Rugby

2:51 AM BST Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has weighed into Len Ikitau’s three-game suspension that has scratched the centre from the Brumbies’ semifinal with the Blues, while also imploring officials to look for the initial motion of the tackled player’s head in ruling on such incidents. Ikitau had his red-card for a high tackle on

2:36 AM BST Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has confirmed his three Giteau Law picks for the upcoming series with England, while also indicating some players may miss out on his 35-man squad on Sunday with an eye on getting them game time in the Australia A program instead. Rennie was on hand as the opening

4:20 AM BST New Zealand Rugby has issued a public apology to Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate more than six months after the national women’s hooker complained of suffering a mental breakdown following alleged criticism from her former coach Glenn Moore. A social media post by Te Kura in December triggered an independent cultural review which found

4:47 PM BST England coach Eddie Jones has called up another five uncapped players as part of a training camp squad in preparation for next weekend’s non-cap match against the Barbarians and July’s tour of Australia. Prop Kyle Sinckler, however, will miss the trip to Australia after being ruled out with a back injury. The

3:09 AM BST And then there were four. Super Rugby Pacific’s quarterfinals played out as expected over the weekend, but not before the Brumbies were forced to fight off a determined Hurricanes outfit in Canberra. Each game, in fact, saw the underdogs rally, with even the Highlanders – who had only four wins during the

12:53 AM BST The one-month countdown to the first Test between the Wallabies and England has officially begun, with anticipation of the three-game series starting to build across the country. Eddie Jones will arrive Down Under with England later this month, while Wallabies coach Dave Rennie is set to announce his own squad in the

4:13 PM BST England centre Manu Tuilagi has been ruled out of next month’s tour to Australia after undergoing a procedure on his knee, his club Sale Sharks said on Thursday. England play the Wallabies in a three Test series in their first tour of the country in six years, which gets underway in Perth

5:46 AM BST A special general meeting of New Zealand Rugby [NZR] in Auckland voted in favour of a $[NZ]200 million ($[US]129.42 million) private equity investment from U.S. firm Silver Lake on Thursday, the final step in the approval process for the groundbreaking deal. The deal, approved in a vote by a majority of the

7:01 AM BST Israel Folau will be a prized addition to Tongan rugby but will have restrictions on what he posts on social media, along with all his teammates, coach Toutai Kefu said. Folau, an evangelical Christian, will soon make his return to international rugby, three years on from the termination of his Wallabies contract

3:29 AM BST Marika Koroibete has fired a warning to Eddie Jones’ England, saying he’s a superior player to the deadly winger who left Australia last year to ply his trade in Japan. Koroibete on Tuesday night pledged his commitment to the Wallabies for the July three-Test series, certain to be one of the three

2:29 AM BST Super Rugby Pacific’s regular season is in the books, with the top eight confirmed on Sunday afternoon. But not before there was some late drama in Melbourne, where the Rebels rounded out their season with one final win, making it four in total for the season. Read on as we review some

7:22 PM BST A last-minute try by Arthur Retiere after a monumental goal-line assault gave La Rochelle a stunning 24-21 victory over favourites Leinster in a superb European Champions Cup final in Marseille on Saturday. Leinster had looked on course for a record-equalling fifth triumph as they heroically defended their line and a four-point lead

5:43 AM BST Liam Napier Rugby appears caught in a paradoxical universe of wanting to place paramount importance on player safety – and being seemingly incapable of adopting common sense when ruling on accidental collisions. Everyone involved in the game — from administrators to players, referees, fans — recognises the need to protect and police

1:59 AM BST The Blues have wrapped up top seeding and home advantage for the Super Rugby Pacific finals, after their dramatic win in Canberra moved them six points clear at the top of the standings. Elsewhere there were wins for the Crusaders, Reds, Chiefs, Hurricanes and Waratahs, who picked up the upset of the

2:33 PM BST The 2023 Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals will be played at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium instead of Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium in London, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) said on Thursday. The Premier League is set to conclude later than usual in 2023 owing to the FIFA World Cup

12:21 AM BST Eddie Jones is brushing aside all talk of his England tourists earning another, record-extending clean sweep over the Wallabies. The Tasmanian coach, who orchestrated England’s first 3-0 whitewash of Australia on the tour down in 2016, could push his extraordinary record to 11 wins and no losses against the Wallabies in the

10:51 AM BST England coach Eddie Jones has included 10 uncapped players, including in-form London Irish duo Henry Arundell and Will Joseph, in a 36-man training squad to prepare for the summer tour of Australia. Joe Cokanasiga, Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi, Anthony Watson and Jack Willis return following injury, while prop Mako Vunipola has also

2:37 AM BST Rugby Australia’s [RA] World Cup bid team had barely finished a celebratory pint of Guinness in Dublin before the speculation had begun. Would the governing body again target NRL players for the 2027 World Cup to be played on home soil, just as it had done with Wendell Sailor, Mat Rogers and