Rugby

2:10 PM GMT Wales have a quadruple injury blow ahead of their Six Nations clash with Scotland in Edinburgh on Saturday, with loose-forward Dan Lydiate one of those ruled out for an extended period. Lydiate injured an anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and has been ruled out of the remainder of the Six Nations

5:26 PM GMT Italy’s injured centre Marco Zanon will miss the Six Nations game against England on Saturday, the Italian Rugby Federation said on Monday, while Pierre Bruno and Andrea Lovotti have been added to the squad. Zanon started at outside centre in the Azzurri’s 50-10 opening day loss to France but was replaced after

10:25 AM ET George North and Louis Rees-Zammit scored second half tries as Wales overcame a poor start to defeat 14-man Ireland 21-16 in their opening Six Nations clash at the Principality Stadium on Sunday, easing the pressure on coach Wayne Pivac. – Play ESPN’s Rugby Pick’em for FREE Wales played with an extra man

8:00 PM GMT TWICKENHAM — Scotland’s celebrations reverberated around the empty Twickenham. Having earned their first win against England at Twickenham since 1983, a handful did this involuntary jig into their own 22. Those in blue hugged their nearest teammate. While those in white looked stunned and left wondering how exactly they’d played 80 minutes

11:24 AM GMT Andy Farrell has handed winger James Lowe his Six Nations debut, picking him over Jordan Larmour, as he announced his team to face Wales in the Principality Stadium on Sunday on the Six Nations. Johnny Sexton has recovered from an injury to captain the side in his 12th Six Nations tournament and

1:05 PM GMT Amid the turmoil and uncertainty COVID-19 has caused, the 2021 Six Nations kicks off on Saturday in the annual battle for European rugby supremacy. The stands will be empty, the streets of the six magnificent cities will be quiet, the pubs shut — yet for five weekends, national pride is on the

12:12 PM GMT Ospreys’ Dan Lydiate has been named by Wayne Pivac in his side to face Ireland on Sunday in the flanker’s first appearance for the national side since November 2018. The call-up is a reward for his recent form and he will be joined by Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau in an all-British

2:28 PM GMT Franco Smith has named a relatively inexperienced side for Italy’s opening Six Nations game against France on Saturday, with 10 of the starting XV having fewer than 10 caps. Smith has handed Juan Ignacio Brex his first cap for Italy and he will be partnered by Marco Zanon who has just four

12:09 PM GMT Fabien Galthie has named a more experienced side compared to last year’s Six Nations for his side’s opening game against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday. The main names missing are Romain Ntamack and Virimi Vakatawa who are injured. – Play ESPN’s Rugby Pick’em for FREE Mattieu Jalibert will replace the

12:20 PM GMT Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has named Finn Russell in his team to face England after the fly-half missed the Autumn Nations Cup through injury. Full-back Stuart Hogg will lead the side with Cameron Redpath making his debut for the national side. – Play ESPN’s Rugby Pick’em for FREE “We learned a lot

11:00 AM GMT Owen Farrell is back at fly-half for England while Mark Wilson returns to the starting line-up for their opening match of the 2021 Six Nations against Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday. Farrell played at inside centre for the last two matches of the Autumn Nations Cup, but the England captain reverts to

7:11 PM GMT Wales have suspended wing Josh Adams for the first two matches of the Six Nations after he breached the team’s strict COVID-19 protocols, coach Wayne Pivac confirmed on Wednesday. Adams attended a family gathering on Sunday after the squad were given two days off from training. 2 Related “We are extremely disappointed

3:06 PM GMT The delayed Women’s Six Nations will take place from April 3 across four weekends in a new play-off style format, organisers announced on Wednesday. Earlier this month, the women’s tournament was postponed until spring or the summer due to the coronavirus pandemic. The revised tournament will begin with two pools of three

11:45 AM GMT The Six Nations is set to go ahead in full after France eased its strict COVID-19 quarantine protocols for the annual tournament, the country’s sports minister Roxana Maracineanu said. France has placed restrictions on travel to and from the United Kingdom which led to French clubs withdrawing from the European Champions Cup.

8:08 AM GMT They say a change is a good as holiday, if that is indeed the case then few others could have used a vacation like Australian rugby after its 25-year association with Fox Sports came to an end last year. The new kid on the rugby broadcasting block is only partly that, with

3:29 AM GMT New Rugby Australia chief executive Andy Marinos has reinforced chairman Hamish McLennan’s extension of an invitation to South Africa and the British & Irish Lions to contest their series Down Under, but insists having the Wallabies take on France is the governing body’s priority. Marinos at last got his feet under the

1:10 AM GMT Rugby Australia (RA) chairman Hamish McLennan continues to push the nation’s credibility of staging events during the coronavirus pandemic, raising the prospect that the British & Irish Lions’ tour of South Africa could instead be contested Down Under. Having already flagged a potential mini World Cup in Australia, McLennan says RA would

3:45 PM GMT France are to cut their Six Nations squad from 37 to 31 players as they set up a bubble to avoid COVID-19 contamination, the French league and federation said on Saturday. The initial agreement between the national league (LNR) and the federation (FFR) said that the France squad would feature 37 players