Room 101

This is where you will find all of The Rugby Paper’s Room 101 news, interviews, reports, opinion and other content.

Room 101: Louis McGowan – Sedgley Park back-row

27 February 2014 0 comments

1. Front five forwards wearing flashy boots I’ve been in the game a fair few years now and I’m a bit of a traditionalist when […]

Room 101: Chris Wyles – Saracens and USA back

20 February 2014 1 comment

1. Trilby Hats Now I’m no Fashionista but there is something about the trilby hat that irks me. This could be down to my well-endowed […]

Room 101: Luke Fielden – England sevens

13 February 2014 0 comments

1. Coin-operated supermarket trollies I never carry cash really so it’s very frustrating for me when I go to the supermarket and find that you […]

Room 101: Tom Biggs – Bath winger

6 February 2014 1 comment

1. Fake Lance Armstrongs I think it’s great that people want to get fit and go out on their bikes, especially on the back of […]

Room 101: Ben Prescott – Cornish Pirates prop

30 January 2014 1 comment

1. Team info sheets At the start of the season Pirates distribute an info sheet with details of all players and coaches addresses, mobile phone […]

Room 101: David Strettle – England & Saracens winger

23 January 2014 1 comment

1. Splash! Has there ever been a more pointless TV programme than the Saturday night light ‘entertainment’ offering Splash? We had it on the TV […]

Room 101: David Rose – Aviva Premiership referee

16 January 2014 1 comment

1. Pundits Whatever the sport I get annoyed when so-called “experts” try to be clever by using slow motion replays to show examples of poor […]

Room 101: Dominic Moon – Preston Grasshoppers No.8

9 January 2014 0 comments

1. Bad taste tattoos I’ve got a three-quarter sleeve tattoo and a dodgy one on my ankle from a holiday in Ibiza, so I’m not […]

Room 101: Brian Smith – London Irish Director of Rugby

2 January 2014 1 comment

1. Rugby Administration Why does a professional game have amateur match officials with no system of reward or a level of transparency and accountability? We’ve […]

Room 101: Kearnan Myall – London Wasps lock

26 December 2013 0 comments

1. Pre-season Army camps Any rugby player that has been on one of these will surely agree with me that pre-season Army camps are a […]

Room 101: Martin Nutt – Henley full-back

19 December 2013 0 comments

1. Winter There is no fun in playing or training in the rain, snow, freezing cold and wind in the slightest – especially if you’re […]

Room 101: John Kingston – Harlequins forwards coach

12 December 2013 0 comments

1. Top team bias in National team selection Whether national team coaches like to admit it or not they are undoubtedly influenced by the media […]

Room 101: Jon Feeley – Wharfedale coach

5 December 2013 0 comments

1. The beautiful game To call football ‘the beautiful game’ is possibly the greatest contradiction in modern culture; it is a game which obscenely rewards […]

Room 101: Danny Wright – Coventry lock

28 November 2013 0 comments

1. Small changing rooms At the Butts Park Arena we are blessed with great changing facilities, but that’s pretty much the exception rather than the […]

Room 101: Adam Blades – Otley prop

21 November 2013 0 comments

1. Skinny Jeans Skinny jeans look ridiculous on blokes of a certain age or build. People who should know better wear them simply as slaves […]

Room 101: Sam Raven – former Leicester, Nottingham, Pirates & Rugby lock

14 November 2013 0 comments

1. Small talk A big pet hate of mine is coming home from work/rugby and being asked by the Mrs about how my day has […]

Room 101: Andy Key – Cambridge University boss

7 November 2013 0 comments

– 1. Pre-match ref chat Why is it necessary for the ref to come in and talk to the front rows about how he is […]

Room 101: Adam Canning – Birmingham & Solihull fly-half

31 October 2013 0 comments

1. Lazy & complacent sports media There are so many people stealing a living in sports media. I can’t stand listening to Talksport and hearing […]

Room 101: Jamie Lennard – Doncaster fly-half

24 October 2013 1 comment

1. Paralysis by analysis It’s fair to say the video analysis suite is not my favourite place; not because I’ve got anything to hide, but […]

Room 101: Andrew Savage – Nottingham full-back

17 October 2013 1 comment

1. Scrumming for penalties Being an outside back I like the game to be an exciting, fast flowing, and high tempo spectacle. This wish is […]

Room 101: Tom Allen – Henley Hawks centre

10 October 2013 0 comments

1. Salary discrepancy with football Wouldn’t it be nice if the salaries in rugby were equivalent to those that you get in football? In the news […]

Room 101: Jacob Rowan – Leeds flanker

4 October 2013 0 comments

1. Name or place droppers We’ve all met them and we’ve all experienced their condescending tone, telling us where they’ve been on their travels, who […]

Room 101: Aaron Liffchak – Rosslyn Park prop

27 September 2013 2 comments

1. Rubbish barber chat From childhood I have used the same barbers, but two years ago I moved to East London and I started getting […]

