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Gopperth misses out on top flight

2 June 2024 0 comments

FRENCH COLUMN By JAMES HARRINGTON Jimmy Gopperth won’t be the oldest-ever player to feature in the Top 14 next season after all, after his Provence […]

Once again, the French wizard calls the shots

26 May 2024 0 comments

PAUL REES Is there anything Antoine Dupont cannot do? Drop a goal with his left foot from his own half, perhaps? Wrestle a scrum penalty […]

Try tsunami sends a mixed message

26 May 2024 0 comments

Peter Jackson looks at an increase in points scored but suggests the figures may be hiding a problem for the Premiership. Over the last seven […]

Hurricanes fly-half to replace Burns at Ulster

26 May 2024 0 comments

Ulster are set to make their second signing for next season with Hurricanes‘ fly-half Aidan Morgan to join the province. The New Zealander, who is […]

TV deal hits the €700m jackpot

26 May 2024 0 comments

By JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Jeroboams of champagne all round at Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) headquarters earlier this week, after its TV rights tender […]

Danny hails departing ‘Quins legend’ Collier

19 May 2024 0 comments

By BEN JAYCOCK Harlequins’ household names are nearing the end of their careers but scrum-half Danny Care believes their new coaching team has built a […]

Ex-Wasps buzzing for European glory

19 May 2024 0 comments

By BEN JAYCOCK Thibaud Flament has risen from Loughborough University’s fifth team to become a French international with the intention of next weekend becoming a […]

‘We have to manage load’

19 May 2024 0 comments

PAUL REES EXAMINES THE FALLOUT FROM GLOUCESTER’S 90-0 HIDING BY NORTHAMPTON SAINTS George Skivington has had better weeks. He knew his decision to field a […]

Cup final is genuine clash of the giants

19 May 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES Nearly half of the Champions Cup finals have involved Toulouse or Leinster, the two most successful sides in the competition, but Saturday […]

Slade extends his stay at the Chiefs

19 May 2024 0 comments

ENGLAND centre Henry Slade has agreed a new contract with Exeter. The 31-year-old has won 62 caps for England and started all five Six Nations […]

Dramatic finale puts Brive into play-offs

19 May 2024 0 comments

By JAMES HARRINGTON The ProD2 supplied a final glorious regular-season round for the ages in a perfectly timed reminder to broadcasters interested in bidding for […]

Vunipola trio to depart Saracens

14 May 2024 0 comments

Saracens players Billy, Mako and Manu Vunipola are to leave the North London club at the end of the current campaign. The trio have amassed […]

Game in England is good, says Ford

12 May 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES George Ford feels English rugby is on the up after a testing couple of years on and off the field and has […]

Power of the four musketeers

12 May 2024 0 comments

A common theme of last weekend’s Champions Cup semi-finals was the influence of the four scrum-halves, the catalysts of teams that look to get the […]

Davies the leading light in Welsh quartet

12 May 2024 0 comments

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Four international fly-halves took flight from Wales last year, understandably so given the alternative of staying put […]

I may sell Toulon for €1 – Lemaitre

12 May 2024 0 comments

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN A matter of weeks after ProD2 strugglers Biarritz were sold for €1, Toulon owner Bernard Lemaitre suggested he might be willing […]

Kinghorn: Move to Toulouse has given me fresh impetus

5 May 2024 0 comments

By BEN JAYCOCK BLAIR Kinghorn feels his move to European giants Toulouse has been a career revitalisation after ‘becoming stagnant at Edinburgh’. The versatile 27-yearold […]

Masuku hits the target for Sharks

5 May 2024 0 comments

By BEN JAYCOCK Sharks ……………..32pts Tries: Koch 61, Mapimpi 71 Conversions: Masuku 62, 72 Penalties: Masuku 4, 9, 14, 19, 26, 29 Clermont…………. 31pts Tries: […]

Harsh reality is that PRL costs must be cut

5 May 2024 0 comments

CAN we afford a PGP? The short answer, unfortunately, has to be a “yes” since, with the Premiership clubs controlling the contracts of all top […]

