The Rugby Paper

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

Can’t blame tackle laws for injury toll

1 April 2018 0 comments

A FEW thoughts after looking back at THAT Barbarians versus All Blacks match in 1973. Yes the lineouts were not exactly balletic and several high […]

Bath need to bring back the enforcer Attwood…and fast

1 April 2018 0 comments

GLAD to see Dave Attood going well at Toulon but I don’t get why Bath are loaning him out when he could do a much-needed […]

North v South series should replace Cup

1 April 2018 1 comment

HAVING just read a newspaper column by Austin Healey I’d like to share his fascinating idea with Rugby Paper readers. Mr Healey suggested a new […]

Beckett get my vote

1 April 2018 0 comments

THANK you for your coverage this season of BUCS Super Rugby. I have watched most of Leeds Beckett home games and have been impressed with […]

Eddie must adopt Japan style

25 March 2018 0 comments

I AGREE with Jeff Probyn’s points regarding the coaching and selection of the England team over the past 12 months, especially with players being selected […]

Ireland got rub of the green

25 March 2018 0 comments

WOULD Ireland have won the Grand Slam if four things had been different on Saturday. 1. The TMO had checked properly for a possible knock […]

Drop the tired Lions

25 March 2018 0 comments

AH, pity poor England who have to pick their Lions even though they are tired out and shadows of their former selves. England have more […]

Why not expand Premiership but split conferences?

25 March 2018 0 comments

ANY reformatting of the Premiership has to take into account many conflicting requirements. Ring-fencing the league is an aim for many and unpopular with as […]

Players need rest but clubs can’t afford it

25 March 2018 1 comment

YOU probably have to agree with the observation that England’s players need a rest, especially after a British & Irish Lions Tour. What I fail […]

Stodgy England need change fast

18 March 2018 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] I’M very concerned about England. While they have […]

Illegal tactics have shaped game since Otago’s innovators

18 March 2018 0 comments

MATT Everard recently highlighted in TRP the dubious art of clearing out defenders who do not have the ball. This tactic has been going on […]

Eddie needs to up his pack speed

18 March 2018 0 comments

EVERYTHING is about pace nowadays in rugby and England’s first eight pack is a little slow. When I saw the back row picked to play […]

Eddie and the boys allowed one upset

11 March 2018 1 comment

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] SINCE Eddie Jones was appointed England coach they […]

I’m a lucky fan who loves big games and grass roots

11 March 2018 0 comments

COLIN BOAG talks of the two distinct audiences watching rugby. The wealthy or lucky individuals who get to watch international rugby and the diehard rugby […]

Time to pick in-form players for England

11 March 2018 1 comment

THE England defeat to Scotland should really come as no surprise. This kind of performance has been on the cards for a while. England have […]

Top flight stitch-up nearing completion

4 March 2018 0 comments

JEFF Probyn wrote in last week’s Rugby Paper about the agreement between the RFU and Premiership Rugby under which ‘the Championship cannot supply any players […]

Feeling of déjà vu with Eddie’s team

4 March 2018 1 comment

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] DYLAN Hartley should be congratulated on winning his […]

Columnists split over Lovobalavu’s disciplinary case

4 March 2018 0 comments

I WOULD like to highlight just how difficult rugby’s disciplinary process can be, and how the same offence can appear to be different events to […]

Back row stalwarts past their prime

25 February 2018 1 comment

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] AGREE with Ian Carrick on England’s back row […]

Premiership should support home-grown coaches and players

25 February 2018 1 comment

WHAT a mess our game is getting itself into. Huge amounts of money are being thrown at the top tier so they can all but […]

Follow NFL stance over poor conduct

25 February 2018 1 comment

I AM pleased that Colin Boag has raised the below issue again as I did several months ago. American football has a ‘taunting’ rule. In […]

Expand to 14 with 3-year moratorium

18 February 2018 0 comments

A COMPROMISE on the ring-fencing row would be to expand the top tier to 14 clubs and retain promotion/ relegation using a penalty points system […]

Eddie needs rapier in back row, not just three bludgeons

18 February 2018 0 comments

EDDIE Jones has transformed England since the last World Cup, but recently scraped wins have papered over emerging fault lines. Jones set out to turn […]

Expected England to bring in a bonus

18 February 2018 1 comment

I WAS very disappointed with England’s performance against Wales. For a team with aspirations of lifting the Webb Ellis next year, that performance wasn’t good […]

Disgraceful to throw TMO under the bus

18 February 2018 0 comments

I MUST give my few penneth over the controversy surrounding last Saturday’s match. For World Rugby’s Allain Rolland to publicly throw the TMO under the […]