Room 101: Ruairi Cushion – Plymouth Albion captain

19 September 2013 1 comment

1. Facebook These days it seems that every time I scroll down my news feed on Facebook all that comes up is standard ‘selfies’ of […]

Room 101: Andy Goode – Wasps fly-half

12 September 2013 1 comment

1. Wind The first thing I do on the morning of a game is look out of the window to see if the trees are […]

Room 101: Ian Davies – Cornish Pirates head coach

5 September 2013 0 comments

1. They are LAWS not rules If you speak to any of the players at the Pirates they’ll tell you that my big pet hate […]

Room 101: Paul Arnold – Fylde player/coach

30 August 2013 1 comment

1. Relegation from the Premiership Controversial, I know, but as a massive fan of the type of expansive rugby you get in the Super 15. […]

Room 101: Steve Lawrie – Edinburgh hooker

22 August 2013 0 comments

1. Running into touch With the Murrayfield pitch being as wide as they come you’d think there would be no danger of players running into […]

Room 101: Rob Rowlinson – former Leeds hooker

16 August 2013 0 comments

1. The new scrummaging laws I’m not a fan of the “crouch, bind, set” scrum engagement sequence that is currently being trialled across the globe. […]

Room 101: Ollie Thomas – Moseley utility back

2 August 2013 0 comments

1. Diving/play acting in football Don’t get me wrong I love watching football, although I’m more of an armchair fan than anything else. I’ve probably […]

Room 101: Will Skinner – former Harlequins flanker

25 July 2013 0 comments

1. Lazy trolley operators I really can’t stand people who can’t be bothered to put supermarket shopping trolleys away properly after they’ve unloaded all their […]

Room 101: Mike Aspinall – Harrogate player-coach

21 July 2013 0 comments

1. Essay writing I wouldn’t say that I’m the most academic person by any stretch of the imagination. But, as someone who’s nearing the end […]

Room 101: Alan Paver – Cornish Pirates prop

14 July 2013 0 comments

1. Bad Banter You get some dreadful banter in rugby but the worst culprits tend to be hookers. In terms of being ‘chopsy’, hookers are […]

Room 101: Ross Samson – London Scottish scrum-half

7 July 2013 0 comments

1. Warm ups I will do anything to get out of them or be as late as possible by staying in with the physio longer […]

Room 101: Neil Clark – Oyonnax and former Exeter hooker

30 June 2013 0 comments

1. Banks Not naming any names but the bank I’m dealing with at the moment is driving me nuts. I’m in the process of buying […]

Room 101: Sean Holley – Bristol’s head coach

23 June 2013 0 comments

1. Lateness I hate being late for anything and believe everyone else should feel the same. Sadly unpunctuality is a far too regular an occurrence […]

Room 101: Nigel Melville – USA rugby CEO

15 June 2013 0 comments

1. Airport Security With my job I spend a lot of time in airports (along with thousands of others), taking off my shoes, getting my […]

Room 101: Matty Mountford – Chinnor full-back

2 June 2013 0 comments

1. ‘Walter Mitty’ Rugby Club owners Playing for Santa Monica Dolphins in California, living on the beach, living the proverbial dream, I receive an email […]

Room 101: Conor O’Shea – Harlequins director of rugby

26 May 2013 0 comments

1. The wife’s shopping habits My wife told me to put this one in so I’d better do as I’m told! Whenever the Sales start […]

Room 101: Ben Pons – Moseley flanker

19 May 2013 0 comments

1. The soft drift defence A soft drift defence is all too soft for my liking. The soft drift is when the opposition has more […]

Room 101: Mark Woodrow – Dings full-back

12 May 2013 0 comments

1. Traffic As you are probably aware a recent study has placed Bristol as the second worst city in England for traffic. Not enough is […]

Room 101: Tom Voyce – London Welsh winger

5 May 2013 1 comment

1. Scrums This might surprise you but I know from first-hand experience how tough being part of a scrum is. On a few occasions at […]

Room 101: Dan Robson –Gloucester scrum-half

28 April 2013 2 comments

1. Seagulls There was a time when I used to like the sound of seagulls, as it reminded me of good times spent on holiday […]

Room 101: Anthony Carter – Moseley full-back

21 April 2013 0 comments

1. Phone line blockers These are normally relatives that seem to have an ability to talk about nothing forever – which means the rest of […]

Room 101: James Pritchard – Bedford full-back

14 April 2013 0 comments

1. Parking space Pirates People without any kids in town really get to me when they park in designated family parking bays at supermarkets. When […]

Room 101: Ian Nimmo – Dragons lock

7 April 2013 0 comments

1. Paid-for Condiments My particular beef (or should that be chicken?) is aimed at the popular restaurant chain Nando’s. The boys love going down to […]