With the rugby world divided over the trial of the 20-minute red card during the November internationals, it’s only right that the Rugby Paper Podcast […]
By Nick Cain Right here, right now, English rugby union craves forward momentum. It needs something to knock the negatives surrounding our sport into the […]
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 […]
By Nick Cain – Read his expert opinion every week Will Collier’s command performance for Castres against Toulouse in the Top 14 last weekend should […]
THE endless mistreatment of Fiji as a second rate rugby nation is another disastrous admin blunder in the sport’s professional era. As Chris Hewett stated […]
By Nick Cain – Read his expert opinion every week It was surprising that neither of England’s U20 world champion props, Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale) or […]
Brilliant idea ITV! Put your freeview Premiership highlights programme on an obscure channel. Schedule it for a Wednesday lunchtime. Replace Flats and Topsy’s amusing, insightful […]
By Nick Cain The RFU is under fire from the Championship for its failure to provide clarity over the terms of the promotion-relegation play-off before […]
The Gallagher Premiership returns! Can Northampton defend their title? How will Saracens fare without Owen Farrell? Will Newcastle give a better account of themselves? Ex-England […]
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Left in the lurch: England boss Steve Borthwick and, inset, Felix Jones, left, and Aled Walters PICTURES: […]
NICK CAIN RASSIE Erasmus is a breath of fresh air, a coach who combines innovative out-of-the-box thinking with a detailed understanding of the core strengths […]
NICK CAIN THE 2024 Olympic Sevens was a massive showcase for Antoine Dupont’s extraordinary sporting talent, but also for rugby union, not just in France, […]
By NICK CAIN Championship clubs are calling for the funding issues surrounding next season’s reintroduction of promotion-relegation to be ratified urgently. While a home and […]
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK NOW comes the acid test of England’s attacking progress. When Steve Borthwick side face New Zealand in […]
By NICK CAIN Promotion and relegation between the Premiership and Championship has been restored from next season after the Championship clubs secured significant concessions from […]
By NICK CAIN Even for men as mentally and physically durable as former England Grand Slam back rowers Peter Winterbottom and Mike Teague, the 3,250 […]
NICK CAIN The restoration of promotion and relegation, which this column has advocated non-stop since the RFU’s ring-fence moratorium in 2021, is cause for celebration. […]
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 […]
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED It’s the burning question of the moment: what is Jacques Nienaber? Not “who is Jacques Nienaber”, or “why is he here”, […]
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK If the current power struggle in New Zealand rugby intensifies, with the NZRPA and the provincial unions […]
NICK CAIN Here’s something for the RFU mandarins and Premiership owners who are hell-bent on keeping England’s top league ring-fenced to ponder. The greatest Premiership […]
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 […]
A couple of letters in last week’s paper along with Nick Cain’s column got me thinking on these subjects of ring-fencing and a possible Anglo-Welsh […]
By NICK CAIN What makes this season even more of a travesty is that Steve Diamond, Newcastle’s consultant rugby director, who reiterated his support for […]