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Chris Hewett: ‘Fast, faster, fastest’ is Fabien Galthie’s new look for France

Rugby is a game of assumptions about the future, rooted in the here and now. The post Chris Hewett: ‘Fast, faster, fastest’ is Fabien Galthie’s new look for France appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Chris Hewett: Italians put on a show in the scrum

Just when you thought the scrum was dying on the ample backsides of its specialist practitioners, along come the Italians – yes, the Italians – to show us the error of our ways. The post Chris Hewett: Italians put on a show in the scrum appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Dominant Bedford get back on the right track

■ By CHRIS BALDWIN Bedford ............ 54pts Tries: Adamson 3, Hutler 9, Conway 11, Lennon 21, 39; Evans 49, Herman 60, Pasco 73 Conversions: Maisey 4, 10, 12, 22, 40, 61; Price 74 L Scottish .........26pts Tries: Ferdinand 23, Vukasinovic 36, Wilkinson 56, Penalty 80+2 Conversions: Wilstead 37, 57 BEDFORD Blues returned to winning ways […] The post Dominant Bedford get back on the right track appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Obonna hits top gear as Richmond take charge

■ By TIM FORRESTER Richmond ........38pts Tries: Obonna 9, 43; Baggott 33, Jones 56, Kitson 58, Brownhill 71 Conversions: Grieve 34, 44, 57, 59 Cambridge ......22pts Tries: Dawson 3, Timpson 12, Penalty 51 Conversion: Dawson 13 Penalty: Dawson 40 TWO tries in two minutes turned this game in Richmond’s favour after Cambridge had held the […] The post Obonna hits top gear as Richmond take charge appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Ndimande’s double fires up Worcester

■ By LUKE JARMYN Worcester ........50pts Tries: Bassett 6, Ndimande 15, 19; Anstee 35, Wallis 46, Tyas 57, Garside 66, Short 68 Conversions: Reed 7, 16, 36, 67, 69 Caldy ..................33pts Tries: Hyde 3, Robinson 11, Olyott 51, Hearn 73, 79 Conversions: Wilkinson 12, 52; Barker 74, 80 WORCESTER openside Thabo Ndimande put in a […] The post Ndimande’s double fires up Worcester appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

That was a good, gutsy performance, says Cattle

■ By CÓILÍN DUFFY C Pirates ..........17pts Tries: King 11, Moody 17, Agbongbon 21 Conversion: Sinclair 11 Nottingham .....12pts Tries: Rokomoce 5, 59 Conversion: Parks 59 CORNISH Pirates secured a third successive victory to move level on league points with their visitors. It was a wet and blustery return to the Mennaye Field and Pirates […] The post That was a good, gutsy performance, says Cattle appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Hat-trick for Bridge has Ealing on easy street

By JOSEPH TERRY E Trailfinders ..50pts Tries: Bridge 5, 58, 62; Willemse 14, Chilvers 41, Taylor 47, Worboys 65, Jurevicius 80 Conversions: Worboys 6, 47, 59, 63, 65 Ampthill ............12pts Tries: Jones 45, Strachan 79 Conversion: Grimoldby 79 EALING overpowered spirited Ampthill in the second half to stretch their winning run in the Champ to […] The post Hat-trick for Bridge has Ealing on easy street appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Olowofela hat-trick lights way for Knights

■ By BENEDICT GOLDFINCH Chinnor ..............19pts Tries: James-Carter 3, Cave 69, Hall 76 Conversions: Chamberlain 70, 77 Doncaster .........36pts Tries: Olowofela 20, 23, 31; McGuire 39, Veainu 50, Davies 78 Conversions: Bennett 21, 32, 51 WINGER Ryan Olowofela scored a first-half hat-trick as Doncaster put Chinnor to the sword on Friday night. The Yorkshire side’s […] The post Olowofela hat-trick lights way for Knights appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Cleall the star for Saracens

■ By GEORGE WELLBELOVE Saracens ......... 45pts Tries: Cleall 14, 28; Packer 35, Clifford 47, Corrigan 52, Sellors 68, Omokhuale 79 Conversions: Harrison 14, 28, 35, 48; MacDougall 79 Exeter .................. 7pts Try: Rogers 80 Conversion: McGoverne 80 SARACENS swept aside Exeter with Poppy Cleall shining in a stellar performance. A brace from Cleall, supplemented […] The post Cleall the star for Saracens appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Quins make Sale fight to the end

