Rugby

7:44 AM GMT England flanker Jack Willis got a close-up view of how coach Eddie Jones operates on Tuesday when, days after scoring a try on his debut in a 40-0 win over Georgia, the Premiership player of the year was omitted from a 25-man squad for Saturday’s match against Ireland. In an area of

10:39 PM GMT ESPN staff All Blacks captain Sam Cane has hit out at some of his team’s fans following the shock loss to Argentina last Saturday, saying some supporters have little idea of what they’re talking about. The fallout from the three-time world champions’ 25-15 defeat in Sydney has shown no signs of slowing

2:46 PM GMT New Zealand Rugby chairman Brent Impey said on Tuesday that he would be resigning from a similar position with SANZAAR at the end of the year to make way for an independent head of the southern hemisphere’s governing body. Impey has spent the last five years as chairman of SANZAAR, a joint

12:11 PM GMT France have been awarded a 28-0 victory over Fiji and a bonus point after Sunday’s Autumn Nations Cup game was called off following positive COVID-19 cases in the Fiji squad, tournament organisers said on Tuesday. Fiji Rugby said last week that one of their players had tested positive and Six Nations Rugby

10:44 PM GMT Lance Peatey “Wake up Growdy, wake up! It’s half-time, and we’re back on.” He certainly wasn’t the only one nearly dozing off on set, and all could be forgiven. It was 2am AEST on a Sunday morning in February of 2013, and as part of its live Six Nations coverage ESPN Australia/New

11:20 AM GMT Ireland captain Johnny Sexton and centre Robbie Henshaw will miss Saturday’s Autumn Nations Cup clash with England through injury, a major blow for Andy Farrell’s side ahead of the potential Pool A decider. Sexton left the opening 32-9 win over Wales after less than half an hour with a hamstring strain and

9:53 AM GMT In a famous victory that will go down in rugby history, Argentina defeated the All Blacks 25-15 for the first time in 30 years and sunk New Zealand to their first back-to-back defeats since 2011. The tears from players and coach Mario Ledesma and the celebrations on the pitch and within the

5:10 PM GMT Hooker Jamie George scored a hat-trick of identical rolling maul tries as England swept aside a spirited but limited Georgia 40-0 in their opening Autumn Nations Cup match at a rain-lashed and eerily quiet fan-free Twickenham on Saturday. Flanker Jack Willis marked his debut with a try, while Elliot Daly, in a

Nov 14, 2020 Six Nations champions England turned up the heat in the second half to beat France 33-10 in the first of their two November internationals at the Stade des Alpes in Grenoble on Saturday. The victory means England are now the No. 1 ranked team in the world. Hooker Amy Cokayne got England

Nov 14, 2020 Scotland dug deep to overcome Italy 28-17 at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence, coming from behind through tries from Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings and George Turner to record a fifth successive win for coach Gregor Townsend. A visibly fired-up Italy led 11-7 at half time, through two penalties from the 20-year-old

9:53 AM GMT After 402 days of waiting, months of lockdown and weeks of quarantine, Argentina returned to the Test arena and made history, defeating the All Blacks 25-15 in a game that will be remembered for years to come. Written off by everyone in the rugby community, the Pumas headed to Bankwest Stadium anticipating

1:15 AM ET ESPN staff Argentina served up one of the biggest upsets in Test rugby history when they stunned New Zealand 25-15 in the Tri-Nations on Saturday, beating the three-time world champions for the first time in 30 attempts going back to 1985. Flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez scored all of Argentina’s points with a try,

9:19 PM GMT Improved Ireland added to Wales’ miserable 2020 on Friday with a 32-9 win in the opening game of the new Autumn Nations Cup that has replaced the usual mix of northern versus southern hemisphere clashes derailed by COVID-19. Ireland’s scrum exerted its dominance early on with Andrew Porter giving a crumpling Rhys

12:39 PM GMT The Autumn Nations Cup game between France and Fiji on Sunday is likely to be cancelled following a string of positive coronavirus cases within the Fiji team, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday. The source, who declined to be named because they are not allowed to discuss

11:00 AM GMT Jack Willis will make his Test debut against Georgia on Saturday at Twickenham in England’s opening match of the Autumn Nations Cup. Wasps flanker Willis, 23, enjoyed a remarkable 2019-20 campaign where he was named both RPA Player of the Year and Gallagher Premiership Player of the Season. Elsewhere in the side

3:37 AM GMT Wallabies coach Dave Rennie says he’d welcome further discussions into the use of a red card replacement law, but stressed he had no gripes with the send-off decisions handed down in Bledisloe IV. The red cards issued to All Blacks prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi and Wallabies debutant Lachie Swinton in Brisbane last Saturday

1:07 PM GMT Wales made a single change to their team for Friday’s start of the new Autumn Nations Cup away against Ireland despite losing their last five matches. Justin Tipuric returns to the starting line-up after recovering from tonsillitis and features alongside Shane Lewis-Hughes and Taulupe Faletau in the loose trio. “Friday night is

1:47 PM GMT Duncan Weir will make his first start for Scotland at fly-half since 2016 as one of four changes to the side to take on Italy in their Autumn Nations Cup clash in Florence on Saturday. Weir makes a return to the No. 10 jersey after injuries ruled our regulars Finn Russell and