Even those of us who have spent years warning that professional rugby faces a ticking time bomb of premature dementia cases found this week’s interviews with Steve Thompson and Alix Popham shocking. Sam Peters takes a sobering look at the issues facing the sport.

Opportunity Knocks - Concussion in Rugby - Sam Peters

Money, says&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rugbypass.com/players/sonatane-takulua/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sonatane Takulua</a>, is always the problem. Tonga’s captain is fed up of modest wages seldom arriving on time, when they are paid at all.

There is a problem with money every tour

Will Owen looks back at some of the rugby names we learnt in 2021 and predict what 2022 may hold for them.

Seven wonders of the world for 2022

There were few more glorious sights than&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rugbypass.com/players/jake-polledri/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jake Polledri</a>&nbsp;with ball in hand. Grabbing a fistful of defenders, he would swat them aside with gleeful disdain; one after the other, they came and went; his giant legs hammering away like pistons, crushing any hopes they had of bringing him down.

Polledri sees light at end of the tunnel

If fans thought the life of a professional rugby player was all sponsorship deals, coffee shop get-togethers and Instagramming, they would be disabused of that notion by speaking to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rugbypass.com/players/nick-tompkins/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nick Tompkins</a>, the livewire&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rugbypass.com/teams/saracens/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Saracens</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rugbypass.com/teams/wales/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Wales</a>&nbsp;midfielder. For all the glamorous trips to Munich, Miami and Verbier in Saracens’ past, when The XV spoke to the 26-year-old, he was in Chislehurst, Kent, helping the ‘old man’ with odd-jobs.

Nick Tompkins Interview

Antoine Dupont celebrated his nomination last week as World Rugby’s player of the year by collecting another accolade last Saturday. This one was more mundane, a man of the match award for his outstanding performance for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rugbypass.com/teams/toulouse/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Toulouse</a>&nbsp;in their Champions Cup victory over Cardiff. So stupendous was the French scrum-half that he left Sam Warburton in the television commentary box almost speechless in wonderment.

Warming the bench for a once-in-a-generation talent

Despite the theoretically simple nature of the No9 position, the evolution of attacking shape requires its half-backs to have an encyclopedic knowledge of how to maintain structure, play at the right tempo and move forward. <a href="https://www.rugbypass.com/players/ben-youngs/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ben Youngs</a>&nbsp;arrived before&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rugbypass.com/players/aaron-smith/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Aaron Smith</a>&nbsp;but has outstayed the retirement of Will Genia. While he doesn’t quite gain the plaudits of these two as the best scrum-half on the planet, he’s consistently in the conversation for the top four or five.

From Youngs pretender to the throne of England

France are back, and isn’t the rugby world a whole lot brighter for it? Saturday’s stunning domination of the&nbsp;All Blacks&nbsp;felt like a seminal victory for a team that has come of age under Fabien Galthie.

Allez les Bleus: How France went from meek to magnificent

Graham Simmons takes a fascinating and in-depth look at the behind-the-scenes life and hard grind of a professional rugby coach.

The life of a head coach - Graham Simmons

Eligibility is a difficult business for World Rugby to get right. Policy is governed by one overwhelming objective, which is to preserve the integrity of the international game and while that may seem relatively simple to achieve, it is most definitely not.

Rugby’s eligibility laws relics of a bygone era - Gregor Paul

The very best of The XV in audio format

Each month, we produce a selection of audio narrated versions of some of The XV's most popular editorial articles so you can enjoy the best of The XV on the go, in the gym or on your commute to work.

The XV - Audio Articles

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Opportunity Knocks - Concussion in Rugby - Sam Peters

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Seven wonders of the world for 2022

Polledri sees light at end of the tunnel

Nick Tompkins Interview