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News & Opinions articles
Topical articles and commentary on rugby events around the world.
The Best in the WorldIt’s always interesting to select a World XV heading into a World Cup and then see how much it might have changed by the end of the competition. The players who often come through are from the smaller nations. We simply haven’t seen them play enough rugby at the top level to know how good they are…
Reason’s Round-UpOur resident journo’s weekly round up of news from around the rugby world, this week featuring: USA looses key World Cup player, the return of Stephen Ferris, South Africa’s loss to the Wallabies, the All Blacks starting line-up and Rugby World Cup ticket pricing…
What's bugging Wayne Smith?Laws that promote negative play make a lot of coaches want to throw rugby’s rulemakers under the deck of a scrummage machine. I am not talking about the laws that stop good, aggressive defence or the laws that hold attackers back from having an unfair advantage. I am talking about those laws that strangle an opportunity to attack before it has even started…
The Red Rose in Black?You have probably heard that the RFU have announced that England’s ‘away strip’ for the Rugby World Cup will be ‘all black’ in colour, consisting of jet black shirt/jersey and shorts. We’d be interested to know what your ‘take’ is on this decision…
Where did the All Blacks go so horribly wrong?24 years and counting – that is how long it is since the world’s greatest rugby side has won the World Cup. Surely they can’t stuff it up this time? Not at home. Not with only one teeny, last minute defeat in the whole of 2010. Not with the four-time IRB coach of the year, the three-time player of the year and the greatest fly-half in history. They couldn’t drop another World Cup could they?…
Welcome Victor & BismarckWe are pleased to announce that Victor Matfield and Bismarck du Plessis have joined The Rugby Site team.?Victor and Bismarck are looking forward to bringing you their coaching videos in the coming months. Stay tuned for further details…
The Law is an AssThe All Blacks leaders, Graham Henry and Richie McCaw, nominate laws they would like to see changed. Mark Reason asks what law would you like to see scrapped?…
The Whistle BlowerOk, so he’s not a nuclear physicist or a sewage worker, but the rugby referee still has one of the most demanding jobs in the world. A ref needs to be a qualified lawyer. He needs to be a social worker, sorting through a number of personalities on the pitch. He needs to be a fitness freak and an anger management counsellor and a policeman and a pitch inspector. The ref then needs to make split second interpretations of hundreds of laws over and over again during the course of 80 minutes…
