By MARK STEVENS For years the imposing figure of Dave Ewers made a habit of steamrollering his way around Premiership pitches up and down the […]
Latest Posts
Howley back with Wales
ROBERT Howley will return to the Wales coaching staff as a technical coach for the Six Nations following a fouryear absence. Warren Gatland’s former assistant […]
Farrell to stick with Ireland
ANDY Farrell will remain Ireland head coach until the end of the 2027 World Cup. Ireland lost to New Zealand in the quarter-final of this […]
Surprise U-turn by Snyman
Bath appear to have missed out on signing Springbok World Cup winner RG Snyman, who it seems has changed his mind about a move to […]
Russell in the running
Finn Russell has led Bath to six wins in eight games prior to this weekend, while a horse named after the Scotland international has enjoyed […]
Boost for Quins and Tigers as Horne gets job
BY NEIL FISSLER World Rugby high performance director Peter Horne is set to become the Australian Rugby Union’s new head of high performance, which could […]
Bayonne poised to move for Chisholm
ON THE BLINDSIDE Harlequins could lose back rower James Chisholm, below, to France when his contract runs out at the end of the season, with […]
Dream Team with Ashley Johnson
The former Springboks, Cheetahs, Wasps & Moseley hooker/no. 8 chooses the best XV he has played with or against… 1. Os du Randt – I […]
Henry’s French leave won’t hold him back
JEREMY GUSCOTT IT’S time for the RFU/Premiership to wake up and go, ‘Wow, what’s wrong with us that a young player with the talent of […]
Gonzalez is enjoying his new lease of life
By ADAM HATHAWAY Saracens …………………….. 55pts Tries: Gonzalez 7; George 32,40, Hartley 42, 63, Maitland 54, Cinti 56, Dan 70 Conversions: Farrell 43, 55, 64 […]
Connacht holding on to the positives
CONNACHT head coach Pete Wilkins praised his side’s never-say-attitude as they grabbed a bonus point to keep their knockout hopes alive. After the 41-5 smashing […]
Regard has the final word for Lyon in pulsating win over the Bulls
By ALFIE ROSE Lyon………………..29pts Tries: Dumortier 22, Pacheco 38, Parisien 45, Charcosset 61, Regard 71 Conversions: Page-Relo 23, Jackson 62 Bulls ……………….28pts Tries: Burger 1, […]
Bordeaux put Bears through the mixer
By BRENDAN GALLAGHER Bordeaux…………………….. 36pts Tries: Lucu 4, Bielle-Biarrey 16, Penaud 32, Tapuai 55, Nanette 66 Conversions: Lucu 5, 33, 56; Jalibert 67 Penalties: Lucu […]
Lam: I’m proud of how we played
ALTHOUGH his team were well beaten, Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam was pleased with much of what he saw. He said: “I’m very proud […]
Cardiff push Bath’s all-stars to the limit
By ROGER PANTING Cardiff ………………………… 32pts Tries: Adams 4, 19; Hamer-Webb 37, Thomas 43 Conversions: de Beer 5, 20, 44 Penalties: de Beer 18, 26 […]
McCloskey confident Ulster can get back on right track
By KEVIN FALLON Ulster ……………..31pts Tries: Timoney 3, 46; McCloskey 22, Rea 36 Conversions: Cooney 4, 23, 37, 47 Penalties: Cooney 70 Racing 92 ………15pts […]
Quins out to collect another big scalp
■By JON NEWCOMBE PREVIEW… Harlequins v Toulouse Today, kick-off 3.15pm Twickenham Stoop FULL of confidence after their brilliant 31-28 win away to Racing 92, Harlequins […]
Lockett’s late score has Saints believing
ROB WILDMAN Northampton………………. 22pts Tries: Seabrook 6, Furbank 28, 57; Lockett 77 Conversions: Smith 77 Toulon …………………………..19pts Tries: Jaminet 54, Ribbans 65 Penalties: Herve 5, […]
‘We had resilience to see it through’
SAINTS boss Phil Dowson praised his team’s resilience. He felt Northampton has lost momentum like the previous win over Glasgow but attributed the win to […]
Hunt is on for next generation of props
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Five years ago there was a scrum feature in The Rugby Paper which forecast that unless England […]
So-called ‘partners’ deserve justice
NICK CAIN One of the most incomprehensible aspects of this season is that the PGP (Professional Game Partnership) is missing one crucial component. There is […]
Warriors win ugly to keep Euro hopes alive
■By BRYN PALMER Bayonne………… 11pts Try: Bosch 33 Penalties: Lopez 28, 49 Glasgow…………12pts Tries: Miller 37, McKay 56 Conversion: Thompson 38 GLASGOW’S Champions Cup hopes […]
Baxter: We must be ready for war
■By MARK STEVENS PREVIEW… Exeter v Munster Today, kick-off 1pm Sandy Park Delight: Exeter celebrate their last-gasp win in Toulon PICTURE: Alamy ROB Baxter this […]
England don’t need a comfort blanket
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED According to the industrious Alex Sanderson, who will surely be in the running for a senior place in the England coaching […]
Dungeon of obscurity needs to be shut
CHRIS HEWETT Barely able to buy a round of drinks, let alone a win – the good men and true of Kingsholm are up against […]
Sale give Leinster plenty of problems
