CATEGORIES

Helping to develop the best referees

Paul Rees talks to Chris White about the specialist programme which has trained some of the top refs in world rugby

Graham struggling to land a new deal

HOMELESS, a second child on the way and no job. That is the brutal reality confronting Gary Graham as one of the many professional rugby players feeling the effects of a shrinking Premiership.

Sanderson: We and not just be

SALE took their pain to Spain. The day after the Premiership final defeat to Saracens at Twickenham, the players and management flew to Marbella where director of rugby Alex Sanderson issued a rousing rallying cry.

We will have to front up, says Laidlaw

SCOTLAND’S players need to swiftly “front up” to the reality of their World Cup pool if they are to avoid a second straight group-stage exit, says former captain Greig Laidlaw.

Dickens raring to get going at Tigers

LEICESTER Tigers new attack and backs coach Alan Dickens is excited about reuniting with the multitude of players he coached while in charge of England U20s.

Ospreys to demand a transfer fee for Francis

OSPREYS are demanding a transfer fee for Wales prop Tomas Francis, France-bound after completing business at the World Cup.

'England are dark horses for big prize'

ENGLAND can be World Cup dark horses who “sneak up” on the rail and gallop off with rugby’s biggest prize.

Fakatava the star as Highlanders steal it

Super Rugby Pacific round-up

Toulouse look set to take top spot

TONIGHT, more than 24 hours after both the Premiership and URC celebrated their champions for the 2022/23 campaign, the Top 14 reaches its last regular season round, with three weeks of post-season play-off phase still to come.

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.