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Simon Halliday’s blast: The RFU keeps ignoring the Championship

23 March 2025 1 comment

By Nick Cain Simon Halliday has slammed the proposed loan bail-out for Newcastle Falcons, the Premiership’s basement club, and the continued lockdown on promotion-relegation. Halliday […]

Recruitment freeze as Newcastle Falcons look for £5m

23 March 2025 0 comments

By Paul Rees Newcastle have frozen recruitment until their finances are sorted out with other clubs considering a £5m loan to make sure the Falcons […]

This Premiership cartel is strangling our game

23 March 2025 0 comments

By Nick Cain – Read his expert opinion every week Welcome to gridlock. Everything that is wrong with the English club game, and the governance […]

Laughton signed the best

23 March 2025 0 comments

NEVER in the once troubled conflict between the codes can anyone have made life so uncomfortably hot for the RFU and WRU than a plumbing […]

It’s important to be clear and inclusive

23 March 2025 0 comments

Coach to coach Steve Hill talks to Chinnor director of rugby Nick Easter What is your playing background? I was a professional player for Orrell, […]

Championship is low on stars, says Carter

23 March 2025 0 comments

By BEN JAYCOCK AS Chinnor emerge from their ‘third pre-season’ of the campaign, veteran scrum-half Luke Carter says the Championship lacks the star power it […]

New free-to-air deal sees England on ITV for Six Nations

16 March 2025 0 comments

By Sam Jackson The BBC and ITV have agreed a new four-year deal for the Men’s Six Nations to remain on free-to-air TV until 2029. […]

Cambridge’s steep learning curve

16 March 2025 0 comments

By Ben Jaycock Cambridge have endured problems on and off the pitch this term, with COO Rowland Winter revealing they can’t rely on any income […]

Tom Curry urges George Martin to avoid the phone

16 March 2025 0 comments

By Adam Hathaway Tom Curry has told sidelined George Martin to stay off his phone as the Leicester lock bids to return to fitness and […]

Sir Bill Beaumont on renewing English rugby

16 March 2025 0 comments

Sir Bill Beaumont – Interim RFU Chair Spring is now upon us, and thoughts naturally turn towards regeneration and renewal after the cold, dark days […]

Northampton Saints boss calls for salary cap to be lowered

16 March 2025 0 comments

Northampton Saints chief executive Julia Chapman says the Premiership’s salary cap must be lowered again if the game is to become profitable. The cap – […]

I joined in with La Marseillaise, but quietly – Florent Rossigneux

16 March 2025 0 comments

MY LIFE IN RUGBY THE FORMER RACING 92, SYDNEY UNIVERSITY, STADE FRANCAIS, RICHMOND, WASPS, BEDFORD & LONDON WELSH BACK-ROWER FLORENT ROSSIGNEUX As a player, you […]

England’s defence too good for Italy

16 March 2025 0 comments

JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME Out on his own: Marcus Smith breaks clear to score England’s fourth try against Italy PICTURES: […]

Francis Baron: It’s time for the entire RFU Board to go

9 March 2025 0 comments

By Nick Cain Francis Baron has called for the replacement of the entire RFU Board, adding a radical dimension to the demand for change at […]

Pressure is building on the RFU Board to stand down

9 March 2025 0 comments

By Nick Cain – Read his expert opinion every week The Whole Game Union has added its weight to the call by Francis Baron for […]

Ben Youngs lifts the lid on Steve Borthwick – but too late

9 March 2025 0 comments

By Nick Cain Ben Youngs lifted the lid last week on Steve Borthwick being a “risk-averse” coach, and stated that the kick-first strategy adopted by […]

Regional results

9 March 2025 0 comments

Results and tables supplied by the RFU … Continue reading… Access all our premium content from as little as 14p per day! SUBSCRIBE Already a […]

Knights can take on the best again, says Smith

9 March 2025 0 comments

By CONOR MCLARNON Focus: Doncaster Knights flanker Thom Smith DONCASTER flanker Thom Smith feels he and his fellow players shoulder the responsibility to win promotion […]

Players must pack their own parachute

9 March 2025 0 comments

Coach to coach Steve Hill talks to Paul Westgate, below, the head of performance rugby at the University of Nottingham How and why did you […]

England need a true, open pathway

9 March 2025 0 comments

By Jeff Probyn – A front row view of the game So, Bill Beaumont is calling for a game in unison where all clubs are […]

RFU offers grassroots more say

2 March 2025 0 comments

The RFU has promised to give grassroots clubs more control over community rugby as the governing body attempts to win support ahead of the Special […]

Lee Blackett’s backing for England pathway plan

2 March 2025 0 comments

By Mark Stevens Lee Blackett believes England Rugby have been meticulously developing its resources in a concerted effort to unearth a wealth of hidden gems […]

Support for change at RFU keeps on building

2 March 2025 0 comments

By Nick Cain – Read his expert opinion every week As the SGM vote calling for regime change at the RFU approaches, it is critical […]

