4:02 AM BST French Top 14 club Stade Francais has cancelled a preseason match because some players have developed lesions on their lungs after contracting COVID-19 and need an extra week to recuperate. The Paris-based club was scheduled to play Toulon next Thursday in preparation for its opening fixture of the 2020-21 Top 14 season
Rugby
2:13 PM BST South Africa hooker Malcolm Marx has signed for Japanese Top League side the Kubota Spears, returning to the country where he helped the Springboks lift the World Cup trophy last year. Marx opted out of his contract with the South African Super Rugby side the Lions in May, taking advantage of a
12:08 AM BST ESPN staff The British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa could be postponed to 2022 if the coronavirus pandemic continues to halt travel, South African Rugby said on Tuesday in announcing the ballot registration for match tickets. Fears remain that COVID-19 will continue to play a role in restricting international travel
6:18 AM BST All Blacks coach Ian Foster is still planning on his side having a full international season starting on Oct. 3, despite the re-emergence of the novel coronavirus in New Zealand. The All Blacks Tests against Wales and Scotland scheduled for June were cancelled and their itinerary for the rest of 2020 has
1:33 AM BST ESPN staff Richie Mo’unga and Beauden Barrett will get the chance to face off at fly-half for the first time this season after the star All Blacks duo were named in the South Island and North Island squads respectively. The two 28-man squads were unveiled on Tuesday afternoon [NZT], giving both teams
11:38 AM BST Former England captain Dylan Hartley has criticised the manner in which rugby has treated his generation of players, saying the “money men” have relegated concern for individual welfare to the back seat over the years. Hartley, 34, retired last year after a persistent knee injury and is England’s most capped hooker of
9:58 PM BST Liam Napier In troubling times of lockdowns, social distancing and financial hardship sport can provide an outlet; a chance to free the mind from life’s realities and to simply feel alive, somewhat normal, again. Super Rugby Aotearoa, as the world first in its code to resume amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, offered
10:34 PM BST English rugby’s Premiership returned after five months on Friday and it was Harlequins who drew first blood, beating second-placed Sale 16-10 in a possible early indicator of how pre-lockdown form will count for little. However, on a night of incredible sporting action in soccer, athletics and even snooker, rugby fluffed its lines
6:26 PM BST Hosting rights for the next two men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups will be awarded within the same process as World Rugby attempt to build on the success of Japan 2019, the governing body announced on Thursday. The announcement means the 2025 and 2029 women’s and 2027 and 2021 men’s World Cup
4:11 PM BST All 12 top-flight clubs will take a stand against racism with different gestures as Premiership Rugby committed itself to making the sport more diverse and inclusive, on Wednesday. Harlequins, Leicester and Wasps players will take a knee to support the “Black Lives Matter” movement when the Premiership season resumes this weekend. 1
10:23 AM BST Stade Francais has put its side into isolation after an increase in positive coronavirus cases, the club said in a statement on Monday. Montpellier have also halted training after a player’s partner came into contact with someone who had tested positive for the virus. 1 Related “Following the COVID-19 tests carried out
11:33 AM BST Gallagher Premiership clubs could go bust if fans are not allowed into stadiums by the end of the year, Exeter Chiefs chairman Tony Rowe has said. The Premiership, which has been suspended since March, will resume later this month but games will be played without supporters as part of measures to curb
2:04 AM BST Super Rugby AU is alive and kicking after two huge upsets in Round 6. First, the Rebels completely dominated the previously unbeaten Brumbies on Friday night. Then, seemingly from nowhere, the Waratahs wound back the clock to 2014 with an astonishing first-half display of running rugby to set up a huge win
9:44 AM BST “It’s a celebration with curfews tonight.” That was Scott Robertson’s assessment of how his side would mark an astonishing fourth straight title, a seemingly apt approach given it has not come in the same fashion as their previous three. Sunday’s 32-22 win over the Highlanders in front of a full house at
1:33 PM BST England head coach Eddie Jones has said form is the main factor when he selects his squad and he will continue to pick players from Saracens despite their relegation to the Championship. Saracens will drop into the second tier at the end of the Gallagher Premiership season after breaching salary cap regulations.
4:12 AM BST Warren Gatland says he would like to continue coaching at New Zealand’s Chiefs next year if the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa is unable to go ahead due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gatland’s four-year deal at the Chiefs gives him the second season off in order to coach the
2:46 AM BST The South African Government has approved the return-to-play conditions for professional rugby in the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing for domestic competition to start in the first two weeks of September. South African Rugby confirmed its plans, which include playing games behind closed doors, had been approved and published on Thursday.
3:26 PM BST The final round of the Six Nations Championship will be played on Oct. 31 with leaders England taking on Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome as organisers confirmed the dates for the remaining four fixtures on Wednesday. The Six Nations was suspended in March when the coronavirus pandemic hit Europe and