Rugby

6:38 AM BST Liam Napier What a wild week for the All Blacks. Just when you thought COVID’s far-reaching effects on major sports events had largely dissipated, the All Blacks opening Test week against Ireland moved from one deflection to the next. First All Blacks head coach Ian Foster, chief assistant John Plumtree and Crusaders

1:16 AM BST ESPN staff Leicester Fainga’anuku will make his Test debut on the left wing against Ireland as All Blacks coach Ian Foster named all three Barrett brothers in the run-on side to face Ireland. Foster has preferred Beauden Barrett over Richie Mo’unga, while brothers Jordie and Scott start at fullback and blindside breakaway

6:32 AM BST Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has sprung a selection shock for the first Test against England, with 33-year-old Brumbies lock Cadeyrn Neville to make his Test debut at Optus Stadium in Perth on Saturday night. Neville will be the third oldest Wallaby debutant since World War II at the age of 33 years

Jun 29, 2022 Sam Bruce Close ESPN Associate Editor Sam was brought up on long drives and the dusty fields of north-west New South Wales, where he developed his love of rugby from an early age. He joined ESPNscrum after a five-year stint heading up Fox Sports Australia’s digital rugby coverage. Tom Hamilton Close Senior

Jun 27, 2022 Spain’s appeal against their disqualification from next year’s Rugby World Cup has been dismissed, World Rugby announced on Monday. Spain were disqualified from the tournament in France for fielding an ineligible player during the 2021-22 Rugby Europe Championship. “The Independent Appeal Committee reviewed the original decision of the Independent Judicial Committee based

10:59 AM BST The Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby have issued an apology to Luther Burrell after he said racism was “rife” in the sport. Burrell, 32, told the Daily Mail that racist “banter” was common among teammates, with the former England centre saying he was subjected to discriminatory language including comments about slavery.

11:35 PM BST One of the many faces of the Australian LGBTQ+ sporting community, Australian sevens star and Olympic gold medallist Sharni Williams has celebrated the growing importance of Pride Month while revealing the struggle she faced to gain acceptance within her own family. Williams, who grew up in country Queensland, says she believed she

6:21 AM BST Ahead of the opening Test against England in Perth, Wallabies veteran Quade Cooper says his exchanges with the old enemy’s playmaker Marcus Smith are mutually beneficial and for the good of rugby. Connecting over social media, Smith recently revealed Cooper, 11 years his senior at 34, had “helped me a lot”. That

3:09 AM BST New Zealand’s preparations for their opening Test against Ireland have been rocked with head coach Ian Foster, his assistants John Plumtree and Scott McLeod, as well as two key players all testing positive for COVID-19. Midfielders David Havili and Jack Goodhue as well as the coaches are in isolation after contracting the

2:45 AM BST This series is in no way make-or-break for Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, but if Australia are to be taken as serious World Cup contenders next year they simply must end their losing Test streak to England and claim the series win. More than 2,400 days have come and gone since Australia’s last

4:34 AM BST Wallabies great Mark Ella needed to be persuaded to have his name as part of the new trophy to be contested by Australia and England from Saturday week, but he says it is a great honour and “probably time” that two former players were recognised. Rugby Australia [RA] and the Rugby Football

1:45 AM BST Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has doubled down on comments that his organisation could walk away from Super Rugby, saying it is a 50/50 call, while also describing the reaction stemming out of New Zealand as “hilarious”. McLennan dropped a huge bombshell last Thursday when he revealed that “all bets were off”

10:58 AM BST Leinster scrum-half Nick McCarthy has announced he is gay, and has thanked coaches Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster for their “unbelievable” support in what he said has been a difficult decision. McCarthy has 18 caps as an Ireland under-20 player and he captained the side in 2015 but said he contemplated quitting

7:17 AM BST Despite his limited pro rugby experience, Suliasi Vunivalu says playing in four NRL grand finals with Melbourne means he can handle the pressure of a Wallabies debut in the England Test series next month. The 26-year-old winger is finally injury-free and eager to get his international career started ahead of next year’s

10:26 AM BST Coach Eddie Jones has brought Billy Vunipola and Danny Care back from international exile after including them on Monday in a 36-man squad for England’s July tour of Australia. Vunipola, who was excellent for Saracens in Saturday’s Premiership final, suffered a concussion in the game but was included in the squad. He

5:21 AM BST Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has reaffirmed his desire that Australian rugby remains engaged with New Zealand at provincial level, despite the recent comments of Rugby Australia [RA] chairman Hamish McLennan. Rennie has long stated his belief that Australian players will only get better by regularly facing their counterparts across the Tasman, a

11:34 PM BST Wallabies giant Will Skelton has made an unwelcome piece of rugby history by becoming the first player to ever get sent off while playing for the Barbarians. Yet the colossal Australian’s first-half dismissal in Sunday’s non-cap international at Twickenham still didn’t stop the French-dominated invitation side offering Eddie Jones’ England a humbling

5:47 PM BST Replacement fly-half Freddie Burns landed a last-minute drop goal to give Leicester their first English Premiership rugby title for nine years as they overcame a dogged Saracens 15-12 at Twickenham on Saturday. First-half tries by South African forwards Hanro Liebenberg and Jasper Wiese had Leicester 12-6 up at the break but Saracens