Rugby

1:16 PM GMT Fly-half Billy Burns has been handed a first start for Ireland as they take on Georgia in their final Autumn Nations Cup Group A clash in Dublin on Sunday, while uncapped centre Shane Daly has been included on the bench. Burns, 26, has two appearances as a replacement after making his debut

6:20 AM GMT The Pumas will be heavy hearted as they enter their must-win Tri Nations tournament clash with the All Blacks on Saturday night in Newcastle, Australia, following the death Wednesday of Argentine football star Diego Maradona. A lover of all Argentine sports, but particularly the rugby team, Maradona was seen frequently at Pumas

3:58 PM GMT Former France and Stade Francais winger Christophe Dominici has died aged 48, his former rugby club said on Tuesday. “It is with immense sadness that the Stade Français learns of the death of Christophe Dominici,” his former club said in a statement. Dominici won 67 caps for France between 1998 and 2007,

5:00 PM GMT Flanker Jack Willis, winger Anthony Watson and hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie have all been included in Eddie Jones’s extended 25-man squad to face Wales in the Nations Cup on Saturday, but centre Ollie Lawrence will miss the game with a hip injury. Willis made a try-scoring debut against Georgia two weeks ago, but

11:40 AM GMT England head coach Eddie Jones has said he met with Liverpool’s director of research Ian Graham to get some insight into the transitional play of the Premier League champions, and it played a role in Jonny May’s sensational try against Ireland. May’s score helped England to an 18-7 Autumn Nations Cup win

5:31 PM GMT Scotland struggled all game to contain Fiji-born Frenchman Virimi Vakatawa. ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images France centre Virimi Vakatawa muscled over the line to break open an absorbing clash which saw his side beat Scotland 22-15 at Murrayfield on Sunday and top Group B of the Nations Cup. The hosts struggled all game

7:38 PM GMT Teenage winger Louis Rees-Zammit scored a maiden try on his first start as a youthful Wales ended a six-game losing streak with an 18-0 victory over Georgia in the Autumn Nations Cup on Saturday. Rees-Zammit also set up a try for replacement scrum-half Rhys Webb and fly-half Callum Sheedy scored his first

4:54 PM GMT Jonny May scored twice, including one of the all-time great individual Twickenham tries, as a dominant England overwhelmed an inexperienced Ireland 18-7 on Saturday to make it two wins out of two in the Nations Cup. After forward-orientated victories over Italy and Georgia, England’s backs were to fore in the first half

3:02 PM GMT England centre Emily Scarratt scored a penalty in the dying seconds as the world’s top-ranked women’s team battled to a 25-23 victory over France at Twickenham on Saturday in the second of their two November internationals. The Red Roses came into the game having won 10 of their last 11 meetings with

1:58 PM GMT Scotland’s game against Fiji at Murrayfield on Nov. 28 has been cancelled due to a large number of positive coronavirus tests in the Fiji camp, organisers announced on Friday. The news came on the same day Scotland coach Gregor Townsend announced his team to face France on Sunday and is Fiji’s third

12:29 PM GMT France coach Fabien Galthie made eight changes to the team who beat Ireland in the Six Nations when he named his starting lineup for the Autumn Nations Cup clash against Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday. Matthieu Jalibert comes in at fly-half in the absence of the injured Romain Ntamack, alongside scrum-half Antoine

9:00 AM GMT Premiership Rugby will be allowed to access texts, emails and bank statements of players and club officials to maintain the integrity of a salary cap system and avoid another scandal that led to former champions Saracens being relegated this year. Saracens, winners of four Premiership titles in the past six years, were

7:46 PM GMT Top-ranked England and France have been drawn in the same pool for next year’s women’s Rugby World Cup, while hosts New Zealand were drawn with trans-Tasman neighbours Australia at a ceremony in Auckland on Friday. Third-ranked Canada and inaugural champions the United States will be in Pool B for the 12-team tournament

6:50 PM GMT Georgia coach Levan Maisashvili has named a new half-back pairing to face Wales in their Autumn Nations Cup fixture in Llanelli on Saturday in a major change to the side that was trounced 40-0 by England last weekend. The experienced Vasil Lobzhanidze comes in at scrumhalf to partner Tedo Abzhandadze in the

11:27 AM GMT England coach Eddie Jones has reverted to his World Cup back row of Tom Curry, Sam Underhill and Billy Vunipola for Saturday’s Nations Cup match against Ireland at Twickenham. The powerful trio are reunited for the toughest game England have faced since the restart after easy wins over Italy and Georgia. Maro

Nov 19, 2020 James Botham, grandson of former England cricketer Ian Botham, was among three uncapped players named by Wales in their side to face Georgia in the Autumn Nations Cup on Saturday. Cardiff Blues flanker Botham, 22, goes straight into the team despite having only been brought into the squad at the start of

2:48 PM GMT Warren Abrahams at his official unveiling as the newly appointed Wales Rugby Women Head Coach. WRU/Huw Evans Agency The Welsh Rugby Union appointed Warren Abrahams as the new Wales women’s national team coach on Wednesday, making him the union’s first Black national coach. South Africa-born Abrahams, a former United States women’s Sevens assistant

1:26 PM GMT Johnny Sexton’s understudy at Leinster, Ross Byrne, will start in place of the injured Ireland captain in Saturday’s clash with England as coach Andy Farrell made four changes from his side’s opening Autumn Nations Cup win over Wales. Byrne made his only Ireland start in last year’s World Cup warm up game