The Rugby Paper - December 22, 2024

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December 22, 2024

Call to axe Sweeney 'as soon as possible'

BILL Sweeney’s tenure as RFU chief executive is in a precarious position after Bill Beaumont’s announcement as an interim RFU Board Chairman resulted in increased unrest among over 200 clubs calling for a Special General Meeting.

3 mins

Willis: I'm loving my life with Toulouse

WHILE some sides would consider the tag of defending champions as a target on their backs, it appears Toulouse see it more as a badge of honour having started their European campaign in ominous fashion.

3 mins

Speedster Ollie ends the year on a high

OLLIE Sleightholme will not be among those glad to see the back of 2024 – a year in which he made his England debut, marked the birth of his daughter, Lyra, and won the Premiership with Northampton.

3 mins

Steward leads calls for Cheika to stay at Tigers

MICHAEL Cheika will hold talks with Leicester after Christmas over his future having signed a one-year contract with the East Midlands club.

2 mins

Defeats will spur us on - Randall

HARRY Randall believes Bristol’s two Champions Cup defeats against Leinster and La Rochelle this month will help them in their quest to win the Premiership for the first time.

3 mins

England's outsiders deserve a chance niveste cu

IT’S just six weeks before the start of the 2025 Six Nations, and since Steve Borthwick became England head coach his main message to the media has been we want to get better. However, by the end of the autumn series, Borthwick had become a bit more critical, saying that England were not fit enough, and were not carrying what they had been doing in training into matches.

4 mins

Rampaging Bears tear Tigers apart

BRISTOL produced a memorable display of attacking rugby which left Leicester thoroughly shaken and stirred.

2 mins

Anguish for Chiefs as Sale march on

GEORGE Ford’s educated right boot proved hugely instrumental as Sale subjected rock-bottom Exeter to yet more misery and gloom.

2 mins

Tompkins hits the 200-mark for Saracens

MARK McCall has hailed Nick Tompkins, who makes his 200th appearance today for Saracens against champions Northampton at StoneX Stadium, as the epitome of a player the club aims to produce.

3 mins

No Mostert? That's got to be a mistake

HERE'S a funny thing: one of the more prominent rugby sites on the world wide web super information highway thingy has just published its list of the 100 best players in the sport. And no, the Spring-bok lock Franco Mostert isn't in it. ALLOWED

1 min

Hopkins in snatch it

AFTER the resignation of their popular head coach Toby Booth earlier in the week, Ospreys were given a huge boost when replacement Iestyn Hopkins crashed over with the clock in overtime to condemn their fiercest rivals to yet another defeat in Swansea.

2 mins

Saracens fight back to overcome Bears

SARACENS secured a pulsating victory over a Hannah Botterman-inspired Bristol Bears to move to within a point of the summit of the table.

1 min

I've still got plenty to give, says Beaumont

JOSH Beaumont prepares to put his body on the festive front line again in the Sale cause revealing his biggest “regret” has been not winning an England cap.

2 mins

I always wanted to play an exciting form of rugby

THERE were periods of my career where I felt like I was playing well enough to earn a shot with England. However, if you look at the way England’s gone, even with Marcus Smith now, he gets taken off when he is playing fantastic rugby just because he’s more of a flair player and as a result has a stigma attached.

6 mins

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