The RFU has apologised after Harlequins lock Irne Herbst spent seven minutes in the sin-bin instead of 10 during a win over Bath – but […]
Latest Posts
Salary cap fine for Tigers
Leicester Tigers have again been fined for exceeding the Premiership salary cap. The club have been handed a £47,000 overrun tax for going over the […]
England could be an option for Green
Harlequins full-back Tyrone Green will qualify for England in 2025 and while he still harbours hopes of playing for South Africa he is open to […]
Care set to stay at Quins
ON THE BLINDSIDE Veteran scrum-half Danny Care is set to snub lucrative offers from France and sign a contract extension at Harlequins. Care has received […]
Montpellier lead chase for Munster ace Frisch
Montpellier are leading the chase for Munster centre Antoine Frisch, who has declared his allegiance to France over Ireland. Born in Fontainebleau, France, Frisch qualifies […]
Kitshoff set for return to Stormers
After weeks of speculation South Africa’s two-time World Cup winning prop Steven Kitshoff has decided to leave Ulster at the end of his first season […]
Dream Team with Peter Scrivener
The former Wasps no.8 chooses the best XV he has played with or against… 1. Paul Rendall – I had the pleasure of playing with […]
England need access to their overseas stars
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK ENGLAND and New Zealand, who meet in a two-Test series this summer, find themselves in similar places due […]
Manny stars for Baxter’s battling Chiefs
By MARK STEVENS Exeter ………………………….21pts Tries: Vintcent 23, Fisilau 56, Roots 66 Conversions: Slade 23, 56, 66 Bath ……………………………..15pts Tries: du Toit 21, Hill 28 […]
Champions keep threepeat dream alive as Libbok fires wide
By GARY FITZGERALD Stormers……….. 21pts Tries: Jantjies 27, Hartzenberg 79 Conversions: Libbok 29 Penalties: Libbok 3, 21, 45 La Rochelle ……22pts Tries: Penverne 49, Alldritt […]
‘It came down to small margins’
Disappointed Bath boss Johann van Graan insists his side will ‘regroup’ in the wake of their Champions Cup exit. “We are incredibly disappointed, because we […]
Riley crashes over to snatch Stoop thriller
By NICK POWELL Harlequins ………………….. 28pts Tries: Esterhuizen 23, Smith 34, Murley 40+2, Riley 76 Conversions: Smith 25, 35, 40+3, 78 Glasgow………………………. 24pts Tries: Cummings […]
‘We dug deep to find way to win’
Quins head coach Danny Wilson felt the result was all that mattered as his side booked a place in the last eight against his former […]
Leinster march on to face old foes
By BRENDAN GALLAGHER Leinster……………………….. 36pts Tries: Gibson-Park 12, 23, 29; Henshaw 49, Conan 71 Conversions: R Byrne 13, 30, 50; H Byrne 72 Penalties: R […]
Powerful Bulls lay down a marker
By BEN JAYCOCK Bulls ………………59 Lyon………………. 19 The Bulls reached the Champions Cup quarter-finals for the first time in their history and sounded a warning […]
Bordeaux put sorry Sarries to slaughter
By BRENDAN GALLAGHER Bordeaux …………………….. 45pts Try: Garcia 36, 48; Depoortere 61, 66; Bielle Biarrey 63, 75 Conversions: Lucu 27, 49, 61, 64; Garcia 67, […]
George: We must learn from this to go hard at Premiership
Disappointed captain Jamie George said Saracens will get over their defeat to Bordeaux and refocus on the Premiership run-in. “It’s a tough pill to swallow, […]
James relishing the Munster challenge
■By JON NEWCOMBE PREVIEW… Northampton Saints v Munster Today. Kick-off 12.30pm, Franklin’s Gardens IT is games like this after noon’s Champions Cup Round of 16 […]
Dowson brings in Ludlam & Graham
IT will be the first time Saints have hosted a home knock-out clash in Northampton in the competition since 2000 with previous matches being hosted […]
Ntamack back for heavyweight clash
By PAUL REES PREVIEW… Toulouse vRacing 92 Today. Kick-off 3pm, Stade Ernest Wallon ROMAIN Ntamack starts his first match since suffering knee ligament damage in […]
Ban wholesale replacement of the front row
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
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!
