Rugby

Mar 8, 2023 The Six Nations returns this weekend with Ireland looking to extend their perfect run and boost hopes of a Grand Slam swoop. They face second-placed Scotland in a key clash on Sunday, who have surprised many so far in the tournament with eye-catching displays spearheaded by the box-office Finn Russell. England, gradually

7:41 AM GMT Wales national team players are struggling to play at their best at the Six Nations championship amid their ongoing dispute with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) over future contracts, No. 8 Taulupe Faletau said. Wales players had threatened not to play against England last month to protest contract and other issues, but

6:03 PM GMT England vice-captain Courtney Lawes has been ruled out of their Six Nations match against France with a shoulder injury, the Rugby Football Union said on Tuesday. Lawes has endured a tough time since he won the last of his 96 caps for England in Australia last July, with concussions, neck, buttock and

11:05 PM GMT New Zealand Rugby will make a decision on the next All Blacks coach in the next “four to six weeks”, rejecting Ian Foster’s wishes that the process instead be carried out after this year’s World Cup in France. NZR chairperson Dame Patsy Reddy made the announcement on Wednesday morning, after weeks of

3:17 AM GMT The move to speed up Super Rugby Pacific and increase the amount of ball-in-play time is off to a promising start, with the Round 1 numbers now confirmed to have been an improvement on those from 2022. The trial laws, which prohibit huddles before lineouts and have placed a firm time limit

2:13 PM GMT Marcus Smith has been released from England’s training squad this week to get game time with Harlequins but faces a battle to make the squad to face France in two weeks after George Ford was included in a trimmed 26-man group announced on Tuesday. Smith came on in the last minute of

10:39 AM GMT The creation of a British & Irish Lions women’s team has taken a step forward to being green lit following a two-year evaluation. The feasibility study, commissioned in 2021, has come back with “positive initial findings,” Lions said, regarding the creation of a women’s Lions touring team. The study investigated considerations around

11:52 AM GMT The third round of the Six Nations wasn’t short of storylines but the headlines see Ireland still on for the Grand Slam after their 34-20 win in Rome against an ever-improving Italy side. England dispatched Wales 20-10 in Cardiff after a turbulent week for Warren Gatland’s side and on Sunday, France and

3:57 AM GMT Eddie Jones has finally landed an assistant coach ahead of the Wallabies‘ Rugby World Cup assault, with former Wests Tigers and NSW State of Origin fullback Brett Hodgson to take on the defensive responsibilities. One of the worst kept secrets in Australian rugby was finally confirmed on Monday afternoon, just a couple

8:12 PM GMT CARDIFF, Wales — Wales have been battling all week on and off the field. They’d secured one victory on Wednesday, but this was one scrap too many. England needed 75 minutes to break the hosts’ resolve, but in a match of low quality, and one contested in the air as much as