It's right that Wasps start again from the bottom

AS I look at the Wasps saga, I can’t help thinking that this was something that was always on the cards, given the way that Wasps reacted to the advent of the professional game.

Trio complete an incredible journey

Ben Jaycock talks to Ed Jackson, the former Wasps forward who took up mountaineering after hurting his back

Ireland mustn't copy this breakdown flaw

THE tumultuous happenings in Dublin last week were on such a large scale that it would be remiss not to revisit the two European finals one more time before we set our sights firmly on the build up to the World Cup and then the tournament itself.

Burns delight as Aitchison blooms

HOLLY Aitchison was nominated for Women’s Six Nations player of the tournament and her former teacher Gill Burns says the England fly-half is the most determined sports woman she’s ever seen.

Top two get ready for county showdown

THE Bill Beaumont County Cup has been overlooked and underfunded by the RFU in recent years, but finalist head coaches Taff Gwilliam and Alex Loney both still see the competition as the ‘lifeblood’ of the community game ahead of today’s final at Twickenham.

Nothing could top that 38-38 draw with England

MY LIFEIN RUGBYBYRON MCGUIGAN THE FORMER SCOTLAND, GLASGOW, EXETER AND BORDER BULLDOGS WINGER WHO HAS JUST BROUGHT THE CURTAIN DOWN ON HIS SALE SHARKS PLAYING CAREER

We need more time to prepare the 2025 Lions

I WAS fortunate enough to go on two tours with the British & Irish Lions and then to be called up briefly for a third in 2013. They were incredible experiences, the final seal of approval on your career as an international player.

Masterful Skelton is the talk of the town

IF Simon Shaw of England was a 20-storey tower block of a lock blessed with penthouse levels of skill and self-restraint, Michel Palmie of France was no match when it came to the tale of the tape – unless we’re talking about his liberal use of orthopaedic strapping, which left him looking like the profoundly unromantic lead in The Mummy’s Curse. The Beziers bruiser of old hit his heights, among other things, in other areas: aggression, intimidation, general malevolence.

Blackheath take lion’s share

NATIONAL TWO EAST DREAM TEAM >> THE BEST XV FROM THE 2022-23 SEASON | Ben Jaycock canvassed the views of our National Two East reporters to compile The Rugby Paper’s 2022-23 Team of the Season

Strewth, mate! Fast Eddie's cash jackpot

EDDIE Jones returned to Twickenham this week as an RFU-made millionaire coach. Jones, who was paid over £700,000 p.a. for most of his seven-year tenure as England head coach, is almost certainly one-of-a-kind as the first rugby union coach in the world to reach that level of remuneration.

Hodnett grabs the glory for Munster

MUNSTER, producing a performance to match anything in their glorious history, landed the URC title last night in Cape Town with a dramatic but well deserved win over holders Stormers.

Borthwick must pull off a minor miracle

STEVE Hansen isn’t wrong when he says that the 2023 World Cup draw is lopsided, but we’ve known for some time that the five top-ranked sides in the world are stacked together in one half of the draw.

Kvesic: I want to get my teeth stuck into Cov

MATT KVESIC gets constant reminders of what went wrong at Worcester but rather than looking back on events gone by, the 31-year-old flanker is focusing on his future with Coventry.

Barbarian test will give me a chance

ADAM Radwan aims to use the warm sun and “iconic” Barbarians jersey on his back to give Steve Borthwick a gentle nudge in his explosive, speedy direction.

Prime to cover World Cup warm up games

PRIME Video are planning on broadcasting Rugby World Cup 2023 warm-up matches involving all the Six Nations teams this summer.

Super Saracens lift sixth crown

Battling Saracens take their sixth title

If Sale win it could be a real game-changer

SALE Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson was close to tears after last week's semi-final win against Leicester. Not because of the win, but the difference it could make to the north of England Rugby Union.

Bentley's late score seals it for Lancashire

FLANKER Tane Bentley side-stepped two defenders and sprinted over to score and send Lancashire to Twickenham by the tiniest of margins.

Prop Sarah is revelling in her turn in the spotlight

SARAH Bern has gone from having the lights turned out on her training sessions to sharing the same facilities as the men at Bristol Bears, and earlier this month played in front of a world record crowd of 58,498.

Clock is ticking as Irish eye takeover

LONDON Irish have nine days to prove they have the funds to keep their place in the Premiership next season – or risk joining Wasps at the bottom of the English league pyramid.

Superstar Parisse signs off in style

SERGIO Parisse got the send off he deserved as Toulon ended their Challenge Cup final curse by thrashing Glasgow at the Aviva Stadium.

When it's your time to go, you just know

WELL, I didn’t see any of that coming! Two retirements within an hour of each other on a Friday afternoon is unusual to say the least. Given it involved two of the most iconic players of the professional era in Welsh rugby made it even more stunning. It left me baffled, bemused and wondering what the hell was going on.

Being a one-club means so much to me man

MY LIFE IN RUGBY ALEX TAIT THE FORMER NEWCASTLE & ENGLAND U20 FULL-BACK/WINGER

Dallaglio's turned into Nostradamus

OF THE 12 clubs to have won European rugby’s supreme prize, only one dared to do so from an antiquated pavilion built by The Gas Light & Coke Company a century ago.

Sharks deserve far more recognition

RUGBY has its favourites and we in the media are as guilty as any of promoting them above others but I’ve always been amazed that the Sale championship-winning team of 2006 is not more lauded. Sale that year defeated a very strong Leicester side 4520 in the final and in so doing became the first team to ever top the regular season league table and win the play-offs.

Galthie's message of hope to top 100

TOP 14 coaches, pundits and fans have had the calculators, slide rules and computer modelling programmes out this weekend as they worked through the permutations of the current campaign.

Chiefs bounce back to tame Hurricanes

Super Rugby Pacific round-up

GB sevens players pondered boycott

SEVERAL Great Britain Sevens players thought about refusing to participate in this weekend’s London leg of the World Series due to being treated ‘as a second thought’ by the home nations and a lack of clarity over contracts that expire next month.

Falcons set for freshen up after turbulent time

NEWCASTLE finished bottom of the Premiership after heavy defeats in their last three matches, but they are confident of avoiding the drop next season if relegation is reintroduced.

Colombe try leaves the Aviva stunned

LA ROCHELLE retained the Champions Cup after staging the greatest final comeback in the tournament’s history.