Rugby

Oct 30, 2020 After the tumultuous 2019 season, the Wallabies were always going to need to undertake a significant rebuild. Coach Michael Cheika departed the day after Australia’s quarterfinal loss to England and with him the backbone of a team that had been through two Rugby World Cup cycles; Will Genia, David Pocock, Adam Ashley-Cooper,

Oct 29, 2020 Scotland fly-half Finn Russell has been restored to the starting lineup alongside captain Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray as coach Gregor Townsend named his side to take on Wales in the final round of the Six Nations on Saturday. Russell made his comeback off the bench last week when he won his

11:21 AM BST Exeter’s Jonny Hill will make his England debut against Italy on Saturday after coach Eddie Jones named him as lock partner to Maro Itoje for the game in Rome where the Six Nations title is at stake. Scrum-half Ben Youngs will win his 100th cap, inside captain and flyhalf Owen Farrell. In

Oct 29, 2020 JJ Williams, one of Wales’ and the British and Irish Lions’ greatest ever wingers, has died at the age of 72. Williams was central to both teams success in the mid-to-late 1970s, helping Wales to Grand Slams in 1976 and 1978, and four Triple Crowns between 1976 and 1979. His former club

11:38 AM BST Alun Wyn Jones will become the most capped player in test history when he leads a much changed Wales in their Six Nations finale against Scotland on Saturday. Lock Jones will earn a 149th cap, including nine for the British & Irish Lions, and move ahead of former New Zealand captain Richie

6:51 PM BST British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland has warned players who miss the team’s warm-up fixture against Japan on June 26 that they will be at a disadvantage when he makes his final selection for the tour of world champions South Africa. The Lions are locked in a battle with Premiership Rugby

2:34 PM BST Ireland prop Cian Healy will win a 100th cap in Saturday’s Six Nations clash against France in Paris as coach Andy Farrell made just a single, enforced change from the side that thumped Italy last weekend. Ireland can mark Healy’s milestone with a bonus-point victory that would ensure they win the Six

8:28 AM BST SA Rugby is investigating a breach of COVID-19 regulations during which a young rugby player from a club in Border tragically passed away after picking up a serious injury during a tournament match. The name of the deceased player is Vizicelo Sebenza Zondani and the incident happened at a tournament at Ngqwele

5:01 AM BST AAP with ESPN staff Wallabies attack coach Scott Wisemantel has questioned whether New Zealand actually went “up a notch” in Auckland but admits Australia must bring their A-game on Saturday in Sydney, demanding accuracy as they attempt to level the Bledisloe Cup series. Missed tackles and turnovers by the Wallabies were costly

4:56 AM BST It’s the nature of sports that, over time, you watch a player’s journey from its beginning to end and all the triumphs and defeats, the joy and heartache that come and go along the way. As a rugby player in Australia, that means their start in club rugby, rise through the professional

11:45 PM BST The Wallabies know exactly what they must fix up if they’re to claim victory in Bledisloe III this weekend in Sydney and extend the series into a deciding fourth game a week later in Brisbane. The Australians have based themselves up in the Hunter Valley but haven’t escaped the downpour saturating the

2:43 PM BST Ireland centre Garry Ringrose will be out for the rest of the year after suffering a broken jaw in the Six Nations win over Italy at the weekend, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) said on Monday. The 25-year-old collided with the knee of Italy winger Edoardo Padovani while trying to block

11:31 AM BST Wasps’ uncapped fly-half Jacob Umaga has earned a call up to England men’s Six Nations squad ahead of Saturday’s match against Italy in Rome. The match concludes the tournament for both sides, which was halted earlier in the year due to the coronavirus pandemic. England boss Eddie Jones has named Umaga in

7:37 PM BST England won a record-extending 16th women’s Six Nations title, with a game to spare, after they took an unassailable lead in the standings when France failed to beat Scotland on Sunday. France needed to win their final two games to be in with a shout of winning their first title since 2018

3:42 AM BST All Blacks number eight Ardie Savea and prop Nepo Laulala are on paternity leave and will miss the Rugby Championship opener against Australia next weekend, coach Ian Foster said on Sunday. Both players were absent when the New Zealand squad boarded their flight across the Tasman Sea on Sunday, but Joe Moody

10:38 PM BST France geared up for the Six Nations Super Saturday in style as Antoine Dupont scored a couple of tries in a 38-21 home victory over Wales in a friendly international on Saturday. Les Bleus recovered from a wobbly start to put on an inspired performance at the Stade de France with Cyril

8:27 PM BST As Joe Simmonds chipped the ball through the swaying posts to seal Exeter Chiefs’ remarkable domestic double, it was just about the only part of the season that went to script. Exeter Chiefs have been the best team in the land since we began this campaign 372 days ago, and their Heineken

8:07 PM BST Exeter Chiefs completed a momentous double when they beat Wasps 19-13 in a rain-lashed, arm-wrestle of a Premiership final in a near-empty Twickenham on Saturday, a week after winning the European Champions Cup. In appalling conditions of relentless rain and swirling wind, where the only noise in the 82,000-capacity ground came from