Rugby

2:48 AM BST Reuters and ESPN staff World Rugby will encourage member unions to join a global trial of lowering tackle height to below the sternum in the community game, the governing body has said, stressing the importance of reducing injury risk via “education, sanction and law change”. It pointed to trials conducted in France

9:45 PM GMT England coach Steve Borthwick said his team were a long way behind the world’s best sides after France inflicted a record 53-10 drubbing on their hosts at Twickenham in the Six Nations on Saturday. It was England’s third heaviest ever defeat and their biggest at home, giving Borthwick plenty to ponder after

8:32 PM GMT Records tumbled at Twickenham with promises kept. It was a match where we were going to bear witness to a great entertainer. And we did — except it wasn’t England’s Marcus Smith running the show. Instead, this was yet another incredible performance by the magician Antoine Dupont as France handed England a

Mar 8, 2023 The Six Nations returns this weekend with Ireland looking to extend their perfect run and boost hopes of a Grand Slam swoop. They face second-placed Scotland in a key clash on Sunday, who have surprised many so far in the tournament with eye-catching displays spearheaded by the box-office Finn Russell. England, gradually

7:41 AM GMT Wales national team players are struggling to play at their best at the Six Nations championship amid their ongoing dispute with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) over future contracts, No. 8 Taulupe Faletau said. Wales players had threatened not to play against England last month to protest contract and other issues, but

6:03 PM GMT England vice-captain Courtney Lawes has been ruled out of their Six Nations match against France with a shoulder injury, the Rugby Football Union said on Tuesday. Lawes has endured a tough time since he won the last of his 96 caps for England in Australia last July, with concussions, neck, buttock and

3:17 AM GMT The move to speed up Super Rugby Pacific and increase the amount of ball-in-play time is off to a promising start, with the Round 1 numbers now confirmed to have been an improvement on those from 2022. The trial laws, which prohibit huddles before lineouts and have placed a firm time limit

11:05 PM GMT New Zealand Rugby will make a decision on the next All Blacks coach in the next “four to six weeks”, rejecting Ian Foster’s wishes that the process instead be carried out after this year’s World Cup in France. NZR chairman Dame Patsy Reddy made the announcement on Wednesday morning, after weeks of

2:13 PM GMT Marcus Smith has been released from England’s training squad this week to get game time with Harlequins but faces a battle to make the squad to face France in two weeks after George Ford was included in a trimmed 26-man group announced on Tuesday. Smith came on in the last minute of

10:39 AM GMT The creation of a British & Irish Lions women’s team has taken a step forward to being green lit following a two-year evaluation. The feasibility study, commissioned in 2021, has come back with “positive initial findings,” Lions said, regarding the creation of a women’s Lions touring team. The study investigated considerations around

11:52 AM GMT The third round of the Six Nations wasn’t short of storylines but the headlines see Ireland still on for the Grand Slam after their 34-20 win in Rome against an ever-improving Italy side. England dispatched Wales 20-10 in Cardiff after a turbulent week for Warren Gatland’s side and on Sunday, France and

3:57 AM GMT Eddie Jones has finally landed an assistant coach ahead of the Wallabies‘ Rugby World Cup assault, with former Wests Tigers and NSW State of Origin fullback Brett Hodgson to take on the defensive responsibilities. One of the worst kept secrets in Australian rugby was finally confirmed on Monday afternoon, just a couple

8:12 PM GMT CARDIFF, Wales — Wales have been battling all week on and off the field. They’d secured one victory on Wednesday, but this was one scrap too many. England needed 75 minutes to break the hosts’ resolve, but in a match of low quality, and one contested in the air as much as

Feb 8, 2023 After a one-week break, the Six Nations returns under a wave of uncertainty as Wales confirmed on Wednesday their match against England would take place, after talks with the players over contract disputes were resolved. In the round’s early kickoff, Ireland head to Rome where they will look to follow up on

2:50 PM GMT It was at roughly 5.50 p.m. on Wednesday evening when word of a resolution between the Welsh rugby team and the sport’s powerbrokers emerged from the squad’s hotel on the outskirts of Cardiff. Strike action had been averted. Wales’ third match of the men’s Six Nations against England — their blockbuster fixture

9:45 PM GMT Liam Napier Dreams will be dashed and realised in this pivotal World Cup year. Best laid plans have already been ripped up elsewhere, with England, Wales and Australia changing coaches on the eve of the global tournament in France. The All Blacks have a clear plan of where they want to go

8:56 PM GMT CARDIFF, Wales — – The Six Nations rugby match between Wales and England on Saturday will go ahead after potential strike action from Welsh players over a contract dispute was averted. More than 100 players gathered at Wales’ training base on Wednesday to discuss a range of issues with members of the

10:15 PM GMT The Waratahs and Wallabies have received a huge vote of confidence after Angus Bell re-signed with Australian rugby through 2027, but there is upheaval elsewhere with Taniela Tupou and coach Dan McKellar both reported to be on the move. Bell, 22, has put pen to paper on a new four-year deal that