Heineken Cup - News, interviews, reports, analysis and opinion

Tag: Heineken Cup

Jack Crowley or Sam Prendergast – Who is Ireland’s true number one fly-half?

13 December 2024 0 comments

Much has been made of Sam Prendergast’s recent arrival on the international scene, with fans and pundits alike quick to point out comparisons with Ireland’s […]

Pundits need that forward thinking

17 November 2024 0 comments

Ian Robertson put it most colourfully. “I work with backs,” said the celebrated BBC radio commentator on being asked to coach the Cambridge students into […]

Top Five Rugby League to Rugby Union code switches in history

11 November 2024 0 comments

By Charlie Elliott In Australia’s recent win against England at Allianz Stadium, there was one name that stood out in terms of rugby union careers. […]

Biarritz was truly a baptism of fire

10 November 2024 0 comments

MY LIFEIN RUGBY DAVID McILWAINE THE FORMER ULSTER, BRISTOL, DONCASTER & LEEDS FULL-BACK On the run: David McIlwaine playing for Bristol against Rotherham PICTURE: Media […]

Life with Welsh was such a roller coaster

20 October 2024 0 comments

MY LIFEIN RUGBY MATT CORKER THE CANTERBURY HEAD COACH AND FORMER WASPS, LONDON WELSH & RICHMOND FORWARD TO play professional rugby was such a privilege […]

The day one Newbridge became four

8 September 2024 0 comments

SO, UEFA deemed it necessary to hire extra security guards to protect their new AI-based draw for the Champions League from falling victim to a […]

TV deal will boost women’s game

25 August 2024 0 comments

THERE are two ways of looking at the BBC’s latest foray into rugby broadcasting: a deal securing exclusive rights to next year’s Women’s World Cup, […]

I worked really hard to maximise my talent

25 August 2024 0 comments

MY LIFEIN RUGBY CHRIS COOK THE FORMER ENGLAND U20, BATH, BRISTOL, NORTHAMPTON AND ZEBRE SCRUM-HALF I CAN look back on my career two ways. One […]

13 years on and Yeandle’s fire is still burning bright

18 August 2024 0 comments

WHEN it comes to the Exeter Chiefs’ success story, Jack Yeandle has never been too far away from the main headlines.

ARTHUR GREEN

18 August 2024 0 comments

YOUNG GUNS BATH & ENGLAND U20 NO.8 Arthur Green hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps and one day win a full England cap. 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 […]

Dominguez helped Italy break into rugby’s elite

28 July 2024 0 comments

RUGBY REVISITED BRENDAN GALLAGHER TELLS HOW ITALY PLAYED THEIR WAY INTO THE TOP TIER OF EUROPEAN RUGBY Brendan Gallagher looks at how Italy, inspired by […]

On the road to glory in Europe

14 July 2024 0 comments

BRENDAN GALLAGHER ON THE RUGBY VISIONARIES WHO, AFTER A SLOW START, CHANGED THE GAME Brendan Gallagher looks back at the first steps which saw competition […]

THE VICTORIOUS TEAM

7 July 2024 0 comments

15 Ben Hinshelwood (Bedford): Rangy utility back with plenty of gas. Ben is the Australian-born son of former Scotland and Lions wing Sandy Hinshelwood. Had […]

25 years on and it’s still a special place

30 June 2024 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER It was the 25th anniversary of the first-ever game at the Millennium […]

Try from the end of the world…

30 June 2024 0 comments

Brendan Gallagher looks back to 1994 when New Zealand last lost at Eden Park, beaten by a brilliant French team that scored one of the […]

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 […]

Callard impressed by Bath coaches

9 June 2024 0 comments

By JON NEWCOMBE Bath legend Jon Callard believes two of the best signings Johaan van Graan has made as the club’s head of rugby are […]

Pink city deserves its place at the top

2 June 2024 0 comments

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER – A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Anybody watching the crowd scenes in front of the big screen […]

Dream Team

26 May 2024 0 comments

Rob Miller, the former Newcastle, Wasps, Sale, Tynedale & England U20 full-back, chooses the best XV he has played with or against… 1. Peter Southern […]

Champions Cup Final Preview – Europe’s best set to provide fireworks

24 May 2024 0 comments

European rugby’s two most successful sides battle it out for Champions Cup glory as Leinster face Toulouse in the final on Saturday afternoon at Tottenham […]

Mine was very much the road less travelled

12 May 2024 0 comments

My Life in Rugby – Mike Ross, the former Ireland, Harlequins and Leinster prop talks about his life in the game I started playing rugby […]

Leinster made to fight all the way

5 May 2024 0 comments

By BRENDAN GALLAGHER Leinster…………………………20pts Tries: Lowe 10, 15, 43 Conversion: Byrne 11 Penalty: Byrne 29 Northampton Saints…… 17pts Tries: Hendy 58, Seabrook 73 Conversions: Smith […]

How one match at Croke Park changed European Rugby

2 May 2024 0 comments

They say history doesn’t repeat itself but it does rhyme. 15 years since Leinster dominated Munster in front of a world record crowd at Croke […]

