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France demolish Scots to set up grand finale

■By JEAN FRANCE powered into a title decider against England after running in 11 tries in a ruthless victory in Edinburgh. Unbeaten France head to Bordeaux chas

Packer’s punch puts Italy on floor

MARLIE Packer sent a stern reminder to her back row rivals that she is not going away anytime soon after the former England captain delivered a formidable displ

Power of the Irish is too much for Wales

■By TONY EVANS Ireland...............33pts Tries: Wafer 14, 54; Parsons 28, Hogan 40, 80 Conversions: O’Brien 15, 40, 55, 80 Wales .................12pts Tries:

DREAMTEAM

CONNOR BROCKSCHMIDT, THE CHINNOR AND FORMER GOLDEN LIONS & WITS UNIVERSITY LOCK, SELECTS THE BEST XV HE HAS PLAYED WITH OR AGAINST... 1. Kyle Whyte – Facing Kyl

The Old Pals’ Act strikes again

WHEN Prem newcomers Worcester Warriors were turfed out of that league for encountering financial problems, they were victims of the biggest shafting in English

Why Lions should head to Argentina

WITH reference to the fantastic and correct comments regarding the future of the Lions made in The Rugby Paper on May 3 by both Brendan Gallagher and Nick Cain.

Let Newcastle and Ealing hold £1million shootout

AS the RFU seems not to have any issue with changing rules mid-season, let me propose one more: Ealing Trailfinders deserve the chance to challenge Newcastle in

End-of-season play-offs becoming a bit of a farce

AS a Coventry RFC supporter, now that the dangling carrot of a one-off Prem access match against the bottom Prem side has been given the kibosh by the RFU in ca

France leading the way in the finance stakes

AS Iain Sharpe states in his letter last week, there is no law of nature that makes the gulf between Prem and Champ unbridgeable. It’s the laws of economics tha

Secrecy surrounding review makes no sense

JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK THE RFU review into the 2026 Six Nations was never likely to make great reading after England lost four Ch

Saints cut down by razor-sharp Tigers

The Prem GEOFF Parling refused to get carried away despite his Tigers’ serving up a six-try thrashing to title rivals Saints. By GARY FITZGERALD Leicester Tiger

Dowson: We are still in the title race

NORTHAMPTON boss Phil Dowson admits his side were not at the races at Welford Road but insists they are still contenders for the Prem title. “This is a tough pl

Saracens fix their sights on play-offs

SARACENS are on the march. A third successive victory may have kept them in sixth place, but with home games against Gloucester and Harlearequins to come they f

Now it’s knockout rugby – George

JAMIE George described Saracens’ latest success over Bristol as a statement victory that keeps them in the play-off hunt. The England hooker said that Sarries h

Last-gasp Atkinson cuts down Sharks

The Prem GLOUCESTER flyhalf Charlie Atkinson took the opportunity of displaying his talents to onlooking England head coach Steve Borthwick with a man of the ma

Skiv: We were not clinical enough

GLOUCESTER director of rugby George Skiving-ton accepted his side were not at their best but was still relieved that the win went their way. He said: “There wer

Pioneering Pirates show the Prem how it should be done

YOU couldn’t make it up. Cornish Pirates, down in seventh place in the Champ, the league confined to outer darkness by the RFU administration, secures the finan

Detailed? Robust? No… It’s a farcical non-review

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE RFU’s review into England’s 2026 Six Nations nosedive was a whitewash that told the English rugby public, and t

Norey out to prove worth for Exeter

■By PAUL REES PREVIEW... Exeter Chiefs v Bath Today. Kick-off 3.30pm, Sandy Park MAX Norey had little hesitation in signing a new contract with Exeter despite a

Gilmore: Dombrandt deserves an England recall

JASON Gilmore believes Alex Dombrandt is in the form of his life and merits a recall by England this summer. The No.8 has stood out in a struggling Harlequins s

Halfpenny bravery wins royal approval

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW “It’s hard to put into words what rugby means to me” – Leigh Halfpenny RED clock time at Twickenham, Saturday February 2

Cullen should know that the press aren’t cheerleaders

AS head coach of Leinster, Leo Cullen runs a squad crammed with more capped players than any other club, province or region in five of the Six Nations. Only the

Peter Jackson: Leo Cullen should know that the press aren’t cheerleaders

AS head coach of Leinster, Leo Cullen runs a squad crammed with more capped players than any other club, province or region in five of the Six Nations. Only the

Fit-again Van der Merwe is quickly back in his old routine

■By GEORGE LAWRENCE EDINBURGH made it three straight URC victories as Duhan van der Merwe marked his return from injury with two tries in a hard-fought win over

Morgan takes his leave in fine style

■By SIMON THOMAS Ospreys ........................... 27pts Scarlets .......................... 20pts Tries: Edwards 6, 37; Morgan 75 Conversions: Edwards 7, 38,

Rampant Warriors in command at the top

■By BEN JAYCOCK Glasgow ............40pts Tries: Dempsey 19, Steyn 24, Matthews 32, 54; Schickerling 65, Rowe 74 Conversions: Horne 20, 26, 33, 55; Smith 74 Car

Sharks ……….46 Benetton …….. 7

JURENZO Julius scored a hat-trick of tries as part of a ruthless Sharks display which ensured Benetton were hammered at Kings Park. Former Junior Springbok Juli

Bulls …………..56 Zebre …………. 19

JOHAN Ackermann’s Bulls ran in eight tries in the Loftus sun to push their play-off claims with Willie le Roux pulling the strings at fly-half. He scored the op

Osborne sparks Leinster charge

nBy JAMES STEPHENS Leinster ...........31 Lions................... 7 LEINSTER strengthened their push for a top-two finish with a bonus-point victory over at th

Kok hat-trick has Ulster in the fight

nBy SAM JACKSON Ulster ...............38 Stormers..........38 STORMERS fought back for a share of the spoils at Kingspan in a match defined by disciplinary dram