The ringfence which is encouraging open play

5 May 2024 0 comments

JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME THERE have been a few articles written about how the Premiership has started to play a […]

EPCR Challenge Cup semi-final preview

3 May 2024 0 comments

For the second year in a row each of the four Challenge Cup semi-finalists come from a different country, but it’s a side representing a […]

Vunipola arrested and tasered twice in Majorca incident

29 April 2024 0 comments

Saracens and former England number eight Billy Vunipola has been arrested following a violent incident in a bar in Majorca. According to reports in The […]

Falcons face battle to break their duck

By PAUL REES Bordeaux-Begles ………..41pts Tries: Lucu 19, Buros 24, Depoortere 42, Bielle-Biarrey 59, Tambwe 64, 75 Conversions: Lucu 25, 43, 60, 65 Penalties: Lucu […]

Easy to spot the fairer competition

14 April 2024 0 comments

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 […]

Another barmy idea from the men in suits

14 April 2024 0 comments

The Ministry of Silly Walks was a Monty Python sketch which lampooned bureaucratic inefficiency. Rugby Union requires something similar to shame the unaccountable administrators turning […]

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 […]

Time to create a new dynasty

14 April 2024 0 comments

Paul Rees looks at what Mark McCall needs to do at Saracens as several big names head for the exit door WHEN Saracens first won […]

Andre Boniface, the epitome of French flair

14 April 2024 0 comments

FRENCH rugby has paid tribute to one of its greats this week – Andre Boniface, who died at the age of 89 last Monday. A […]

Montpellier lead chase for Munster ace Frisch

7 April 2024 0 comments

Montpellier are leading the chase for Munster centre Antoine Frisch, who has declared his allegiance to France over Ireland. Born in Fontainebleau, France, Frisch qualifies […]

England need access to their overseas stars

7 April 2024 0 comments

JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK ENGLAND and New Zealand, who meet in a two-Test series this summer, find themselves in similar places due […]

Ntamack back for heavyweight clash

7 April 2024 0 comments

By PAUL REES PREVIEW… Toulouse vRacing 92 Today. Kick-off 3pm, Stade Ernest Wallon ROMAIN Ntamack starts his first match since suffering knee ligament damage in […]

Ulster set for massive fight

7 April 2024 0 comments

Preview Montpellier v Ulster Today. 12.30pm ULSTER interim head coach Richie Murphy says a ‘massive test’ awaits in Montpellier. Ulster have lost their last two […]

Clermont survive second-half scare

7 April 2024 0 comments

Clermont ……..27 Cheetahs …….22 ■By BEN JAYCOCK THREE-TIME Challenge Cup winners Clermont held off a Cheetahs fightback to earn a place in the last eight. […]

Carreras’ boot keeps Gloucester in control

7 April 2024 0 comments

By ROGER PANTING Gloucester ……… 30pts Tries: Mercer 8, May 27, Llewellyn 32 Conversions: Carreras 8, 27, 32 Penalties: Carreras 54, 60, 79 Castres …………….25pts […]

It’s still all to play for in race to the finishing line

7 April 2024 0 comments

Paul Rees predicts a nerve-racking end to the Premiership season where bonus points will prove crucial THE two-month Premiership break has made the jostling for […]

‘Immortal’ Whitelock to retire

7 April 2024 0 comments

By SAM JACKSON NEW Zealand’s mostcapped player Sam Whitelock will retire at the end of the French club season in June. The lock, who played […]

TV deal to break €500m barrier

7 April 2024 0 comments

FRENCH COLUMN – JAMES HARRINGTON France’s Ligue Nationale de Rugby hopes to pocket more than half-a-billion euros, after launching a call for tenders for Top […]

Premier Sports is set to get back to ‘business as usual’

7 April 2024 0 comments

IRELAND-BASED sports broadcaster Premier Sports makes its long-expected return to British EPGs on Tuesday April 9, after its buyout of Viaplay’s UK sports broadcast arm […]

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