What a great start to the Six Nations

11 February 2018 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] FROMthe feast of tries in the Italy v […]

Neutral doctors will retain HIA integrity

11 February 2018 1 comment

WE ARE all fully supportive of the HIA protocol, but abuse raises significant issues. Nigel Owens, clearly aware from the several replays that the French […]

Sort out the crooked feeds and backchat

11 February 2018 0 comments

WHY is it beyond the capabilities of most scrum-halves to roll a ball straight for a metre and why are more and more players backchatting […]

RFU should build 24-club pro league

11 February 2018 0 comments

LOSSES of £21.1m, dependency on benefactors, excessively high wages for players, at most only 13 clubs capable of continuing in business in the Premiership and […]

Here’s how to boost Anglo-Welsh Cup

4 February 2018 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] AM I alone in mourning the passing of […]

Lower league talent will be missed until the RFU take action

4 February 2018 1 comment

NICK CAIN reports (TRP 28/1) that ‘Premiership ring-fencers are mobilising again for another big push aimed at ending promotion and relegation’. As he wrote, once […]

Kennedy speaks out of self-interest

4 February 2018 2 comments

WOULD Nick Kennedy of London Irish have been keen on ring-fencing the Premiership last year? His opinions, given London Irish’s current precarious position, could display […]

Cut squad bugets… invest in grass roots

28 January 2018 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] DUSTY Hare’s comments last Sunday were yet more […]

Awkward questions for Eddie to ponder around World Cup

28 January 2018 0 comments

NICK CAIN’S welljudged assessment of England’s present position in last Sunday’s TRP was welcome. Any judgement of where England are a year and a half […]

Promotion play-off

28 January 2018 0 comments

THE bottom two teams in the Premiership should play each other and likewise the top two in the Championship. The winners of each should then […]

Saints crying out for drop-goal specialist

21 January 2018 1 comment

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] MANY thanks for Peter Jackson’s article in last […]

More marketing required to boost national leagues

21 January 2018 1 comment

DURING 2016-17 season the average attendance at an FA Premier League game was 35,822. The same figure for an Aviva Premiership game was 15,065. Thus, […]

Fans will stay away with no relegation

21 January 2018 0 comments

I MUST strongly disagree with Mr. Boag’s comments on scrapping relegation in last week’s paper. In recent times crowds have in general increased at Premiership […]

Top-flight coaches need to branch out

14 January 2018 0 comments

IAN Davies bemoans the recent ‘farcical’ appointments of Alan Gaffney and Alan Solomons while claiming that coaches in the Championship should be considered for these […]

Isiekwe’s the latest Haileybury old boy to hit the big time

14 January 2018 0 comments

NICK Isiekwe has enjoyed a meteoric rise since leaving Haileybury at the end of the 2016 summer term. It was a pleasure to read Neale […]

Scrums costing fans too much game time

14 January 2018 1 comment

I BELIEVE we are being short changed and getting only an average of 60 or so minutes of actual play, due to various reasons. I […]

Give more authority back to the referees

7 January 2018 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] I’VE been one of Colin Boag’s ‘Old Timers’ […]

Eddie’s done a fine job but selection’s become puzzling

7 January 2018 1 comment

EDDIE Jones has turned England into potential World Cup winners in Japan. However, I agree with Brendan Gallagher (31.12.17 edition) that his treatment of Danny […]

‘Clanger’ Clancy has done it again

7 January 2018 2 comments

ONCE again George Clancy has endeared himself to the Cardiff crowd with another inept performance. On his last visit he enraged the crowd so much […]

Choke-tackle must get the big Kiss-off

31 December 2017 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email:[email protected] HOWI applauded Colin Boag’s condemnation of the so-called ‘choke […]

Championship still needs work despite Melville promises

31 December 2017 2 comments

HERE we go again about ring fencing the Premiership in December 17 edition of TRP. Nigel Melville came in as RFU director of professional rugby […]

Coventry residents spoilt for choice

31 December 2017 0 comments

EXCELLENT article on National One leaders Coventry RFC in last week’s edition. The relationship between Cov and Wasps is intriguing, as there is no precedent […]

Too early for Peel

24 December 2017 0 comments

SHANE Williams extolled the virtues of Welsh coaches Stephen Jones, Phil Davies, Kingsley Jones and Nigel Davies – but none have had any consistent success […]

Referees are just following policy

24 December 2017 1 comment

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] THE set piece – arguably the most contentious […]