Features

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

Stick or twist? The choice at 10

25 August 2024 0 comments

Paul Rees looks ahead to New Zealand’s heavyweight matches against world champions South Africa The Rugby Championship title could be decided in the next two […]

I worked really hard to maximise my talent

25 August 2024 0 comments

MY LIFEIN RUGBY CHRIS COOK THE FORMER ENGLAND U20, BATH, BRISTOL, NORTHAMPTON AND ZEBRE SCRUM-HALF I CAN look back on my career two ways. One […]

Boulton’s respect for game he loves

25 August 2024 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW COLIN Boulton of Derby County stands astride the Himalayan peaks of Football League champions, the only uncapped […]

Saints are ready to open new chapter

25 August 2024 0 comments

Paul Rees reports on how things are changing at Franklin’s Gardens ahead of the new season Northampton’s early season form gave little sign of what […]

James will prove to be a star at Racing

25 August 2024 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER HERE’S a little prediction that will either leave me with egg on […]

Throwing the ball in straight at the lineout should be a given

25 August 2024 0 comments

IS there anybody out there who can explain to me, preferably in words of two syllables or less, the rationale behind the current law variations […]

Young Guns – Ben Coen

25 August 2024 0 comments

Young Guns – England u20 fly-half Ben Coen, by Ben Jaycock Ben Coen has enjoyed an incredible season that saw him go from a bench […]

The culture of playing through pain has got to stop – it is so outdated

25 August 2024 0 comments

Barney Davies, a 24-year-old who retired from the game with concussion issues, is urging a new approach The stigma around toughness in rugby, particularly the […]

Good value for money’s key in battle for eyeballs

18 August 2024 0 comments

PAUL REES LOOKS AT HOW TV COVERAGE HAS CHANGED OVER THE YEARS AND HOW IT HAS AFFECTED THE SUPPORTERS Top of the tree: Toulouse lift […]

Bath out to go one step further this time around

18 August 2024 0 comments

PAUL REES LOOKS AT HOW JOHANN VAN GRAAN HAS TURNED THE WEST COUNTRY SIDE INTO TITLE CHALLENGERS TWO years after finishing bottom of the Premiership, […]

Playing England 7s was an incredible experience

18 August 2024 0 comments

MY LIFEIN RUGBY MARK BRIGHT THE FORMER ENGLAND SEVENS INTERNATIONAL AND TASMAN, REDRUTH, LONDON SCOTTISH, RICHMOND & EALING TRAILFINDERS BACK ROW, NOW PLAYER COACH AT […]

ARTHUR GREEN

18 August 2024 0 comments

YOUNG GUNS BATH & ENGLAND U20 NO.8 Arthur Green hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps and one day win a full England cap. The […]

Attack is becoming the new defence…

11 August 2024 0 comments

PAUL REES LOOKS AT HOW LAWMAKERS ARE TRYING TO MAKE THE GAME FASTER -AND CREATE MORE SPACE ON THE PITCH Class act: Leicester and South […]

JUNIOR KPOKU

11 August 2024 0 comments

YOUNG GUNS RACING 92 & ENGLAND U20 LOCK Junior Kpoku is learning from some of the biggest stars in rugby at Racing 92 and during […]

Youngsters ready to make their mark

11 August 2024 0 comments

Ben Jaycock talks to England head coach Jonathan Pendlebury ahead of the U18s tour to South Africa ENGLAND U18 SQUAD FORWARDS Diamond Ayiehfor (Leicester, Warwick […]

SHORTEST INTERNATIONAL CAREERS

11 August 2024 0 comments

90 seconds: Alexandre Albouy (France v Italy, Paris 2002) 2 minutes: Chris Pennell (England v New Zealand, Auckland, 2011); Ollie Griffiths (Wales v Tonga, Auckland, […]

Berry’s briefest of brief encounters…

11 August 2024 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW TEN summer Olympiads have come and all but gone since Marty Berry went off on a sprint […]

There’s little for Ulster to cheer

11 August 2024 0 comments

ULSTER can lay justifiable claim to supplying the Lions with a trio of all-time greats: Mike Gibson, Syd Millar and Willie-John McBride. Their native province […]

Sorry end to Bradley’s voyage

11 August 2024 0 comments

BRADLEY Roberts surfacing at the Principality Stadium three years ago renewed his family’s ancestral link to Wales thanks to his maternal grandmother’s birth in Llandysul. […]

Sustainability the name of the game

11 August 2024 0 comments

Paul Rees reports that all Premiership clubs have released more players than they have recruited SEVEN of last year’s England World Cup squad have moved […]

Premiership ins & outs 2024-25

11 August 2024 0 comments

Pepper Bath Ins: Ross Molony (Leinster), Francois van Wyk (Leicester Tigers), Guy Pepper (Newcastle Falcons), Austin Emens (Great Britain Sevens) Outs: Matt Gallagher (Benetton), Steffan […]

The matchday vibe in Bath was awesome

11 August 2024 0 comments

MY LIFEIN RUGBY DOMINIC DAY THE FORMER WALES, SCARLETS, BATH & SARACENS LOCK AND FOUNDER OF FOURFIVE I DIDN’T play rugby until I was 16, […]

How the sun keeps shining for Spain

11 August 2024 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Impressive: Joel Merkler in action for Toulouse PICTURE: Getty Images IT’S been […]

Frenchman Fourcade put Italy on the right track

11 August 2024 0 comments

FRENCH coach Bertrand Fourcade, whose death at the age of 81 was announced this week, rarely gets mentioned for his contribution to Italian rugby these […]

Changing names is never easy to do

11 August 2024 0 comments

SO Twickenham will henceforth be called the Allianz Stadium apparently, at least that’s what the sponsors hope. Now the RFU is not in a position […]

Sharks out to bring pride back to the north

11 August 2024 0 comments

PAUL REES REPORTS ON HOW UNFASHIONABLE SALE AND DOR ALEX SANDERSON ARE AIMING TO TURN THE TIDE SALE’S strong finish to the season was not […]

Sir Gareth Edwards: Antoine Dupont ‘has a buzz about him’

4 August 2024 0 comments

Simon Thomas talks to Sir Gareth Edwards, rated by many as the greatest rugby player of all time, about the brilliance of Antoine Dupont.

