Letters

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

Focus on aspiration

12 May 2024 0 comments

THE Championship clubs deserve far more than they are getting in terms of RFU funding and access to the top flight. Numerous internationals have learnt […]

Camborne defeat a concern

5 May 2024 0 comments

LAST weekend’s 109 points to nil win by Dings over Camborne in National Two West should have set alarm bells ringing at Twickenham. Cornwall is […]

Harsh reality is that PRL costs must be cut

5 May 2024 0 comments

CAN we afford a PGP? The short answer, unfortunately, has to be a “yes” since, with the Premiership clubs controlling the contracts of all top […]

Ten selfish Premiership clubs

5 May 2024 0 comments

I FEEL sorry for Newcastle Falcons for not being relegated, which would be good for their future, but more sorry for Ealing Trailfindersbeing banned from […]

Time for officials to stop favouring teams in top six

28 April 2024 0 comments

ONCE again rugby referees at the top end are under scrutiny, but the people concerned appear to be bombproof as they stroll along into top […]

Pay women a sustainable wage

28 April 2024 0 comments

I WAS interested to read the article on Shaunagh Brown last week. My wife, a former England U19 pack leader in 2003, made the decision […]

Stop tinkering with laws

21 April 2024 0 comments

WORLD Rugby needs to stop tinkering with the laws to try and eliminate some of the problems in the professional game. At that level they […]

Jeff’s right, we must protect the grassroots

21 April 2024 0 comments

I COULDN’T agree more with Jeff Probyn highlighting the importance of the RFU being able to ensure a fair slice of central funding for grassroots […]

So which is the fairer?

21 April 2024 0 comments

JEFF Page wrote last week a letter headlined ‘easier to spot the fairer competition’ in which he compared Leicester unfavourably with Leinster. Leicester is a […]

Champ teams must hold on to players

21 April 2024 0 comments

READING letters, Sunday 14/4, Alec Jones makes a very valid point re Newcastle’s non relegation. Then alongside I see Exeter is pilfering Jimmy Roots from […]

Easy to spot the fairer competition

14 April 2024 0 comments

BRENDAN Gallagher reports on Leinster’s convincing win over Leicester Tigers in the European Champions Cup last 16. The Leinster side is drawn from a variety […]

Six minutes wasted

14 April 2024 0 comments

TO increase ball-in-play time I suggest that if a a try is scored under the posts it be an automatic seven points, as it’s always […]

Losers survive

14 April 2024 0 comments

WITH four games to go it looks like Newcastle might go down but, I forgot there is no relegation for losing every match in the […]

A one-point ‘try’

14 April 2024 0 comments

I KNOW the ball never goes in straight at scrum or lineout, there are forward passes galore and the jackal is a joke. But the […]

Ban wholesale replacement of the front row

7 April 2024 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] I READ with interest Paul Rees’ article fearing […]

Time to encourage ambitious clubs

7 April 2024 0 comments

IN a recent issue of The Rugby Paper, Jon Newcombe wrote that the RFU has emphasised its wish to make the Championship ‘more commercially viable’. […]

Calling all players!

7 April 2024 0 comments

HOW many more England players moving abroad will it take for the RFU to change their selection policy? I feel for head coach Steve Borthwick […]

Red menace? Don’t get sent off in first place

31 March 2024 0 comments

A STRONG contender for the 2024 Quote of the Year award should be The Rugby Paper columnist Chris Hewett for his witty verdict on the […]

Yorkshire rugby has been shafted

31 March 2024 0 comments

YORKSHIRE rugby won the 1987 County Championship with England inter nationals such as Peter Winterbotom, Rob Andrew and Rory Underwood. Yet Premiership ring fencing means […]

Penalty so unfair on Earl

24 March 2024 0 comments

BEN Earl has reason to feel aggrieved with the decision to award a penalty for a no-arms tackle in the last minutes of England’s final […]

Ford’s resolve is impressive to see

24 March 2024 0 comments

ALL the top sports players have one standout quality – composure – which George Ford has in abundance, along with his stoicism! A masterful player, […]

My Lions for 2025

24 March 2024 0 comments

BASED on performances in 2024 Six Nations Championship and potential retirees, how about this as a potential Lions touring squad to Australia in 2025, with […]

Referees are too quick to take the easy option

24 March 2024 0 comments

I READ the match report for last week’s Hull Ionians v Tynedale game with interest. The report asked a very pertinent question, “why is a […]

