The Rugby Paper

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

DREAMTEAM

12 April 2020 1 comment

DAVE EWERS, THE EXETER AND ENGLAND SAXONS BACK ROW, CHOOSES THE BEST XV HE HAS PLAYED WITH OR AGAINST… 1. Mako Vunipola – First played […]

Jono set to take the Tartan shilling

12 April 2020 1 comment

WORCESTER Warriorsfly-half Jono Lance is in advanced talks with Edinburgh about moving to the Scottish capital this summer. Canberra-born Lance, 29, who can also play […]

Hurrell forced to call time after suspected stroke

12 April 2020 1 comment

BRISTOL Bears centre Will Hurrell has retired from rugby after suffering a probable stroke in January. The 30-year-old was withdrawn with a head injury and […]

Top gong for Toby

12 April 2020 1 comment

RICHMOND flanker Toby Saysell has been named the NCA National League 1 Player of the Season. The prolific back rower, 25, scored six tries in […]

I’m glad Eddie’s got the job…who else was there?

12 April 2020 2 comments

THERE were not too many alternatives open to the RFU when it came to reappointing Eddie Jones as England coach through to the 2023 World […]

Parkes will be missed but Owen’s bigger loss

12 April 2020 0 comments

RUGBY IS A very fickle business. One minute you’re a Grand Slam winner, starring at the World Cup, and top of the tree. The next […]

Dejected Otley go on the offensive after relegation

12 April 2020 0 comments

By WARREN MUGGLETON OTLEY chairman of rugby Peter Clegg is livid that his side were relegated from National 2 North based on the RFU’s ‘best […]

Spittle’s sprint earns him try of the season

12 April 2020 0 comments

NOTTINGHAM winger Jack Spittle has won the Greene King IPA Championship’s try of the season. Spittle, 24, scored five tries against Yorkshire Carnegie on January 31, […]

Sweeney’s balancing act will be true test of his powers

12 April 2020 0 comments

THE measure of a good CEO is not the size or wealth of the organisation he runs, but the quantity and complexity of the issues […]

Kings of the Jungle where wild beasts come to play

12 April 2020 0 comments

Brendan Gallagher continues his enthralling series by looking at rugby’s feared enforcers 1 Jacques Burger (Namibia) The King as far as I am concerned. I […]

Irish building new dynasty around their Fab Four

12 April 2020 1 comment

NEALE HARVEY discovers how four of London Irish’s homegrown backline hitmen are taking the Premiership by storm – and boosting their England chances in the […]

Extra-time needed to avoid Lions anti-climax – Brooke

12 April 2020 0 comments

By GARY FITZGERALD THE Lions and Springboks should get the chance to fight it out until there is an outright winner next summer to avoid […]

‘The Bish’ deserved so much more

12 April 2020 1 comment

I THOROUGHLY enjoyed Brendan Gallagher’s piece about wasted talents, especially about David Bishop. I followed the All Whites during the 80s and witnessed several defeats […]

Jamie the one who must beware bolters this time

12 April 2020 0 comments

2021 LIONS A YEAR TO GO NICK CAIN LOOKS AT THE CONTENDERS FOR EACH POSITION THIS WEEK… HOOKER THE shakedown at hooker in 2017 proved […]

Gibbs makes his mark and Lions take series

12 April 2020 1 comment

Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby’s most enduring images, their story and why they are still so impactful Iconic Rugby Pictures: PART 4 Scott Gibbs […]

Ben lifts lid on life as a professional journeyman

12 April 2020 0 comments

Jeremy Blackmore talks to Ben Mercer about rugby life just below the top level For some, professional sport is about glory, about trophies, extraordinary moments […]

Aussie League template is cause of all rugby ills

12 April 2020 0 comments

THERE was always the risk that when “Union” went professional, all those pre Covid-19 years ago, there would be an overwhelming urge to use “League” […]

Beware of changing too much, Eddie

12 April 2020 0 comments

EDDIE Jones bagged himself another set of headlines by anticipating a 60 per cent change in the make-up of his England squad for the 2023 […]

The hidden aces make life tough for regions

12 April 2020 0 comments

Long before social distancing became a way of life, a similar exercise had been foisted upon the four Welsh regions in relation to their international […]

Relegation doesn’t diminish the dizzy highs of a decade

12 April 2020 0 comments

Colin Boag continues his series on Super Fans, this week Saracens’ Jason ‘Large’ Harris Every club’s supporters experience highs and lows, but for Saracens’ fans […]

Loyalties will be divided

12 April 2020 0 comments

HELP! Born in Penzance in 1942, the family quickly moved to London settling in Trent Park, Cockfosters. When my brother brought his Service Teams from […]

Lamb gets the chop

12 April 2020 0 comments

BACK in the 1960s, the scary All Black lock Colin Meads would run around his farm in King Country with a lamb under each arm. […]

Shining star Lewis still beams bright at 89

12 April 2020 0 comments

EVEN now, 70 years after he started blazing trails across the rugby world, Lewis Jones’ achievements still make the average meteor look like a here-today-gone-tomorrow […]

Springboks hold the key to Georgian ambitions

12 April 2020 0 comments

By NEALE HARVEY Driven: Peter Drewett is leading the Lelos’ charge GEORGIA’S ground-breaking link with South Africa can pave the way to a Six Nations […]

Do me a favour, Colin

12 April 2020 0 comments

COLIN Boag’s column (April 5) showing his utter contempt for, and dislike of, the Championship is going a bit far. He often mentions ring fencing […]

Bring back those real tours -by bus and train

12 April 2020 0 comments

How it was and could be again: Leicester’s Clive Woodward tackles New Zealand’s Eddie Dunn at Welford Road in 1979 The late Alan Watkins, heavyweight […]

Red card on debut wasn’t a great start to life in France!

