ALONG with thousands of others I am sure, my excitement levels were through the roof as the countdown to the first window of ticket sales […]

IN THE wake of another humiliating defeat for England an examination of the lack of consistency in Eddie Jones’ strategy is necessary. Since their defeat […]

PLEA to Quins: Please don’t change your coaching team, the side are playing with their old style and have a smile on their face – […]

WITH the Six Nations complete, attention will now switch to the selection for the forthcoming Lions tour to South Africa. I fully support the Test […]

SOUTH AFARICA FRANCHISE CUP By GEORGE LAWRENCE GRIQUAS edged past the Pumas 23-22 in an ill-disciplined clash in Kimberley. While they had boasted much of the possession and […]

MLR ROUND-UP By SAM JACKSON LA GILTINIS’ star-studded line-up tasted victory in their maiden match in Major League Rugby, beating New England Free Jacks 42-27. […]

JAPAN ROUND-UP By MATT MCILRAITH THE Kobelco Steelers extended their unbeaten run to 18 games after outclassing Yamaha Jubilo 53-22. Wayne Smith’s side have not been […]

AUSTRALIA ROUND-UP By ADAM ELLIS THE REDS regained top spot in Super Rugby AU with a 46-14 victory that condemned the Waratahs to a fifth-straight defeat. […]

MY LIFEIN RUGBY THE FORMER ARMY PLAYER AND COACH AND HARLEQUINS, WORCESTER, LONDON SCOTTISH, LAUNCESTON AND CORNISH PIRATES BACK-ROW FORWARD LEE SOPER ITHINK I landed in the sweet spot […]

Nigel Coote email: [email protected] SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU COMPARE the red card and four-week […]

Michael Reay REDEMPTION! Let’s hope this is the end of England’s dithering, because they played brilliantly against an exceptional French side last weekend. Dropping three […]

Mike Davies I LOOK forward to expert, almost forensic opinion on the action. Instead I hear mostly former internationals talking of a guy having a […]

Dr Ray Jones WHAT a turn off. Having registered to buy World Cup tickets, RWC inform me that for the first three days of sales […]

SCRUM-HALF’S are killing my enthusiasm after a lifetime playing and watching the game. This box-kicking the ball back and forth, saying ‘here have it back, […]

JACK TOVEY, THE EALING AND FORMER BRISTOL AND HARTPURY CENTRE, CHOOSES THE BEST XV HE’S PLAYED WITH OR AGAINST… 1. Mako Vunipola – Better skills […]

MANY negative words have been both spoken and written regarding the two non tries Wales scored against England last weekend, although from a rugby perspective […]

I UNDERSTAND Brendan Gallagher’s frustration at refereeing decisions in Cardiff. But he engaged in petulant hyperbole in saying that: “And if the Welsh think that […]

IN his report of England v Wales, Nick Cain claims “the law book says that unless the ball hits the ground first…it is not a […]

LAST week’s article by Nick Cain and the letter from John Allanson shows why there needs to be complete separation between the community and professional […]

HAVING had my fill of bad team and referee performances after watching Wales v England, I sulked and didn’t watch any rugby on Sunday. Having […]

I AM reading a book of newspaper reports of Five/Six Nations matches from 1905 to the current day. The headline of one in 1937 reads: […]

AS a loyal Gloucester supporter, I’d never thought I’d say this! Against Bristol last Saturday at Aston Gate, Leicester played in their proper red, white […]

SAM RODMAN, THE CORNISH PIRATES AND FORMER WILMSLOW, EALING, MACCLESFIELD, JERSEY AND ENGLAND STUDENTS PROP, CHOOSES THE BEST XV HE’S PLAYED WITH OR AGAINST… 1. Marlen […]

Bedford …………21 Ampthill ……….36 ■ By RYAN ROBINSON AMPTHILL exacted revenge for last weekend’s defeat with a commanding victory at Bedford Blues. In a game […]

WHEN Saracens were last relegated in 1993, they lost half their first-team squad and it took two seasons to regain top-flight status. This time it […]

A WEEK in which it has been hard to discern which is the bigger disappointment – a faltering England team or the RFU Council’s decision […]

WHY have they stolen our game? That was the headline of a brilliant article by Willie John McBride. When he and I played (albeit at […]

CAN someone at the RFU and Premiership Rugby explain how the Covid rules impact relegation but not getting to the playoffs and winning the Premiership? […]

A SLUGGISH start to the Six Nations removes the chances of an England Grand Slam. When looking ahead to 2022 is there not a case […]

By MATT MCILRAITH ROUND 1 WRAP Debut try: Laidlaw THE invaders from the north have wasted little time making an impression as former Scotland scrum-half […]