Letters

This is where you will find all of The Rugby Paper’s Letters, opinion and other content.

Dual registration needs to be put under microscope

22 December 2024 0 comments

It is interesting to read in last Sunday’s TRP Luc Jones’s thoughts on the adverse impact of wholesale dual registrations of Premiership clubs’ junior players […]

Please don’t make the game irrelevant

22 December 2024 0 comments

Full-backs and wingers now have to be able to leap in the air, I’ve long ago forgotten what hookers are for and forwards run into […]

Promotion still needs too much hoop-jumping

15 December 2024 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] I’m very pleased to see the possibility of […]

Hundreds of voices cannot be ignored

15 December 2024 0 comments

FOLLOWING Nick Cain’s TRP articles and others in the national press, and the calls from the three former RFU chairmen for a challenge to the […]

Penalise collapsing mauls in open play

15 December 2024 0 comments

THE officiating at the maul needs to be reviewed. When are referees going to penalise collapsing mauls in open play? Twice in the recent Scotland […]

TV deals are driving fans away from game

8 December 2024 0 comments

HAVING spent large sums of money over the years, attending live rugby and subscribing to Sky Sports and TNT to watch televised games I was […]

What we need is good leadership from the RFU

8 December 2024 0 comments

WE represent 50 former Blackheath Rugby Club players – the world’s oldest open club – including Doug Hursey, President of Kent. We write in response […]

World 7s is a waste of time and money

8 December 2024 0 comments

WHY do we participate in the travelling circus that is the World Sevens Series? Rugby 7s is now very rarely played in clubs, never discussed […]

Martin Johnson would not have put up with it

1 December 2024 0 comments

Danny Care has alleged in his book that Eddie Jones was a bully, confirming what anybody with a half a brain had deduced a long […]

Forbidden fruit is now too tempting

1 December 2024 0 comments

Just when you thought that it couldn’t get any worse at the RFU, CEO Billy Sweeney receives a ‘bonus’ of £358,000, taking his salary for […]

Great to see Coventry doing so well

1 December 2024 0 comments

Last Saturday I went to Butts Park Arena to watch Northampton Saints edge out my team Coventry by 19-10 in the Premiership Cup clash, the […]

Don’t be in awe of ‘The System’

1 December 2024 0 comments

AS a long-time England supporter I feel compelled to express my concerns about the performances and results of our team. Much debated selection issues play […]

Warren Gatland is not the man to blame

1 December 2024 0 comments

As expected, the critics are circling Warren Gatland following the latest Wales defeats. These people, however, often ignore the fact that he has a proven […]

Tough for clubs to get permission for 10,001

1 December 2024 0 comments

I HAVE every sympathy with my old friend Simon Halliday, the outgoing Chairman of the Championship Board, and the Championship clubs having read his comments […]

Wharfedale show the way ahead

1 December 2024 0 comments

Last weekend Wharfedale – currently fifth in National Two North – played league leaders Lymm with 13 homegrown players in the starting line-up. Just before […]

Patience is running out

24 November 2024 0 comments

I DON’T like to say it, but I think that England could be heading for a first-ever Six Nations wooden spoon in 2025. Could you […]

Paul Sheehan

24 November 2024 0 comments

French show how it’s done AFTER five successive defeats, should England get rid of its overseas player rule? While they’re about it, the RFU should […]

We need an agenda for regeneration and change

24 November 2024 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] SACKING head coach Steve Borthwick and RFU CEO […]

Kolbe’s majesty is a delight to behold

24 November 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED CHESLIN Kolbe won the “man of the match” award for his two-try contribution to South Africa’s victory over England, thereby proving […]

Parisse deserves place in pantheon

24 November 2024 0 comments

TALKING of “modern greats” – no, we’re not referring to the Oxford University degree course of the same name, which sporting hearties of the privileged […]

I fear that young players will be lost to the game if chances missed

17 November 2024 0 comments

I REFER to Geoff Stalker’s letter of October 27 regarding schools rugby. Some points perhaps need to be amplified so that RFU leadership hear or […]

England look like a clueless rabble

17 November 2024 0 comments

Another one bites the dust: England feel the pain against Wallabies I WATCHED with a g rowing sense of bewilderment as England yet again took […]

Two great games in one day

17 November 2024 0 comments

I SAW two of the best matches of the season last Saturday. The first was “live” between Stow on the Wold and Longlevens, a Level […]

Too many mistakes

17 November 2024 0 comments

ENGLAND have the players to be successful but they seem to lack the mental fortitude to get over the line. They have lost six tight […]

What we can learn from other sports

10 November 2024 0 comments

HAVING watched round one of the Autumn Internationals I revelled in the copying of NFL style referee announcements so the thousands in the ground all […]

