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Tag: Chris Hewett

Owners should be careful what they wish for

6 April 2025 0 comments

By Chris Hewett The ambition among some Premiership owners to turn the league into rugby’s version of cricket’s T20 is a long way behind the […]

Brendan Gallagher: I’m all for the thrills but keep game real

6 April 2025 0 comments

Rugby Matters – A weekly look at the game’s other talking points, by Brendan Gallagher Like many of you, I was vastly amused by Chris […]

British and Irrish Lions facing Pacific Island side is a terrific move that will spread the love

23 March 2025 0 comments

By Chris Hewett A few weeks ago, this column reached the startling conclusion that despite masses of evidence to the contrary, the words “rugby” and […]

Oscar Jegou shows the All Blacks how it’s done

16 March 2025 0 comments

By Chris Hewett – Thinking Allowed All the talk down New Zealand way is of “Succession”. No, they haven’t made a unilateral declaration of insubordination […]

Howzat! Azzurri are left stumped

9 March 2025 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED Box office: England’s Elliot Daly scores against Italy in last year’s Six Nations match PICTURE: Alamy AS the BBC’s top brass […]

Lytchett Minster 2s? Now they were decent…

9 March 2025 0 comments

By Chris Hewett – Thinking Allowed Anyone seeking to capture the essence of rugby’s transformation over recent decades need not wrestle with the demise of […]

A win’s a win for England? Up to a point, my lord…

2 March 2025 0 comments

By Chris Hewett – Thinking Allowed If England intend to make a habit of winning games on their backsides, they should make a block booking […]

The time’s ripe for a summit of the egos

23 February 2025 0 comments

By Chris Hewett – Thinking Allowed Summits are all the rage right now, “rage” being the operative word, and as the union game has finished […]

Scrums in danger of falling off the stage

23 February 2025 0 comments

By Chris Hewett We do not yet know whether the Sabercats or the Seawolves will emerge the stronger, or whether the Sharks will eat the […]

Six Nations Predictions League: Round Two with Brett Igoe and The Rugby Analyst

7 February 2025 0 comments

Ahead of round two, the boys from the podcast, alongside this week’s guest, Irish analyst Brett Igoe and YouTube’s Rich Isaac (The Rugby Analyst), have […]

PODCAST (S4, E21): Six Nations opening round reaction + blockbuster R2 preview with Brett Igoe

4 February 2025 0 comments

Three home wins marked the start of the 2025 Six Nations as France thrashed Wales, Scotland conquered Italy and Ireland saw off England. So much […]

Adam Radwan’s southern move is no surprise

26 January 2025 0 comments

By Chris Hewett Farewell then, Adam Radwan. One of the brighter, sparkier wings to emerge in English club rugby over the last few years, the […]

S4, E18: Maro Itoje England captaincy reaction and Niko Matawalu madness

15 January 2025 0 comments

Join Ollie Little, Brendan Gallagher and Chris Hewett for this week’s Rugby Paper Podcast edition, recorded just half an hour after it was announced that […]

A star-studded XV that would lead by example

5 January 2025 0 comments

By Chris Hewett – Thinking Allowed Like “business ethics” and “military intelligence”, the phrase “rugby leadership” is not an oxymoron. Almost, but not quite. Even […]

No Franco Mostert? That’s got to be a mistake

22 December 2024 0 comments

By Chris Hewett – Thinking Allowed Here’s a funny thing: one of the more prominent rugby sites on the worldwide web super information highway thingy […]

No Mostert? That’s got to be a mistake

22 December 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED Class act: Franco Mostert scoring for South Africa PICTURE: Getty Images HERE’S a funny thing: one of the more prominent rugby […]

No Mostert? That’s got to be a mistake

22 December 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED Class act: Franco Mostert scoring for South Africa PICTURE: Getty Images HERE’S a funny thing: one of the more prominent rugby […]

S4, E16: Rugby Paper Podcast 2024 Awards and Champions Cup debate

19 December 2024 0 comments

In our last episode of 2024, the gang is back together in full force. Host Ollie Little and columnists Nick Cain, Chris Hewett and Brendan […]

S4, E15: Jack Kenningham talks Champions Cup, Ilona Maher, England prospects and Harlequins Big Game 16

11 December 2024 0 comments

Join us for this week’s episode of the Rugby Paper Podcast as Harlequins flanker Jack Kenningham joins host Ollie Little and columnists Chris Hewett and […]

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 […]

Kolbe’s majesty is a delight to behold

24 November 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED CHESLIN Kolbe won the “man of the match” award for his two-try contribution to South Africa’s victory over England, thereby proving […]

When value for money is not part of the deal

10 November 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED ENGLAND’S bench strategy against New Zealand – goodbye “bomb squad”, hello “squib squad” – has been investigated, psychoanalysed, convicted on all […]

Series 4, Episode 9: Luke Pearce on 20-minute Red Card and Autumn Internationals Preview

31 October 2024 0 comments

We loved this one! Following last week’s 20-minute red card debate amongst the guys, we thought it best to call upon someone entrusted with enacting […]

Series 4, Episode 7: Nick Auterac’s Journey from Rugby to Music Composition + England Squad Reaction

17 October 2024 0 comments

We love a prop episode! The self-professed ‘oddball’ Nick Auterac joins host Ollie Little and columnists Chris Hewett and Nick Cain for this one. The […]