12 April 2020 0 comments

Q&A BEN SMITH ON THE RECORD World Cupwinning New Zealand full-back Ben Smith talks to NEALE HARVEY about the highlights of a stellar career, disappointment […]

Jones: Welsh backs need quicker service from No.9

12 April 2020 0 comments

By STEFFAN THOMAS FORMER Lions scrumhalf Robert Jones insists Wayne Pivac must be cut some slack and is confident the former Scarlets coach can help […]

Return to good old days crazy

12 April 2020 0 comments

JEREMY Guscott suggests that a return to the good old days when there were just two substitutes who could only be brought on for medical […]

Disgraceful how RFU’s left us to fend for ourselves

12 April 2020 0 comments

NICK CAIN FINDS NOTTINGHAM CHAIRMAN ALISTA AIR BOW WILLING TO PUT HIS HEAD ABOVE THE PARAPET FOR the last 0decade it has seemed that the game […]

Sophie steps up to help NHS in Scotland

12 April 2020 0 comments

NEWS EXTRA By GARY HEATLY SCOTLAND women’s cap Sophie Anderson has risen to every challenge she has faced on the sports pitch in her career […]

Kirsten commits to Chiefs

12 April 2020 1 comment

EXETER lock Jannes Kirsten has extended his contract with the club. The 26-year-old South African has scored three tries in 22 appearances since joining the […]

Solution to scrum mess

12 April 2020 0 comments

JEREMY Guscott is right. The scrum at Test level is a disaster – and boring. The solution is simple. First, and importantly, ensure all props […]

Put differences aside to rebuild the Premiership

5 April 2020 1 comment

COLIN BOAG The RFU have announced that for the Championship and below, the final league tables will be decided on a best playing record formula, […]

Edwards would let no-one get in his way

5 April 2020 0 comments

Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby’s most enduring images, their story and why they are still so impactful What’s going on here It’s July […]

Top 14 in turmoil with no option to cut wages

5 April 2020 0 comments

Surviving the current coronavirus crisis is forcing professional rugby in France to take a long, hard look at itself. In an interview this week, Robins […]

Time for Tier Two to stand its ground

5 April 2020 0 comments

HOW is it in any way good governance that there are two professional club leagues in England, and yet there is one rule for the […]

DREAMTEAM

5 April 2020 0 comments

WILL R OBINSON, TONBRIDGE JUDDIANS AND FORMER WASPS, LONDON WELSH, ROTHERHAM AND ENGLAND U18s FLY-HALF, CHOOSES THE BEST XV HE HAS PLAYED WITH OR AGAINST… […]

Pity the players who can’t say goodbye

5 April 2020 0 comments

He started off a long way down the English pyramid, seven divisions beneath the Premiership with hometown Stafford and worked his way up from there. […]

Moody: I would have liked to see Baxter take charge

5 April 2020 1 comment

By GARY FITZGERALD Baxter fan: Lewis Moody LEWIS Moody would have plumped for Rob Baxter to take over the England hot seat, but understands why […]

Loyalty of Jackson is a beacon for rugby

5 April 2020 0 comments

Jackson Wray has just agreed fresh terms with Saracens – the clearest possible signal that the most criminally under-celebrated forward in the entire country intends […]

Rapid Young rode his own Chariot of Fire

5 April 2020 1 comment

OF ALL England’s postwar speed merchants, none came closer to emulating Eric Liddell as an international rugby player and Olympian than John Young. Long before […]

Fijian Api signs on at Saints

5 April 2020 0 comments

NORTHAMPTON’S Fiji international second row Api Ratuniyarawa has extended his contract with the club. Saints have not disclosed the length of the 33-year-old’s deal. “He […]

Price is right to escape All Blacks

5 April 2020 1 comment

YOU have to hand it to those generous souls in the airline industry. As Covid-19 continued to tighten its grip, it was reported that one […]

Wales beat All Blacks and the old controversies start to rage

5 April 2020 0 comments

Brendan Gallagher continues his expert and authorative look at the history of Rugby Union AS the rugby world hurtled towards the end of the 19th […]

Moriarty commits future to Ryan’s Dragons

5 April 2020 0 comments

By ALEX BYWATER and STEFFAN THOMAS ROSS Moriarty has turned down big money offers in England and France to continue his career with Wales and the Dragons. […]

Maxime shows what really counts

5 April 2020 0 comments

UP THERE in the executive class, the Scottish Rugby Union CEO Mark Dodson, who trousered well over £900,000 last year, has agreed a 30 per […]

Gallaher drilled his touring team like a fighting machine

5 April 2020 1 comment

Brendan Gallagher recalls the early and outstanding All Blacks and Australian tours It’s more than a little ironic that the All Blacks – famed for […]

A fair decision says bounce back up at

5 April 2020 0 comments

Hill as Richmond their first attempt By NEALE HARVEY Excited: Steve Hill RICHMOND rugby director Steve Hill has praised the strength and character of his […]