Try-fest with big issues below the surface

21 April 2024 0 comments

The Paris Games, more formally known as the XXXIII Olympiad, are almost upon us and the Rugby Sevens schedule is full to overflowing. Yet there […]

We need Biarrtitz back to their best

14 April 2024 0 comments

SERGE Blanco, the finest full-back ever to grace the union game, spent his entire club career at Biarritz. So did the celebrated loose forward Michel […]

Rugby schedule has little to do with player welfare

14 April 2024 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW A roll of drums and a fanfare of trumpets late last summer heralded a new title sponsor […]

Pienaar heads the list for Europe’s golden oldies

14 April 2024 0 comments

In the course of wheeling their way into the Challenge Cup quarter-finals last weekend against the Cheetahs, the Michelin Men of Clermont brought a somewhat […]

It was an honour to reach the 400-mark

14 April 2024 0 comments

My Life in Rugby with Chris Dicomidis – The former Pontypridd, Cardiff, Wales U21 & Cyprus international looks back at his career in the game […]

Here’s hoping we see another drop of magic

7 April 2024 0 comments

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 […]

London Irish was just so full of real, good people

7 April 2024 0 comments

David Paice, the former England and London Irish hooker, looks back on his career in the game IT feels like a lifetime ago now that […]

Putting 50 points on the Aussies was a highlight

31 March 2024 0 comments

My Life in Rugby with Ruaridh Jackson – The former Scotland, Glasgow, Wasps and Harlequins fly-half talks about his career in the game IT was […]

Galthié “in denial” over France’s problems – Mermoz

15 March 2024 0 comments

Maxime Mermoz has slammed Fabien Galthié’s coaching of the French national team, and believes the problems they have experienced in this season’s Six Nations were […]

Reid: We want to build new legacy

10 March 2024 0 comments

Jon Newcombe talks to Bath back rower Miles Reid who wants to see the glory days return, if only to keep his dad quiet Combative […]

The team culture at Exeter blew me away

3 March 2024 0 comments

My Life in Rugby with Bryan Rennie – The former Scotland A, Border Reivers, London Irish, Exeter & Bristol centre, now general manager of the […]

To have played 41 times for Wales is a blessing

18 February 2024 0 comments

My Life in Rugby with Emyr Lewis – The former Wales, Llanelli & Cardiff No. 8 looks back on his career in the game FOR […]

My first foreign mission was in deepest Siberia

11 February 2024 0 comments

My Life in Rugby with Rob Debney – The former international and Premiership referee talks about his journey in the game RUGBY refereeing took me […]

Kennedy wanted in France

4 February 2024 0 comments

ON THE BLINDSIDE BY NEIL FISSLER Top 14 giants LA Rochelle and Racing 92 are both eyeing up a move for Saracens recruitment guru Nick […]

We need a more exclusive guest list

21 January 2024 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED HERE’S a little brain-teaser, just to make sure you’ve been paying attention at the back of the class: since 2014, when […]

Cockerill handed Georgia job

18 January 2024 0 comments

Former Leicester Tigers boss and England assistant Richard Cockerill has been named head coach of the Georgian national team and their club side Black Lion. […]

At last we are going in right direction

31 December 2023 0 comments

It is always easier to bury English rugby’s alleged leaders than to praise them, but it would run counter to the seasonal spirit not to […]

Dream Team with Damian Welch

24 December 2023 0 comments

The former Exeter Chiefs, Llanelli, Scarlets, Cardiff & Pontypridd second row, chooses the best XV he has played with or against… 1. Gethin Jenkins – […]

Toulouse’s victory over Quins is top of my list

17 December 2023 0 comments

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 […]

Four-try Lake guides Ospreys safely home

10 December 2023 0 comments

■By ROB COLE Ospreys ……………………….. 43pts Tries: Lake 7, 26, 46, 56; Thomas 17, Morris 76 Conversions: Williams 8, 19, 27, 48; Walsh 77 Penalties: […]

No room at the top for Welsh regions

10 December 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW AS Anglo-Welsh duels of the blood-and-guts variety go, one springs foremost to mind: a humdinger of a […]

Falcons are trapped with nowhere to go

3 December 2023 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED IT WAS a clear-cut case of “capitalism gone mad” as the loadsamoney class snapped up English club rugby in the spending […]

‘Since the year dot, I have been involved with Saints’

26 November 2023 0 comments

My Life in Rugby with Lennie Newman – The former Northampton forward and team manager talks about his life in the game EIGHTEEN months after […]

Able Evans is enjoying the high life with Quins

12 November 2023 0 comments

By JON NEWCOMBE Jarrod Evans grew up in the Valleys of Wales, a “chalk and cheese” environment to the one he finds himself now in […]

If I’d known about my ADHD, I’d have quit

5 November 2023 0 comments

MY LIFEIN RUGBY ALY MULDOWNEY THE FORMER MOSELEY, GLASGOW, EXETER, CONNACHT, GRENOBLE AND BRISTOL LOCK ALOT of things are starting to make sense now that […]