CATEGORIES

New owners keen to inspire Bournemouth

BOURNEMOUTH Rugby Club, who currently play in Regional 2 South Central, at the sixth tier of the English rugby union system, are set to take a major leap into the future following a successful acquisition.

How the sun keeps shining for Spain

IT'S been an outstanding summer for Spain... and the good news keeps coming. Last month Los Leones embarked on a first-ever tour of the Pacific and recorded an historic 29-20 win over Tonga in Nuku'alofa, not to mention a narrow 34-30 defeat against Samoa in Apia the previous week.

The matchday vibe in Bath was awesome

I DIDN’T play rugby until I was 16, I was swimmer for most of my childhood in Pembrokeshire and I played cricket but athletics was the big one for me – I threw the discus.

Berry's briefest of brief encounters...

TEN summer Olympiads have come and all but gone since Marty Berry went off on a sprint which made Noah Lyles' in Paris the other night feel a bit sluggish.

What counts is how the money is spent

IT WAS a close-run thing but, after crunching the numbers harder than a caffeine-fuelled psephologist on election night, we can now predict the following with a high degree of confidence: there is more chance of Dan Cole outperforming Simone Biles on the uneven bars than of a badged and blazered rugger chap from some swanky corner of the shires erasing the word \"Twickenham\" from his vocabulary.

RFU must learn from Olympic gold rush

THE Paris Olympics should have rammed home an urgent reminder to the RFU that English rugby has to invest in an equivalent of the World Class Programme that has underpinned the significant increase in the number of Olympic medals – especially gold – at the last five games.

Diamond: We'll be fit and raring to go

STEVE Diamond insists Newcastle Falcons will be fit for purpose when they kick off the new Premiership season at home to Bristol on Friday, September 20.

Summerhill in hunt for a new deal

AS he comes to terms with being unemployed, Aled Summerhill admits he has taken a gamble, but is standing by his decision.

I'm at Tigers for the long haul - Cheika

TROUBLE-shooter Michael Cheika has told Leicester fans he is not just a quick fix merchant and is hoping to be in it for the long haul in the Midlands.

Matthews stepping into Pellegrini shoes

REPLACING World Cup star Pat Pellegrini could be perceived as a daunting prospect but Coventry new signing Tommy Matthews is confident he's up to the challenge.

Easter ‘appalled' by Prem Cup exclusion

NICK Easter has described the decision to exclude his Chinnor side and Cambridge from next season’s Premiership Cup as “appalling and astonishing.”

We must all share the blame -Youngs

BEN Youngs insists Leicester’s players only have themselves to blame for last season’s flop and not Dan McKellar who exited as head coach in June.

Halliday: I'm proud of united approach

SIMON Halliday has left his role as chairman of the Championship Clubs’ board both proud and frustrated by his 12 months in the role.

Jaminet appeals against long ban

FRANCE international Melvyn Jaminet is to appeal against a 34week suspension and €30,000 fine imposed by the FFR's disciplinary committee for posting a video to social media during the July tour of Argentina and Uruguay in which he made racist comments.

Good to see women winning more awards

It WAS disappointing that Team GB women's sevens side were unable to get any medals that we all thought they would. With a number of the team from England's World Cup runners-up squad in the 15s game, it was almost unthinkable that they would not get a medal of some sort.

Call me The Stag - but I was stuck with Bambi

IT'S been great watching the Rugby Sevens at the Olympics just now.

Farrell loves it, says Robinson

JASON Robinson always knew that his Wigan Warriors teammate Andy-Farrell would go onto great things as a coach he just did not realise that it would be in a different code.

Why SVNS makes sense for the future

Rugby sevens-or SVNS, as a London-based team of funkily-dressed marketing executives have somehow succeeded in rebranding it used to be known as \"the short game\".

Hastings opens up options for Townsend

IF YOU were to ask different Scottwo land fans for their assessment of the tour of the Americas, you would be forgiven if you thought they hadn't seen any of the same matches.

Golden girls put in final flourish

NEW Zealand proved themselves undisputed queens Olympic 7s by beatof ing Canada at the Stade de France to secure their second gold medal in a row.

Salvi adding steel to Georgia defence

WHEN it comes to taking on a challenge, Julian Salvi has never been backwards in coming forwards and he's relishing his latest one as Georgia's defence coach.

Thomas urges U20s to push on to the next level

AS the anticipation of the new season builds, Haydn Thomas has praised the England Under-20s squad for their impressive talent and potential.

'Sir Dicky' is delighted be knighted by the King

IN terms of Rugby Royalty, Richard Dicky' Evans certainly ranks among the historical greats.

A bundle of energy - the best around

Simon Thomas talks to Sir Gareth Edwards, rated by many as the greatest rugby player of all time, about the brilliance of Antoine Dupont

Uren: We must learn from Olympic setback

EMMA Uren has called on her GB Sevens team-mates to learn from a ground Olympic breaking campaign after they finished seventh at Paris 2024.

Bottom two ruled out of Prem Cup

NEWLY-promoted Chinnor and last year's bottom Championship side Cambridge are to be excluded from the 2024/25 Premiership Cup.

Care calls for more free-to-air TV games

DANNY Care says free-to-air television coverage is essential if rugby is to grow its audience and avoid other clubs going under.

The Bears blueprint: Go and play without fear

WHEN Bristol lost at Saracens last November, they were on a run of eight victories in 25 Premiership matches. For a club that had never hidden its ambition to occupy a prime place on European rugby's top table, it marked a watershed.

Blackheath opt for Fijian power

Ben Jaycock talks to Blackheath head coach James Shanahan about his star signings for the forthcoming season

Davies back in the running for Wales

ALED Davies is the first to admit that being barred from playing for Wales for the past four years was hard to take.