Rugby

6:32 PM GMT Associated Press LONDON — Rugby Football Union (RFU) chief executive Bill Sweeney has said English rugby officials have yet to receive any legal contact from the group of former players preparing claims for negligence against national unions. Steve Thompson, one of England’s 2003 Rugby World Cup winners, former England flanker Michael Lipman

2:51 PM GMT Nigel Owens, the most-capped referee in world rugby, announced on Friday that he has ended his 17-year international career. Owens, 49, became the first referee to officiate in a century of tests when he took charge of an Autumn Nations Cup clash between France and Italy last month. The Welshman it was

11:08 AM GMT Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has signed a two-year contract extension that will keep him in charge until the 2023 World Cup, Scottish Rugby announced on Thursday, making him Scotland’s longest-serving coach in the professional era. Townsend, who won 82 caps for Scotland, took over as coach in June 2017 and has been

6:49 PM GMT Former England hooker Steve Thompson has blamed a lack of protection in his playing days for his diagnosis of early onset dementia and said he can no longer remember winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Thompson, who made 73 appearances for England from 2002-2011, revealed his diagnosis in an interview with The

3:53 PM GMT Former England captain Chris Robshaw and scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth are among 13 players who have been hit with suspensions for their COVID-19 breaches which saw the Barbarians’ fixture against England cancelled. The game was set to take place in October but was called off after a number of Barbarians players breached COVID-19

Dec 8, 2020 Argentina won’t forget their 2020 tour of Australia anytime soon. The Pumas’ Tri Nations campaign may have come to a disappointing end on Saturday, when the curtain came down on the tournament at Bankwest Stadium, but the 16-all draw against Australia will be merely a footnote of their rollercoaster few months Down

10:28 AM GMT England will host world champions South Africa at Twickenham during their 2021 Autumn International series, a rematch of the 2019 Rugby World Cup final in Yokohama which the Springboks won to secure their third title. Eddie Jones’s side will play Australia the week before and are lining up a third match against

10:30 PM GMT New Zealand’s twice Rugby World Cup-winning captain Richie McCaw was named Men’s 15s Player of the Decade by World Rugby. McCaw, who led the All Blacks to back-to-back World Cup titles in 2011 and 2015, saw off competition from former team mates Dan Carter, Kieran Read, Brodie Retallick and Beauden Barrett, as

8:30 AM GMT Eddie Jones has accused his critics of “disrespecting the players and the game” on Sunday after facing repeated questions about England’s playing style en-route to winning the Autumn Nations Cup. Jones admitted that his team had not been at their best and lacked sharpness as England beat France 22-19 at Twickenham with

6:50 PM GMT The sight of Owen Farrell handing out winners’;; medals to his England teammates — having taken 95 minutes and two halves of extra time to put a hugely inexperienced France to bed — was a fitting, surreal end to the most bizarre of years. This match between England and France saved the

4:54 PM GMT England won the Nations Cup final in the most dramatic way on Sunday, as Owen Farrell landed a “golden point” penalty in sudden-death extra time to secure a 22-19 victory over a young French team who had been seconds away from a glorious Twickenham triumph. Farrell converted a Luke Cowan-Dickie try with

2:22 PM GMT Fiji’s powerhouse wing Nemani Nadolo marked his return to international rugby with a hat-trick of tries as they celebrated a late entrance into the Nations Cup with an emphatic 38-24 victory over Georgia at a wet Murrayfield on Saturday. Fiji forfeited their three pool matches due to coronavirus cases in their squad

8:21 PM GMT Coach Wayne Pivac has said better days are ahead for his side after a tough Autumn Nations Cup, and the blooding of younger players will ultimately benefit the team as they look to “have a crack” at the Six Nations next year. Wales won only three of their 10 tests in 2020,

Dec 5, 2020 No. 8 Taulupe Faletau proved the creative spark as three tries in the final 22 minutes helped Wales hold off a spirited fight from Italy to secure a 38-18 victory in Llanelli on Saturday and fifth place in the Autumn Nations Cup. It was a far from perfect display by Wales, whose

2:55 PM GMT England prop Mako Vunipola has been ruled out of the Autumn Nations Cup final against France at Twickenham on Sunday due to a calf injury. The Saracens forward suffered the injury against Wales last week and has not recovered in time. 1 Related “Mako picked up an injury in last week’s game,”

5:58 AM ET The Wallabies’ year that started so promisingly has ended with another deflating Tri Nations draw with Argentina. The Wallabies and Pumas finished deadlocked at 16-16 on Saturday night after fullback Reece Hodge missed with a long-range last-minute penalty goal attempt – yet again. Hodge also had the chance to boot Australia to

1:03 PM GMT France coach Fabien Galthie named an inexperienced and youthful team as expected to face a seasoned England side in the Autumn Nations Cup final, making six changes for Sunday’s clash at Twickenham. An agreement between the federation and the Top 14 meant that no player could be involved in more than three

11:57 AM GMT Anthony Watson will replace injured Bath teammate Jonathan Joseph on the wing for England’s clash against France in the Autumn Nations Cup final on Sunday in the only change from the team who beat Wales last time out. Watson, who overcame his own injury to start on the bench against Wales, came