11:30 AM BST Joe Schmidt will decide on whether to remain with Ireland beyond next year’s Rugby World Cup following the autumn internationals in November, as Irish Rugby Football Union bosses admitted the New Zealander is not indispensable to the future success of the team. The IRFU released its next five-year strategic plan Tuesday, which
Rugby
11:44 AM BST Former England and Exeter Chiefs forward Thomas Waldrom has retired from rugby. Waldrom, 35, earned five caps for England between 2012 and 2013 and won a first Premiership title with the Leicester Tigers in the same year. He enjoyed his greatest success with the Exeter Chiefs, winning the Premiership in 2016-17 and
10:43 PM BST Win, lose or draw, Michael Cheika is promising Wallabies fans a spectacular start to Australia’s 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign in Japan. The Wallabies open their tournament against Fiji on September 21 at the Sapporo Dome, a “spaceship-like” indoor venue that Cheika says must be seen to be believed. The All Blacks
4:07 PM BST KweseESPN Staff Duane Vermeulen, Trevor Nyakane and Lood de Jager have been included in a 20-man Springbok training squad for the upcoming tto the United Kingdom and France, while Tendai Mtawarira was ruled out of the tour due to injury. The majority of the squad players assembled on Sunday for camp in
3:00 PM BST Danny Cipriani’s week went from bad to worse as he was sent off in Gloucester’s 36-22 defeat to Munster in the European Champions Cup on Saturday. The Gloucester fly-half was shown the red card for a dangerous tackle on Munster centre Niall Scannell, only two days after being left out of England’s
The Sharks will host the Golden Lions in Durban on Saturday afternoon in the first Currie Cup final, with both teams coming off comfortable wins. The Sharks put 41 points past the Griquas in a dead rubber, while the Lions secured their semifinal after a win over the Pumas in Nelspruit. The same fixture at
11:54 AM BST David Pocock has crowned his stellar return to international rugby by claiming the John Eales Medal as Australia’s most outstanding player. The champion back-rower collected his second medal despite only playing eight of the 13 Tests during the voting period, which began on last year’s spring tour of Japan and Europe. Pocock
11:21 AM BST England lock Courtney Lawes has extended his contract with Northampton Saints until 2021, the Premiership side announced Friday. Lawes, 29, is Northampton’s second-longest serving player, having made his debut as an 18-year-old in 2007, and has extended his current deal by two seasons. Wasps winger Christian Wade is understood to have quit
Oct 19, 2018 Welcome to the sparring stage of pre-Rugby World Cup preparations. In his own words, Eddie Jones says England do not absolutely have to win all four of their autumn internationals — it’s not knockout rugby after all — but he is brutally aware of his own managerial mortality. “We don’t need to
10:38 AM BST Former Springboks assistant coach Dick Muir has hailed the progress made by the South African national team under director of rugby and coach Rassie Erasmus. Muir, who was part of the South African coaching staff alongside Peter de Villiers from 2008 to 2011, has enjoyed watching the national side’s turnaround. “I think