Rugby Matters - The Rugby Paper

Brendan Gallagher: British and Irish Lions tour no longer rugby’s Everest

Brendan Gallagher — Sun, 10 Aug 2025 02:59:09 +0000

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 problems with Lions rugby is that it occupies too much of our rugby consciousness to the detriment of everything else. It uses up too many gigabytes. Already, for example, […]

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Brendan Gallagher: 30 years on for the 1995 World Cup final, and we’ve not built on our dreams

Brendan Gallagher — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 02:59:27 +0000

It comes as something of a shock to realise that this week represents the 30th anniversary of the 1995 World Cup Final ... and what a week it was with a decade’s worth of stories. I’m still exhausted thinking about it now. The Boks escaping with a miracle win in slightly contentious circumstances from a […]

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Brendan Gallagher: Calling it a day is a tough business

Brendan Gallagher — Sun, 08 Jun 2025 02:59:22 +0000

Sorry is traditionally the hardest word to say – or indeed sing – but I’ve always thought “Goodbye” runs it close. Saying your farewells and retiring from the sport you love is a gut-wrenching business, and all sorts of players have been bowing out recently and contemplating what the future holds in store. Joe Marler […]

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British and Irish Lions bolters who truly made their mark

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 04 May 2025 02:59:18 +0000

Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points, by Brendan Gallagher What exactly do we mean by a Lions bolter? Is there a definition, or is it all subjective? I have a few tiers of bolter starting from uncapped in Test rugby before getting the call; a player who made their […]

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Brendan Gallagher: Little good news is coming out of Africa

Brendan Gallagher — Sun, 27 Apr 2025 02:59:14 +0000

By Brendan Gallagher - Rugby Matters Mention recently of the late Claude Saurel and his eclectic coaching career brought back memories of the African Leopards XV, a brief experiment that was suddenly and prematurely discarded in the noughties by the IRB whose record in Africa, both then and now as World Rugby, is frankly lamentable. […]

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Brendan Gallagher: 20 years ago, we had games worth seeing in the Champions Cup

Brendan Gallagher — Sun, 20 Apr 2025 02:58:58 +0000

Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points, by Brendan Gallagher I have no great wish to kick a man when he is down, so to speak, but the rugby public seemed to vote with their feet last weekend when the Champions Cup served up a strange and ultimately unfulfilling mix […]

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Brendan Gallagher: I’m all for the thrills but keep game real

Brendan Gallagher — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 02:59:13 +0000

Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points, by Brendan Gallagher Like many of you, I was vastly amused by Chris Hewett’s allusion last week to the gross Monty Python character Mr Creosote when trying to explain why many of us would prefer slightly fewer tries than the artificially high norm […]

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The day Alex ‘Grizz’ Wyllie gave the British and Irish Lions pack a monstering

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 30 Mar 2025 02:58:54 +0000

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 weren’t a thing back in the 1980s because, as a result, we have been denied concrete evidence of the only scrummaging session at training that realistically matches the infamous beasting that Jim Telfer inflicted […]

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Scotland vs Ireland – The rivalry which is a little one-sided

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 09 Feb 2025 03:58:37 +0000

Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points, by Brendan Gallagher The history books tell us that Ireland currently lead Scotland 71-66 in nearly 150 years of rugby with five games also drawn. A perennially competitive fixture between bitter Celtic rivals you might think, always nip and tuck with the result rarely […]

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Scotland’s class of 1925 fired by legends

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 19 Jan 2025 03:58:55 +0000

Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game's other talking points, by Brendan Gallagher Scotland only have three Grand Slams to lovingly remember but they were all crackers in their own way and now – the centenary – is the perfect time to celebrate the first and arguably greatest of that holy trinity. In […]

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Heroes deserve highest accolade

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 12 Jan 2025 03:58:57 +0000

Rugby Matters by Brendan Gallagher - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points The second series of BBC’s SAS Rogue Heroesis well underway with its controversial depiction of Blair “Paddy” Mayne who has switched from North Africa and is now causing absolute mayhem freeing Sicily and mainland Italy with his merry band of […]