By JOHN FALLON Leinster……………………….. 37pts Tries: van der Flier 40, Gibson-Park 43, Henshaw 57, Baird 62, Healy 70 Conversions: Frawley 57, 63, Prendergast 71 Penalties: […]
Ringrose relieved to get win
LEINSTER joint captain Garry Ringrose was relieved to get the win after being forced to dig deeper than anticipated. “We are delighted to get five […]
La Rochelle beaten again as Libbok lands 81st-minute conversion
By BEN JAYCOCK Stormers………..21pts Tries: Loader 52, Venter 79 Conversions: Libbok 81 Penalties: Libbok 36, 41, 44 La Rochelle……20pts Tries: Kerr-Barlow 7, Tanga 46 Conversions: […]
Rogerson is aiming to shine in Paris
By LUKE JARMYN FLANKER Matt Rogerson has re-found his love for rugby at Leicester Tigers after going through the turmoil of London Irish, and is […]
Scarlets stunned by Matkava’s history boys
By SIMON THOMAS Scarlets ………….. 7pts Try: Fifita 4 Conversion: Lloyd 5 Black Lion ……..23pts Tries: Modebadze 34, Mamrikishvili 58 Conversion: Matkava 35, 59 Penalties: […]
Mercer leads the charge at Kingsholm
By ROGER PANTING Gloucester ………28pts Tries: May 16, Socino 32, 35 Conversions: Carreras 32, 35 Penalties: Carreras 40, 56, 68 Clermont…………. 17pts Tries: Jauneau 17, […]
Morgan rested as Booth makes changes for Ospreys’ French test
By BEN JAYCOCK THE Ospreys go into today’s trip to Top 14 basement side Montpellier without Wales captain Jac Morgan, who is rested. Ospreys head […]
Prisciantelli drives Zebre fightback
By SAM JACKSON Oyonnax ………14 Zebre …………… 21 ZEBRE fly-half Geronimo Prisciantelli kicked eight points as his side fought back from an 11-point deficit in […]
Try double gets record for Rhyno
By BEN WILLIAMS Benetton ……..29 Perpignan …….. 7 Full-back Rhyno Smith became Benetton’s all-time leading try scorer in EPCR competitions as his side enjoyed a […]
Late drama as Dragons denied at the death
By DAVID JOHN DRAGONS were denied back-to-back Challenge Cup victories in the final play of the game as Pau registered their first win of the […]
Tenth defeat in a row for battling Falcons
By LUKE JARMYN Lions blindside Emmanuel Tshituka scored two second-half tries as Newcastle were taken back to school by a brutally powerful South African side […]
Edinburgh coast home after Cocagi sees red
By BRYN PALMER With Paterson failing to return from an HIA, Darcy Graham made an earlier than anticipated return to action from the bench. Duhan […]
Toulouse’s victory over Quins is top of my list
RUGBY MATTERS THE greatest single performance in the Heineken Cup? That’s a tricky one, there have been so many, but when pressed I normally opt […]
Millar knew how to keep ref onside
RUGBY MATTERS Dr Syd Millar was many things – Ballymena stalwart, redoubtable Ireland Test prop, successful Ireland coach and innovative rugby administrator at the dawn […]
Following in fathers’ footsteps
RUGBY MATTERS The tradition of “sons of” playing for France U20 is well and truly established now and seems to know no boundaries. Indeed, England […]
Bazalgette steals it with the final kick of the game
■By NATHAN EDWARDS Hartpury Uni ….33pts Tries: Gray 13, Benz-Solomon 46, Smith 51, Crane 62, 79 Conversions: Bazalgette 14, 47, 52, 63 London Scots .. […]
Cov hold together to despatch Cambridge
■By STEVE JACKSON Cambridge ……. 19pts Tries: Brownlie 51, Caven 60, Collins 70 Conversions: Benson 52, 61 Coventry ………..33pts Tries: Hutler 8, Ryan 26, Martin […]
Dominant Caldy get in gear to enjoy life on the road
By BEN WHITE Ampthill ……………………….. 21pts Tries: Moore-Aiono 3, Elliot 36, Pearce-Paul 76 Conversions: Parks 4, 37, 77 Caldy………………………………26pts Tries: Aigbokhae 8, 28; Hearn 20, […]
Bedford blow away Nottingham to move into top four
■By PAUL ROBINSON Bedford B ……… 49pts Tries: Fish 12, Pollock 16, 40; French 31, 43; Maisey 36, Grimoldby 74 Nottingham….. 24pts Conversions: Maisey 13, […]
Pirates game abandoned after serious Grubb injury
By MATTHEW LUDDINGTON Cornish Pirates’ game at Ealing was abandoned on Sunday following an injury to Pirates forward Ben Grubb. Back rower Grubb was taken […]
Setting the agenda for rugby
Paul Rees looks ahead to the issues that will be addressed in this week’s meeting of the Premiership’s top men The 10 Premiership directors of […]
Each day was filled with song, fun and laughter
My Life in Rugby with Graham Dewes – The former Fiji prop and 2007 Rugby World Cup hero talks about his memories from the game […]
Ryan has to wise up and show respect
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Maybe one day James Ryan will find it in him to send a note of gratitude to […]
70 years on and two remain
PETER JACKSON This weekend marks the 70th anniversary of the rarest result in Test rugby. On Saturday, December 19, 1953, Wales beat New Zealand and […]
The day Syd needed his teeth to be in
PETER JACKSON Syd Millar’s Himalayan climb along the cutting edge of rugby history encompassed three momentous events: the invincible Lions tour of 1974, the inaugural […]
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