Rugby

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

1:16 AM GMT Warren Gatland has left New Zealand Rugby with one final piece of advice before departing for Wales, imploring the governing body to sign Scott Robertson as the next All Blacks coach. It was on Monday revealed that Gatland would be returning to Cardiff after just three short years away, the Kiwi replacing

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

12:31 PM GMT Wales’ former head coach Warren Gatland has been reappointed for the 2023 season as Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) part ways with Wayne Pivac. WRU CEO Steve Phillips confirmed on Monday that Gatland — who served as Wales’ longest standing coach when he left in 2019 after 12 years in charge — will

12:58 AM GMT ESPN staff The future of Super Rugby Pacific has been locked away until at least the end of 2030, with New Zealand Rugby and Rugby Australia rubber-stamping a plan to take the competition forward over the next eight years. After months of negotiation and more than just a few stern words, the

7:57 PM GMT Australia scrum half Nic White was allowed to continue playing after a head injury during his rugby team’s recent defeat by Ireland due to “discrepancies” in process and communication, an independent review by the organisers said on Tuesday. White was injured during the second half of Australia’s 13-10 Autumn Nations Series loss

11:10 PM GMT Bill Sweeney, the CEO of the Rugby Football Union, said he was “really disappointed” with England’s autumn series results but gave no indication that coach Eddie Jones was in any danger of being removed. England delivered a poor display and were booed off at Twickenham after being outplayed 27-13 by South Africa

10:28 PM GMT TWICKENHAM — If anyone wondered whether prematch talk about their boss’ suspension would weigh heavy on South Africa’s minds, then it was in stark contrast to the light work they showed in dispatching England in their own backyard on Saturday. The build-up to this game was dominated by talk of South Africa

6:16 PM GMT Former Scotland lock Doddie Weir has died aged 52 after battling motor neurone disease (MND) for the last six years, his family said on Saturday. Edinburgh-born Weir, who earned 61 caps between 1990 and 2000, revealed his diagnosis in 2017 to raise awareness of the condition. “Doddie was an inspirational force of