10:38 AM GMT The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has announced England Women’s first squad of full-time professional players and has set its sights on regaining the Women’s Six Nations championship in March. The organisation revealed plans for the team to go fully professional last year, awarding full-time contracts to players for the first time. The
Rugby
3:35 PM GMT England back-row Mark Wilson has signed a new long-term contract to stay with Gallagher Premiership side Newcastle Falcons. The 29-year-old, who has made 221 appearances for the club and is a Falcons academy graduate, will remain at Kingston Park for another four years as he looks to build his international career. Wilson
1:34 PM GMT Billy Vunipola’s chances of making England’s Six Nations squad have been given a boost after club side Saracens announced his return to action following a broken arm. The No. 8 has been selected in the starting XV for the Gallagher Premiership champions’ Friday night trip to Sale Sharks . Teammate Liam Williams
1:04 PM GMT England flanker Sam Underhill is a doubt for the Six Nations after Bath confirmed he had suffered ankle ligament damage. Underhill, 22, was hurt in Bath’s 23-16 win over Leicester Tigers in the Gallagher Premiership on Sunday and will now see a specialist to assess the extent of the injury. In a
2:35 PM GMT Springboks scrum-half Faf de Klerk has extended his contact with Sale Sharks until 2023, the Premiership side announced Monday. De Klerk, who was named on a five-man shortlist for World Rugby’s player of the year for 2018, made 25 appearances for Sale in his debut season following his move from Super Rugby’s
12:54 PM GMT Harlequins have suspended Dave Ward for one game after the hooker was shown a yellow card for stamping on Wasps’ Thomas Young at Twickenham Saturday. Ward also appeared to spit at Young, an incident which was missed by referee Craig Maxwell-Keys but was shown on television, although the Harlequins player denied that
7:25 PM GMT ESPN staff The looming Rugby World Cup means the southern hemisphere season begins a fortnight earlier in the 2019, with the Super Rugby opener set down for February 15. Before that, however, each of the 15 teams will engage in some preseason fixtures to prepare for the season proper. Check out when
6:01 PM GMT Bath moved into the top six in the Gallagher Premiership thanks to an inspired performance from Freddie Burns as they beat Wasps 24-14. Fly-half Burns scored 19 points including a fine first-half try and Will Chudley also crashed over for Todd Blackadder’s side. Wasps gave themselves hope through Thomas Young’s score but
A New Zealand columnist who should know better, but quite often does not, asked why the All Blacks should not be handed the World Cup now, just in time for first South Africa, then (without quite closing the deal) England and, conclusively, Ireland to show exactly why. Eddie Jones’s third season syndrome kicked in and
5:43 PM GMT Exeter Chiefs ended Saracens’ 22-game unbeaten run with a dominant 31-13 victory to move above them at the top of the Gallagher Premiership. Tries from Luke Cowan-Dickie, Harry Williams and Matt Kvesic alongside a second-half penalty try secured victory with what could be an important bonus point as the Chiefs look to