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: James Grindall – Bristol scrum-half

3 March 2013 0 comments

1. Cold Callers I’m constantly bombarded with random people calling both my mobile and landline trying to get me to invest money or buy insurance! […]

Room 101: Mat Evans – Ealing captain

24 February 2013 0 comments

1. Early autobiographies Nothing engrosses me more than reading an insightful autobiography written by a credible individual who has a life story to tell. However, […]

Room 101: Andy Northey – Macclesfield coach

17 February 2013 0 comments

1. Jim Telfer Telfer has had the gall to have a go at England, saying that they think they are better than they are and […]

Room 101: Chris Briers – Fylde centre

10 February 2013 0 comments

1. Gym Monkeys There are too many robots trying to pass off as rugby players nowadays. I’ve played at a number of clubs where players […]

Room 101: Austin Healy – ESPN consultant and former England and Leicester star

3 February 2013 1 comment

1. Snooty horse riders For some reason people who ride on horses on country lanes think motorists have the ability to see around corners and […]

Room 101: Jon Mills – London Welsh captain

27 January 2013 0 comments

1. Decorative cushions My wife insists on them because she says it makes our place look pretty, but to me they just get in the […]

Room 101: Dan Bowden – Leicester centre

20 January 2013 1 comment

1. Commentator cock-ups It really winds me up when sports commentators fail to correctly pronounce a player’s name. The big second rower from Northampton, Samu […]

Room 101: Glenn Delaney – London Irish forwards coach

13 January 2013 1 comment

1. Doorway blockers Health and Safety wouldn’t let you block a fire escape so why are people allowed to stand and chat in doorways of […]

Room 101: Scott Barrow – Fylde centre

6 January 2013 0 comments

1. Poor time-keeping I hate being late for anything – for training, a party…and, by the same token, it irritates me when other people are […]

Room 101: Brett Davey – Doncaster head coach

30 December 2012 0 comments

1. Ignorant drivers People failing to acknowledge the fact you’ve given them the right of way is something that really winds me up when I’m […]

Room 101: Gavin Cattle – Cornish Pirates scrum-half

23 December 2012 1 comment

1. Mobile phone-obsessed friends During the week it’s nice to meet up with some of your team-mates and go for a coffee together, although sometimes […]

Room 101: Craig Newby – former Leicester and All Black flanker

16 December 2012 1 comment

1. Video analysis Sitting in a room for an hour (or more) watching a film about what you did wrong in a match at the […]

Room 101: David Trick – former Bath and England winger

9 December 2012 0 comments

1. Time Wasting In the good old days kickers at least had an excuse to take so long over attempts at goal. First they had […]

Room 101: Phil Maynard – Coventry Director of Rugby

2 December 2012 1 comment

1. Foreign Call Centres Heaven forbid if anything you’ve recently purchased from the shops goes wrong and you need to contact someone in the customer […]

Room 101: Duncan Bell – Former Bath and England prop

25 November 2012 1 comment

1. Speeding fine injustice Now, don’t get the wrong idea…I’m no ‘Driving Miss Daisy’, nor, by the same token, am I Ayrton Sienna. But for […]

Room 101: Richard Cockerill – Leicester Tigers head coach

18 November 2012 2 comments

1. Car Drivers v Cyclists When I drive I really hate cyclists but when I cycle to work, which I do a lot, I really […]

Room 101: Jon Callard – former England international

11 November 2012 0 comments

1. Late substitutions I would get rid of replacements after an hour has passed. When was the last time you saw a late replacement change […]

Room 101: Ollie Philips – England Sevens

28 October 2012 1 comment

1. Self-Raters We all know people like this: the cocksure, flashy, individual who saunters through some socially ‘hip’ area of town, sporting a pair of […]

Room 101: Nick Mullins – ESPN lead commentator

21 October 2012 0 comments

1. The man who abolished proper tours We all know why good, old-fashioned tours became the kind of historical footnotes you only find these days […]

Room 101: Mark Nelson – Fylde head-coach

14 October 2012 0 comments

1. 1996 (the Game going ‘open’) It didn’t take long for me to feel the negative effects of professionalism. Fresh from the RFU‘s big announcement […]

Room 101: Andre Bester – Rotherham coach

7 October 2012 0 comments

1. Queues I simply don’t do queues. I would rather drive 10 miles around the houses than sit in a long, stationary line of traffic. […]

Room 101: Lee Mears – Bath hooker

30 September 2012 2 comments

1. Planners and Planning applications I want to build a kitchen in the basement of a semi-detached house in Bath and then extend it out […]

Room 101: James Merriman – Bristol flanker

23 September 2012 0 comments

1. Greedy supermarkets I fully support the campaign by dairy farmers to get a fair price for their milk from Supermarkets. It just doesn’t add […]

Room 101: Steve Boden – Jersey hooker

16 September 2012 1 comment

1. Happy Clappy People Don’t get me wrong despite having a reputation for being a bit of a moaner I can smile with the best […]

Room 101: Dave Walder – former England and Mitsubishi Dynaboars fly-half

9 September 2012 1 comment

1. Ineffective Touch Judges It amazes me how TJs fail to get the number of an offending player or can’t suggest a punishment worthy of […]

Room 101: Joe Maddock – Saracens wing

31 August 2012 0 comments

1. TMO’S Television Match Officials – to give them their full title – definitely have a place in the game. But only if they get […]

Room 101: Tom May – Northampton and former England centre

13 August 2012 3 comments

1. Warm ups I don’t know if it’s because I have been playing for what seems like a long time now but I really hate […]

Room 101: Mark Mapleoft – Harlequins coach

6 August 2012 0 comments

1. Reality TV Take a bow Bradley Wiggins, not only for his outstanding Tour de France exploits but his post-race press conferences last week. A […]

Room 101: Mike Denbee – London Welsh flanker

24 July 2012 0 comments

1. The Tube The London Transport system is, on a good day, the quickest, cheapest and most convenient way to travel. The problem lies with […]

Room 101: George Chuter – Leicester hooker

20 July 2012 0 comments

1. The Rolling Stones This really pains me. I’m a HUGE Stones fan. But I feel it has to be said that they’ve over-stayed their […]

Room 101: Lee Blackett – Rotherham winger

10 July 2012 0 comments

1. 50mph roadworks on a Motorway Travelling across the Pennines on the M62, as I do fairly frequently because my family lives in Lancashire, you […]

Room 101: Nick Kennedy – Toulon, former England and London Irish lock

3 July 2012 1 comment

1.Short people who sit in the exit seats on airplanes. Being 6ft 8in is not good when you’re flying at the best of times. The […]

Room 101: Russell Earnshaw – England Sevens Assistant Coach

26 June 2012 0 comments

1. Not coaching people There’s a fantastic quote by ex-England coach Geoff Cooke (below) that ‘good coaches coach activities, great coaches coach people’. Putting down […]