Letters

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

RFU must explain why they allowed Prem ring-fence

21 May 2023 0 comments

IN The Rugby Paper last Sunday, a picture alongside the National One Dream Team shows how much winning promotion means to the Cambridge players. They […]

Eligibility rules have failed the Pacific Islands

21 May 2023 0 comments

THE decision of former England tighthead Henry Thomas to become a Welshman is a relatively minor example of the Test rugby ‘circus’ described by former […]

The‘pick and go’is a show of brute force

7 May 2023 1 comment

WHAT on earth is happening to “our game”? It was bad enough when crooked feeds to a scrum were permitted but now they talk about […]

A painful cost to pay

7 May 2023 0 comments

THE story relating to the RFU financial crisis prompts me, once again, to write to TRP – acrisis which seems to have been able to […]

Chance to promote World Cup missed

7 May 2023 0 comments

I ATTENDED, and thoroughly enjoyed, the England/France game at Twickenham last Saturday. Reference was made in the programme as to how it would be a […]

RFU is destroying community game

7 May 2023 1 comment

WELL another grassroots season has finally come to a shambolic end all thanks to the RFU. The leagues were changed to reduce the amount of […]

Referees set on spoiling the game

7 May 2023 0 comments

IT IS the most difficult side of the game, but despite modern technology there are referees out there determined to spoil the game in the […]

Jeff’s right, we must support grassroots

30 April 2023 0 comments

JEFF Probyn is absolutely right in stating that the future of rugby in England depends on more resources being made available by the RFU to […]

We need people of experience to run game

30 April 2023 0 comments

JEFF Probyn has once again hit the nail on the head with his comments regarding the financial support of the grassroots game. However, he did […]

Too many changes for me

30 April 2023 0 comments

I am surprised at nPeter Jackson. In his article last week about Mark Evans’ involvement with Fiji, he states that Wales and the South Sea […]

Premiership’s boring compared to Europe

23 April 2023 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] I AM fed up of TV commentators saying […]

Where’s the patriotism?

23 April 2023 0 comments

I THINK the RFU are making a mistake in holding rugby matches on the morning of the King’s Coronation Day. I feel disappointed and somewhat […]

Red cards must stay for sake of player welfare

16 April 2023 0 comments

SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St Georges Road, Wimbledon SW19 4EU email: [email protected] YOU can’t fail to be anything but impressed […]

No guarantees for Leinster

16 April 2023 0 comments

WITH the Champions Cup Final being in Dublin this year I’ve been reading many comments saying that Leinster are being handed the title on a […]

I reckon there are three sets of laws…

2 April 2023 0 comments

I HAVE followed all the correspondence and the various comments by your contributors to The Rugby Paper over the interpretation of the yellow and red […]

This ‘mish-mash’ does nothing for the game

2 April 2023 0 comments

LAST week’s TRP lists a bewildering array of cup, shield, bowl and plate competitions for grassroots clubs. Some are Round 1 ties in a knock-out […]

Kicking obsession is so boring for us all

2 April 2023 0 comments

I HAVE a revolutionary template to improve England’s rugby… try playing some! This obsession with kicking possession away makes for a boring and frustrating spectacle. […]

British and Irish League can breathe new life into game

26 March 2023 1 comment

TIME has come for everyone to stop kidding themselves. We all know that since season 1995/96 and the dawn of professional rugby that was supposed […]

Not sure Shane saw same Wales as me

26 March 2023 0 comments

THE Shane Williams column is always an interesting read, if not for the reasons he might wish. To read his most recent piece (Rugby Paper, […]

Laws have become too complicated

26 March 2023 1 comment

IT IS often a sure sign of common sense flying out of the window when we become obsessed with the literal definitions of words such […]

Regionalised system not way forward

26 March 2023 0 comments

I DISAGREE with your correspondents Derek Gilbert and Jeff Gage in last week’s paper regarding regionalised teams and ring-fencing. Having attended away games in European […]

Eddie’s to blame! He wasted too much time

26 March 2023 1 comment

ENGLAND’S effort against Ireland was an improvement, but the “guiding lights” at Twickenham need a massive kick up the backside for the calamity that is […]

A small, self-serving elite which bars all others from access

19 March 2023 0 comments

BEFORE the creation of club leagues in 1987, a group of around 24 self-appointed leading clubs played against each other (plus frequent fixtures against Welsh […]

Money problems hit England and Wales

19 March 2023 0 comments

WITNESSING the gulf in abilities between England and France had me thinking of the issues going on in the WRU and how England have similar […]

You can’t build team without cohesion

19 March 2023 0 comments

I WATCHED the postmatch interviews with Steve Borthwick and Ellis Genge after last week’s defeat to France and I have a great deal of sympathy […]

