Rugby

5:28 PM BST The British & Irish Lions beat Japan 28-10 in the warm-up for their South Africa tour on Saturday but the match was overshadowed by a shoulder injury for captain Alun Wyn Jones which could jeopardise his participation. The veteran Welsh lock was forced off after eight minutes supporting his left arm, seemingly

8:54 PM BST Two late tries by winger Louis Lynagh ensured that Harlequins were crowned English Premiership champions for the first time in nine years on Saturday as they beat holders Exeter 40-38 in a Twickenham final full of superb tries. Harlequins struck first with an early penalty try, only for Exeter’s forwards to deliver

11:10 AM BST ESPN Reuters Scotland’s Zander Fagerson and Hamish Watson have been ruled out of the British & Irish Lions lineup to face Japan on Saturday due to injury. Prop Fagerson has a back spasm and will be replaced by Ireland’s Tadhg Furlong, while flanker Watson suffered a head injury in training on Tuesday

4:45 AM BST Wallabies coach Dave Rennie is disappointed the red-card replacement trial will not be adopted in international rugby, saying he “can’t understand” the northern hemisphere’s resistance to it. World Rugby is poised to green light both the 50/22 and goal-line dropout variations that have been used in Super Rugby AU over the past

3:28 PM BST South Africa have said they are hopeful Duane Vermeulen will be fit enough to join the British & Irish Lions series, as assistant coach Deon Davids suggested on Wednesday the No. 8 was a “couple of weeks” away from joining the squad. Davids was coy on whether the forward would be available

11:23 AM BST Warren Gatland has named his first British & Irish Lions team for the 2021 tour with Alun Wyn Jones captaining the side against Japan on Saturday. Gatland’s team is without those in Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership final and features players from Wales, Scotland and Ireland. This weekend’s match is at Murrayfield and is

10:37 AM BST Sale Sharks centre Manu Tuilagi has withdrawn from the England squad for the summer series against the United States and Canada due to injury, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) said on Tuesday. Tuilagi, who was named in coach Eddie Jones’s revised 36-man squad on Sunday, picked up the injury in Sale’s 40-30

12:48 AM BST Liam Napier Few major gripes or grumbles can be found with Ian Foster’s first All Blacks squad of the year that sprinkles the old with the new and welcomes back several headline figures. When naming a 36-man squad for a campaign expected to feature 15 Tests this season, it’s more about who

11:44 AM BST Leicester Tigers hooker Tom Youngs must undergo a refereeing course and officiate in two community age grade games after he was charged with disrespecting the authority of the match official, England’s rugby union (RFU) said on Monday. The Tigers’ captain was cited following a heated argument after the Premiership game against Bristol

8:05 AM BST The Ireland men’s rugby sevens team secured their maiden Olympic berth after beating France 28-19 in the final qualifier on Sunday. Terry Kennedy’s try gave Ireland an early lead before scores from Stephen Perez and Paulin Riva put France ahead. Ireland responded through Jordan Conroy, who scored a pair of second-half tries,

6:57 PM BST Saracens overcame a sluggish start to secure a return to the top flight with a dominant 57-15 victory over Ealing Trailfinders in the second leg of the second-tier Championship playoff final on Sunday. Saracens, four-times Premiership champions and three-times European Cup winners in the last five years, were relegated last season as

4:12 AM BST Wallabies captain Michael Hooper says time will tell whether his six-month stint in Japan was a personal success, but admits player sabbaticals are worth exploring in greater number as Rugby Australia fights to retain its best players. Hooper fronted the media via Zoom on Friday morning, the skipper back in green and

12:26 PM BST South African teams could feature in Europe’s elite club rugby competitions from the 2022-23 season following the formation of the United Rugby Championship (URC) which was unveiled on Tuesday. The Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers will square up against four sides from each of Wales and Ireland, and two from Scotland and

1:46 PM BST South Africa’s Lions franchise have been forced to cancel their final fixture in the Rainbow Cup due to COVID-19 infections in their squad just three weeks before they host the British & Irish Lions in Johannesburg. The side were due to play the Stormers at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday, but

2:43 AM BST ESPN staff The United States has thrown its hat into the ring to host the Rugby World Cup, with USA Rugby clearing the first hurdle in an attempt to bring the game’s global showpiece to North America for either the 2027, 2029 or 2031 events. USA Rugby was on Thursday “formally accepted”

4:50 AM BST Dual international Lote Tuqiri knows better than most what winning the right to host the Rugby World Cup would mean for Australian rugby. Having been enticed over to the 15-player game in the lead-up to the tournament, the former Wallabies winger was blown away by the scale of rugby’s showpiece in 2003

12:27 PM BST Eddie Jones has included 21 uncapped players in his initial 34-man squad for Tests against the United States and Canada, giving them an opportunity to make their mark in the absence of a host of unavailable regulars. Jones will be without 12 players involved in the British & Irish Lions squad, while

3:13 AM BST A Wallabies debut for ex-NRL star Suliasi Vunivalu will have to wait with the winger to miss the upcoming Tests against France with a hamstring injury. Vunivalu hobbled off the field in Queensland’s 31-24 Super Rugby Trans-Tasman loss to the Blues last weekend and Wallabies coach Dave Rennie says the injury is