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A Tier Two XV to have you out of your seat

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 05 Jan 2025 03:59:19 +0000

Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points By Brendan Gallagher You won’t ever see my 2024 Tier 2 All Stars XV take the field which is a great shame because I for one would pay good money to see them play, especially a back division which would give any World […]

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Good to see the Eagles soaring again

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 01 Dec 2024 03:59:10 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points - By Brendan Gallagher That's a wrap for the autumn Tests and it would be remiss not to scroll through the undercard and round up the best of the action outside of the A list matches. A quick crib sheet for those not paying […]

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Mark Ella & Co were the true pass masters

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 13 Oct 2024 02:59:09 +0000

Rugby Matters by Brendan Gallagher - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Nineteen eighty four might have been one of the most anticipated, celebrated and feared years in political history... but in rugby terms the year conjures up just one image, namely a Mark Ella-inspired Australia running riot against the Home Unions […]

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Antoine Dupont & Co need to take on the very best

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 02:59:06 +0000

Rugby Matters By Brendan Gallagher - A weekly look at the game's other talking points I think we established long ago that my admiration of Antoine Dupont knows no bounds, he is the best rugby player I have ever reported on or watched in the flesh, pipping Gareth Edwards by a short head, but there […]

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Drop group action and examine selected cases

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 29 Sep 2024 02:59:13 +0000

Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game's other talking points by Brendan Gallagher I was very struck the other day by our conversation with Luther Burrell on The Rugby Paper podcast when the former England centre revealed that in his marathon career he had not required one surgery, had not incurred one major […]

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Rugby Rivalries that don’t stand the test of time

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 22 Sep 2024 02:59:31 +0000

Rugby Matters by Brendan Gallagher - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Eyes down all you pub quiz fiends, it’s quiz time and your specialist subject is Anglo-Welsh rugby competitions. Your questions come in three tranches and it’s an automatic red card if you employ google or phone a friend. 1: Who […]

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Time for Steve Borthwick to prove his worth

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 15 Sep 2024 02:59:45 +0000

Rugby Matters - A weekly look at the game’s talking points By Brendan Gallagher Honeymoon periods are not set in stone and in my estimation Steve Borthwick’s ends this summer. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still in good shape. There is an acknowledgement that England have made decent strides forward and RFU CEO Bill Sweeney […]

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No stopping the American battlers

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 21 Jul 2024 02:59:29 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points IT’S exactly 100 years ago since France and the USA met in an Olympic rugby match and I’m guessing their Sevens clash at Stade de France on Wednesday afternoon might not be quite as controversial as their Olympic final at Stade Colombes […]

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There’s more than money to Toulouse

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 07 Jul 2024 02:59:20 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER There have, rightly, been acres of words written about Toulouse in recent weeks but there are still a few loose ends that need clearing up before we park the memory of that extraordinary 59-3 win over Bordeaux-Begles in the French Top 14 […]

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25 years on and it’s still a special place

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 02:59:24 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER It was the 25th anniversary of the first-ever game at the Millennium Stadium a couple of days ago which pulled me up a little short because I remember it like yesterday, not least because it was, I think, possibly the hottest and […]

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It’s close but Dupont edges out Edwards

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 09 Jun 2024 02:59:25 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Your columnist fell in love with rugby watching Gareth Edwards in the 1970s and renewed that rather flagging love affair in recent years when Antoine Dupont burst onto scene. So this current media vogue – necessity almost – to definitively declare one […]

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Pink city deserves its place at the top

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 02 Jun 2024 02:59:11 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Anybody watching the crowd scenes in front of the big screen at Place Capitol during the Champions Cup final and then the welcome home party in the same venue 24 hours later might be excused for thinking Toulouse is the rugby […]

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The time Tony did plenty of learning

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 26 May 2024 02:59:00 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER It might surprise some to learn that the only sports trophy the precocious Tony O’Reilly won at school was for cricket. In fact O’Reilly, who died last week at the age of 88, was proof that you can achieve individual greatness […]

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Lawes is level with England’s greatest

