Rugby

2:39 PM GMT England’s Maro Itoje will challenge Australia captain Michael Hooper and teammate Samu Kerevi for the men’s player of the year, while scrum-half Antoine Dupont became the first Frenchman to be shortlisted for the award since 2012, World Rugby announced on Monday. Itoje won his 50th cap in the victory against Australia at

1:57 PM GMT Ireland captain Johnny Sexton will miss their final autumn international series test against Argentina after being ruled out for between four to six weeks due to injury, the Irish Rugby Football Union said on Monday. The fly-half, 36, twisted a knee and ankle in the win over New Zealand in Dublin at

11:19 PM GMT The Wallabies have six days to work out “how to get something going” or risk having the green shoots they sowed on home soil shriveling up on what has fast become a disappointing tour of the United Kingdom. Saturday night’s 32-15 defeat by England was perhaps the most deflating Australian loss of

5:43 PM GMT Hooker Ryan Elias scored two tries as Wales laboured to a flattering 38-23 victory over sparkling Fiji, who received a first-half red card but showed plenty of fight in their autumn international clash at the Principality Stadium on Sunday. Scrum-half Kieran Hardy, full-back Liam Williams, and wings Alex Cuthbert and Louis Rees-Zammit

3:19 PM GMT France geared up for next weekend’s much-awaited clash with New Zealand by labouring to a 41-15 victory over Georgia in Bordeaux on Sunday. Les Bleus lacked their usual precision but prevailed thanks to six tries, two each by flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert and hooker Peato Mauvaka, one from winger Damian Penaud and a

8:14 PM GMT Kathleen McNamee There were still two minutes on the clock when James Lowe sank to his knees, raised his arms into the air, and roared with delight. Ireland were six points up and referee Luke Pearce had just awarded the home side a penalty. Lowe knew what the raucous Aviva Stadium knew:

9:41 PM GMT There was barely any danger of the Wallabies’ hoodoo ending at Twickenham on Saturday. If Australia losing to Eddie Jones’ England felt familiar before, the visitors will leave London thinking it is almost grimly inevitable. As victories go, this was straightforward for England in a slippery match where errors from both sides

5:47 PM GMT Ireland dominated from start to finish to topple New Zealand 29-20 at an electric Aviva Stadium on Saturday and make it three wins from the sides’ last five meetings with another superb performance against the All Blacks. Ireland, who had never beaten New Zealand until five years ago, were hammered 46-14 in

10:35 PM GMT Sam Bruce & Tom Hamilton There are some huge Tests across Europe this weekend, but none bigger than the one at Twickenham between England and Australia. Much has changed since Eddie Jones’ side triumphed 40-17 at the 2019 World Cup, with both teams seeing a transition in personnel while also riding the

11:32 AM GMT England have made three changes ahead of Australia on Saturday with Owen Farrell returning to the side, Marcus Smith starting at fly-half and Manu Tuilagi shifting to the wing. Farrell captains the side from inside centre, while Tuilagi replaces Adam Radwan on the wing and Smith comes in for George Furbank at

8:22 PM GMT Liam Napier Five weeks on from the Springboks and the All Blacks are set to face their greatest challenge since splitting successive Tests against the world champions. After notching a century against the USA; blowing the weakened Welsh away in the final quarter and spluttering to an ugly win over Italy last

1:55 AM GMT Wallabies scrum-half Nic White has dubbed Eddie Jones the “king of mind games” ahead of Saturday’s clash at Twickenham, after the England coach wasted little time whipping up a pre-match sideshow on multiple fronts to start the week. It has already been a busy week for Jones, after he referenced US Open

12:59 PM GMT England prop Joe Marler has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss Saturday’s autumn international series test against Australia, the team said in a statement on Tuesday. Marler, 31, returned a positive lateral flow test on Monday and the result was confirmed through a PCR test on Tuesday. He will be required

10:38 AM GMT A spectator who ran onto the field and disrupted proceedings in South Africa’s 23-18 win over Wales at the Principality Stadium on Saturday has been identified as a registered player who will now be banned from the venue by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU). British media reported that the spectator ran onto

5:52 AM GMT New Zealand scrumhalf Aaron Smith will join the squad in Dublin midweek ahead of the test against Ireland to provide injury cover after a head-knock to Brad Weber. Smith was expected to miss the entire season-ending northern hemisphere tour to stay home with family after the birth of his son Leo but

9:41 AM GMT England coach Eddie Jones has told young fly-half Marcus Smith to be wary of the “flood of distractions” that could come his way as the “next big thing” and referred to the attention U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu has received since winning her first Grand Slam. Jones said Raducanu “hasn’t done so

12:56 AM GMT The Wallabies were left to lament a lack of execution and poor discipline as their five-match winning streak was brought to a halt by Scotland, a result coach Dave Rennie says his side will simply have to “cop on the chin”. Australia had their chances at Murrayfield, and saw a first-half try

Nov 7, 2021 Scotland’s replacement hooker Ewan Ashman scored a try on his debut as they won the forward contest to defeat Australia 15-13 in a feisty autumn international clash at Murrayfield on Sunday. Loose-forward Hamish Watson also crossed for a try, and fly-half Finn Russell slotted one penalty and a conversion as the Scots