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ICYMI 👀🗣️ “The response from the RFU Board was a commitment to hearing views from member clubs, including on governance....
09/09/2026

ICYMI 👀

🗣️ “The response from the RFU Board was a commitment to hearing views from member clubs, including on governance.

“However, my soundings are that since May the Board appears to have retrenched, with no significant changes in personnel or structure undertaken.

“The upshot is that most of the outstanding issues regarding the Championship clubs, and in the extensive league structure below it, are in stasis.

“It leaves all the fundamental questions – Championship and community club funding, the player pathway, promotion-relegation, rebuilding community player participation – blowing in the wind.

“Implementing the WGU’s goal of an RFU Board overhaul must now become a reality, removing the impediments to change that are stifling the game in England.

“By comparison, the issue of two Welsh clubs joining the Premiership cartel is a sideshow...

✍️ Nick Cain argued the RFU Board must act now to restore trust in the game, overhaul its governance and address the issues holding back clubs across England.

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🔥 New season. New stories. Same unrivalled coverage.🏉🗞️ The Rugby Paper brings you closer to the action with exclusive...
09/09/2026

🔥 New season. New stories. Same unrivalled coverage.

🏉🗞️ The Rugby Paper brings you closer to the action with exclusive interviews, breaking news, expert opinion and much more.

👇 Join us for the 2026/27 season.

ICYMI 👀🗣️ “It’s a big rugby environment in Gloucester. I’ve walked down the street a couple of times and a few people ha...
09/09/2026

ICYMI 👀

🗣️ “It’s a big rugby environment in Gloucester. I’ve walked down the street a couple of times and a few people have said welcome to Gloucester.

“We had an open training session at the start of the week and there was a lot of supporters who came to watch and a lot of kids, so it’s great to be able to see them there and meet a lot of the fans.

“They’re really passionate and everyone says that about the Shed – I’m looking forward to hearing the crowd this season.

“They’re loud and they’re a great support so I’m looking forward to playing in front of them.

“And there’s a busful from Brynamman coming up one week as well. I’m sure a lot of friends and family will be coming up.

“It’s not too far so they are looking forward to it...

🍒 💪 Jac Morgan is relishing the challenge of playing in front of Gloucester’s passionate Shed supporters after making the move from Wales to one of English rugby’s most demanding environments.

ICYMI 👀🗣️ “Sri Lanka was a big culture identity trip for us. We had big player meetings and had big meetings with our ps...
09/09/2026

ICYMI 👀

🗣️ “Sri Lanka was a big culture identity trip for us. We had big player meetings and had big meetings with our psychologists.

“I think we’re clear on what we’re setting out to do. We need to back it up now.

“The year after we won we spent too much time comparing things to the 2024 season and speaking about last year we did this and it worked and we need to try and do that again.

“We’re trying to improve and add strings to our bow and add layers to what we’re doing and chase down being a much better team than we were last year.

“So rather than trying to defend the title and protect what we’ve done and replicate last year, we have to be striving to be much better and sort of create our own way of doing things.

“You know there’s nine other teams in the Prem that are doing the exact same thing and they’ll have improved...

😇 🏆 Fin Smith said Northampton Saints must forget about defending their Prem crown and instead focus on improving as they target back-to-back titles after a revealing pre-season trip to Sri Lanka.

ICYMI 👀🗣️ “Everyone gets on the edge of their seats when Will Jordan or Cheslin Kolbe have the ball, and these matches h...
09/09/2026

ICYMI 👀

🗣️ “Everyone gets on the edge of their seats when Will Jordan or Cheslin Kolbe have the ball, and these matches have highlighted their virtuoso ability – and how important it is for your best players to really fire.

“Jordan is one of those players where defenders think they’ve got him, but he just slips away.

“It’s like he’s got an inbuilt sensor to evade tackles, and it explains the New Zealand wing’s extraordinary strike rate, although he makes tries as well as scores them.

“There is an aura about Jordan, and because defenders don’t want to be made to look foolish their apprehension buys him the time to slide past them.

“He may not be as fast as Louis Bielle-Biarrey, but he’s still very quick, and a very clever player with great skills and ability to read the game.

“Kolbe’s goal-kicking accuracy has been an eye-opener because it’s another great skill in the Springbok wing’s locker – but I want to see South Africa put the ball in his hands more.

“Defences may have got a bit smarter, and Cheslin may be a bit older and might have put on a little more bulk, but he’s still a ball of fast-twitch dynamic snap and power.

“Kolbe’s as elusive as Jordan, but in a different way, with his unbelievable side-steps, changes of direction, timing, and anticipation.

“He’s very wily, and it shows when he goes up for the high ball a bit early to beat much taller opponents...

✍️ Jeremy Guscott on the brilliance of Cheslin Kolbe and Will Jordan as the world-class talent lights up the ‘Greatest Rivalry’ series between South Africa and New Zealand.

