Sam Warburton - News, analysis and opinion -The Rugby Paper

Tag: Sam Warburton

Is James Botham the answer for Wales’ blindside flanker issues?

21 November 2024 0 comments

By Peter Ryan – @PeterRyanSports Even though Welsh rugby has endured some very dark days, many players are currently showing promising signs for the future. […]

We will all suffer in the land of the giants

17 November 2024 0 comments

By Chris Hewett – Thinking Allowed It was the rugby version of Easy Street, the 1917 silent movie in which Charlie Chaplin, playing a policeman, […]

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 […]

‘My school tour to SA changed me’ – Christ Tshiunza

10 November 2024 0 comments

Simon Thomas talks to Christ Tshiunza about his personal journey from Africa to Wales From Kinshasa to Cardiff, from Exeter to the international stage, it’s […]

Maesteg Harlequins a beacon of hope

3 November 2024 0 comments

AT a time when too many clubs all over England and Wales have gone to rack and ruin, Maesteg Harlequins shine through the gloom as […]

Harri Deaves – Wales’ next backrow superstar?

11 October 2024 0 comments

By Peter Ryan – @PeterRyanSports At a time when the national team is looking for world-class talent across the pitch, the depth in the back […]

Dan Biggar sees promising signs with Warren Gatland’s Wales rebuild

19 August 2024 0 comments

Wales are on a run of nine successive Test match defeats. Dan Biggar believes Wales have something to build on after displaying “enough promising signs” […]

We have makings of a good team – Gatland

14 July 2024 0 comments

Wales produced their best performance of the year but still fell to their ninth successive defeat – and a 15th loss in 21 Tests since […]

Wales show defiance but the wait goes on

14 July 2024 0 comments

PETER JACKSON All week long the Red Dragon legions had planned their regimental mobilisation with just enough military precision to let them catch the action […]

The British & Irish Lions are back!

5 July 2024 0 comments

And they promise to bigger and better than ever when they hit Australian shores a year from now. It will have been eight years since […]

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 […]

All set for a race to the finish

17 March 2024 0 comments

With the Premiership resuming next weekend, Paul Rees looks at how the runners and riders are gearing up The Premiership resumes this week after an […]

How can coaches be so optimistic?

3 March 2024 0 comments

I KNOW untimely injuries have not been helpful but what a disappointing showing over all three games (and quite a few at the World Cup […]

Morse: Warburton is my inspiration

18 February 2024 0 comments

By SIMON THOMAS Rising star Morgan Morse has revealed how he has drawn inspiration from the words of former Wales and Lions skipper Sam Warburton. […]

Why France are my favourites for the title

28 January 2024 0 comments

JEREMY GUSCOTT Peter O’Mahony’s appointment as Ireland captain for the Six Nations at the age of 34 was a little surprising, in much the same […]

The tackle: Different options are available

28 January 2024 0 comments

Dafydd Jenkins’ yellow card last week for Exeter against Bayonne has caused much debate with most people agreeing that is was almost physically impossible for […]

How O’Mahony answered Ireland’s Call

25 January 2024 0 comments

In a tournament full of as many great moments as the recent World Cup, a handheld sign in the crowd wouldn’t ordinarily rank very highly. […]

Ryan has to wise up and show respect

17 December 2023 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Maybe one day James Ryan will find it in him to send a note of gratitude to […]

Nos Da, Dennis, my lovely boy

3 December 2023 0 comments

Dennis Gethin would have been highly amused had someone told him that his 12-year presidential reign on this side of the Atlantic equalled Franklin Delano […]

Village teams which gave stars their start

29 October 2023 0 comments

SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND WHEN the Principality Stadium crowd rises to salute Leigh Halfpenny as he makes his final appearance on the international […]

Warburton: Ball in play time ‘crucial’ in France

3 September 2023 0 comments

By BEN JAYCOCK Sam Warburton believes fitness and management of ball in play time could be the difference in this World Cup. Warburton, who won […]

What’s in The Rugby Paper: 03/09/23

1 September 2023 0 comments

The Rugby World Cup is just around the corner, and you can find a team-by-team preview of the highly anticipated competition in The Rugby Paper […]

Home of Premiership Rugby TNT Sports goes live

18 July 2023 0 comments

TNT Sports goes live today throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland, replacing BT Sport and is the new home of Gallagher Premiership Rugby with […]

Enforce laws and game will be safer

4 June 2023 0 comments

WORLD Rugby should abandon their ‘player welfare’ platitudes and make the game safer by merely enforcing its own laws. A fortnight ago in The Rugby […]

Gatland can get Wales on top again

7 May 2023 0 comments

CHRIS HEWETT Few people on God’s earth know more about professional Welsh rugby than Warren Gatland, who successfully coached the Test side through three World […]

