Rugby

1:05 AM BST Liam Napier The All Blacks and Michael Cheika have history. From the 2015 World Cup final, when the then Wallabies coach was captured at his side’s captain’s run at Twickenham brandishing a sheet of paper with apparent plans to “rattle” Kieran Read and target wings Julian Savea and Nehe Milner-Skudder, to his

9:28 PM BST The Wallabies have made yet another change at fullback, recalling Reece Hodge to the starting side to face the Springboks at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday afternoon. Hodge replaces Tom Wright in the No. 15 jersey, after the Brumbies flyer started both of Australia’s Tests against Argentina at the back, which the

8:12 AM BST Quade Cooper is backing dumped playmaker James O’Connor to regain form and force his way back into the Wallabies’ ranks in time for next year’s Rugby World Cup. Cooper, who has been sidelined since rupturing an Achilles tendon in Australia’s Rugby Championship clash with Argentina earlier this month, has been joined on

2:30 PM BST South Africa have made two changes to their starting line-up for the Rugby Championship clash with Australia at Adelaide Oval on Saturday as coach Jacques Nienaber also cut a member from their famous ‘Bomb Squad’ on the bench. Warrick Gelant will start on the right wing in the place of the injured

6:33 AM BST Recalled Wallabies playmaker Bernard Foley says he isn’t sure why Australia failed to develop a group of playmakers between the past two Rugby World Cups, but that he is happy to help bring on a talented emerging fly-half cohort while also pushing for a third World Cup appearance of his own. Foley

2:53 AM BST Quade Cooper’s Achilles injury appears to be the one problem the Wallabies have no answer for as the Rugby World Cup creeps ever closer and coach Dave Rennie again looks to the past for a solution at No. 10. But a bigger problem perhaps lies within Australian rugby’s inability to sufficiently develop

6:21 AM BST Bernard Foley is back in the Wallabies fold for the first time since 2019, the playmaker named as part of a 35-man squad to face the Springboks as coach Dave Rennie wrestles with the position of fly-half — a problem that has now seen James O’Connor dropped. Rennie on Thursday afternoon confirmed

2:27 AM BST Former Wallaroos captain Grace Hamilton has been sensationally dumped from the side’s opening O’Reilly Test against the Black Ferns. Just months after she lost the Australia captaincy to former Sevens star Shannon Parry, the back-rower has failed to gain selection in the matchday 23 with coach Jay Tregonning instead picking young Brumbies

3:40 AM BST ESPN staff Ian Foster has been retained as All Blacks coach following a New Zealand Rugby board meeting on Wednesday. Foster’s position has been the subject of huge speculation following an inglorious start to 2022, which included a 2-1 series loss to Ireland on home soil. But the weekend’s 35-23 victory over

2:36 AM BST Corey Norman’s rugby league career could be over with the former Queensland State of Origin player being given a lengthy Super League ban for “inappropriate contact”. Norman has been hit with an eight-game ban after being found guilty of intentionally placing a hand between the buttocks of Warrington’s Oliver Holmes during a

6:02 AM BST It’s one win apiece after two rounds in the 2022 Rugby Championship, which may yet prove to be the most keenly fought edition of the tournament to date. The Pumas and All Blacks flipped the script on the Wallabies and Springboks respectively, their victories coming in contrasting fashion in San Juan and

11:47 PM BST Reuters with ESPN staff All Blacks forward Ardie Savea insisted Ian Foster has the full backing of his players after their 35-23 win over South Africa in Johannesburg on Saturday eased some of the pressure on the embattled coach. But New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson on Sunday afternoon [NZT] refused

2:13 AM BST New Zealand coach Ian Foster admits he has “no idea” if Saturday’s excellent 35-23 Rugby Championship victory over South Africa will be enough to save his job, but believes there is more to come from his team. The All Blacks had lost five of their last six tests going into the contest

1:33 AM BST It’d be easy to point at the ever-growing Wallabies injury list for why they couldn’t get the job done in San Juan on Sunday morning [AEST], but in their biggest ever loss to Argentina their problem area back three was exposed from the outset, while their experienced heads failed to step up.

1:11 AM BST Australia have been forced into a late change on the eve of their Rugby Championship clash with Argentina after hooker Folau Fainga’a was ruled out of the contest in San Juan and replaced by Lachlan Lonergan, who will make his first test start. Fainga’a took a blow to the head in training

6:52 AM BST Richie Mo’unga will start at fly-half in the place of Beauden Barrett as one of four changes to his starting XV made by New Zealand coach Ian Foster for the must-win Rugby Championship clash with South Africa at Ellis Park on Saturday. Barrett fell heavily on his neck during last weekend’s 26-10

4:00 AM BST Mendoza was the scene of one the Wallabies most courageous victories, but now the team head to San Juan with a growing injury list and yet more team reshuffles. With Michael Hooper stepping away from camp on the eve of the Test and Quade Cooper suffering an Achilles injury, the Wallabies’ depth

11:43 PM BST Liam Napier JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Ellis Park; scene for the 1995 World Cup final that united the Rainbow Nation – and many years later the greatest Test of all time. Set in a sketchy part of Johannesburg it is one of rugby’s most iconic venues, the spiritual home of the South