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Call to axe Bill Sweeney ‘as soon as possible’

22 December 2024 0 comments

By Nick Cain Bill Sweeney’s tenure as RFU chief executive is in a precarious position after Bill Beaumont’s announcement as an interim RFU Board Chairman […]

Johann Van Graan is the key to our rise to the top, says Charlie Ewels

22 December 2024 0 comments

By Mark Stevens Cast your mind back only a couple of years and it was clear to see Bath were a team searching for direction. […]

Freddie Steward leads calls for Michael Cheika to stay at Leicester Tigers

22 December 2024 0 comments

By Paul Rees Michael Cheika will hold talks with Leicester after Christmas over his future having signed a one-year contract with the East Midlands club. […]

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 […]

Show Champions Cup a little more respect

22 December 2024 0 comments

By Chris Hewett You could set the clocks by it. Whenever the Walcot Old Boys team bus began one of its regular 45-mile descents from […]

Cattle: Knights will be hard nut to crack

22 December 2024 0 comments

By BEN JAYCOCK PREVIEW… Cornish Pirates v Doncaster K Today. Kick-off 2.30pm, Mennaye Field CORNISH Pirates are on a high after handing Coventry their first […]

Hampson’s class gives Ealing the upper hand

22 December 2024 0 comments

By PAUL SMITH Coventry………………………. 25pts Tries: Penalty 38, Biggs 71, Ogden 80 Conversion: Mathews 80 Penalties: Richman 3, 21 Ealing Trailfinders……… 35pts Tries: Wilson 11, […]

Cambridge manage to get their act together

22 December 2024 0 comments

By STEVE JACKSON Cambridge……. 13pts Try: Caven 33 Conversion: Grimoldby 34 Penalties: Grimoldby 18, 74 Ampthill………….. 7pts Try: Vaenuku 30 Conversion: Barton 31 AFTER a […]

Easter has Christmas present he wanted

22 December 2024 0 comments

By PAUL JACOBS Chinnor…………… 18pts Tries: Goss 27, Walker 47 Conversion: Slevin 28 Penalties: Worboys 59, 79 Bedford……………. 5pts Try: Le Bourgeois 78 CHINNOR secured […]

Richie Williams to step down as head coach at Cambridge

22 December 2024 0 comments

Cambridge head coach Richie Williams will be stepping down from his role following the Championship fixture against Bedford Blues on Saturday December 28. Williams has […]

Trewin looking to help Pirates finish with a top four spot

22 December 2024 0 comments

By DAN ROBERTSHAW CORNISH Pirates full-back Will Trewin brought up his half-century of appearances for the club in style with a strong away win against […]

My Christmas day XV

22 December 2024 0 comments

Rugby Matters – A weekly look at the game’s other talking points by Brendan Gallagher Backs 15 Mark Mapletoft (England): Born December 25, 1971: Made […]

Ben’s happy that Bury’s Donny link is bearing fruit

22 December 2024 0 comments

By BEN JAYCOCK Player-coach: Bury St Edmunds fly-half Ben Penfold BURY St Edmunds appear to have put their messy start to the season behind them […]

England must find a way to deliver

22 December 2024 0 comments

JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME WITH Christmas fast approaching, it’s time for us all to look forward to better things and […]

Warren Gatland to stay as Wales coach but must ‘change fortunes on the pitch’

20 December 2024 0 comments

Warren Gatland is to remain in charge for the 2025 Six Nations following a review into Wales’ slump but has been warned by the Welsh […]

Ellie Kildunne believes impact of home Rugby World Cup lies ‘beyond imagination’

20 December 2024 0 comments

England and Harlequins full-back Ellie Kildunne cannot even fathom how transformative next year’s home Rugby World Cup might be for her country. The 25-year-old was […]

Tom Ilube resigns as RFU chairman amid pay controversy

20 December 2024 0 comments

Tom Ilube has resigned as chairman of the Rugby Football Union amid controversy over executive pay. The move follows an outcry over RFU chief executive […]

Grassroots revolt triggers vote over futures of RFU chief executive and chairman

19 December 2024 0 comments

Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney and chairman Tom Ilube are facing motions calling for their removal after a grassroots revolt gathered enough support […]

Cornish Pirates remove break clauses

15 December 2024 0 comments

By Sam Jackson Cornish Pirates have lifted the break clauses in player contracts which had been inserted in the summer amid concern over the ongoing […]

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 […]

Mark McCall: There is no margin for error in this format so we have to back up last week

15 December 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES Match Preview Stade Francais v Saracens Today. Kick-off 1pm, Stadium Mark McCall has warned his Saracens players not to be fooled by […]

Ring fence has made English rugby go soft

15 December 2024 0 comments

By Nick Cain – Read his expert opinion every week The most positive aspect to come out of the opening round of the European Cup […]

Calls for change gather support

15 December 2024 0 comments

THE process of convening an SGM of the RFU is a convoluted procedural affair, and this could be a useful ally for the likes of […]

Dream Team – Peter Altham

15 December 2024 0 comments

PETER ALTHAM, THE FYLDE, LANCASHIRE AND FORMER WHARFEDALE AND PRESTON GRASSHOPPERS PROP, CHOOSES THE BEST XV HE HAS PLAYED WITH OR AGAINST… Forwards 1. Soane […]

Nottingham purple patch is too good for Chinnor

15 December 2024 0 comments

■ By ROB WILDMAN Nottingham …… 19pts Tries: Dickinson 42, Williams 52, Chessum 57 Conversions: Parks 42, 52 Chinnor ………….. 15pts Tries: Passman 64, Hughes […]

