Rugby

4:27 AM BST New Zealand Rugby [NZR] says it is “aligned in principle” with a Rugby Australia [RA] plan to see a combined Wallabies-All Blacks team face the British & Irish Lions as part of their 2025 tour Down Under. The Lions are due to play three Tests against the Wallabies in Australia and, speaking

2:54 AM BST Reuters with ESPN staff New Zealand lock Brodie Retallick will miss the autumn internationals against Wales and Scotland after being handed a three-week suspension following his red card against Japan on Saturday. Retallick will, however, be available to face England at Twickenham on Nov. 19 if he completes a coaching intervention programme,

Nov 2, 2022 Wallabies lock Will Skelton is out to prove he is worthy of Rugby World Cup selection next year, admitting his performances in Test match rugby have never hit the same heights as what he has produced at club level. Skelton joined the Wallabies at their Saint Etienne base on Sunday, the towering

2:42 PM BST After a entree serving of Test rugby at the weekend, we’re set for the main course over three delicious sittings in November. From Edinburgh to Cardiff, London to Paris, and a few other cities in between, it really is smorgasbord of rugby action over the next few weeks. Read on for all

2:16 AM BST New Zealand Rugby [NZR] will expand a trial for tackling below the chest to all community competition next year as part of efforts to minimise the risk of concussion in the sport. The trial will see the first tackler required to target the belly area below the sternum, with the second tackler

3:36 PM BST England will be without Courtney Lawes for their Test match against Argentina on Sunday, but have Jonny May back in the mix just two weeks after he suffered a dislocated elbow. May’s injury was expected to keep him out of England’s autumn series, but the winger has made a rapid recovery. He

10:09 AM BST Captain Sarah Hunter became the most-capped England international and the most capped-women’s player in history, winning her 138th cap in their 41-5 quarterfinal win over Australia at the Women’s Rugby World Cup. To celebrate, Hunter scored the opening try of a rain-drenched match in which England’s forward power and precision in marginal

1:48 AM BST The Autumn Nations Series got underway over the weekend, albeit with just two Test matches in Tokyo and Edinburgh. World Rugby’s official Test window opens this weekend, which means there will be a far larger slate of games across Europe in six days’ time. Still, there was no shortage of talking points

4:31 AM BST Iliseva Batibasaga of Australia prepares to feed a scrum. Hagen Hopkins – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images In the most horrendous of conditions, the Wallaroos found themselves in the mix for a potential World Cup boilover at halftime, but in the end, it was simply a bridge too far for the Australians,

1:29 AM BST The Wallabies may have snapped a three-game skid with a drought-breaking win in Edinburgh, but they are kidding themselves if they think a performance of that quality will be good enough to get within striking distance of France next week and Ireland later in the tour. There is no hiding from the

6:51 PM BST Wasps will be relegated from the Premiership to the second-tier Championship, England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) confirmed on Friday with the club suspended from the top-flight and Premiership Rugby Cup for the rest of the 2022-23 season. After the club went into administration earlier this month, the RFU said it was working

10:46 AM BST South Africa have included uncapped flyhalves Manie Libbok and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu in their squad for next month’s autumn international series, and electric winger Cheslin Kolbe returns after recovering from injury. The Springboks will play four Tests, starting against Ireland in Dublin on Nov. 5, followed by matches on consecutive Saturdays against France,

12:51 AM BST The Wallabies begin their spring tour against Scotland in Edinburgh this weekend, in a Test that falls outside World Rugby’s official window. That has resulted in notable omissions for both sides, although the hosts have been harder hit with only their Scotland-based players available for the Murrayfield clash. Still, Gregor Townsend’s side

5:17 AM BST Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Stephen Perofeta have been named in the All Blacks’ starting 15 for the first time in a much-changed line-up for the Test against Japan in Tokyo on Saturday. Tuivasa-Sheck will start at inside centre alongside Braydon Ennor, with Perofeta starting at fullback in Ian Foster’s team. Halfback Finlay Christie

3:51 AM BST ESPN staff New Zealand Rugby [NZR] has acknowledged a scheduling blunder that will see the Black Ferns’ World Cup quarterfinal clash with the opening match of the All Blacks’ spring tour. NZR has come in for heavy criticism this week for the error, which will see the All Blacks’ Test against Japan

1:12 PM BST Italy lock Sara Tounesi has been suspended for 12 matches for biting a player from Japan at the women’s Rugby World Cup, meaning she miss Saturday’s quarterfinal against France. Tounesi was cited for biting an unnamed opponent during Italy’s 21-8 win on Sunday. The tournament’s judicial committee upheld the citing complaint, World

8:12 PM BST Wallabies veteran Michael Hooper has no immediate desire to reclaim the captaincy on Australia’s spring tour, admitting he was not “completely cured” of some of the mindset issues that saw him withdraw from the Rugby Championship before its opening whistle. Hooper is poised to play his first Test since the Wallabies 2-1

2:09 PM BST England skipper Owen Farrell has withdrawn from the squad that is travelling to Jersey for their training camp ahead of the November internationals as he continues to recover from a concussion, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) said on Monday. Farrell was knocked unconscious during Saracens’ Premiership victory over Exeter Chiefs on Saturday