Rugby

8:42 AM BST England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) CEO Bill Sweeney painted a bleak picture for the sport as he asked the British government for financial support after its U-turn on allowing fans in limited numbers at stadiums amid the coronavirus pandemic. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament that, as part of new restrictions

3:13 AM BST Argentina coach Mario Ledesma is confident his coronavirus-ravaged side will recover in time for the Rugby Championship in Australia although they are likely to be rusty as they return to international rugby. More than a dozen players and staff, including Ledesma, tested positive for COVID-19 over the past few weeks as the

3:08 PM BST The 2020 women’s Six Nations championship will resume with round four matches on Oct. 25, seven months after the tournament was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, organizers announced. Both the men’s and women’s competitions were suspended in March, with four matches in the men’s event still to be completed and six

11:52 AM BST Sale Sharks staged a late comeback to beat Harlequins 27-19 in the re-arranged Premiership Rugby Cup final, lifting their first silverware since 2006. A try and penalty late on from South African brothers Dan du Preez and Robert du Preez put Sale ahead, with back row Faf de Klerk sealing the winner

3:45 AM BST The South African Rugby Union (SA Rugby) has placed the Southern Kings into voluntary liquidation because of debts of R55 million ($3.37 million) and no chance of generating any income this year. The Kings, based in Port Elizabeth, were withdrawn from all competition last month due to their financial position following a

7:56 PM BST Holders Saracens stormed into the semifinals of the European Champions Cup after quelling a spirited Leinster comeback to win 25-17 at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Saturday in a keenly-contested rematch of last season’s title clash. Four-time champions Leinster came into the contest as Pool 1 winners after securing six victories from as

4:27 AM BST Australia’s new coach Dave Rennie has appointed former England lock Geoff Parling as his forwards coach for his first season in charge, Rugby Australia said on Friday. Parling played 29 tests for his country and another three for the British and Irish Lions on their triumphant tour of Australia in 2013. The

1:48 PM BST Georgian police have arrested the vice president of the country’s rugby union, Merab Beselia, over the shooting of player Ramaz Kharazishvili, who was shot in the leg at the sport’s governing body’s offices in the capital Tbilisi on Wednesday. Kharazishvili, 32, the former captain of the Georgian national Sevens team, underwent surgery

2:04 AM BST South Africa have been dealt a second major injury blow in as many days, with Lood de Jager ruled out for up to six months with a recurrence of the shoulder injury that forced him out of last year’s Rugby World Cup final. De Jager, who re-injured the shoulder playing for England’s

12:03 AM BST ESPN staff South Africa’s domestic rugby season will finally kick into full gear when a seven-team competition starts on Oct. 10, ending a seven-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. South African Rugby confirmed the move on Wednesday, with matches to be played through the festive season and the final on Jan.

1:01 AM BST ESPN staff New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has moved to end the Bledisloe Cup stand-off by relaxing the country’s quarantine restrictions for the Wallabies. The annual trans-Tasman series was again thrust into uncertainty on Sunday when Wallabies coach Dave Rennie said the current quarantine restrictions in New Zealand were unacceptable for

10:25 PM BST South Africa fly-half Handre Pollard faces “several months” on the sidelines after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligaments while playing for French Top14 side Montpellier on Friday. The 2019 World Cup winner was carried off the field on a stretcher during the 41-17 loss to Racing 92 and scans have now revealed the

5:24 AM BST Ian Foster could be without several key playmakers for the Rugby Championship with a number of All Blacks reportedly telling NZ Rugby they do not want to be away from their young families for an extended period. A RNZ.co.nz report on Monday suggested each of Beauden Barrett, Richie Mo’unga and TJ Perenara

1:35 AM BST Wallabies coach Dave Rennie is itching to get back on the grass. Or at least to feel it under his feet again, having finally put 44 names on paper for a two-game Bledisloe Cup battle across the ditch and then six straight Rugby Championship Tests, all amid the quarantine requirements in both

2:58 PM BST England players will be entitled to two weeks of rest with their clubs following the Autumn Nations Cup, as part of improved welfare initiatives after they signed an elite player squad agreement for the 2020-21 season. A statement on the Rugby Players Association (RPA) website also confirmed that England players will take

1:35 AM BST ESPN staff Rugby Australia has pulled off a major coup in what has been a disastrous year for the code, securing the entire Rugby Championship which will be played across November and December this year. SANZAAR on Friday confirmed that Australia had won the right to stage the tournament “hub” after New

2:40 PM BST England have been drawn in the same group with Wales, Ireland and Georgia for the new Autumn Cup which consists of eight teams, organisers announced on Thursday. Eddie Jones’ men will participate in Group A and will meet Georgia in their first match at Twickenham on Nov. 14. Group B features France,

5:48 AM BST As Rugby Australia stays quiet on whether there has been any interest in its State of the Union concept, Reds fly-half James O’Connor says his team is already “bleeding maroon” in the existing Super Rugby AU. Saturday night’s preliminary final against the Rebels looms as a big night for both the Reds