Time to ban tactical subs

24 March 2024 0 comments

CHRIS Hewett’s article bemoaning the size of French players offered what I believe to be the correct solution to the future of professional rugby, namely, […]

Credit Borthwick for changing his approach

24 March 2024 0 comments

ENGLAND’s revival in their inspirational final Six Nations displays v Ireland and France thankfully should end the failed power rugby ethos inherited from the side’s […]

That’s above expectations

24 March 2024 0 comments

WELL that was an agonising way for England to lose to France! So close! But three wins in this Six Nations, including a humdinger against […]

We are heading in the right direction

17 March 2024 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] ENGLAND’S win against Ireland was tremendous – as […]

This is why you write off England at your peril

17 March 2024 0 comments

FOR any rugby neutral, England-Ireland would have been the game of the tournament. Take away the rivalries/stakes/bragging rights and stripping the game to its core; […]

So great to watch Cov win a thriller

17 March 2024 0 comments

LAST Saturday Coventry defeated Ealing at Butts Park Arena in an absolutely thrilling and pulsating match 34- 32, taking a bonus point for scoring four […]

Let’s drop gang of mercenaries

10 March 2024 0 comments

Sunday, March 10, 2024 SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] AS a proud Scot […]

Unwise for Prem to disappear from our sight

10 March 2024 0 comments

THE English top flight game during Six Nations time has disappeared, gone and is nowhere to be seen. The URC and the French Top 14 […]

We need proper England pathway

10 March 2024 0 comments

FOR England to have no regular and widespread stepping stone between club and country is plain mad. The new deal (on the professional structure) must […]

Time to replace red-carded players

3 March 2024 0 comments

AFTER another international game is potentially ruined at the weekend by non-deliberate head contact it is time for a law change. In the case of […]

No relegation ‘embarrassing’ for the game

3 March 2024 0 comments

AS A fan of Coventry Rugby Club, I’m finding it increasingly awkward when I meet non-rugby fans or those attending their first game at Butts […]

How can coaches be so optimistic?

3 March 2024 0 comments

I KNOW untimely injuries have not been helpful but what a disappointing showing over all three games (and quite a few at the World Cup […]

Dump the old brigade, Steve

3 March 2024 0 comments

BRIAN Clough always told us: “Football is a simple game complicated by coaches. Ping the ball to teammates along the ground – short distances and […]

Don’t lose players in France

3 March 2024 0 comments

BANNING players seeking a secure financial future across the Channel is self-defeating. Argentina would not have a competitive team if they adopted this stance. Can […]

Champ sides can compete

25 February 2024 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon, SW19 4EU email: newsdesk @therugbypaper.co.uk UNLUCKY Ealing! They really gave Leicester a […]

Do players really know the laws?

25 February 2024 1 comment

PETER Jackson correctly says, “a defending team cannot charge from their goal line until the kicker moves in any direction”. Surely if you were a […]

Ealing prop shows way

25 February 2024 0 comments

MANY top players have left England for financial, family or motivational reasons. With bankruptcies of four top clubs, disillusionment with national selection and results, who […]

Teams must take advantage quickly

18 February 2024 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] FURTHER to the comments of correspondent Brian Aikman […]

Too many forward passes are not being picked up

18 February 2024 0 comments

SIX games already played in this year’s Six Nations, and in the first five games the winning teams have benefited by a try from a […]

Scotland deprived of a rightful win

18 February 2024 0 comments

SCOTLAND were robbed last weekend by pathetic refereeing from both the ref and the TMO in their game against France. Their disallowed try was obviously […]

Barry was always class personified

11 February 2024 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] I HAD the great pleasure of playing along […]

All contact areas must be a proper battle for the ball

11 February 2024 0 comments

THE offload is an important and exciting aspect of our game that should be encouraged, but Brendan Gallagher (TRP 28/01/24) is right to point out […]

Paton Field proving tough place to visit

11 February 2024 0 comments

AS one of the travelling blue and white faithful who witnessed Coventry RFC’s narrow 26-22 reverse up at Caldy last weekend, whilst it was a […]

Clubs must unite to force real change

4 February 2024 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU Email: [email protected] IT strikes me the RFU are not fit […]

England require clearer pathway to unearth gems

4 February 2024 0 comments

MANY rugby followers want to see the return of a clear player pathway for ambitious players within the community rugby structure. The RFU / Premiership […]