Tag Archives: rfu

Recovery from despair

“Respair” means fresh hope; a recovery from despair. The Oxford English Dictionary has two words against Respair’s inclusion: rare and obsolete. It was last used in the 14th and 15th centuries and then it was let go: unneeded. It reappeared … Continue reading

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Caldy’s kids and the RFU

Me writing for Rugby Pass. Please click the following link to read about the governing body’s most important decision in 2023. https://t.co/W9mDVzZPYG

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Why not?

63 minutes and 47 seconds on the clock; Marcus Smith beats the floor with his fist. He has knocked the ball on attempting to keep a move alive. A move that had swept towards the All Blacks’ try line like … Continue reading

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The spectral sceptre

Please click this link to read this piece on RugbyPass It was telling that two individual moments of brilliance were all that England could proffer in Paris. Against a defence fatigued by work already done, England’s Jonny May jinked forth … Continue reading

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Catching Bath

Bath, the city: with its Bath stone buildings, creamy yellow in the September sun, rising up and around like the sides of a colosseum. It is a natural amphitheatre; all the roads seem to lead towards the centre. And under an … Continue reading

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Hitting the target and not finding your bullets – Aviva Premiership Round 2 Review

Click here to read my report on the Aviva Premiership and see my ‘Team of the Week’. No two weeks are the same in the Aviva Premiership. Ask Dan Mugford, or indeed Gloucester. Sale’s Mugford steered his last minute penalty villainously … Continue reading

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This is England

Me for the Rugby Blog Stripped to the waist, amidst the maelstrom that was Melbourne’s AAMI Park, Dan Cole stood oozing Englishness. Having been de-robed with comical ease whilst attending one of the many scraps that broke out in the … Continue reading

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What lies beneath (for Rugby World)

What will happen to London Irish if they get relegated At some point, in the next few weeks, London Irish will play a game in the Aviva Premiership that will see them relegated for the first time. On Sunday, up … Continue reading

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Inbetween the talking

Good riddance is an odd phrase. With its positive negativity. Something a doting parent would say to a heartbroken child. Protective, vicariously angry at the rejection, trying to instill a belief that things will be better off without ‘them’. When we … Continue reading

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Remember, Remember…

Dates and times: history is full of them. Some traverse the ages, others drift into obscurity. How people will document this year’s bonfire night from a rugby perspective is likely to be nothing more than a footnote on a rewritten … Continue reading

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