Rugby

5:21 PM BST Champions England were off to a flying start in their women’s Six Nations title defence as they beat Scotland 52-10 in a dominant performance in a Pool A encounter on Saturday. The postponed tournament is being played in a condensed format with two pools of three teams each, with the pool toppers

5:35 PM BST Scotland flanker Hamish Watson was named the 2021 Six Nations player of the championship after securing 35% of more than 125,000 votes cast by fans, the tournament’s organisers said on Friday. Watson put in a string of fine performances as Scotland beat England at Twickenham for the first time since 1983 before

10:41 AM BST The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has backed Wayne Pivac to remain as coach until at least the 2023 World Cup following March’s Six Nations triumph. Pivac, who succeeded Warren Gatland in 2019, was heavily criticised last year after a miserable run saw Wales finish fifth in the Six Nations. 1 Related However,

4:55 AM BST New Zealand Rugby (NZR) will continue to have dialogue with players opposed to private equity investment in the All Blacks to build support for the sale of a minority stake to U.S. firm Silver Lake, NZR Chief Executive Mark Robinson said on Tuesday. Silver Lake has offered to buy up to a

11:40 AM BST A Vodafone survey has shown that supporters have voted for Wales’ Alun Wyn Jones to captain the British & Irish Lions in this summer’s tour of South Africa while England’s Owen Farrell has been dropped to the bench. The data collected also shows that fans omitted England’s Billy Vunipola, George Ford and

12:10 AM BST Sam Bruce Close ESPN Associate Editor Sam was brought up on long drives and the dusty fields of north-west New South Wales, where he developed his love of rugby from an early age. He joined ESPNscrum after a five-year stint heading up Fox Sports Australia’s digital rugby coverage. Brittany Mitchell Close ESPN

6:47 PM BST Wales head coach Wayne Pivac said on Saturday that he felt an overwhelming sense of relief at his side being crowned Six Nations champions nearly a week after their final game in which they lost to France on the final play. Wales claimed their second Six Nations title in three years after

10:16 PM BST Wales claimed their second Six Nations title in three years after France lost 27-23 to Scotland in the last game of the championship as the visitors celebrated their first win in Paris since 1999 on Friday. France looked set to win their fourth match when they won the ball in the last

4:20 PM BST England have been given a boost ahead of the Women’s Six Nations as Sarah Hunter returns from a long-term injury to captain the side. Simon Middleton’s squad will meet in Doncaster on Monday before starting their title defence against Scotland on April 3. 1 Related Hunter is one of a number of

11:19 PM BST Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has liked what he’s seen in Super Rugby AU this season, but it hasn’t stopped him lamenting the likely departure of yet another big-name player overseas. Melbourne Rebels winger Marika Koroibete looks set to become the latest Wallabies player to take his talents offshore, a move that would

6:19 PM BST If there’s one thing this Six Nations has proven, it’s that rugby never stands still. The balance of pressure on the international scene is a shifting beast and with one championship-deciding match still to come, the rugby landscape will only settle in 2023 at the next World Cup. With rugby perennially preoccupied

2:37 PM BST Spit tests may in future be an answer for doctors seeking swift and non-invasive ways to diagnose concussion among male rugby players after a study found that tell-tale biomarkers of traumatic brain injury show up rapidly in saliva. A three-year research project involving more than a thousand professional men’s rugby players found

12:38 PM BST France coach Fabien Galthie will ring the changes and turn on the power against Scotland on Friday, when his team will bid for their first Six Nations title since 2010. Galthie has made five changes to the side that beat Wales last weekend, with Arthur Vincent coming in at centre and Gael

Mar 22, 2021 Rugby Australia boss Andy Marinos remains positive that the trans-Tasman Super Rugby competition will proceed, despite New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s revelation that her government would announce a potential date for the opening of a travel bubble with Australia on April 6. Indications are that it would take a month for

4:33 PM BST The 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa will go ahead as planned after officials said on Tuesday that they had dismissed the idea of staging the series in the United Kingdom and were now looking at only one option. A joint statement from the Lions and SA Rugby said

8:00 AM BST Jonny Gray has not recovered from a shoulder injury in time for Scotland’s final Six Nations game against France on Friday while Sean Maitland also misses out, Scottish Rugby said. Gray was excluded from the 29-man squad named by coach Gregor Townsend for the trip to the Stade de France. The influential

4:28 AM BST The prospect of the Super Rugby trans-Tasman crossover series proceeding as planned is no clearer after New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern revealed only that her government would announce a potential date for the opening of a travel bubble with Australia on April 6. As it stands there is only quarantine-free travel

11:10 PM BST Another weekend of Super Rugby is in the books and there are clear competition leaders in both Australia and New Zealand. With one full cycle of Super Rugby AU behind us, the Reds sit atop the ladder with a perfect 4-0 record; their 26-19 win over the Force a fourth victory on