Pirates on fire as they take control to shock Coventry

15 December 2024 0 comments

■ By MIKE SINCLAIR C Pirates ……………………… 46pts Tries: Rice 13, Gibson 19, McNab 25, 35, Moloney 53, Jones 72, Moody 76 Conversions: Houston 13, […]

Knights start well but Caldy fight back to deny bonus point

15 December 2024 0 comments

■ By GUY WILLIAMS Doncaster ………22pts Tries: Olowofela 3, Smith 15, Bennett 28 Conversions: Bennett 3, 28 Penalty: Bennett: 40 Caldy ……………….. 0pts DONCASTER may […]

Hellfire Corner gives a warm welcome to all

15 December 2024 0 comments

Rugby Matters by Brendan Gallagher – A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Rugby was undergoing a massive boom 150 years ago so […]

Luc Jones talks up National League One as ‘one of the best in UK’

15 December 2024 0 comments

By Ben Jaycock Richmond scrum-half Luc Jones believes the entertainment value of National One reflects what used to make the Championship so great before teams […]

Veteran JJ: Caldy happy to tackle the professionals

15 December 2024 0 comments

By Ben Jaycock Caldy have endured a difficult start to the season in the Championship but stalwart number eight JJ Dickinson says the club still […]

Beating Dean and the ABC club was a high

15 December 2024 0 comments

MY LIFEIN RUGBY THE FORMER SARACENS & LONDON WELSH FLY-HALF ANDY LEE IT was more through luck than judgement that I ended up playing for […]

Brave Lupus banking on Mo’unga class

15 December 2024 0 comments

By MATT McILRAITH THE fourth season of Japan Rugby League One kicks off this week, with the tournament opening with the clash between Mie Honda […]

Calls for RFU chiefs to quit at fever pitch

8 December 2024 0 comments

Mounting calls for RFU chiefs to quit By Nick Cain Calls for Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive, and Tom Ilube, the RFU Board chairman, […]

We’re not afraid to get into a dog-fight, says van Graan

8 December 2024 0 comments

By MARK STEVENS WHEN Johann van Graan took charge of Bath in the summer of 2022, the South African made no secret of the fact […]

‘Enforcer’ Udwin oversteps the mark

8 December 2024 0 comments

THE quango-like blindness to accountability in the top echelon of this RFU administration, and their erosion and disregard the democratic conventions embedded in the RFU […]

Oh, for a one-stop TV shop for the lot

8 December 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED Gogglebox: Bath taking on La Rochelle on Friday night PICTURE: Getty Images HERE’S a brain teaser: if you happen to be […]

Jordan Poole: Coventry on right track to win Championship promotion

8 December 2024 0 comments

By Ben Jaycock Captain Jordan Poole says Coventry are on track to finish the club’s three-year plan with promotion to the Premiership this season. Earlier […]

Dream Team – Charles Rylands

8 December 2024 0 comments

CHARLES RYLANDS, THE AMPTHILL AND FORMER BEDFORD BLUES AND CARDIFF MET FLANKER, CHOOSES THE BEST XV HE HAS PLAYED WITH OR AGAINST… Front Row 1. […]

Cornish at the double to clinch it for Ealing

8 December 2024 0 comments

■By BEN MORRIS Bedford Blues ……………… 17pts Tries: Worley 11, Garside 25 Conversions: Maisey 12, 26 Penalty: Maisey 3 Ealing Trailfinders …….. 25pts Tries: Cornish […]

Doncaster Knights want a replay after lights go out at Chinnor

8 December 2024 0 comments

By Mo Sher Chinnor …………. 18pts Tries: Hardwick 17, Worboys 50 Conversion: Hardwick 18 Penalties: Worboys 6, 24 Doncaster …….. 13pts Tries: Roberts 28, Kerr […]

350-mile trip is no problem for Pirates

8 December 2024 0 comments

By LUKE Caldy ……………….. 3pts Penalty: Barker 46 C Pirates ………..22pts Tries: Relton 6, 61, Hocking 59 Conversions: Houston 7, 62 Penalty: Houston 30 ARTHUR […]

Without a doubt, we are living in the ‘shameless era’

8 December 2024 0 comments

IT was even worse than we first thought. To recap. The RFU were emerging from a ruinous Covid period, some of England’s big professional teams […]

Matt’s learning from his rival as Redruth look to spoil party

8 December 2024 0 comments

By BEN JAYCOCK MID-table Redruth have experienced an inconsistent campaign but would love nothing more than to derail their rivals Camborne’s title pursuit when the […]

RFU Council must make a stand for whole game

8 December 2024 0 comments

By Jeff Probyn – A front row view of the game Now the Autumn Nation Series is over – with all four games at the […]

Fit-again Alex Mann is planning to come back with a bang

8 December 2024 0 comments

By Simon Thomas After a year of ups and downs, Alex Mann is back bigger and better than ever and determined to return to the […]

Call to double number of Lions tours

8 December 2024 0 comments

Podcast ■By CAMERON STEPHENS AUSTRALIAN rugby commentator Sean Maloney believes the British & Irish Lions tour should shift to touring every two years instead of […]

Champions Cup potential breakout stars

6 December 2024 0 comments

Every year, an unexpected player rises to perform on the European stage, with it being a great place for both young and fringe talent to get a bit […]

Will this be the year a South African club lifts the Champions Cup trophy?

5 December 2024 0 comments

By Peter Ryan – @PeterRyanSports The most significant competition in club rugby kicks off this weekend as the Champions Cup gets underway. Teams from the […]

Pressure builds on RFU chief to resign

1 December 2024 0 comments

By Nick Cain Tom Ilube’s tenure as RFU Board Chairman, and his financial credentials, will come under increased scrutiny with the news that Crossword Cybersecurity […]

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