9:28 AM BST ESPN staff A four-game Bledisloe Cup series is firming as the likely scenario for Test rugby in New Zealand and Australia this year with the chances of the Rugby Championship proceeding shortening by the day, according to Newshub. While SANZAAR remains bullish about the prospects of the tournament going ahead from Nov.
Rugby
4:07 AM BST Reuters with ESPN staff SANZAAR has dismissed reports that world champions South Africa are to join an eight-team competition in Europe later this year rather than play in the Rugby Championship. World Rugby vice-president Bernard Laporte told French newspaper Le Progres that the Springboks would replace Japan in the European tournament, which
7:46 AM BST There is no-one more deserving of a salary-boosting six-month stint in Japanese rugby than Michael Hooper. The incumbent Wallabies captain has, for more than a decade, thrown himself into breakdown after breakdown, defensive line after defensive line, with little regard for his body. He has won countless key turnovers and scored the
3:24 AM BST South African rugby side Southern Kings will not take part in any competitions for the remainder of 2020, due to financial issues, officials confirmed on Tuesday. The Kings have faced crippling financial woes in recent months after a failed takeover bid, leading South Africa Rugby to assume control in June. The Kings,
3:28 AM BST ESPN staff Wellington’s Sky Stadium will play host to New Zealand’s North vs. South match but the game will be played behind closed doors, NZ Rugby confirmed on Wednesday. Originally slated for Aug. 29 at Eden Park in Auckland, the match was thrown into uncertainty when New Zealand experienced a second wave
8:29 AM BST Australian rugby has made great strides over the last couple of months, and the inclusion of their Super Rugby teams in a joint competition with New Zealand is the next logical step, All Blacks coach Ian Foster believes. New Zealand and Australia have held their own editions of Super Rugby this year
2:53 AM BST Former All Blacks captain Kieran Read is to make a surprise return to New Zealand rugby for Counties Manukau in the country’s Mitre 10 Cup provincial championship that starts next month. Read, 34, left New Zealand after last year’s Rugby World Cup and played under his former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen
1:57 AM BST Crusaders coach Scott Robertson said he has asked about joining the coaching staff of fellow New Zealander Warren Gatland when he leads the British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa next year. Robertson, who missed out on the All Blacks coaching job last year, said a role on the Lions tour
11:37 AM BST England rugby international Billy Vunipola has said he refused to kneel in support of the Black Lives Matter movement when the Premiership resumed last week as some elements of the anti-racism protests did not align with his religious beliefs. All 12 Premiership clubs decided on different gestures to show their support for
4:02 AM BST French Top 14 club Stade Francais has cancelled a preseason match because some players have developed lesions on their lungs after contracting COVID-19 and need an extra week to recuperate. The Paris-based club was scheduled to play Toulon next Thursday in preparation for its opening fixture of the 2020-21 Top 14 season