The Rugby Paper

17/10/2025

🗣️ “England is still one of my dreams, along with winning the Prem with Bristol and reaching 100 games for the club.”

🐻 Bristol Bears’ Joe Batley is putting the frustration of last season behind him as he looks to fulfil his ambition of playing for England.

Joe Batley is putting the frustration of last season behind him as he looks to fulfil his ambition of playing for England.

17/10/2025

🏉 Watch the take on at Wembley in London on the 1st of November.

Tickets available here 🔗https://tinyurl.com/xut9m6v4

17/10/2025

𝐈𝐂𝐘𝐌𝐈 👀

😇 Tommy Freeman wants to enjoy a thrill-packed ride to domestic and European silverware with Northampton Saints

Tommy Freeman’s helter-skelter summer with the Lions and then in America on a deserved break may be over. But now he wants to enjoy a thrill-packed ride to domestic and European silverware with Saints.

17/10/2025

ICYMI: 🗣️ “Jack Willis is an exceptional flanker who is being wasted by England because the RFU is in thrall to Premiership clubs.”

✍️ Nick Cain on the absurdity of a rule that bans one of England’s best from playing for his country

The high esteem in which Jack Willis is held at his club Toulouse, in French rugby circles in general, and regularly in this column, was reflected this week when he won the Top 14 Player of the Year award in front of a full house of France’s rugby union elite in Paris.

17/10/2025

🗣️ “Time deepens all rivalries.”

🔥 Nearly 150 years of rivalry sees Leinster and Munster clash at Croke Park this Saturday, with Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley battling for Ireland’s No.10 shirt

✍️ Chris Collyer

Widely regarded as the biggest rugby rivalry in Ireland and to some, the greatest club rivalry of all time, these two provinces have battled it out since the formation of the four Irish Provinces: Leinster, Munster, Connacht and Ulster in 1879.

16/10/2025

ICYMI: 🗣️ “He was as hard as nails, totally reliable and consistent.”

✍️ Brendan Gallagher pays tribute to Roland Bertranne – the furious little bull who became a byword for excellence in French rugby.

Imagine being a French rugby international in the tumultuous decade between 1971 and 1981.

16/10/2025

ICYMI 👀

⏳ 🏉 Josh McNally may be 35 now, but the Wales-based lock who won one England cap in 2021 has no intention of hanging up his boots any time soon.

Josh McNally may be 35 now, but the Wales-based lock who won one England cap in 2021 has no intention of hanging up his boots any time soon.

16/10/2025

📢 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐑𝐔𝐆𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐏🚨

⚔️ The upcoming Leinster vs Munster derby
🏉 National League rugby
🇮🇪 Reaction to the Ireland squad

🎙️ Ben Jaycock is joined by TRP writer Chris Collyer for this week’s edition

WATCH HERE 👇

In this week's episode of the Rugby Paper Roundup...Assistant Editor Ben Jaycock is joined by TRP writer Chris Collyer!The boys talk through all things Irela...

16/10/2025

ICYMI: 🏉 Former Redruth, Plymouth Albion, Cornish Pirates, Jersey Reds and Cornwall centre Robin Wedlake reflects on his life in rugby.

Robin Wedlake — former Redruth, Plymouth Albion, Cornish Pirates, Jersey Reds and Cornwall centre — now plays for Camborne in National Two West.

16/10/2025

ICYMI: 🏉 New Caldy winger Rhys Tudor says he’s been “blown away” by life at Paton Field and how well the humble Wirral club continue to adapt to Champ Rugby.

New Caldy winger Rhys Tudor says he’s been “blown away” by life at Paton Field and how well the humble Wirral club continue to adapt to Champ Rugby.

16/10/2025

ICYMI 👀

🗣️ “South Africa are now the team to beat.”

✍️ Paul Rees looks back on South Africa’s Rugby Championship triumph and ahead to the Autumn Series.

Paul Rees looks back on South Africa’s Rugby Championship triumph and ahead to the Autumn Series.

16/10/2025

ICYMI: 🏉 When Frankie Nowell decided to head for a new rugby life Down Under, little did he realise the impact the switch would have on him, both on and off the field.

When Frankie Nowell decided to head for a new rugby life Down Under, little did he realise the impact the switch would have on him, both on and off the field.