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🏆 Prem 2026-27 Preview – Leicester Tigers🐯 Leicester Tigers are one of the more iconic teams in rugby.Over recent years,...
08/09/2026

🏆 Prem 2026-27 Preview – Leicester Tigers

🐯 Leicester Tigers are one of the more iconic teams in rugby.

Over recent years, they have been a consistent presence at the top of the PREM Rugby.

Leicester have a wealth of talent in their squad and will be on the hunt for big results this season.

The bookmakers may have Leicester sitting in the shadows of Bath, Northampton Saints and Saracens, but the Tigers will not be content to follow the favourites.

As Geoff Parling enters his second season, Leicester have the quality, ambition and pedigree to make their own push for Prem glory...

✍️ Peter Ryan assesses their key players, squad changes and chances of challenging for the title.

🗣️ “Like the vast majority of you, I have never piloted a big passenger jet and, indeed, have no wish to… but, my god, t...
08/09/2026

🗣️ “Like the vast majority of you, I have never piloted a big passenger jet and, indeed, have no wish to… but, my god, to the layman that was a close shave at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town last weekend ahead of the second Test between South Africa and New Zealand.

“Or was it? Was it in fact just brilliant professionalism from experts who know exactly what they are doing?

“For captain Steve van der Merwe and his crew in the lead plane – which included two co-pilots who were both captains in their own right and also experts in aerobatics – was it in fact as routine as a lineout throw-and-take by Eben Etzebeth, or Cam Roigard firing out a spin pass to Will Jordan on the right wing?

“Almost certainly yes… but bloody hell the TV shots were spectacular.

“The official stats say that the first Airlink Embraer – an E190 – had 41 feet to clear from the top of the saddleback main stand of the DHL Stadium.

“That seems pretty close to me...

✍️ Brendan Gallagher looks back at the spectacular fly-past before the Springboks v All Blacks second Test and recalls the iconic 1995 World Cup fly-over that helped create one of rugby’s greatest moments.

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🌎 WXV Global Series Preview 🗣️ “There’s no tournament to win, so we can be very patient around how we go about things.“U...
08/09/2026

🌎 WXV Global Series Preview

🗣️ “There’s no tournament to win, so we can be very patient around how we go about things.

“Ultimately, you are auditioning for Australia in 2029 because we are definitely going to be travelling some distance there.

“We understand how important our connections are to play exciting rugby. We’re tweaking our game – evolving it.

“But it’s very clear. The girls are showing enthusiasm around building and developing their skillsets for our game.

“I want to see people compete because, ultimately, they’ll earn the trust when it comes to ’29...

🌹 England boss John Mitchell says World Cup places are on the line as the Red Roses begin a new era in the redesigned WXV Global Series.

✍️ Ben Jaycock

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🗣️ A full measure of Eben Etzebeth’s value to the Boks must take into account the unmeasurables, if that makes sense.The...
08/09/2026

🗣️ A full measure of Eben Etzebeth’s value to the Boks must take into account the unmeasurables, if that makes sense.

The line in the sand, the cold-eyed intensity, the “over my dead body” spirit. These were the Etzebethian abstractions that made the difference.

Superlatives were the order of the day and it was Victor Matfield, no less, who provided them: the same Matfield who jumped and scrummaged his way to an extremely prominent place the pantheon of Springbok engine-roomers over the 14-year stretch of a career in which he set a good number of the landmarks only recently surpassed by his successor.

“It was important,” he said, “that our most experienced player, in a week where there was a lot of pressure, stood up and showed just why he’s probably the best Springbok of all time.”

Note the thing he didn’t say: the “best Springbok lock.”

Matfield hit a higher note in singing his hallelujahs. He suggested that Etzebeth might be the best Springbok of them all.

Better than Danie Craven and Hennie Muller, Frik du Preez and Danie Ge**er, Joost van der Westhuizen and Bryan Habana.

Hell’s teeth, that’s a big call...

✍️ Chris Hewett asks whether Eben Etzebeth really deserves to be considered the greatest Springbok ever – and assesses the case for the South Africa lock.

🗣️ “For a coach like Erasmus, who has since the last World Cup developed his squad to give himself four options in each ...
08/09/2026

🗣️ “For a coach like Erasmus, who has since the last World Cup developed his squad to give himself four options in each position to the point where none would weaken the side, the opportunity to keep opponents guessing until just before kick-off, at a time when the game is soaked in analysis, is the equivalent of a sidestep on the field.

“When Warren Gatland was Wales‘s head coach, he often went early with his selection announcement, but only because of a tendency for teams to leak.

“Once players know, it is hard to keep a check on it, as England coaches have found.

“But not even Gatland, another coach who was always on the look-out for an edge, dared swap his front rows an hour before the start of a match.

“It is as if Erasmus is daring World Rugby to take a stand on whether to uphold the regulation or let it wither...

✍️ Paul Rees looks at why South Africa’s head coach Rassie Erasmus may be playing fast and loose with the laws of the game.

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