Brendan Gallagher
Brendan Gallagher: British and Irish Lions tour no longer rugby’s Everest
The dust is beginning to settle on the 2025 Lions tour and that is a process that should be encouraged and indeed accelerated. One of the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 week agoBrendan Gallagher: These tourists have been nowhere near as good as they should have been
For a long while I have held the sometimes unpopular view that Nic White was the most influential player at Sandy...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 week agoRay loved the game
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER SO farewell Ray French, for many years the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 weeks agoBritish and Irish Lions: Once again, Tom Curry empties the tanks to show he’s one of world’s best
Finally, a Lions match and spectacle to really get our teeth into and a reminder of why, despite so many challenges...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 weeks agoSaints alive! The power and glory: Northampton Saints’ all-time XV
What would be the greatest all-time XV your club could field if you could travel back in time and select everybody...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 weeks agoBrendan Gallagher: Now, let’s see the Sables take flight at the World Cup
So, welcome back Zimbabwe whose dramatic 30-28 Africa Cup Final victory over Namibia in Kampala last weekend saw them qualify for...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: Drop Maro Itoje? There’s no chance that will happen
Immediately after the Western Force game, when Joe McCarthy was brilliant all night and Ollie Chessum excellent off the bench, I...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: Here’s hoping for a bit of Brumbies drama for the British and Irish Lions
The undercard, those matches away from the Test series, is usually very thin and underwhelming on a Lions tour of Australia...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: Jack Willis makes the best of his chances in France
Has there ever been a better or impressive redemption story than Jack Willis? Two career-threatening ACL injuries, made redundant by Wasps...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: Some things to work on but, overall, lots of pluses for the British and Irish Lions
And so, without further ado, we should plunge straight into the Lions selection game trying to second-guess the starting line-up for...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: Immanuel Feyi-Waboso waiting in the wings for British and Irish Lions
It might be mid-summer and nearly 11 months into a never-ending season but, as England go to work in Buenos Aires...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: Spain get helping hand from French
There will be no quarter asked or given in Verona this evening at the Payanini Stadium when France – who have...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: How flanker Jacques Gasc enjoyed his moment in the spotlight
Jacques Gasc has died aged 75 and, although I am guessing it’s a name that will mean little to you, I’ve...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoBrendan Gallagher: Fabian Holland poised for All Blacks debut
Is the suitably named Fabian Holland about to follow Tim Visser and Frans Ten Bos as a Dutchman playing top-level rugby...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 1 month agoHarlequins Best XV: A stylish team of the ages…
What would be the greatest all-time XV your club could field if you could travel back in time and select everybody...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: After this, the British and Irish Lions MUST tour Argentina
As somebody who fretted and occasionally yawned his way through proceedings at the Millennium Stadium 20 years ago when these two...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: 30 years on for the 1995 World Cup final, and we’ve not built on our dreams
It comes as something of a shock to realise that this week represents the 30th anniversary of the 1995 World Cup...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Magical mystery tour ends with a flourish for Bath
When you have not won a Premiership title for 29 years, it matters not a jot how you break the drought,...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Montauban heroes ascend the heights
Bravo Montauban, a team that are the living proof that promotion, relegation and its surrounding jeopardy are the lifeblood of rugby...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Calling it a day is a tough business
Sorry is traditionally the hardest word to say – or indeed sing – but I’ve always thought “Goodbye” runs it close....
