Rugby

12:30 PM BST Premiership Rugby will be expanded to 14 teams in the 2022-23 season after a Rugby Football Union (RFU) Council voted to temporarily pause relegation in a bid to improve the financial situation of clubs hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The vote was conducted to improve the financial stability and sustainability of professional

5:25 PM BST Scotland’s rugby team have broken camp ahead of next month’s tests against Romania and Georgia to self-isolate following consultation with Scottish Government medical advisers, a statement said on Monday. A planned international between Scotland A and England A on Sunday was called off because of COVID-19 cases in the Scotland squad. Three

3:24 PM BST South Africa will resume training activities on Monday afternoon after a COVID-19 scare in the squad as they build up to their first test in 20 months against Georgia on Friday, officials have confirmed. Initially three players tested positive for the virus over the weekend, but scrum-half Herschel Jantjies has since been

9:21 AM BST Olympic men’s rugby sevens champions Fiji and silver medallists Britain have been grouped with hosts Japan and debutants Canada for the men’s tournament at the Tokyo Games, World Rugby said on Monday. Rugby World Cup Sevens and World Series champions New Zealand face neighbours Australia in Pool A, which also features Argentina

5:12 AM BST Referee Romain Poite has admitted he got a late call wrong that denied New Zealand a chance of a series victory against the British & Irish Lions in 2017 and that he trashed his Eden Park changing room in anger at his mistake. The three-Test series ended 1-1 following a 15-15 draw

1:27 PM BST South Africa cancelled a Sunday training session after three unnamed Springbok players tested positive for COVID-19 on the eve on the British & Irish Lions’ departure to the country for a three-test series next month. The players had been put into isolation and a decision on further team activities would be taken

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