■ By AMELIA LINE Sale ....................15pts Tries: Lloyd 14, Cokayne 24 Conversion: Duffy 25 Penalty: Duffy 42 Harlequins .......12pts Tries: Peña 35, Konkel 57 Conversion: Cromack 58 SALE claimed their second victory in a row with a closely-fought victory over Harlequins. For the opening try, Holly Aitchison orchestrated a pass with Lizzie Duffy, before crossing […] The post Quins make Sale fight to the end appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Kabeya beefs up Lightning

PREVIEW... Loughborough v Bristol Today. Kick-off 3pm, Franklin’s Gardens LOUGHBOROUGH Lightning return to Franklin’s Gardens determined to protect their formidable home record when Bristol Bears arrive today. Nathan Smith’s side have not lost at Franklin’s Gardens for over a year and welcome back a major boost in the form of Sadia Kabeya. The Red Roses […] The post Kabeya beefs up Lightning appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Trailfinders back in contention

■ By BLUEBELL NICHOLLS Leicester ..........19pts Tries: McCalman 10, Günther 28, Lingham 80 Conversions: Feury 11, 80 Trailfinders .....40pts Tries: Tuffnail 8, 33; Gallagher 40, Wassell 55, Meta 71, Bradley 78 Conversions: Gallagher 9, 34, 40, 56, 72 TRAILFINDERS put on a convincing display on the road to get five points and put them back […] The post Trailfinders back in contention appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Peter Jackson: The French try blitz shows no signs of stopping

There was a time not that long ago when France found it beyond their collective wit to score six tries over the course of an entire Six Nations campaign. Now they average six every time they play. The post Peter Jackson: The French try blitz shows no signs of stopping appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Hamer-Webb joins the alternative route

AND still they come, those chosen by England at the start of their professional careers who found alternative ancestral routes into the Six Nations with Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Gabriel Hamer-Webb, the latest to follow a well-worn path out of the Red Rose under-20s, is at least the 21st to have done so in […] The post Hamer-Webb joins the alternative route appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Itoje hits century in good company

SHOULD he so wish, Maro Itoje could lay claim to completing two Test centuries in barely six months. His 100th match for England at Twickenham yesterday followed his 100th Test in Melbourne last summer, for the Lions against Australia. It took the 31-year-old nine years, five months, one week and four days to get there, […] The post Itoje hits century in good company appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

What were you thinking, George?

FIRST of all, congratulations to Scotland on reclaiming the Calcutta Cup. No sour grapes here, the better side won but as an England fan there is no sugarcoating that result. It feels like a step backwards after 12 consecutive wins prior. We never even got off the bus and never recovered from a dismal performance […] The post What were you thinking, George? appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Wales left to rue kick-off blunder

SUCH a pity Wales could not hold on for the win against Scotland to end their horrible run – but it just shows how fine the margins are between the teams in this year’s Six Nations. This defeat might be harder to recover from than the thrashings by England and France in the opening rounds. […] The post Wales left to rue kick-off blunder appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

We got ahead of ourselves again

WE English, are once again the punchline for Scottish jokes... and deservedly so. Whenever we string together some decent performances, we get ahead of ourselves and start talking about Grand Slams. England had done well to chalk up 12 wins (particularly against New Zealand, France and Argentina) although there is a caveat in that nations […] The post We got ahead of ourselves again appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Clumsy Arundell was harshly treated

AM I the only person that thinks Mr Arundell was more than a little harshly treated, when he received his second yellow card? Admittedly, he was a little clumsy in the challenge, but the Scottish winger quite clearly led into the challenge with his knee,which was far more dangerous in my book, and certainly more […] The post Clumsy Arundell was harshly treated appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

England must stop kicking ball away

ENGLAND will not win any trophies as long as they kick the ball on a regular basis to the opposition. They seem incapable of running the ball through the hands from their own half or in midfield and getting the ball wide. How many touches are the wingers getting? As in the Scotland game, against […] The post England must stop kicking ball away appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

