its sense of proportion just right

25 September 2019 0 comments

Nick Cain looks at how Japan is embracing its role as host nation of the World Cup in its own unique way

Jackson column: Phil Davies is admired as a glutton for punishment

25 September 2019 0 comments

Peter Jackson journeys back to 1987 when Wales and Phil Davies met the All Blacks

New Zealand - Richie Mo'unga and Beauden Barrett

Guscott column: Smart All Blacks kick the Springboks into disarray

24 September 2019 0 comments

Jeremy Guscott pinpoints the kicking game as an area where Steve Hansen outsmarted Rassie Erasmus

Williams column: Expect a reaction from Wales after Rob Howley’s departure

23 September 2019 0 comments

Shane Williams backs Jonathan Davies to provide a big impact for Wales in their World Cup opener with Georgia

Probyn column: Eddie Jones will find Tonga give focus to his men

22 September 2019 0 comments

There is a huge gulf in resource between Tonga and England

Rugby World Cup facts you must know

20 September 2019 0 comments

Rugby World Cup records billions of viewership every time it is held. The upcoming Rugby World Cup is set to be held this year, and […]

Probyn column: World Cup is the ultimate test of mental toughness

20 September 2019 0 comments

Jeff Probyn shares how the 1987 Rugby World Cup still rankles with him to this day

What you need to know about the Rugby World Cup 2019

19 September 2019 0 comments

The Rugby World Cup 2019 is slated to kick off from September 20, and will last till November 2. This is one of the mostly […]

Cain column: Japan needs sumos who can play in the front row

18 September 2019 0 comments

Nick Cain questions whether have kept pace with the bulk and physicality of other Tier 2 nations

Jackson column: French refs see red more often than most

18 September 2019 0 comments

Peter Jackson analyses the tendency of French officials to dig out the red card

Wales coach Rob Howley sent home on the eve of the Rugby World Cup

17 September 2019 0 comments

A huge bombshell for Warren Gatland and the Wales camp to deal with

Williams column: Hadleigh Parkes will know when the time is right to by risky

17 September 2019 0 comments

Shane Williams pinpoints Hadleigh Parkes as the man central to Wales’ backline

Profile – Russia: How the Bear came in from the cold at last

17 September 2019 0 comments

Brendan Gallagher charts Russia’s tortuous path to the World Cup

Japan will go ballistic if Blossoms bloom at Rugby World Cup

17 September 2019 0 comments

Nick Cain sets out the teams who are likely to be in the quarter-finals, and pegs Japan and Fiji to be the ones who could spring a surprise

Room 101: Cornish Pirates hooker Tom Channon

17 September 2019 0 comments

It’s safe to say, the Cornish Pirates hooker hits the nail on the head with these selections for Room 101

Young Guns: Newcastle Falcons scrum-half Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti

13 September 2019 0 comments

Nordli-Kelemeti explains to Neale Harvey how he found rugby after the death of his mother when he was six

Williams column: No sweat, we’re ready for Georgia and Australia

13 September 2019 0 comments

Shane Williams wants to see Wales use their wingers in a different way to be truly devastating

Gallagher column: So troubling to see Devin Toner replaced by a mercenary

13 September 2019 0 comments

South Africa-born lock Jean Kleyn will be playing in the World Cup for Ireland

Fabien Galthie calls time on the fabled French eccentricity

13 September 2019 0 comments

Nick Cain assesses the challenge a new-look France side pose to England in the World Cup pools

Jackson column: Carpet layer Steve Ford finds World Cup is a stitch-up

13 September 2019 0 comments

Peter Jackson tracks down the ‘invisible Welshman’ who claims a record few others hold

Rivals lie in wait for Kyle Sinckler as Harlequins prop enters last year of deal

12 September 2019 0 comments

The England prop is wanted by three other Premiership clubs

Cain column: Theatrics have no place on the great stage in Japan

12 September 2019 0 comments

Expecting histrionics from Yoann Huget at the World Cup?

Guscott column: Quarter-final exit beckons again for out-of-sorts Ireland

12 September 2019 0 comments

Jeremy Guscott envisages the usual outcome Ireland have become accustomed to at World Cups

Chester Williams dazzled in spite of post-Apartheid racial frictions

10 September 2019 0 comments

Brendan Gallagher recalls the life of Springboks wing Chester Williams

Rugby World Cup 2019 – What the Bookies Say on the Eve of Tournament

10 September 2019 0 comments

The bookmakers don’t always get it right when it comes to rugby union. If they did, then the All Blacks would have hoisted the Webb […]

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