Worldwide Springboks still get it together

13 October 2024 0 comments

By Chris Hewett – Thinking Allowed Assuming those with their ears to the ground haven’t gone deaf, Handre Pollard, the Springbok with the Midas toecap, […]

Series 4, Episode 6: Gallagher Premiership, Exeter records and the need for speed with Olly Woodburn

10 October 2024 0 comments

After a few weeks debating the dramatic final rounds of the Rugby Championship, time to revisit the Gallagher Premiership! Three rounds in and despite question […]

Series 4, Episode 5: David Campese reviews Rugby Championship and Australian Rugby

2 October 2024 0 comments

The Rugby Championship has a new winner for the first time since 2019, as South Africa clinched the last trophy available to them with a […]

Fiji deserve to play with best in world

29 September 2024 0 comments

By Chris Hewett – Thinking Allowed Every underdog has its day, as Daniel Dubois reminded us in knocking an entire cathedral’s worth of bells out […]

Too much of a good thing can be overkill

8 September 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED “People might think it’s arrogant,” said Rian Oberholzer, the chief executive of the Springbok domain, just the other day, “but we […]

Robertson needs to redress the balance

25 August 2024 0 comments

Chris Hewett Thinking allowed It was a cheap shot, admittedly, but only a pacifist or a fool would spurn the opportunity to kick the New […]

LETTER: Twickenham name change to Allianz Stadium welcome

18 August 2024 0 comments

I wholeheartedly agree with Chris Hewett regarding the forthcoming Twickenham name change to the Allianz Stadium.

Glad to see clock ticking on scrum

18 August 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THOSE of us who have spent our entire careers writing against deadline know all there is to know about the tyranny of the […]

What counts is how the money is spent

11 August 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED IT WAS a close-run thing but, after crunching the numbers harder than a caffeine-fuelled psephologist on election night, we can now […]

Why SVNS makes sense for the future

4 August 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED Rugby sevens – or SVNS, as a London-based team of funkily-dressed marketing executives have somehow succeeded in rebranding it – used […]

Day when the Real McCoys stood up

28 July 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED THE governing bodies of the union game are not renowned for their speed off the mark – the average tectonic plate […]

Unwise to invest in the hope of reaching the top

21 July 2024 0 comments

JON Newcombe writes about how Blackheath in Kent have agreed a £1.5m deal to buy their ground in south-east London. He also describes how they […]

A drop of magic is just what we need

21 July 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED STRANGE as it may sound to generations of rugby lovers raised on a fizzy-drink, dopamine-heavy diet of high-scoring matches, there was […]

Women’s final was great entertainment

7 July 2024 0 comments

WHAT a shame fewer than 7,000 people had the pleasure of watching one of the best games of rugby for years. The Women’s Premiership final […]

Trio who tempt us to search for genius

7 July 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED What do we mean when we talk of genius? It is a question as old as Noah, an early candidate for […]

Whistler’s authority must be protected

30 June 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED In the middle: Sara Cox took charge of the Women’s Premiership final between Gloucester-Hartpury and Bristol last weekend PICTURES: Getty Images […]

Series 3, Episode 43: England beat Japan and the crazy life of Shaunagh Brown

24 June 2024 0 comments

In a congested weekend of rugby England put 50 points past Japan to carry some momentum into their two-test series against New Zealand. The Rugby […]

Sorry, but Obano did not have to do that

16 June 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED The best definition of madness in rugby? There are several contenders: picking a fight with Eben Etzebeth springs immediately to mind, […]

Another lesson from the French

16 June 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT Now that Vannes have made it into the top tier of French rugby and the people running things across the water are preparing […]

Series 3, Episode 42: Tom Pearson reflects on Premiership win and England summer squad debate

12 June 2024 0 comments

Northampton have ended their 10-year drought, securing the Gallagher Premiership title against 14-man Bath in a thriller at Twickenham on Saturday. Tom Pearson was one […]

Series 3, Episode 41: Gallagher Premiership Final debate and general rugby revelry with Craig Doyle

7 June 2024 0 comments

The big one is upon us! Northampton Saints and Bath are set to battle it out in one of the most eagerly anticipated Gallagher Premiership […]

Then and now: It’s tough to compare

2 June 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED Whenever the incomparable Antoine Dupont does the kind of things he did in dragging Toulouse over the line in a Champions […]

Series 3, Episode 40: Lee Dickson – Premiership semi-finals preview

29 May 2024 0 comments

What a Champions Cup final it was, and Antoine Dupont’s Toulouse ultimately condemned Leinster to a third consecutive final defeat to claim their sixth European […]

Series 3, Episode 39: Gordon D’Arcy – Champions Cup Final Preview

23 May 2024 0 comments

The highly-anticipated Champions Cup final takes place on Saturday afternoon with two European heavyweights, Leinster and Toulouse, set to provide a mouthwatering end to the […]

Mako reinvented job of loosehead

19 May 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED Eddie Jones coached Mako Vunipola during a brief spell in charge of Saracens, and coached him again during a much longer […]

Series 3, Episode 38: JP Doyle on laws of the game and Premiership final day

15 May 2024 0 comments

The Gallagher Premiership is headed towards a superb Super Saturday, with five teams still in the running for the final two play-off spots! Joining host […]

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