By Graham Jenkins Welcome to The Forward Pass, a series of conversations with leading rugby union journalists, broadcasters, presenters and photographers who will offer the next generation of media professionals – and…

London Irish

The play-off system dilutes the significance of finishing positions at the top end of the Aviva Premiership, but at the bottom it’s quite the opposite – 12th and last spot…

Aviva Premiership Bath Rugby – Guy Mercer – It was two pre-season wins from two for Bath, who beat Yorkshire Carnegie 20-14 followed by a 32-17 drubbing of the Scarlets. Impressive…

Newcastle Falcons v Sale Sharks (Friday, 8pm, Kingston Park Stadium) Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 1 Jon Welsh, 2 Scott…

It’s tough mentally to go back-to-back and it’s hard to eat correctly for that. According to rugby nutritionist James Morehen, from Liverpool John Moores University, there is a right way…

This year you want to take it seriously – we’re talking about three conditioning sessions a week at least, plus weights – and you are going to be sore. In…

Ideally, players should consume 2g of protein per kilo of body weight when trying to bulk up – so if you weigh 100kg you need 200g of protein a day…

Rated alongside Graham Price as “undoubtedly the greatest tighthead prop of the modern era” by another legend of the front row, Fran Cotton, Robert Paparemborde anchored a French pack which…