5:24 AM BST Things are heating up as we countdown to the end of the regular season with the race for playoff spots coming to a head. The Round 16 action is headlined by two key derby matches in Rebels-Waratahs on Friday and Chiefs-Crusaders Saturday, while a key inter-conference match plays out between Sharks-Hurricanes. (Note:
Rugby
11:43 PM BST Wallabies and Brumbies superstar David Pocock has retired from Super Rugby but hopes to play at the World Cup later this year. Pocock has played just 138 minutes in three games for the Brumbies this season with a frustrating calf injury keeping him sidelined. The 31-year-old met with Wallabies and Brumbies medical
10:24 AM BST Wallabies flanker David Pocock is expected to confirm that 2019 will be his last season in Australian rugby when he fronts a media conference on Tuesday, a report on the Rugby Australia website rugby.com.au said on Monday. The 31-year-old openside is struggling with a long-term calf injury and has played only for
6:42 AM BST Karmichael Hunt’s hopes of a return to the Australia squad ahead of the World Cup have been dealt a blow with the New South Wales Waratahs utility back expected to miss the rest of the Super Rugby season with a knee injury. Hunt went down with a suspected medial ligament injury in
2:42 AM BST Sam Bruce Close ESPN Associate Editor Sam was brought up on long drives and the dusty fields of north-west New South Wales, where he developed his love of rugby from an early age. He joined ESPNscrum after a five-year stint heading up Fox Sports Australia’s digital rugby coverage. Andy Withers Close ESPN
12:07 AM BST New South Wales Waratahs hold only a slim mathematical chance of advancing to the Super Rugby playoffs, but the players are also aware they could be playing for places in Australia’s Rugby World Cup squad, Kurtley Beale says. The Waratahs, semi-finalists last year, were beaten 23-15 by the Jaguares in Sydney on
4:07 PM BST Ireland forward Sean O’Brien is set to have hip surgery in the “next few weeks” that will rule him out of the World Cup in Japan, his club Leinster confirmed Sunday. O’Brien, 32, missed Leinster’s PRO14 final victory over Glasgow Saturday but he was given the honour of lifting the trophy after
10:19 AM ET Saracens have eased into their fifth Premiership final in six years with a routine victory over Gloucester at Allianz Park. It really wasn’t Gloucester’s day, with ill-discipline and defensive errors costing them dear against a ruthless Saracens side. It was the visitors, though, who flew out of the blocks. A careless knock-on
2:24 AM BST Brumbies coach Dan McKellar believes Christian Lealiifano should be recalled to wear the Wallabies No.10 jersey at the World Cup later this year. The 31-year-old has been in sensational form this Super Rugby season and has helped guide the Brumbies to the top of the Australian conference. Lealiifano played 19 Tests before
10:39 AM BST International players based in England will be available for training camps ahead of the Rugby World Cup after the sport’s governing body offered Premiership clubs greater financial support if they lose players to injury on international duty. World Rugby has more than doubled the amount of compensation it will pay out for