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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoEngland missing that killer instinct
Steve Borthwick has been liberal with the superlatives when describing the performances of some of the players in his England World...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoBattle lines drawn over game’s future
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK HALLELUJAH! The English Championship clubs have finally got their act together to form...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoVeterans not the answer at No.9
NICK CAIN The selection call by Steve Borthwick to pick two veteran scrumhalves, Ben Youngs and Danny Care, in his 41-man...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoEngland’s Bath bias difficult to justify
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK IF England international selection is meant to be a meritocracy it is hard...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoTime for Blackett to seize his chance
JEFF Blackett gave a valedictory interview this week which beggared belief. The retiring RFU Council grandee, who was President for two...
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Champions Cup
/ 2 years agoFrom European Cup honour to Eurotrash
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The European Cup is sinking thanks to the tinkering of EPCR and its...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoCrowley’s quick exit was not deserved
NICK CAIN The most discordant note struck in the international game this week was Kieran Crowley’s axing by Italy. Crowley’s contribution...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoArrival of novice advisers is cause for grave concern
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK There could not have been a bigger catalyst for change at Twickenham than...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoYour chance to join the (£55,000) culture club
NICK CAIN The RFU’s failure to put in a robust, stringent regulatory framework has led to three Premiership clubs going bust...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoTime to call up X-factor reserves
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Where can Steve Borthwick find the X-factor players to take England back to...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoToo many young players rejected too soon
Georgia's U20 victory over England is an example of one country making the most of their resources, while the other is...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoStrewth, mate! Fast Eddie’s cash jackpot
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Eddie Jones returned to Twickenham this week as an RFU-made millionaire coach. Jones,...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoDavid Emery honoured at rugby awards
David Emery is the reason that The Rugby Paper exists, and since its inception in September 2008 I have had the...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoRFU failed to enforce regulatory standards
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Nothing holds a mirror up to all that is wrong with the elite...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoParisse and Ollivon sparkle
NICK CAIN Toulon's 43-19 European Challenge Cup victory over Glasgow was notable not just for the style in which the French...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoEngland need to get it right at scrum time
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Steve Borthwick’s decisionion to raid Leicester for his latest scrum coach – and...
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English Championship
/ 2 years agoSecond tier clubs are ready to play tough
The Championship clubs have taken a long time to become a coherent collective voice for change – with promotion and relegation...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoEligibility laws that need to be changed
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK THE recent international eligibility law that allows Henry Thomas to be selected by...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoHow a pair of English-born props could foil Red Rose
Tomas Francis, the 71-cap Wales tighthead who has been first choice for Warren Gatland in both his incarnations as Wales coach,...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoCVC’s influence may not be in the best interests of clubs
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Twickenham is the jewel in English rugby’s crown, and there are grave concerns...
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Latest News
/ 2 years ago‘Incredible’ Lawes, a One-Club-Man
NICK CAIN COURTNEY Lawes confirmed himself as that rarest of breeds in the professional game, a One-Club Man, and one of...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoStuck with rotten fruits of ring-fenced Prem
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK ANOTHER of the RFU’s anonymous review panels reported this week that England were...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoMarch of the Saints does us no good at all
NICK CAIN The boast that the Premiership is the most competitive league in the world has been trashed. This was demonstrated...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoRetaining the status quo threatens to split game
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Club rugby in England is crying out for a new start, based on...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoMeafou must miss out this time
NICK CAIN Emmanuel Meafou is a one-man army at 6ft 8ins and 22 stone, and with that sort of physical firepower...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoA rout which should force Sweeney and O’Shea to go
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Those who want to turn rugby union in England into a protectionist franchise...
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Club Rugby
/ 2 years agoTaking the pizza! RFU is not fit for purpose
NICK CAIN At at time when the Community game in England needs all the help it can get, we are faced...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoUnjustifiable to banish players like Willis
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Jack Willis is an inspirational new force for England, but he looks to...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoHeartfelt tributes paid to The Judge
NICK CAIN Paul Rendall, known as “The Judge”, is one of the game’s great characters and props, and on Thursday the...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoEngland need to be fit for purpose
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK ONE of the crosses that Steve Borthwick’s England team are going to have...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years ago10-minute window to make the correct call
NICK CAIN Freddie Steward’s red card being overturned by a Six Nations disciplinary panel was the right outcome because the decision...
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Latest News
/ 2 years agoRFU needs to harness the top coaches
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Why is it that England’s best coaches are currently inspiring Ireland and France,...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoTime for big guns to make amends
The RFU/Premiership/ Championship panel charged with restructuring the English club leagues is in place, and is trying to grip with the...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoToo much fog to see where we are going
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The English club game has a great opportunity right now for an urgent...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoCrowley deserves the credit for Azzurri surge
NICK CAIN It is a travesty that Italy were fighting to avoid retaining the Wooden Spoon against Wales, because this Azzurri...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoBorthwick’s news at 10 still signals confusion
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK If there was a fly-half in England contention who needed Premiership game-time last...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoFrance will provide true test for scrum
NICK CAIN England's attempted scrum fix resulted in small steps of improvement against Wales. Kyle Sinckler, who had a good game...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoBorthwick right to ask for eligibility changes
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Steve Borthwick has had the guts, and the gumption, to state that the...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoFrench will want all angles covered
NICK CAIN The French will be twitchy about any repeat against Scotland in Paris today of the defective TMO process which...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoEaling poised to break up cartel
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK ARE Ealing Trailfinders finally about to break the grip of an RFU-backed Premiership...
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Nick Cain
/ 2 years agoWasps likely to be caught in a tangled web
NICK CAIN The Atlas Group’s purchase of Worcester Warriors from administrators Begbies Traynor, which includes the Sixways stadium, the site, and...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoUrgent problems that RFU needs to address
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK England go into the second round of this Six Nations as the only...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoBorthwick right to give Farrell chance at 10
NICK CAIN Steve Borthwick is paid to make tough calls, and credit to him for grasping the Marcus Smith-Owen Farrell nettle...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoWith this record, it’s time Sweeney headed to the exit
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK Bill Sweeney will be looking over his shoulder as the Six Nations gets...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoForgive me, but I don’t think I can take anymore
NICK CAIN Common sense would have told the Welsh Rugby Union that banning a song like “Delilah” is doomed. It can...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years ago‘New’ England need to take their chances
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK A SIX Nations slip-up on home turf to Scotland in his first match...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoTime this autocratic RFU is held to account
NICK CAIN The warning signs that the RFU’s administrative standards have plumbed the depths became a red flashing light on Friday...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoRFU has no right to deliver this low blow
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK The RFU has just introduced one of the biggest changes to the game...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoBorthwick putting faith in his old dogs
The message coming loud and clear from Steve Borthwick’s first England squad selection is that he and his coaching crew believe...
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Nick Cain
/ 3 years agoRFU helps Farrell stay in England contention
NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK England were facing a fly-half fiasco this week when Owen Farrell went in...















