3:03 AM GMT Matt To’omua is putting his hand up to wear the Wallabies No. 10 jersey in 2020 after the departures of a swag of veteran Test playmakers. The loss of Christian Lealiifano, Bernard Foley and Quade Cooper to play overseas means locking in a new five-eighth will be a top priority for incoming
Rugby
11:13 PM GMT ESPN staff Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium will host the opening Bledisloe Cup fixture next year, meaning Sydney won’t stage rugby’s trans-Tasman battle for the second straight year. Rugby Australia on Monday unveiled Marvel Stadium as the venue for the Aug. 8 showdown, which is the first of three games set to be played
11:27 AM GMT Former Scotland captain Tom Smith has been diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer, the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) confirmed on Thursday. The 48-year-old prop — who was capped 61 times by his country between 1997 and 2005, and played six times for the British and Irish Lions — has had chemotherapy and
10:49 AM GMT Saracens will not ask their England players to put club before country despite their Premiership status being jeopordised by a 35-point deduction for breaching salary cap regulations, coach Mark McCall has said. English and European champions Saracens were also fined £5.36 million this month and the club has opted not to appeal
5:11 AM GMT Get ready, Australia. New Wallabies coach Dave Rennie and his guitar are headed Down Under. Australian rugby fans might be more interested in his coaching ability, and how he will set about improving the fortunes of a team that has won only 10 of its past 24 Tests. But they will also
10:28 PM GMT ESPN staff Super Rugby-winning former Chiefs coach Dave Rennie will replace Michael Cheika as Wallabies boss on three-and-a-half year deal, Rugby Australia has confirmed. The Kiwi will take on the Australia post after he finishes with Glasgow Warriors. He is yet to make any appointments to his backroom staff, but it is
8:48 AM GMT New Zealand Rugby chairman Brent Impey confirmed on Tuesday the All Blacks will announce Steve Hansen’s successor as head coach in December. Impey said earlier this month 26 homegrown coaches had been identified to take over from Hansen, who guided the All Blacks to the 2015 World Cup title and a third-place
12:00 PM GMT Saracens will not appeal against Premiership Rugby’s ruling that the club breached the league’s salary cap, meaning they will be docked 35 points in this season’s league table and be required to pay a £5.3 million fine. The back-to-back Premiership champions and reigning European champions now drop to the bottom of the
5:45 AM GMT ESPN staff Jamie Joseph is out of the running to coach the All Blacks after he inked a new deal to remain in charge of Japan through to the end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Joseph’s contract extension was unveiled by the Japan Rugby Football Union on Monday and ends any
6:24 PM GMT A weakened Saracens side began their European Champions Cup title defence with a crushing 30-10 defeat to French side Racing 92 on Sunday. Saracens were without England internationals Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje and Billy and Mako Vunipola, who were part of the World Cup campaign in which Eddie Jones’ side finished runners-up