We can turn things around, says Goatcher

■By BEN JAYCOCK LEICESTER Tigers director of rugby Fraser Goatcher admits it has been a “frustratingly positive” PWR season so far but insists there are still clear signs his side can turn things around despite remaining winless and suffering a string of heavy defeats. Following last season’s eighth-place finish, several one-sided scorelines have left Tigers […] The post We can turn things around, says Goatcher appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Sharks taken down by Lions

Lions ............... 34 Sharks .............22 LIONS bounced back from their Bulls’ mauling with a four-try victory in their rescheduled URC clash at Ellis Park to move into the top eight. Chris Smith struck two early penalties before the visitors hit first through Fez Mbatha from a maul, with Siya Masuku converting. Jaden Hendrikse’s yellow card […] The post Sharks taken down by Lions appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

DREAMTEAM

ATKINS, THE FORMER LONDON IRISH HOOKER/BACK ROW, WHO NOW PLAYS FOR RAMS IN NATIONAL LEAGUE ONE, SELECTS THE BEST XV HE HAS PLAYED WITH... 1. Tarek Haffar – Came through the London Irish system behind me and always stood out for natural power. Huge potential if he strings games together. Great lad – coachable and […] The post DREAMTEAM appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Brendan Gallagher: Award booming huge pens a full five points

We are losing so much from the game as World Rugby dumbs down in the professional era, which is bizarre considering the skills we are discarding were all perfected in the amateur era, when top players trained maybe once a week after work, although to be fair, most had a much more thorough grounding at school. The post Brendan Gallagher: Award booming huge pens a full five points appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Bradshaw digs deep to lift the burrowed Tykes out

■By WILLIAM BULL Leicester L ......29 Leeds Tykes ...33 LEEDS TYKES kept their survival chances alive with Albert Bradshaw’s try at the death, to deny Leicester Lions their first win since October. Despite facing strong winds, the Lions were first on the board with Liam Burrows’ first of three tries. However, a 50:22 from the […] The post Bradshaw digs deep to lift the burrowed Tykes out appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

TJs slayed as wild Titans make noise

■By GARETH WITHERS Tonbridge J ........... 21 Rotherham T .........41 ROTHERHAM TITANS came out on top on their travels to Tonbridge Juddians, in a simply enthralling encounter at The Slade. Titans opened the scoring through winger Mitchell Lacey, but TJs replied when centre Lewis Gjaltema crossed. The two sides then exchanged catch-and-drive scores, both from […] The post TJs slayed as wild Titans make noise appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Bishop’s bolt on a brace to Bolton try

■By JOHN ALLANSON Bishop’s S ...............34 Clifton ...................... 19 BISHOP’S STORTFORD sailed to a second-half showing of Clifton, with a three-try flurry from Chris Bolton, Harry Clarke and Jack Biard sealing the victory. A hard-fought, but dour first half, saw Stortford take the lead after 11 minutes through Bolton’s penalty, before Clifton’s Will Owen grounded […] The post Bishop’s bolt on a brace to Bolton try appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Harding’s pair Blackheath to inspires triumph

■By GRAHAM COX Blackheath ......21pts Tries: Harding 3, 33; Sloot 43 Conversions: Morley 3, 33, 43 Rams .................... 5pts Try: Stone 76 NO bonus point but a fine win for Blackheath, who kept hold of a lead built by Billy Harding’s brace to defeat the Rams. Blackheath established an early hold, before moving clear and […] The post Harding’s pair Blackheath to inspires triumph appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Prince Gwilliam leads with Taylor and Ly to follow DINGS

■By LILLEE O’CALLAGHAN Dings C..................... 19 Sedgley Park ...........0 DINGS CRUSADERS kept visitors Sedgley Park scoreless at Shaftesbury Park, battling hard to beat a tough physical contest. The first half was hard work for both sides, with plenty of dominant carries and big hits, as each team tried to gain control. Territory was hard to […] The post Prince Gwilliam leads with Taylor and Ly to follow DINGS appeared first on The Rugby Paper.

Johnston on song to win it for Park

■By CHARLIE WHITE Rosslyn Park .........36 Sale FC.....................24 HOSTS ROSSLYN PARK claimed a dramatic victory over Sale at the Rock, with two late penalties deciding a result that could have gone either way. Park’s Bill Johnston hit 78th-minute penalty, which eventually sealed it when Sale’s own late effort drifted wide. Park started brightly, with Charlie […] The post Johnston on song to win it for Park appeared first on The Rugby Paper.