Lions must work for pack

4 August 2024 0 comments

A YEAR AHEAD OF THE 2025 LIONS TOUR OF AUSTRALIA, PAUL REES LOOKS AT HOW ANDY FARRELL’S TEAM MIGHT LINE UP THE Lions tour to […]

Call me The Stag – but I was stuck with Bambi

4 August 2024 0 comments

MY LIFEIN RUGBY THE FORMER SCOTLAND SEVENS INTERNATIONAL AND GLASGOW HAWKS/WARRIORS, WATERLOO AND BEDFORD BACK ROWER RORY McKAY IT’S been great watching the Rugby Sevens […]

It was good to see Scotland support for T2

4 August 2024 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Captured: Gus Warr in action against Canada PICTURE: Alamy SCOTLAND, for reasons […]

Increase the teams in Olympic Sevens

4 August 2024 0 comments

SOMETIMES you just have to say well done. To witness six days of raucous sell-outs at the Stade de France for the two Sevens competitions […]

’74 Lions failed to impress the doyen

4 August 2024 0 comments

NO sooner had I finished my trip down memory lane last week with the 1974 Lions than I stumbled across John Reason’s book on the […]

McCall out to build new dynasty at Saracens

4 August 2024 0 comments

PAUL REES LOOKS AT THE CHALLENGES FACING EX-CHAMPIONS AS THEY PREPARE FOR LIFE WITHOUT YOU-KNOW-WHO LAST season marked the end of an era for Saracens. […]

New leaders for old rivalries

4 August 2024 0 comments

The Rugby Championship preview Paul Rees predicts that New Zealand and South Africa will battle for top spot – but it might come down to […]

YOUNG GUNS

4 August 2024 0 comments

CAIOJAMES WALES U18 & GLOUCESTER FLANKER Pocket rocket back row Caio James is unusually short for his position among the piano shifters but the Welsh […]

It’ll be tough – we’ll give it our best shot

4 August 2024 0 comments

Q&A Following promotion to National Two East, Colchester head coach Craig Burrows, below, tells Ben Jaycock his plan for the new challenge On the way […]

Spain’s coming of age

28 July 2024 0 comments

ANALYSIS >> PAUL REES REPORTS ON THE CHALLENGES FACING EMERGING NATIONS TO REACH THE TOP…WHILE PROBLEMS MOUNT IN WALES Triumph: Spain celebrate victory over Tonga […]

I wanted to finish at the highest level possible

28 July 2024 0 comments

MY LIFEIN RUGBY ALEX LEWINGTON THE FORMER SARACENS, LONDON IRISH, LEICESTER AND NOTTINGHAM WINGER IWAS still in Notts County’s football academy when I first took […]

Richardis goes the distance with pearler of a kick

28 July 2024 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Delight: Spain U20 celebrate victory over Fiji PICTURE: World Rugby HISTORY will […]

JPR: It was the worst time to lose my cool

28 July 2024 0 comments

IT’S time to conclude our ‘real time’ look back at the 1974 Lions tour which finished exactly 50 years ago yesterday with a 13-13 draw […]

The Bears blueprint: Go and play without fear

28 July 2024 0 comments

PAUL REES ON HOW BRISTOL HEAD COACH PAT LAM PLANS TO GUIDE THE WEST COUNTRY OUTFIT BACK TO THE TOP Class act: Steven Luatua in […]

Staying up’s going to be a challenge

28 July 2024 0 comments

Q&A Ben Jaycock talks to Devonport Services head coach Ben Russell, below, as they prepare for life in National Two West Happy days: Devonport Services […]

Sacrifices beyond the call

28 July 2024 0 comments

ANOTHER Matt Dawson, an Australian hockey player not to be confused with his namesake from Question of Sport, made a news item the other day. […]

CRAIG WRIGHT

28 July 2024 0 comments

YOUNG GUNS NORTHAMPTON & ENGLAND U20 HOOKER Having concluded his time in the England U20s setup with a World Championship medal, Craig Wright is now […]

DREAMTEAM

21 July 2024 0 comments

Gareth Steenson, the former Exeter Chiefs, Cornish Pirates & Rotherham fly-half, chooses the best XV he has played with or against… 1. Brett Sturgess –Solid […]

No stopping the American battlers

21 July 2024 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points IT’S exactly 100 years ago since France and the USA met in […]

Playing for your country is the biggest honour

21 July 2024 0 comments

MY LIFEIN RUGBY THE FORMER USA HOOKER AND HEAD COACH, WHO PLAYED PROFESSIONALLY FOR HARLEQUINS AND PONTYPRIDD TOM BILLUPS IWAS born and raised in a […]

All Black who was bristling with pride

21 July 2024 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW On the front foot: Norm Hewitt leads the Haka before a match against Llanelli at Stradey Park […]

Wrong that Hill was picked in the first place

21 July 2024 0 comments

GIVEN the dysfunctional state of their national game, perhaps only Wales could find a long-overdue win mired in a sorry controversy entirely of their own […]

Macclesfield ready for the long haul…

21 July 2024 0 comments

Q&A Ben Jaycock talks to new Macclesfield director of rugby Matt Coleridge, bottom, about the challenges his newly promoted side will face after being shifted […]

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