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 19 May 2024 02:58:58 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS Members of the Rugby Writers club have recently been voting for the Pat Marshall award which we scribes use to honour the outstanding rugby personality, ostensibly for the last 12 months although sometimes a lifetime of excellence is also factored into the equation. It is the most prestigious award in our gift. We […]

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50 years ago, the Lions start to sweat

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 12 May 2024 02:58:58 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER At the start of the year, this column promised to dip into perhaps the greatest and most momentous rugby tour of all – certainly from a British and Irish perspective – in real time so to speak and relieve and re-evaluate some […]

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Delighted to see Titans stand tall

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 05 May 2024 02:59:19 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER There are some teams you grow particularly attached to over the decades and I make no apologies in numbering Rotherham Titans among those. Having risen at great pace from the anonymity of the lower leagues, I loved the way they tried to […]

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Storti brings season to an end in style

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 05 May 2024 02:59:18 +0000

Portugal wing Raffaele Storti may have made a slow start to the season but he has been making up for it ever since. Storti, below, you may remember, was touch and go for the World Cup having seriously damaged his knee last season and was only on the bench for their opening game with Wales. […]

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35 years on and Tim’s charity still full of hope

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 02:59:02 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER If you believe rugby is the ultimate team sport – which I still do – it is tempting to superimpose all its many fine qualities into other team environments. The Armed Forces and many big corporations love to align themselves with the rugby ethos but the best example of the rugby […]

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S Africa is crying out for its own league

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 21 Apr 2024 02:59:00 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS - A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER IF I remember my A level geography correctly, Africa is moving towards Europe at about the same rate as your fingernails grow which, among other things, suggests that the wholesale, no holds barred, in for a penny in for a pound […]

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Great to see Swiss move up the ladder

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 21 Apr 2024 02:58:59 +0000

There will be a new name mixing it with the bigger teams in the Rugby Europe Championship next season after Switzerland clinched their first promotion to the top tier last weekend with a crushing 68-0 win over Ukraine in Zurich. Their win also means for the first time ever Switzerland now have a shot at […]

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André, high priest of French running rugby

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 14 Apr 2024 02:58:59 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Andre Boniface, who died earlier this week aged 89, and his younger brother Guy are widely recognised as the innovators and high priests of running French rugby, French flair, fiesta rugby, jouer jouer. Call it what you will, the je ne sais […]

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Here’s hoping we see another drop of magic

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 02:58:57 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER IT’S Northampton against Munster in Europe today and for me that can only mean one thing, revisiting one more time that incredible drop goal from Ronan O’Gara nearly four minutes into added time to win an extraordinary Pool at Thomond Park 13 […]

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25 years of hurt and counting for Scotland

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 02:58:56 +0000

Scotland fans should look away now but this week – April 10 to be precise – will be the 25th anniversary of their last Championship title. A dramatic 36-22 win over France in Paris saw the Scots take the title – although technically it wasn’t confirmed until England lost to Wales at Wembley the following […]

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Time we demanded more from players

The Rugby Paper Team — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 03:00:00 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER THE other weekend – although it could probably be any weekend – I watched two entertaining games in the space of 48 hours as the Gallagher Premiership cranked back into action. There was Bristol letting rip against Northampton with a seven-try barrage […]

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Ten Italian tyros who will hit the headlines

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 03:58:58 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS IT’S BECOME almost a mantra or article of faith recently that reinforcements, in the form of a squadron of hungry young guns, are arriving on cue to build on Italy’s encouraging improvement. This has been based on Italy’s consistent improvement at U20 level where they have been dishing out bloody noses to the […]

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Lucky? No, that was pure skill

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 03:59:12 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER THE sainted Antoine Dupont might be on a sabbatical but France enjoyed a Dupont moment last weekend when Nolann Le Garrec unleashed his extraordinary 40 yard reverse spin pass to a distant Thomas Ramos. France were leading just 20-17 in the 32nd […]

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Did that just happen? Five other jaw dropping moments