We must give all players a fair crack so we know best 15

5 March 2023 1 comment

SO far we’ve seen some good signs from Steve Borthwick, a little more structure and a stable pack. He’s picking in form players in their […]

Allowing Wasps move reflects badly on RFU

5 March 2023 1 comment

SEVERAL years ago, Wasps relocated to Coventry, thereby sabotaging any hopes which Coventry rugby club may have had about reaching the Premiership. Even if the […]

England in need of a confidence boost

5 March 2023 1 comment

YES, Freddie Steward was the man of the match against Wales – from catching the ball every five minutes from Welsh kicks. Yes, England are […]

International caps must have value

5 March 2023 2 comments

WHY do some coaches persist in devaluing international caps? Head coach Steve Borthwick brought on three players for the last minute of last weekend’s game […]

Faltering Farrell in doldrums

5 March 2023 0 comments

THE England v Wales game was (I hope) the start of something positive for our national team, providing the constant, and sometimes pointless kicking is […]

Smith really has nothing to prove

5 March 2023 0 comments

OWEN Farrell out, Marcus Smith in – it really is that simple. Farrell inhibits Smith by standing at first receiver in games when they play […]

Sweeney more of a liability than an asset

26 February 2023 0 comments

SADLY it needs to be realised that the RFU has abandoned its frequently misused historic role as guardian of the game’s best interests. Grassroots rugby […]

Not enough rugby is played in our schools

26 February 2023 0 comments

I WAS very interested to read last week’s article by Chris Hewett regarding the dwindling numbers playing competitive rugby. I understand that my old club […]

Healey’s comments can be infuriating

26 February 2023 2 comments

Pundit: Austin Healey I AGREE with the comments of Brian George about interference towards the officials from the touch lines and feel I must add […]

Referees must be left to get on with it

19 February 2023 0 comments

I WOULD like to comment on what appears to be a growing problem at all levels. Team coaches and their entourage standing at the touchline […]

Russell lucky he’s Scottish

19 February 2023 0 comments

IF Finn Russell was English would he get selected? No chance. England coaches are much more interested in not losing than in winning and it’s […]

No need to worry for Exeter

19 February 2023 1 comment

AS an Exeter Chiefs fan I was getting worried who would be left to select next season but looking forward I didn’t realise how much […]

Farrell doesn’t need to play the full 80

19 February 2023 0 comments

80-minute man: England captain Owen Farrell PICTURE: Getty Images WHY is it not possible to substitute Owen Farrell at any point in the game? I […]

That’s the height of hypocrisy

19 February 2023 1 comment

BEN Jaycock described last week how Stourbridge RFC is being used as a means to prevent Worcester being demoted to the base of the league […]

Clubs are forced to travel too far

12 February 2023 0 comments

THE crowd figure for Old Albanians’ game at Barnes last weekend in Nat 2 East was 169. Yet under the RFU’s league format, OAs are […]

Youngs is just too slow

12 February 2023 2 comments

ENGLAND’S game under Steve Borthwick against Scotland, even in defeat, was a vast improvement on Eddie Jones’ management schism. Unfortunately, when England score, the opposition […]

Farrell doesn’t work at 10

12 February 2023 1 comment

AT last a writer (Nick Cain) has said what I’ve said for the past year: England can’t win with Farrell at 12. He’s not my […]

Better ways to combat concussion problem

5 February 2023 1 comment

THE RFU’s ill-conceived law trial banning tackles above the waist again highlights the failure of rugby’s administrators to end the injuries crisis threatening the game’s […]

South Africa hardly a weekend destination

5 February 2023 0 comments

Take that: Alex Dombrandt celebrates a try for Quins against Sharks I WONDER how many other club rugby supporters have become disillusioned with the Heineken […]

World Rugby must now lead by example

5 February 2023 1 comment

IN his column last week, Jeff Probyn presents a very persuasive argument that, whatever steps are to be taken to reduce the risk of concussion […]

In danger of just being touch rugby

22 January 2023 0 comments

SO rugby’s authorities continue their inexorable emasculation of the sport. It must be obvious to all that they will not stop until all physical contact […]

Slade was clearly ball first, then player

22 January 2023 0 comments

In the clear: Slade’s red card was rescinded ON a weekend of a number of red cards, I write this on the evening of Saturday. […]

Duckham’s Eden Park win

22 January 2023 0 comments

■ I have no association with Saracens, but it was noticeable to watch them against Lyon. Their attack was much quicker and decisive than previously […]

My concerns for grassroots rugby

22 January 2023 1 comment

I WRITE to you as a former player and now-concerned parent connected to a well-established London club. I no longer feel comfortable raising concerns with […]