CATEGORIES

COV'S ROLLERCOASTER RIDE

LIFELONG FAN KEVIN HALLS REFLECTS ON AN INCREDIBLE SEASON OF HIGHS AND LOWS FOR THE SKY BLUES...

TOTTENHAM'S FALSE DAWNS

ROBERT J WILSON EXAMINES THE FAILURE OF DANIEL LEVY'S SPURS TO BECOME WINNERS.

SINKING FEELING

BARNABY ROSTANT REPORTS ON THREE CLUBS WHO HAVE ENDURED TOUGH TIMES OVER THE PAST DECADE...

HAMMER TIME

JONNY BRICK SEES A DOMINANT WEST HAM TAKE THE FA YOUTH CUP BACK TO EAST LONDON...

LOYAL JUKEY'S A SMASH HIT FOR BLUES

BIRMINGHAM CITY SUPPORTER KEITH DIXON HAILS THE IMPACT OF LONG-SERVING STRIKER LUKAS JUTKIEWICZ.

MIKEY'S THE GRAND OL' DUKE OF YORK

MIKEY Morton grew up in York, which is just as well. Without emotional those ties, the man who saved the Minstermen from an instant return to National League North might well have walked away.

STOCKDALE REVELS IN RETURN TO HIS ROOTS

DAVID Stockdale says he wants to earn his place as York City’s number one on performance as opposed to reputation – and has still set his sights on glory.

A TEAM THAT TIME FORGOT

RELEGATION from League Two is usually the result of long-term neglect or financial mismanagement, and frequently both.

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

Cleall knows Chiefs will be a tough test for Saracens

EXETER Chiefs head coach Susie Appleby says her side are ‘raring to go’ ahead of today’s semi-final against reigning champions Saracens

Bears swept aside as Gloucester power on

PREMIER 15s pacesetters GloucesterHartpury reached their first ever final by seeing off Bristol Bears at Kingsholm

Amateurs set for talks over their future at Hazelwood

LONDON Irish Amateur RFC’s chairman Kevin Flynn is this week meeting administrators appointed after the collapse of the London Irish professional side to find out their plans for Hazelwood

Abendanon: French rugby is far more fun

FORMER England full-back Nick Abendanon says that the Premiership is not entertaining enough to compete with the French club game and worries about the future of English rugby

ARCA KNOWS THE ART OF HIS CRAFT

JULIO ARCA can take inspiration from several managers as he prepares to kick off his own career in the dugout with National League North newcomers South Shields.

Moore told me: The work starts now

MY FIRST captain in senior rugby was Brian Moore, at Nottingham. I’d gone there having just played for England U19 Colts and he’d just come back from the 1989 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia and I always remember his first words to me were, ‘congratulations on playing for England Colts but now you start at the bottom again, this is men’s rugby’

Folau call was TV turn-off for Gareth

GARETH Thomas “refused” to watch the Barbarians vs World XV match last month due to the “contradiction” of having symbols to celebrate LGBT+ pride whilst still allowing Israel Folau to play

AIDAN GETS HIS BIG HEED SHOT

STEP 6 hotshot Aidan Rutledge says he is ‘absolutely buzzing’ at the chance to be dining at NonLeague’s top table next season after landing a dream deal at hometown club Gateshead.

ANDY CAN MAKE POPPIES BLOOM

IT’S fair to say Andy Leese is something of a Step 3 expert, so Kettering Town look to have made a rather shrewd appointment this week.

Heroic Brumbies fly the flag for Australia

Super Rugby Pacific round-up

Gatland to consider sending SOS to second row Ball

Welsh coach poised to send an SOS to Ball

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

BRIDGE HAVE WORK TO DO

Stadium headache for Heath

DAVID EMERY: A TRUE GENT AND BEST IN THE BUSINESS

DAVID Emery was a brilliant writer and unflappable who brought editor a sense of serenity to the most chaotic of professions.

'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

FULL STREAM AHEAD! STEP 2 JOINS PARTY

THE National League plan to press ahead with streaming in their North and South divisions in the coming season after impressive top-flight results last term.

We must find a way to stop vicious spiral

HEAVEN knows The Rugby Paper has been warning of a Domesday scenario for Premiership rugby for a decade or more so the calamitous events of the last nine months with three Premiership clubs going under should not come as a surprise

Brady's Bream bunch capture stunning haul

BREAM RFC have made a miraculous rise through the leagues in recent years with their youthful squad and were crowned champions of both the Papa Johns Counties South Junior Cup and the Forest of Dean Junior Combination Cup this season

Buck stops with me, but we'll bounce back as one

EVIN Wilkin says he would have had no complaints if AFC Telford United had sent him packing following relegation from National League North.

Waterman: Time to hit fifth gear

FORMER England star Danielle Waterman was moved by seeing a record crowd at Twickenham for the Red Roses win in the Grand Slam decider against France, but believes there is work still to be done to get the game into “fifth gear.”

O'Driscoll: Defeat was emotional

LEINSTER and Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll feels Leinster’s second-straight Champions cup final defeat to La Rochelle could “leave a mark”