Give Joe Cokanasiga a run on the wing

10 November 2024 0 comments

Steve Borthwick has proven during his career that he is a great coach and he is starting to show that he is a good selector […]

The game was ours to lose – and we did

10 November 2024 0 comments

HISTORY really does repeat itself, England’s team selection is proof of that. Why take Marcus Smith off ? He was having a terrific game kicking […]

Dream Team – Donovan O’Grady

10 November 2024 0 comments

DONOVAN O’GRADY, THE SWITZERLAND AND BLACKHEATH SCRUM-HALF WHO WORKS FOR THE RPA, CHOOSES THE BEST XV HE HAS PLAYED WITH OR AGAINST… Forwards 1. Simon […]

England front row not good enough

3 November 2024 0 comments

I AGREE with Jeremy Guscott and Nick Cain in last week’s article. England’s front row are not good enough. I’ve been saying that since England’s […]

Throw plans to segregate fans into the dustbin

3 November 2024 0 comments

THE fact that Premiership administrators are considering segregating away supporters demonstrates that people charged with managing the game have very little understanding or empathy with […]

We should shout about what we see

27 October 2024 0 comments

WE have, over the last few weeks, enjoyed a feast of rugby. The matches have been extremely well fought, showed brilliant skills, have had high […]

Cut red cards to 10

27 October 2024 0 comments

REGARDING the new 20 minute red card penalty, I feel that 20 minutes is a tad longer than is necessary, and creates an unfair advantage […]

All stand together

27 October 2024 0 comments

IN this PC, all inclusive, non-exclusive world that we are now supposed to be living in, the very idea of designated sections for away fans, […]

Bath pushing boundaries

27 October 2024 0 comments

Winners: Francois van Wyk scores a late try to help Bath defeat Harlequins last week PICTURES: Getty Images BATH put on a streetwise masterclass last […]

Why World Rugby has missed the point

27 October 2024 0 comments

IT occurred to me, whilst catching a glimpse of last weekend’s NFL match at Wembley, that the advent of professionalism in rugby union featured two […]

Sorry, but the RFU’s plan lacks vision

27 October 2024 0 comments

YET again the RFU has woken up in the middle of the night and is shocked by how dark it is. Throughout the professional era […]

Tommy Freeman can push England to victory against All Blacks

27 October 2024 0 comments

By Jeremy Guscott – Outspoken and unmissable every week… Any analysis of England’s chances of beating New Zealand starts with the forwards. The reality is […]

We’ll become Sharks with teeth again, promises Sanderson

27 October 2024 0 comments

ALEX Sanderson vowed to get Sale back on track after they shipped 40 points away from home for the third time this season. “I know […]

Restoration of trio cannot be justified

20 October 2024 0 comments

IT appears to me that the authorities at the RFU have lost their moral and ethical compass in inviting these three clubs to join the […]

Thanks, Jeff, your piece was spot on

20 October 2024 0 comments

THE main purpose of this letter is to thank you for your existence and quality. I used to play from 11 to 21 (when six […]

Figures don’t add up

20 October 2024 0 comments

IN his column in a recent edition of The Rugby Paper, Peter Jackson states that the RFU are set to earn a whopping £16 million […]

Return of the big clubs has my vote

20 October 2024 0 comments

I UNDERSTAND the arguments against offering an olive branch to the three ‘Phoenix clubs’, as detailed in Nick Cain’s column last week, due to the […]

Are we watching Quins Reserves?

20 October 2024 0 comments

Ace: Harlequins’ U20 World Championship-winning centre Sean Kerr starred for London Scottish last week PICTURE: Getty Images I’M sure the London Scottish-Harlequins link is working […]

I’d have included Butler in the mix

20 October 2024 0 comments

REALLY enjoyed Brendan Gallagher’s article. As a former player in the Sixties, Seventies and early Eighties, I was fortunate to play with or against many […]

Laws made a difference

20 October 2024 0 comments

I VERY much enjoyed reading the article on how positions have changed over the last 50 years. It would be interesting to see something similar, […]

No-one is forced to play the game

13 October 2024 0 comments

BEING an ex-rugby player from the age of 12 to 40, I am in complete agreement with Brendan Gallagher in his recent article (Sept 29). […]

Lucky Warriors

13 October 2024 0 comments

LAST week’s Rugby Paper included the following statement: “Worcester Warriors, who went into administration in 2022, have been formally invited by the RFU to consider […]

Too much travelling

13 October 2024 0 comments

THE article about Macclesfield last week mentioned the excessive travel time in National League West. There is a problem because this ‘Region’ is from Camborne […]

Red Roses improving all the time

13 October 2024 0 comments

Star player: Emily Scarratt in action for England PICTURE: Getty Images I’VE been thoroughly impressed by England during this WXV tournament. Having dominated Europe for […]