Proctor: We still believe we can make top four

MATT Proctor was expecting the Premiership to be a slog when he arrived from New Zealand but the All Blacks centre has felt at home in a league where variety has spiced up his sporting life.

Alex eyes glory finish to iffy start in France

ALEX LOZOWSKI hopes to end a rollercoaster year in France on a high by adding a European Challenge Cup winner’s medal to the two he gained in the Champions Cup with Saracens.

Tomas chasing a champagne finish at Chiefs

TOMAS FRANCIS intends savouring every remaining minute he has as an Exeter player before his summer move to the Ospreys.

Thomas: Ted deserves next shot with England

WORCESTER head coach Jonathan Thomas says the Warriors should have at least a double interest in England’s summer schedule – despite their disappointing season.

Strict new protocols provoke reaction

Less than a month to the end of the season, and less than two months to the hoped-for crowning of the next champion of France, the LNR has imposed strict new health protocols on the 30 clubs in the Top 14 and Pro D2.

Why I always find myself rooting against the Irish

As I watched the Champions Cup semi-final between La Rochelle and Leinster, cheering for the French team, it got me wondering why, despite having no particular affinity for either side, I’d opted to support them.

Game on for top six with Jacob back from his blip

WASPS head to The Stoop today looking for redemption and the sort of consistency that has eluded them in what has been a rollercoaster season.

Lam urges law change to eliminate ‘latching'

PAT Lam hopes World Rugby will act quickly to outlaw an attacker latching on to a ball carrier before a tackle has been made, fearing an increase in concussion rates if nothing is done.

Genge tells Lions: Be wary of Wiese!

Wiese has given the Tigers the formidable ball-carrying option they’ve been in desperate need of for years, the No.8 making a huge impact on the Premiership, and opposite defenders, in his first full season at Welford Road.

Battling Bundee can fill Manu void

I don’t think anyone saw Bundee Aki gate-crashing the Lions squad especially as we thought that if everyone had been fit and ready at centre then Manu Tuilagi’s ramrod-straight confrontational running would have made him one of the first backs on Warren Gatland’s list.

Big mistake not picking Danny insists Bracken

ABOVE all others Danny Care should have been the scrumhalf selected to take the game to the Boks for the Lions, says 1997 tourist Kyran Bracken.

Barbeary doesn't want to play numbers game

ALFIE BARBEARY is nearing a return to action, and doesn’t care if it is in the front row or back row.

Lam helps launch the dazzling rise of Samoa

Brendan Gallagher delves into some of rugby’s most enduring images, their story and why they are still so impactful

They're only human...just far stronger and fitter!

DANIEL GALLAN finds out what it’s like facing the mighty Saracens as a semi-professional

Wigan gave Union their wake-up call

It’s 25 years ago this Tuesday that a curious triptych of cross-code rugby encounters came to an end when Bath, playing Union laws, defeated Wigan Warriors 42-19 in front of 42,000 fans at Twickenham.

Fans finally back to feed Bears frenzy

BRISTOL have been running onto the pitch to the sound of The Greatest Showman this season. In truth, the Bears have been playing like lion tamers for months, but all to an empty amphitheater. Like all the best showmen, however, an audience is what’s needed to truly stir the blood.

Gavin fires the dream for Wood's Raiders

If he so wished, Aaron Wood could put one hand on his heart, the other on the bible, and solemnly swear that he runs a record-breaking footy outfit.

Watch out world, game in Japan will sky rocket

WHEN I moved to Japan in 2012 to play for Mitsubishi Dynaboars, I was one of the first northern hemisphere players to try their luck in the Far East.

So good to be back with the fans at Twickenham

At last, we had a meaningful weekend of rugby with two European Cup finals held back to back. Friday evening I watched the final of the European Challenge Cup, then yesterday we had the main show, the European Champions Cup, both held at Twickenham, the home of rugby.

Record man Sam reminds me of my old pal ‘Backy'

WHAT Sam Simmonds did this week in breaking the Premiership try-scoring record for a season is pretty exceptional.

England system is OK, just pick right players!

In his column last week, Jeff Probyn bemoaned the deals struck by the RFU and the Premiership to allow the national side to have access to the best England-qualified players around.

Australian quarantine puts clamp on Galthie

Seven weeks after France’s Six Nations’ campaign ended with that late, late loss to Scotland at Stade de France, Les Bleus’ coaching team reunited for the first time at Marcoussis.

Six Nations triumph can spur us on now vows Tipuric

JUSTIN Tipuric admits Wales’ Grand Slam heartbreak in Paris still haunts him, but he believes that Six Nations title win can drive the top Welsh players forward this summer.

TMO's not perfect but don't give him red card

Why after more than 20 years are we still allowing the Luddite tendency to question the role of the TMO? On BT Sport’s Rugby Tonight programme, one of the guests was JP Doyle, shamefully made redundant by the RFU. Now refereeing in the US league, he was part of the panel that discussed the use of the TMO – it was dispiriting to hear the same old ground still being debated, and fascinating because of what wasn’t mentioned.

We're fully charged up, McCall tells Trailfinders

MARK McCALL hopes to celebrate his new four-year Saracens contract by taking a huge step towards promotion back to the Premiership against their biggest Championship rivals.

This is how rugby can be saved from peril

FRANCIS Baron, acknowledged widely as English rugby’s most successful administrator of the professional era, says the RFU requires an urgent reset to put its house in order.

RFU and millionaires have led us by the nose

LAST month the RFU binned relegation for the foreseeable with the approval of the CBs (the community clubs’ representatives at HQ) isolating the 1400 community clubs from the... er, 13 elite clubs at the top of the pyramid.

Red Roses secure hat-trick of titles

EMILY SCARRATT kicked a late penalty to seal England’s third Women’s Six Nations title in a row with a hard-fought final win against France.

Monye spearheads the fight for rugby diversity

FORMER England wing Ugo Monye hopes that as chair of a new RFU advisory group he can help make rugby more accessible for all.

Dunn reaches 150 on return after red

TOM DUNN is determined to mark his 150th appearance in a Bath jersey – and his first game back from a three-week ban – with a win against Wasps.