CATEGORIES

Varndell fears for future generation

TOM Varndell says that allowing three Premiership teams to go under this season is ‘completely unforgivable’ and urges a major restructure of the sport

Bainbridge can't wait for life as a Falcon

FORAGING flanker Josh Bainbridge is looking forward to starting his Newcastle Falcons career after a whirlwind pre-season

Gatland to consider sending SOS to second row Ball

Welsh coach poised to send an SOS to Ball

'CVC deal is very bad for rugby'

FRANCIS Baron believes that the RFU is in the grip of a crisis which has been fuelled by the CVC Six Nations deal it signed in 2021

We want Worcester to play at Sixways again

Ben Jaycock speaks to Worcester Warriors Supporters Trust founder Marcus Mulcahy about the group's plans to revitalise the club

YOUNG GUNS

ARCHIE HUGHES - SCARLETS & WALES U20 SCRUM-HALF

Simple Minds? No, I put up posters of David Sole

ALLAN JACOBSEN FORMER SCOTLAND PROP AND ALL-TIME APPEARANCE RECORD HOLDER FOR EDINBURGH

How Ellie fell back in love with the game

HAVING turned away from the sport as a teenager, Sevens flyer Ellie Boatman is now revelling in the newly formed Great Britain team. England, Scotland and Wales combined to form Team GB ahead of this season in a move to try to make the team stronger for the Paris Olympic Games next year.

Fijians on a roll as they race past Reds

Super Rugby Pacific round-up

Harvey set for life on the other side

AFTER 11 seasons with Taunton Titans, Brett Harvey has decided it’s time to enjoy the game from the other side of the whitewash.

Lancashire find it pays to talk

BEFORE the County Cup season started, Lancashire women’s head coach Chris Hall encouraged his side to spend more time together off the field in order to play better on it.

Shock for England as Georgia take it

GEORGIAN rugby’s emphatic rise continues as their U20s secured a first-ever victory against England that resulted in wild celebrations with a pitch invasion at Avchala Stadium.

Helping to develop the best referees

Paul Rees talks to Chris White about the specialist programme which has trained some of the top refs in world rugby

Graham struggling to land a new deal

HOMELESS, a second child on the way and no job. That is the brutal reality confronting Gary Graham as one of the many professional rugby players feeling the effects of a shrinking Premiership.

Sanderson: We and not just be

SALE took their pain to Spain. The day after the Premiership final defeat to Saracens at Twickenham, the players and management flew to Marbella where director of rugby Alex Sanderson issued a rousing rallying cry.

We will have to front up, says Laidlaw

SCOTLAND’S players need to swiftly “front up” to the reality of their World Cup pool if they are to avoid a second straight group-stage exit, says former captain Greig Laidlaw.

Dickens raring to get going at Tigers

LEICESTER Tigers new attack and backs coach Alan Dickens is excited about reuniting with the multitude of players he coached while in charge of England U20s.

Ospreys to demand a transfer fee for Francis

OSPREYS are demanding a transfer fee for Wales prop Tomas Francis, France-bound after completing business at the World Cup.

'England are dark horses for big prize'

ENGLAND can be World Cup dark horses who “sneak up” on the rail and gallop off with rugby’s biggest prize.

Fakatava the star as Highlanders steal it

Super Rugby Pacific round-up

Toulouse look set to take top spot

TONIGHT, more than 24 hours after both the Premiership and URC celebrated their champions for the 2022/23 campaign, the Top 14 reaches its last regular season round, with three weeks of post-season play-off phase still to come.

It's right that Wasps start again from the bottom

AS I look at the Wasps saga, I can’t help thinking that this was something that was always on the cards, given the way that Wasps reacted to the advent of the professional game.

Trio complete an incredible journey

Ben Jaycock talks to Ed Jackson, the former Wasps forward who took up mountaineering after hurting his back

Ireland mustn't copy this breakdown flaw

THE tumultuous happenings in Dublin last week were on such a large scale that it would be remiss not to revisit the two European finals one more time before we set our sights firmly on the build up to the World Cup and then the tournament itself.

Burns delight as Aitchison blooms

HOLLY Aitchison was nominated for Women’s Six Nations player of the tournament and her former teacher Gill Burns says the England fly-half is the most determined sports woman she’s ever seen.

Top two get ready for county showdown

THE Bill Beaumont County Cup has been overlooked and underfunded by the RFU in recent years, but finalist head coaches Taff Gwilliam and Alex Loney both still see the competition as the ‘lifeblood’ of the community game ahead of today’s final at Twickenham.

Nothing could top that 38-38 draw with England

MY LIFEIN RUGBYBYRON MCGUIGAN THE FORMER SCOTLAND, GLASGOW, EXETER AND BORDER BULLDOGS WINGER WHO HAS JUST BROUGHT THE CURTAIN DOWN ON HIS SALE SHARKS PLAYING CAREER

We need more time to prepare the 2025 Lions

I WAS fortunate enough to go on two tours with the British & Irish Lions and then to be called up briefly for a third in 2013. They were incredible experiences, the final seal of approval on your career as an international player.

Masterful Skelton is the talk of the town

IF Simon Shaw of England was a 20-storey tower block of a lock blessed with penthouse levels of skill and self-restraint, Michel Palmie of France was no match when it came to the tale of the tape – unless we’re talking about his liberal use of orthopaedic strapping, which left him looking like the profoundly unromantic lead in The Mummy’s Curse. The Beziers bruiser of old hit his heights, among other things, in other areas: aggression, intimidation, general malevolence.

Blackheath take lion’s share

NATIONAL TWO EAST DREAM TEAM >> THE BEST XV FROM THE 2022-23 SEASON | Ben Jaycock canvassed the views of our National Two East reporters to compile The Rugby Paper’s 2022-23 Team of the Season