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 […]
Too much tinkering is causing confusion
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Rugby Union is in the grip of the “the law of unintended consequences”, which is the most […]
Second fine for Tigers is case for concern
The recent announcement of a second salary cap infringement by Leicester indicates that the Premiership’s policing of its own financial regulations remains desperately inadequate – […]
Ulster set for massive fight
Preview Montpellier v Ulster Today. 12.30pm ULSTER interim head coach Richie Murphy says a ‘massive test’ awaits in Montpellier. Ulster have lost their last two […]
Clermont survive second-half scare
Clermont ……..27 Cheetahs …….22 ■By BEN JAYCOCK THREE-TIME Challenge Cup winners Clermont held off a Cheetahs fightback to earn a place in the last eight. […]
Umaga stars for 14-man Benetton
Benetton ……..27 Lions ……………. 17 ■By SAM JACKSON THE Lions were booted out of the Challenge Cup by a Benetton side that played half the […]
Carreras’ boot keeps Gloucester in control
By ROGER PANTING Gloucester ……… 30pts Tries: Mercer 8, May 27, Llewellyn 32 Conversions: Carreras 8, 27, 32 Penalties: Carreras 54, 60, 79 Castres …………….25pts […]
Dominant Ospreys out-muscle the weakened Sharks
■By ROGER PANTING mance from them and a tion has to be made of the 30 metres out from his own Ospreys …………. 20pts Tries: […]
Bundee’s back to boost Connacht
Preview Pau v Connacht Today. 5.30pm IRELAND duo Bundee Aki and Finlay Bealham come into the starting XV as Connacht head coach Pete Wilkins names […]
Sisi leads way on 100th appearance
Preview Sharks v Zebre Today. 3pm DAVID Sisi captains Zebre on his 100th appearance for the club as the Italian side hope to secure a […]
Red Roses: Saracens outside centre Sydney Gregson
By BEN JAYCOCK Birthplace: Baldock, Hertfordshire Date of birth: 20/01/96 Community club: Letchworth Garden City RFC Red Roses Debut: vs Wales February 2015 Caps: 4 […]
Gloucester will battle to the end
By PAUL REES Gloucester may be out of the running for a play-off place, but they will not be coasting in the final four rounds […]
Hill looking forward to Edinburgh challenge
England prop Paul Hill will leave Northampton in the summer to join Edinburgh. The tighthead has made 187 appearances for Saints, having joined in 2015 […]
Modernise the scrum, don’t allow it to die
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED IF WE take the Book of Ecclesiastes as our guide – ancient though it may be, it makes far more sense […]
It’s all a difficult question of trust
Leicester’s latest fine for salary cap irregularities – their second in as many years – throws up an interesting question or two about the structure […]
Masterful Willis leads Trailfinders fightback
■By MIKE SINCLAIR C Pirates ……….. 17pts Tries: Walker 10, Stevens 25, McNab 63 Conversions: Houston 25 E Trailfinders ..26pts Tries: Kernohan 32, de Vee […]
Barton’s second try pivotal for Ampthill
■By JOHN LYON Caldy ………………………….. 20pts Tries: Hayes 15, Pilgrim 20, Hearn 27 Conversions: Barker 16 Penalty: Barker 11 Ampthill …………………….. 29pts Tries: Barton 2, […]
Oustanding Venner grabs hat-trick as Coventry run riot
■By PAUL SMITH Coventry ………. 64pts Tries: Venner 4, 22, 41; Salt 28, Poole 32, Hitchcock 38, 49, Wand 68, Wilson 76, Martin 78 Conversions: […]
Ingall stars as Scottish hold firm for brave victory
■By MO SHER L Scottish ………29pts Tries: Brown 13, Ingall 35, Wallis 38, Ferdinand 43 Conversions: Sheppard 14, 36, 39 Penalty: Sheppard 55 Hartpury…………26pts Tries: […]
Killer wing Adamson hunts down club record
■By ROB WILDMAN @therugbypape Nottingham….. 24pts Tries: van der Flier 19, Ferreira 19, R Olowofela 44, Ramage 80 Conversions: Stronge 35, 45 Bedford Blues 34pts […]
JVP ready to prove he’s back to his best
By LUKE JARMYN England and Leicester dynamo Jack van Poortvliet has highlighted in both his actions and words that he’s back to his very best […]
Underhill agrees new contract with Bath
ENGLAND flanker Sam Underhill has signed a contract extension to stay with Bath until the end of the 2025-2026 season. The 27-year-old made his Bath […]
The day Crane had final word at Cardiff
PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW The Millennium Stadium once staged a trio of penalty shoot-outs in four years as fondly remembered by […]
Vile keeps his record as Care steps down
Tommy Vile and Danny Care were born in the same decade of different centuries, the former in Newport during the first half of the 1880s, […]
It’s still all to play for in race to the finishing line
Paul Rees predicts a nerve-racking end to the Premiership season where bonus points will prove crucial THE two-month Premiership break has made the jostling for […]
Bring back rucking and kill the jackal
Coach to coach Former Richmond director of rugby Steve Hill puts the questions to Paul Turner, below, coach of Championship club Ampthill RFC Why did […]
Georgia next as England aim for three in a row
U18 Six Nations By BEN JAYCOCK ENGLAND are looking to retain a 100 per cent record in the U18s Six Nations as they take on […]
Here’s hoping we see another drop of magic
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER IT’S Northampton against Munster in Europe today and for me that can […]
Rugby Union News 24/7
Recent Posts
Philippe Saint-Andre challenges Sale Sharks to win something
12 January 2025
Handre Pollard: Argentina will test Steve Borthwick’s England
12 January 2025
Newcastle Falcons to open player contract talks despite relegation worry
12 January 2025
Bill Sweeney facing SGM following Six Nations
12 January 2025
‘Je ne regrette rien’: Lewis Ludlam loving life at Toulon
12 January 2025
The best betting sites
