Rugby

4:21 PM BST Associated Press LONDON — English rugby club Exeter Chiefs will stop playing their “Tomahawk Chop” chant during games as part of a rebrand to move away from a Native American theme that had come under increasing criticism. The chant has traditionally been played over the speakers on matchdays at the club’s Sandy

3:42 AM BST All Blacks fly-half Beauden Barrett said he feared the worst after landing head-first from a terrible mid-air challenge against South Africa but that his team would continue to be courageous under the Springboks’ high ball. Barrett was upended by South Africa winger Kurt-Lee Arendse while rising to intercept a box kick and

3:55 AM BST The man who passed the Wallabies captaincy on to Michael Hooper has given a revealing insight into his former teammate’s transition into the role, and believes it may be time for the 124-Test veteran to have his playing time managed so that he arrives at next year’s World Cup in peak mental

10:39 AM BST England coach Eddie Jones has been rebuked by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) after he claimed they relied too heavily on the private school system to produce national team players. Jones said that players who came through the system lacked “resolve” and led a “closeted life” in an interview with the the

5:54 AM BST The Wallabies have been forced into another team shuffle with experienced prop Allan Alaalatoa withdrawing from camp due to a family bereavement, according to Sydney Morning Herald. Alaalatoa becomes the fourth member from the Wallabies squad to fly home from Argentina after Michael Hooper (personal reasons), Dave Porecki (concussion) and Quade Cooper

12:02 PM BST South Africa have recalled No. 8 Duane Vermeulen as one of five changes to their starting line-up for the second Rugby Championship test against New Zealand at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday. Vermeulen had sat out the international season to date after knee surgery, but has been deemed fit to play

1:50 AM BST Wallabies halfback Nic White has revealed several teammates have spoken to Michael Hooper following their courageous 41-26 win over the Pumas, after their captain shocked world rugby with a late withdrawal from the squad for personal reasons. Making the decision to pull out from their Argentina tour on the eve of their

9:28 PM BST South Africa wing Kurt-Lee Arendse has been suspended for four weeks following his red card in the 26-10 Rugby Championship victory over New Zealand in Nelspruit on Saturday. Arendse was red carded after 75 minutes following a dangerous tackle on All Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett that saw the latter land on his

11:14 AM BST Gloucester lock Ed Slater has said he “doesn’t think too far into the future” after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND). Slater, 34, started feeling muscle twitches in his arm 11 months ago and announced at the end of July that they were as a result of MND. 2 Related He

7:08 AM BST Round 1 of the Rugby Championship is in the books, with South Africa and Australia emerging victorious over New Zealand and Argentina respectively. Those wins came in contrasting fortunes, however, with the Springboks in control of their Test against the All Blacks from start to finish whereas the Wallabies came from behind

1:45 AM BST New Zealand’s biggest newspaper has called time on All Blacks coach Ian Foster and wants New Zealand Rugby (NZR) to axe the beleaguered coach. The many Kiwis dissatisfied with Foster may soon get their wish, with local media reporting NZR should sack him if the All Blacks lose again this weekend in

2:56 AM BST Australia’s 41-26 victory over the Pumas in Mendoza will be a win the Wallabies will savour — but problems continue to mount for coach Dave Rennie and the Test season isn’t even half done for 2022. With another tough assignment to come in Argentina next week, followed by back-to-back Tests against a

12:23 AM BST Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber believes the team can improve after their record-breaking victory against the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship Test at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday. The Springboks’ 26-10 victory marked their largest margin against New Zealand since South Africa returned from international isolation in 1992, and the second largest of

10:31 PM BST Wallabies captain Michael Hooper has withdrawn from the Argentina portion of the Rugby Championship on the eve of their opening Test, believing he’s not in the right “mindset” to lead the team. In a release on Saturday morning, Rugby Australia announced the 121-Test flanker had made the decision to withdraw from the

3:01 AM BST Beaten 2-1 by England last month, the Wallabies open their Rugby Championship away to Argentina in Mendoza in front of what will no doubt be a hostile crowd. The South Americans, too, are buoyant after a series victory over Scotland, the 2-1 triumph clinched in dramatic fashion after the final siren to

4:21 AM BST Wallabies coach Dave Rennie says he has “no regrets” over Samu Kerevi’s Commonwealth Games participation, despite the powerhouse centre suffering a season-ending knee injury while on sevens duty in Birmingham. The decision to give Kerevi a second shot at a major international sevens medal – he contested the Olympics in Tokyo last

11:58 PM BST New Zealand will start Saturday night’s Rugby Championship opener against the Springboks in a rare position: As underdogs. That is no surprise given the All Blacks’ recent 2-1 series loss to Ireland on home soil, a defeat that has put the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons in New Zealand rugby circles. Coach

6:00 PM BST England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Rugby Football League (RFL) will restrict transgender participation in the domestic game, with the governing bodies recommending that only players recorded as female at birth be allowed to play in the women’s category. The RFU said last week that it had begun a review of its