Newport RFC
Once, they dominated Welsh rugby, defeating the greats of the game, from Bath to Australia and the All Blacks. Then, Newport RFC were removed from the game’s top table, eventually losing their home too. But, as they look to mark 150 years with the dawn of a new era, one thing remains the same, they ‘still hate those black and blue bastards’.
Mike Tadjer
Of all the kickers who lined up in France, it wasn’t the Sextons, Farrells or even Pollards that truly captured the imagination; it was the sixteen-stone Portuguese hooker. Mike Tadjer was the hero the Rugby World Cup needed.
USA
The first-ever Olympic rugby tournament wasn’t supposed to be won by the Americans, just as they weren’t supposed to win the inaugural women’s Rugby World Cup. But they did. And then? Pipe bombs, Dan Lyle, MLR, expelled champions, bankruptcy, sevens success, fifteens failure, and two Rugby World Cup bids. This is American rugby. It’s anything and everything, but never dull.
Matt Kvesic
The tape had run out, the medical supplies were low, and then the bailiffs wheeled away the Wattbikes; Matt Kvesic’s return to his boyhood club Worcester Warriors wasn’t quite what he expected. A long-term contract was cut short, and he was forced to leave his family behind and head to Italy.
Rob Baxter
More than fifty years ago, Rob Baxter was introduced to Exeter rugby. A life spent with the club, as man and ball boy, shows no sign of coming to an end. Even though his first golden generation are almost entirely gone, a new breed have emerged.
Ikey Tigers
The story of Ikeys v Maties goes far beyond your typical student rugby rivalry. Antisemitism, apartheid, blue-chip donors and the presence of many future Springboks have made this grudge match one of South Africa’s most notorious.
Jonathan Davies
As he lined up to take the kick, the ground of his childhood dreams fell silent. All around were fans who’d cheered for and against him. The silence was broken by one man, ‘I hope your wife dies.’ For all his brilliance in every shirt he wore, at every game, there was always one.
Our Rugby Towns #2 Talia John, Gorseinon
Before she took to the field against South Africa, it all became too much for Natalia John. The tears flowed, she broke down. She wasn’t just playing for her country, it felt like she was also playing for her livelihood, her family and, specifically, her nephew Morgan.
Paula George
Paula George wasn’t just the only black person in her village, but the only black person in her family. At twelve, she was forced into foster care, at fourteen she left home for good. At nineteen rugby saved her life. But then, at fifty, cancer threatened to take it, within a matter of months.
James Hook
When they finally gave James Hook a Six Nations start in the Wales number ten jersey, he showed them what they’d been missing. A full house. A try, conversion, drop-goal and four penalties. Twenty-two points. Victory over England. It was rugby Roy of the Rovers stuff for the boy from Port Talbot.
London Scottish
The new season kicked off, but the side who’d finished the previous one with a record win, were nowhere to be seen. London Scottish, for the second time, were missing from professional rugby.
Josh Matavesi
When 17-year-old local boy Josh Matavesi made his debut for Camborne, few expected it to lead to a career featuring two Rugby World Cups for Fiji, and playing for some of the most iconic clubs in Europe, before returning to exactly the same place where it all began, some fifteen years later.
David Campese
Weeks after making his under-21 debut for Australia, the teenage wing stepped up to the senior side, against the All Blacks in Christchurch. He didn’t blink, he didn’t even know who Stu Wilson was, so why worry? They lost, but he scored, and David Campese’s reign had begun.
Treorchy RFC
“I had a dream the other night, The strangest dream of all, I dreamed I was in heaven, away from life’s hard call, It was just as I’d imagined with the silver stars beneath, Seven there from Treorchy, thousands from Glynneath.”
– Max Boyce: Live at Treorchy
England Under 18s
After once ruling the age-grade roost, taps on shoulders, key departures, and criticism from all angles, has meant England’s pathway has come under fire. But now, England’s youth might finally be coming of age.
Belinda Moore
As women’s rugby in England enters a crucial stage in its development, Premiership Women’s Rugby was launched with Belinda Moore as employee number one. An average ice skater, but with every professional credential you could want, she might just be the game changer the sport needs.