By Jon Newcombe PREVIEW… Saracens v Exeter Chiefs Today. Kick-off 3pm, StoneX Stadium Players may have come and gone but the big-game rivalry between Exeter […]
CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED CRITICAL supporters of Bristol in the late amateur era believed their team was being straitjacketed by a rigidly traditional committee structure […]
PAUL REES LOOKS AT THE CHALLENGES FACING EX-CHAMPIONS AS THEY PREPARE FOR LIFE WITHOUT YOU-KNOW-WHO LAST season marked the end of an era for Saracens. […]
PAUL REES LOOKS AT WHY EXETER’S DOR HAS PUT PLAYER RETENTION AHEAD OF RECRUITMENT AT SANDY PARK The most eye-catching result of the Premiership season […]
The slow financial recovery from the pandemic showed in recent statements from the Scottish and Welsh unions who are both overseeing periods of austerity which […]
By PAUL REES Sam Matavesi knew something had changed when he joined up with Northampton after Fiji’s World Cup quarter-final exit last autumn. “Something seemed […]
PAUL REES LOOKS FORWARD TO THE PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINALS: NORTHAMPTON v SARACENS AND BATH v SALE NORTHAMPTON The Saints finished at the top of the […]
By PAUL REES Even someone without Steve Diamond’s coaching experience would have known that taking over at Newcastle was never going to turn them into […]
JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK Saracens are the defending Premiership champions, and Mark McCall’s side are looking more and more capable as we […]
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK ARE marquee players, or coaches, worth it, or are they just a Premiership owners’ vanity project? Judging […]
By PAUL REES Northampton had the chance last night to quiz Dan McKellar about their Champions Cup semi-final opponents Leinster but, before the East Midlands […]
By BEN JAYCOCK Despite their fierce London rivalry with Harlequins, Saracens backs coach Kevin Sorrell is pleased two Premiership sides reached the last four of […]
JEFF Page wrote last week a letter headlined ‘easier to spot the fairer competition’ in which he compared Leicester unfavourably with Leinster. Leicester is a […]
Paul Rees looks ahead to the Champions Cup semi-finals where Quins and Saints are facing an uphill battle BEFORE this season’s Champions Cup started, there […]
BRENDAN Gallagher reports on Leinster’s convincing win over Leicester Tigers in the European Champions Cup last 16. The Leinster side is drawn from a variety […]
Leicester Tigers have again been fined for exceeding the Premiership salary cap. The club have been handed a £47,000 overrun tax for going over the […]
The recent announcement of a second salary cap infringement by Leicester indicates that the Premiership’s policing of its own financial regulations remains desperately inadequate – […]
Leicester’s latest fine for salary cap irregularities – their second in as many years – throws up an interesting question or two about the structure […]
NICK CAIN – READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK SEETHING financial undercurrents are undermining the main pillars of the game in England, with the professional […]
Diamond’s warning to his young guns By PAUL REES Steve Diamond has warned his young charges at Newcastle to beware of offers from other Premiership […]
CHRIS HEWETT Rugby’s political scene is quite lively enough when the arguments are being conducted in a sporting echo chamber. When it finds itself up […]
By JON NEWCOMBE Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson still harbours some hope that Courtney Lawes has a future at Franklin’s Gardens beyond the end […]
RUGBY MATTERS I don’t know about you but it’s occasionally been a bit of a torture watching Owen Farrell struggle with himself ever since England’s […]
Owen Farrell’s much-rumoured move to Racing 92 has been confirmed, ending his 15-year career at English champions Saracens. Farrell, 32, captained England in their most […]
By JON NEWCOMBE Alex Sanderson remains against increasing the Premiership salary cap back up to £6.4 million after his club Sale Sharks and Friday’s opponents […]
Northampton are struggling to hold on to Courtney Lawes. The 34-year-old former England flanker, who retired from international rugby after the World Cup, is mulling […]