RFU’s roadshow yet to placate anger of clubs

2 March 2025 0 comments

THE newly formed Whole Game Union has grown with now over 200 clubs joining its ranks and still increasing its membership. It looks like the […]

Oxford out to halt Cambridge treble

2 March 2025 0 comments

■By ROB COLE PREVIEW… Oxford University v Cambridge University Saturday, March 8. Kick-off 3pm, StoneX WHEN Luke Wyllie dislocated his kneecap against Trinity College, Dublin […]

Dark Blues set sights on revenge

2 March 2025 0 comments

INTERNATIONAL Women’s Day may have been around for more than 100 years, but it is only 10 years since the women rugby players of Oxford […]

England hit back at Rob Baxter’s criticism of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s treatment

27 February 2025 0 comments

England have rejected Exeter boss Rob Baxter’s claim that Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s shoulder surgery was delayed because there were no Rugby Football Union medics on duty […]

Continued study a must for academy graduates

23 February 2025 0 comments

Steve Hill talks to Wayne Thompson, below, the head of Gloucester academy What was your playing background and how did you get into coaching rugby? […]

Start off with the ‘new’ and finish with the old

23 February 2025 0 comments

JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME FIND it hard to understand why there are now so many breaks in the Six Nations […]

Ex-Navy chief aims broadside at ‘one-way’ RFU Roadshow

16 February 2025 0 comments

By NICK CAIN PADDY McAlpine, the chairman of Chichester RFC – a level six community club – has slammed the RFU Roadshow for its attempts […]

Six Nations – England need to be more consistent

16 February 2025 0 comments

By Nick Cain – Read his expert opinion every week Driving force: Tom Willis has the power to make headway up the middle PICTURE: Getty […]

Regional results

16 February 2025 0 comments

Results and tables supplied by the RFU … Continue reading… Access all our premium content from as little as 14p per day! SUBSCRIBE Already a […]

Bedford Blues give Bath’s all-stars a lesson in resilience

9 February 2025 0 comments

Steve Diamond’s observation that Bath have a squad of around 70 players, but still appear to be within the £6.4m Premiership salary cap, may be […]

Naval officer who was sunk by RFU

9 February 2025 0 comments

IT’S been a tad busy of late with much to discuss but the recent passing of former RFU secretary Tony Hallett at the age of […]

Young Guns – Bath Winger Charlie Griffin

9 February 2025 0 comments

By Conor McLarnon Up-and-coming Bath winger Charlie Griffin hopes to replicate the playing style of senior international Freddie Steward in a bid to establish himself […]

Maro Itoje rejected offers from French clubs to fulfil England ambitions

7 February 2025 0 comments

Maro Itoje has revealed that he turned down lucrative offers from French club rugby due to his unfulfilled ambitions with England. Itoje leads England into […]

Stop giving No.9s so much protection

2 February 2025 0 comments

By Nick Cain – Read his expert opinion every week Welcome to the 2025 Six Nations, and, unfortunately, a new abomination of a law trial […]

Promotion questions still need answers

2 February 2025 0 comments

REFERENCES in letters from RFU Board member Wayne Barnes and interim chair Bill Beaumont in support of the beleaguered current Twickenham administration has led to […]

Bill Sweeney needs to run game for the good of us all

2 February 2025 0 comments

RFU CEO Bill Sweeney is head of English Rugby not England Rugby. His strategy is to make the England teams successful and to fill Twickenham […]

I’m surprised by £30m offer to community game

2 February 2025 0 comments

JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME England leaders: Maro Itoje and Jamie George and, inset, Bill Sweeney PICTURES: Getty Images THE unexpected […]

Do the right thing, Bill Beaumont, and tell Bill Sweeney to be on his way

26 January 2025 0 comments

By Nick Cain Bill Beaumont has a duty to advise Bill Sweeney that his tenure as RFU chief executive is over, rather than face […]

England need to focus on playing the full 80 during the Six Nations

26 January 2025 0 comments

By Jeff Probyn – A Front row view on the game So Steve Borthwick has decided that his England team need to start the games […]

Regional results

26 January 2025 0 comments

Results and tables supplied by the RFU … Continue reading… Access all our premium content from as little as 14p per day! SUBSCRIBE Already a […]

Bill Sweeney determined to stay in RFU role until 2027

24 January 2025 0 comments

Bill Sweeney is determined to continue as Rugby Football Union chief executive until the 2027 World Cup and will only step down if the board […]

RFU chief Bill Sweeney ‘wanted to defer’ controversial bonus payment

22 January 2025 0 comments

Bill Sweeney, the under-fire chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, has revealed he wanted to defer the controversial bonus payment that has led to […]

We are all paying for the financial errors of the RFU

19 January 2025 0 comments

Who, other than for self-aggrandisement, is going to invest in rugby? The Premiership has never ever returned a profit. Several leading clubs are currently in […]

The RFU Board has failed to do its job properly

19 January 2025 0 comments

The employment of the crisis management company, Teneo, by the incumbent RFU administration to help it weather the SGM storm is a scandal – especially […]