11:45 AM GMT Munster have nine new COVID-19 cases in their camp in South Africa, the Irish rugby team said on Tuesday, taking the total count to 10. Both staff and players have tested positive and will quarantine in a hotel in Cape Town, joining the first player who returned a positive test on Sunday.
Rugby
2:24 PM GMT Welsh side Cardiff remain unable to leave South Africa as planned on Sunday after they returned positive COVID-19 cases, although the majority of Irish side Munster squad have been cleared to return to home, it has been announced. Cardiff said they have two positive cases, one suspected to be the new Omicron
3:31 PM GMT The men’s Barbarians match against Samoa at Twickenham on Saturday was cancelled 90 minutes before kickoff after four players and two members of the staff in the Barbarians camp tested positive for COVID-19, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) said. The Samoan players came out onto the pitch and sang their national anthem
6:50 AM GMT South African sport faced a shutdown on Friday due to the detection of a new coronavirus variant, with British rugby teams scrambling to leave before travel restrictions are imposed, and the first event of golf’s new-look DP World Tour under threat. Four rugby teams were due to play South African opposition in
9:48 PM GMT South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has withdrawn his appeal against a two-month ban and apologised to referee Nic Berry for his 62-minute video critique of the match official after the first Test against the British & Irish Lions in July. Erasmus was found guilty of misconduct by an independent committee
3:47 PM GMT Eddie Jones does not view lock Maro Itoje as a future England captain, despite sending him to acting classes in an attempt to improve his leadership skills. Itoje, who won his 50th cap for England earlier this month, sucessfully captained England Under-20s to World Cup victory in 2014, but Jones believes he
4:08 AM GMT Rugby Australia [RA] boss Andy Marinos has pledged to not repeat the mistakes of the past, with the governing body already planning an endowment fund to manage the financial windfall that will be generated by hosting the 2027 Rugby World Cup. RA learned early on Thursday morning [AEDT] that World Rugby had
9:35 PM GMT ESPN staff Australia has been announced as the “preferred candidate” for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, virtually guaranteeing the tournament will return Down Under for the first time in 24 years. The World Rugby Council made the announcement on Wednesday night as part of an approved revision process that the governing body
5:20 PM GMT International rugby players will be allowed to switch national teams from next year subject to certain criteria, the World Rugby Council announced on Wednesday. The revised regulation will apply from Jan. 1, and a player must either be born in the country to which they wish to transfer or have a parent
10:14 PM GMT Liam Napier As summer descends on Aotearoa New Zealand, dark clouds greet the All Blacks’ arrival home. While they complete one-week hotel isolation the team would be best advised to switch off the wireless, unplug the Wi-Fi and close the curtains to block out the circulating storm. Three defeats are hardly cause