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: It’s great to see Aurillac defy the odds again
Last August, I suggested that a fly-on-the-wall team might be well rewarded if they spent a season with lowly Aurillac, the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 2 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Alex Goode was high class under the high ball
So, almost unbelievably, it’s farewell to Alex Goode, one of the three or four best full-backs I’ve ever seen anywhere, even...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: The flowering of Johann van Graan’s plan at Bath
Surely the most encouraging, or ominous, aspect of Bath’s commanding win over a lacklustre Lyon on Friday night was that it...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Not such a Goode day for ref Luke Pearce
I’m a big Luke Pearce fan, but must join the consensus that he – and his team of officials – didn’t...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: European Cup’s given us some real pearlers
So this weekend in Cardiff will be the 30th European Cup Final, a pearl anniversary of sorts. Where did the time...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoRaring to roar: Brendan Gallagher dissects the chosen 38 for the British and Irish Lions
Backs BACK THREE Blair Kinghorn (Scotland and Toulouse): Age 28: Scotland caps 60. Rangy outside back, a quick and versatile player...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoSaints deserve to be given medal for this impressive hat-trick
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Quality: Tommy Freeman dives in to score against...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Northampton Saints win over Leinster is the best win on the road I’ve seen
I’ve been reporting on this Heineken Cup, European Cup, Investec Champions Cup – call it what you want – since the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Here are my 37 to tour with the British and Irish Lions
Brendan Gallagher picks his likely lads for the Summer trip to Australia Let the fun begin. Every four years, we all...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 3 months agoBritish and Irish Lions bolters who truly made their mark
Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points, by Brendan Gallagher What exactly do we mean by...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Little good news is coming out of Africa
By Brendan Gallagher - Rugby Matters Mention recently of the late Claude Saurel and his eclectic coaching career brought back memories...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoNorman Mbiko – A Leopard who did change his spots
Norman Mbiko is probably not a name that resonates strongly here in Britain and Ireland, but the feisty scrum-half from the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: 20 years ago, we had games worth seeing in the Champions Cup
Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points, by Brendan Gallagher I have no great wish to...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoMemo to the suits: Give us some jeopardy
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER I FEEL the need to tap out a...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: I’m all for the thrills but keep game real
Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points, by Brendan Gallagher Like many of you, I was...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Let’s get these tapped pens taken from the right place
By Brendan Gallagher As a follow up to my main theme, I offer a little warning on tapped penalties as we...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoThe day Alex ‘Grizz’ Wyllie gave the British and Irish Lions pack a monstering
Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points, by Brendan Gallagher It's a shame fly-on-the-wall sports documentaries...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Switzerland precision too sharp for Germany
Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points by Brendan Gallagher Amid the torrent of international rugby...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoTime to talk about the 1995 you-know-what
RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER IT’S ODD how some Grand Slams get lost...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoGeorgia’s flyer Akaki Tabutsadze on his way to the top
Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points, By Brendan Gallagher It's the Rugby Europe Championship final...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoWhen Ireland’s warriors sent French packing
Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points, by Brendan Gallagher With eight wins against France since...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoNow Philippines added to list of honour for the Varsity
By Brendan Gallagher Back in the day, the Varsity Match on the second Tuesday in December was virtually an England trial...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoThis Italian squad are good – but not quite their best side
By Brendan Gallagher Having reported on Italy since the early 1990s, I wouldn’t hesitate to nominate the current crop as...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoA Tour de France we’d all love to see for the British & Irish Lions
By Brendan Gallagher That hardy perennial, the possibility of another Lions Test against France, has poked its head above the frosty...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoSix Nations sides singin’ in the rain – and I’m loving it
Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game's other talking points, by Brendan Gallagher It was raining all over Europe...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoScotland vs Ireland – The rivalry which is a little one-sided
Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points, by Brendan Gallagher The history books tell us that Ireland...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 6 months agoWhy can’t we apply the laws fairly?
Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points, By Brendan Gallagher You can blow a mental gasket trying...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 7 months agoRace is on to win a place in RWC 2027
Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game's other talking points, by Brendan Gallagher Qualification for the Rugby World Cup...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 7 months agoScotland’s class of 1925 fired by legends
Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game's other talking points, by Brendan Gallagher Scotland only have three Grand Slams...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 7 months agoHeroes deserve highest accolade
Rugby Matters by Brendan Gallagher - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points The second series of BBC’s SAS...
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