Rugby

Jun 9, 2021 Liam Napier For better or worse, professional athletes increasingly grow influential platforms. Within this wide-ranging realm public utterances in interviews or posts on personal platforms are made about the oft turbulent rides in their chosen sports; to push global or emerging brands, support causes, deliver messages and establish profiles they can leverage

6:37 AM BST South Africa’s Damian de Allende and R.G. Snyman have suffered burns in a “fire pit accident”, along with Munster team-mates Mike Haley and C.J. Stander last weekend, the PRO14 club has announced. Rugby World Cup-winning duo De Allende and Snyman, who were last week named in the Springboks’ squad to face the

2:26 PM BST Ed Robinson and Alex Codling will join England coach Eddie Jones’ backroom staff for their summer series against the United States and Canada, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) said on Monday. Jersey Reds assistant coach Robinson will return to the England staff after serving as skills coach during the recent Six Nations

12:55 PM BST Kyle Sinckler has been added to the British & Irish Lions squad for the South Africa tour after tighthead prop Andrew Porter was ruled out with a toe injury, head coach Warren Gatland said. Ireland international Porter, 25, picked up the injury in Leinster’s PRO 14 Rainbow Cup loss to Glasgow Warriors

1:13 PM BST South Africa’s desire to have a fly-half who can settle the nerves and eke out a win in tight situations led to a recall for Morne Steyn for the British & Irish Lions series starting next month. Steyn won the last of his 66 test caps in 2016 and, despite the fact

1:24 AM BST Australia is on the board! After 13 straight defeats, the Reds at last opened the Aussies account in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, the Queenslanders defeating the Chiefs in an extraordinary game at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville. But it was otherwise another dominant weekend for New Zealand as the Hurricanes, Crusaders, Blues

2:06 PM BST South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus is expecting the British & Irish Lions to play a fast tempo game and not try to arm-wrestle the world champion Springboks when the teams meet in a three-test series starting in late July. Erasmus coached the Boks to the World Cup title in Japan

12:00 PM BST England will face Fiji on the opening day of the Rugby World Cup next year while defending champions and hosts New Zealand will face neighbours Australia at Auckland’s Eden Park, the sport’s global governing body said. The tournament, to be held in Auckland and Whangarei from Oct. 8-Nov. 12 in 2022, was

The All Blacks will be without their captain for over half the Test season and yet, barring a few notable exceptions, Ian Foster remains largely spoilt for choice as he plots his second campaign in charge. Foster made his first public appearance of the year last week as the Rugby Championship draw confirmed the All

3:42 AM BST Super Rugby could be set for yet another structural change and a return to Asia after it was revealed that discussions have taken place around a new tournament that would pit leading Japanese Top League clubs against those from New Zealand and Australia. As the lack of competition from Australia’s five franchises

11:21 PM BST Crusaders coach Scott Robertson laments the undeniable gulf while Michael Cheika says Australian rugby has been “welcomed to first grade” after New Zealand sides again dominated Super Rugby Trans-Tasman. The Queensland Reds’ record 63-28 loss to the Crusaders in Saturday’s battle of the respective Super Rugby champions made it two perfect rounds

7:31 PM BST Toulouse broke fellow French club La Rochelle’s resilience to claim a record-extending fifth Champions Cup title with a 22-17 victory after their opponents played more than half of the game with 14 men at Twickenham on Saturday. Juan Cruz Mallia, standing in at centre for the injured Zack Holmes, scored the decisive

2:50 AM BST LONDON — Montpellier centre Johan Goosen finished off an excellent team try as the French side overcame a forward pounding to edge Leicester Tigers from England 18-17 in the European Challenge Cup final at Twickenham on Friday. Wet conditions ensured the final would be a forward-based tactical battle with the boot, but

6:16 AM BST Rugby Australia has put a “stake in the ground” for the game Down Under as it attempts to put years of factional infighting, poor governance and negative headlines – both on and off the field – behind it by wooing World Rugby executives for the right to host the 2027 Rugby World

2:25 PM BST Former New Zealand international Kieran Crowley has replaced Franco Smith as Italy’s rugby coach, the country’s rugby federation said on Wednesday. A former full-back who was part of the All Blacks’ World Cup-winning squad in 1987, Crowley has spent the last five seasons coaching Italian club Benetton. 1 Related The 59-year-old previously

12:42 PM BST Murrayfield will allow in 16,500 spectators when the British & Irish Lions face Japan on June 26 ahead of their tour to South Africa this year, the Lions said on Wednesday. The move to let fans attend amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was made after consultations with the Scottish government. 1 Related

11:28 AM BST The French rugby federation (FFR) will allow transgender women to play women’s rugby as of next season, going against governing body World Rugby’s guidelines, it said on Monday. Last year, World Rugby said that after months of research, it had “concluded that safety and fairness cannot presently be assured for women competing

10:54 AM BST The 2021 British & Irish Lions schedule has been revised to keep matches either in Johannesburg or Cape Town, with organisers admitting the new-look fixture list has been put together on the basis matches “will take place behind closed doors.” The eight-match schedule sees the tour start in Johannesburg and Pretoria, before