CATEGORIES

Baxter praise for 'fantastic' Woodburn

OLLY Woodburn is excited to be 'centre of attention' at Exeter Chiefs this season.

Furbank: I can't wait to take on All Blacks

GEORGE Furbank missed a chance to get one over the All Blacks in July now he has his eyes trained on the rematch at Twickenham next month.

Prem chief defends Morrow approach

PREMIERSHIP chiefs have rushed to defend their handling of the Phil Morrow situation which caused a split among clubs.

Campese: Schmidt is wrong man for Aussies

DAVID Campese delivered a blunt message regarding Joe Schmidt’s position as Australia’s head coach, claiming the Kiwi isn’t right for the role because he doesn’t understand the Wallabies’ culture and history.

How London Welsh are working way back to top

William Gupwell goes down to south-west London to find a club out to rediscover itself

Sorry, Geoff, but let's not de-power scrums

EVERY week I can’t wait for Sunday to come around so that I can read The Rugby Paper and see what is really happening in our game.

Howdy! England pair saddle up to spread the word

JESS Breach and Ellie Kildunne have launched their new podcast Rugby Rodeo with one ambition in mind – to grow the profile of the women’s game.

I put in three good shots on Jonah Lomu

BACK in the day, when we first started in Leagues in 1987, we began in North East 2.

Dupont & Co need to take on the very best

I THINK we established long ago that my admiration of Antoine Dupont knows no bounds, he is the best rugby player I have ever reported on or watched in the flesh, pipping Gareth Edwards by a short head, but there is no question that there is a gaping huge hole in his CV which many cite against him when the all-time lists are compiled and debated.

Tuipulotu's power is too much for Cardiff

SCOTLAND star Sione Tuipulotu has been hailed as one of the best three 12s in the world following his player of the match display in this 13-try rollercoaster at the Arms Park.

Following in father's footsteps ... but for how long?

CAST your minds back, those of you who are sufficiently long in the tooth, to Melbourne in late October 2003.

Borthwick should call up these young props

IT WAS surprising that neither of England’s U20 world champion props, Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale) or Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester), were in the England training squad going to Portugal ahead of the autumn series.

Lively Reed lights the spark to ignite Sharks

AARON Reed proved to be Sale’s pivotal weapon, and the perfect foil in both attack and defence to ensure Sharks came out on the right side of a nine-try nailbiter on Friday.

Ace Smith has Saints back on right road

FIN Smith won the battle of the No.10s against namesake Marcus as the champions secured backto-back victories after their rocky start at Bath.

Second-best Bath trumped by Bears

BRILLIANT Bristol turned the formbook on its head with a statement win over their keenest rivals before a sell-out crowd at The Rec.

Time for Marcus and Ben to link up

THERE’S speculation that Alex Mitchell and George Ford are unlikely to feature for England in the early stages of the autumn internationals due to injuries, but usually you would look at the team that finished the last game for nearly all the starters.

I'd be happy to step up at 12 - Atkinson

GLOUCESTER’S Seb Atkinson aims to show he can be the solution to England’s problem at No.12.

England is still my target Spencer

BEN SPENCER will continue to put his best foot forward – either his left or his right, it makes no odds – in his bid to become England’s No.9 this autumn.

Centurion Skinner out to join elite club

EVER since Harvey Skinner made his debut for Exeter eight years ago, players from the club have been capped in every position – except his own.

JVP 'better than ever' after his year of hell

ENGLAND head coach Steve Borthwick will see a new, improved Jack van Poortvliet when he pitches up at national training this week.

Cowan-Dickie tipped for an England return

SALE Sharks boss Alex Sanderson has backed hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie to play a prominent part in England’s autumn, and stay in the Premiership as a result.

Albion make most of generosity of the host

‘THIS was a first half to forget for us’, summed up Stortford head coach Tom Coleman, when he said his side made far too many errors and gave Plymouth a big foothold in the contest to emerge victorious.

I came on against Italy and made a difference

I’M currently five years into being master in charge of rugby at Barnard Castle School, which is where it all began for me on my journey to becoming a professional rugby player.

Etzebeth has final word as Springboks claim crown

SOUTH Africa claimed the Rugby Championship for the first time since 2019 with a commanding display in Mbombela on a special day for legendary second row Eben Etzebeth.

Hawkins still has Wales in his sight

JOE Hawkins insists he still harbours dreams of representing Wales again at international level.

Thomas leads the charge for Cardiff

CARDIFF turned around an early 15-0 deficit to claim a second successive bonus point victory and gain revenge for last season’s two defeats to the Scarlets.

Fiji deserve to play with best in world

EVERY underdog has its day, as Daniel Dubois reminded us in knocking an entire cathedral’s worth of bells out of Anthony Joshua in London – or, as the capital city is now sycophanticallyknown by those who make the biggest bucks from the fight game, Riyadh-on-Thames.

Captaining Tigers is an honour Chessum

IT WAS quite the comeback for Ollie Chessum, not just personally, but collectively, as Leicester Tigers kicked off their new Premiership season with a lastgasp victory at Exeter Chiefs.

Wade rolls back the years with hat-trick

CHRISTIAN Wade rolled back the years with a hat-trick of tries as Gloucester won a bizarre thriller for a first victory at Ashton Gate after six consecutive defeats.

Falcons show spirit but Quins do enough

HARLEQUINS duly secured the bonus point win that most pundits expected but Newcastle will have been far from downhearted as they made the long coach journey home.