Rugby

8:03 PM GMT Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has poured cold water on the prospect of a World Cup union with Eddie Jones, while revealing his messages to two key squad omissions. A 44-man Australian cast has assembled on the Gold Coast for a four-day camp to begin preparations for this year’s showpiece in France. Rennie

10:54 AM GMT Owen Farrell has been cited for a high tackle in Friday’s Premiership match between Saracens and Gloucester and if he is found guilty of foul play will face a ban that could rule him out of England’s Six Nations game against Scotland on Feb. 4. Farrell’s shoulder made contact with the jaw

3:17 PM GMT Harlequins coach Nick Evans has joined England’s coaching ranks and is scheduled to work under Steve Borthwick only for the duration of the Six Nations championship, the RFU said on Friday. Former All Black fly-half Evans will work as attack coach during the tournament, with England kicking off at home to Scotland

9:34 AM GMT Scotland could be without fly-half Adam Hastings for next month’s Six Nations after his club Gloucester said he will require shoulder surgery, adding to coach Gregor Townsend’s injury problems in the build-up to the tournament. Hastings, who has 27 caps, damaged his shoulder in their 28-13 Premiership defeat to Leicester Tigers on

10:31 PM GMT Harlequins’ England prop Joe Marler has been given a two-week ban for comments made to a Bristol Bears player while playing for his club this week, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) said. The 32-year-old faced a hearing on Friday where he answered the charge of making comments “prejudicial to the game” during

5:29 PM GMT Wales coaches Gethin Jenkins and Stephen Jones have left their roles with the national team as new boss Warren Gatland is set to freshen up his backroom team ahead of the Six Nations starting in February. Gatland succeeded Wayne Pivac as Wales head coach earlier this month to rejoin the team he

10:16 PM GMT World Rugby will encourage elite competitions to have a shot clock for penalties and conversions from Jan. 1, with sanctions to be issued for time wasting as part of plans to speed up the game in 2023 – a World Cup year. The guidelines have been designed by the global governing body

6:03 PM GMT Benetton Treviso rugby club said on Thursday they had suspended one of their players after a Black team member revealed he had received a banana as a Christmas gift from a teammate. Cherif Traore, who represents Italy at national level, wrote on Instagram on Wednesday that some players had laughed when he

4:51 PM GMT A Black Italian rugby player accused his teammates of racism on Wednesday after they gave him a “rotten banana” during a Secret Santa anonymous gift exchange. Cherif Traore wrote on Instagram that he received the unwanted present, inside a rubbish bag, during a Christmas dinner for Benetton Treviso players. “Apart from finding

10:32 AM GMT Eddie Jones said he had a feeling he was going to be sacked as England head coach after his team’s poor autumn series but he is keen to get back to work with another international side amid reports linking him with the Wallabies and the United States. Jones was sacked by the

11:53 AM GMT Scotland international Finn Russell will join Bath after the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the Premiership side announced on Tuesday. Russell has spent four years with French side Racing 92, scoring 272 points in 66 games and helping them reach the Champions Cup final in 2020, where they lost to Exeter Chiefs. The

12:00 PM GMT England have named Leicester Tigers’ Steve Borthwick as head coach to replace Eddie Jones, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) announced on Monday. Borthwick will take over in time to lead England at the Six Nations, with his first game to be against Scotland on Feb. 4. England have just nine Tests remaining

3:44 PM GMT England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) on Friday approved the application by a bidder for the planned takeover of Wasps but rejected another for Worcester Warriors after an assessment by the governing body’s Club Financial Viability Group. Financially-hit Wasps and Worcester have both been suspended for going into administration and will drop from

2:36 PM GMT Former England coach Eddie Jones will take charge of the Barbarians for their game against a World XV at Twickenham in May, the team said on Tuesday. Jones, 62, was sacked by England’s Rugby Football Union last week following a year in which England won only five of their 12 tests. 2

2:09 PM GMT Bernard Laporte, the head of the French Rugby Federation, got a two-year suspended prison sentence and a €75,000 ($79,000) fine after being found guilty in a trial over influence peddling and illegally acquiring assets, French media, including AFP, reported on Tuesday. In the same verdict, the Paris criminal court also handed top

7:48 AM GMT England captain Owen Farrell has said Eddie Jones was one of the best coaches he ever worked with and described his sacking as “unbelievably disappointing.” Jones was sacked by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) last week following a review of England’s Autumn Nations Series, with the team winning only five of their

11:30 AM GMT England head coach Eddie Jones has been sacked by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in the wake of a run of poor results, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) announced on Tuesday. The RFU announced Richard Cockerill will take over the running of the men’s team in the interim. 2 Related RFU CEO

6:07 PM GMT South Africa’s World Cup-winning winger Sbu Nkosi, who had been reported missing by his club Blue Bulls for being absent without leave for three weeks, has been found safe and sound, the Pretoria-based team announced on Monday. The Bulls said Nkosi, who has played 16 Tests for South Africa and was part