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 03:59:11 +0000

FRANS STEYN DROPPED GOAL (2010) The huge Bok centre was playing for Racing at Clermont. His side were trailing 14-12 when Clermont cleared their lines and the ball was passed to Steyn 60m out in the middle of the park. He took two steps forward and unleashed an exocet from about 56m yards and it […]

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Sorry Cockers, but it’s Portugal for me

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 10 Mar 2024 03:59:09 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER I wish the doughty warriors of Georgia no ill will – on the contrary, I remain a stalwart supporter and their new coach Richard Cockerill is one of my favourite rugby characters – but for the good of European Rugby I’m hoping […]

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We are going to miss you guys a lot

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 10 Mar 2024 03:59:08 +0000

All career-ending injuries are to be mourned but the last couple of weeks or so have been hard to digest for Italy fans and indeed those of us who simply enjoy watching brilliant players happy in their work. Within the space of 10 days or so came the news that first full-back Matteo Minozzi was […]

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How one player really can make a team tick

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 03 Mar 2024 03:59:12 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER WHY have France fallen off a cliff ?Can it really all be down to the absence of Antoine Dupont or do we underestimate the influence of individual genius in what we like to call the greatest team sport in the world? Here’s […]

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It doesn’t feel right to see Italy at the bottom

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 03 Mar 2024 03:59:11 +0000

Various non rugby specialists have contacted me this week asking why Italy are currently bottom of the Six Nations table. Patiently I have described the introduction a few years back of a bonus point if you lose by seven points or fewer and the awarding of a try bonus if you score four tries or […]

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When the B grade was full of A stars

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 03:59:11 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER AS England A crank back into action today against Portugal A after an eight-year break – they were called the Saxons back in 2016 when they logged up a notable 2-0 series win over South Africa A – it’s hard for the […]

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Don’t let refs help the time wasters

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 03:59:10 +0000

THE sheer perversity of referees helping time wasting goal kickers looking to run the clock down by helpfully counting down the seconds has warranted mention before in this column but it’s time for another boot up officialdom’s backside. The otherwise impressive Adam Leal is the latest offender helping Jamie Shillcock to eke out the 90 […]

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Lisbon? Let’s go…

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 03:59:09 +0000

There are no Six Nations fixtures next weekend but the all singing, all dancing Os Lobos are playing Spain in their REC semi-final in Lisbon. Even at this late stage I can see all sorts of three star rooms in the middle of the city circa £45 per night and there was a Vueling flight […]

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Dutch and Germans proving their worth

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 03:59:11 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER Round Three of the Rugby Europe championship concludes in Amsterdam this afternoon when the Netherlands take on Germany and we should take this opportunity of applauding rugby administrators for making change and getting things right. Having accepted the inevitable and realising that […]

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Benvenuto! Great to see Lynagh eventually opting for Italy

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 03:59:10 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS EVEN though I recently predicted in The Rugby Paper podcast that Louis Lynagh would be a starting wing for England at the next World Cup, I was delighted he eventually opted for Italy. He is perfectly qualified for England and indeed Australia, but Italy feels right. It’s not just that he was […]

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No time to go soft on neck roll

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 03:59:09 +0000

Why isn’t the neck roll an automatic yellow card anymore? In fact, why isn’t the neck roll refereed much anymore full stop? I sat up and applauded last Sunday when Luke Pearce, below, probably the best referee out there now Wayne Barnes has retired, pinged Ireland three times against Italy for neck rolls. They are […]

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50 years ago, and it’s a different world

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 03:59:07 +0000

RUGBY MATTERS - BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points IT’S funny how some things 50 years ago feel so much older than others. The release of Band on the Run by Paul McCartney and Wings seems ancient history but memories of England’s 16-12 win over Wales at Twickenham – their […]

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Unlucky Bev had just the two caps

The Rugby Paper Team — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 03:59:06 +0000

It was remiss of this column not to note the passing of former Bristol and England prop Bev Dovey last month aged 85. Dovey, below, a mobile handling front rower and more than decent scrummager, was one of those talented individuals who got messed around by the England selectors in the 1960s. Having played a […]

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