Young focuses on leadership after claims players threw eggs in pub

9 October 2022 0 comments

By STEFFAN THOMAS Dai Young has urged his Cardiff players to take more responsibility on and off the field and admits the club lacks leaders. […]

Shaun’s turned Achilles heel into French strength

6 March 2022 0 comments

SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND There was always a chance whenever I played against France of finding a gap or getting some space. It […]

Moriarty’s physicality will be vital in Dublin

30 January 2022 1 comment

SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND Momentum is everything in the Six Nations and whoever comes out on top in the opening round will take […]

Sexton and Biggar aim to break tradition

30 January 2022 1 comment

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Johnny Sexton sets out on Saturday aiming to be the first flyhalf to skipper a Grand Slam […]

Chatty men Sexton and Biggar give refs earache

23 January 2022 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW The most argumentative of fly-halves to be found in Europe, or anywhere else for that matter, are […]

No guff, just gumption from my top XV pundits

14 November 2021 1 comment

CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST It is falling-off-a-log easy to poke fun at the battalions of exrugby professionals who earn a living – or, in the […]

Cudd makes return to lead Josh’s Quins pack

17 October 2021 0 comments

By ROB COLE NIC Cudd used to play with and against Cardiff skipper Josh Turnbull, but these days he is being coached by him. The […]

Monye can waltz into a whole new world

19 September 2021 1 comment

CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST When Ugo Monye squeezes himself into a sequined toreador’s jacket, spangly tights and a feather boa for the paso doble round […]

3 Brand Merchandising Lessons to Learn from Rugby World Cup Tournaments

23 August 2021 0 comments

Organised sports and competitions are an integral part of human civilisation. From the time of the earliest Olympics, men, women, and children went crazy over […]

I’ve changed my mind now says Warburton

22 August 2021 0 comments

FORMER Lions captain Sam Warburton says he has changed his view over a concern expressed in his autobiography that a player could die on the […]

Name-change for Cardiff is a home-coming for legend Peter

22 August 2021 0 comments

Q&A ON THE RECORD PETER THOMAS Benefactor: Peter Thomas is Cardiff’s geatest backer Peter Thomas played for Cardiff in the 1960s and counted some of […]

Lions series needed Buzz Aldrin at full-back | Chris Hewett

8 August 2021 1 comment

There are those revered for their kicking ability over the decades, but the sport has changed its dynamics and expectations since then, writes Chris Hewett

Lions have blind spot for English flankers in Test series openers | Peter Jackson

25 July 2021 2 comments

How the each of the four unions have contributed to first Test selection on Lions tours going back to 1971, and the trends that arise

Poite was plain wrong, there is no justification | Peter Jackson

11 July 2021 1 comment

The All Blacks may still hold rancour up to the next Lions tour over Romain Poite’s decision to not penalise Ken Owens late on against the Lions in 2017

Patriot Josh throws his hat into the ring for Wales

30 May 2021 0 comments

By ALEX BYWATER Standout all season: Cardiff’s Josh Turnbull JOSH Turnbull has revealed he once turned down a lucrative offer to join a Premiership team in […]

Lions cash ‘should go to game’s grassroots’

16 May 2021 2 comments

THE Lions will be almost three times better off than their victorious predecessors in South Africa this summer despite a 25 per cent pay cut. […]

Thomas: Ted Hill deserves next shot with England

9 May 2021 1 comment

Worcester Warriors head coach Jonathan Thomas believes Ted Hill is far from the finished article and deserves a chance to grow with England this summer

These men are the pride of All the Lions for last 20 years

9 May 2021 0 comments

Chris Hewett picks, position by position, the best Lions XV from the professional era The idea of rugby selection as an art rather than a […]

Wrong to get second chance after seeing red | Shane Williams

18 April 2021 1 comment

Red card replacements, like those seen in Super Rugby Aotearoa, will not bring positive change to rugby as the Rainbow Cup prepares to trial the proposed law

There’s still room for skill in the women’s game

11 April 2021 2 comments

JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME At last the women’s game has an equal platform to the men. The BBC finally handed them […]

Welsh luck ran out but future looks much brighter | Shane Williams

21 March 2021 0 comments

Shane Williams looks back on Wales’ loss in Paris with admiration for Wayne Pivac’s side

Dusautoir feels the pain of World Cup failure

21 March 2021 0 comments

Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby’s most enduring images, their story and why they are still so impactful I conic Rugby Pictures: PART 52 French captain can’t bring […]

Yellow cards cost us says Sam

21 March 2021 0 comments

SAM Warburton bemoaned Wales’ lack of discipline after a lastgasp Brice Dulin try denied them a Grand Slam. After Gail Fickou’s red card, Wales conceded […]