Rugby

7:26 AM GMT Crowding into a hotel meeting room, the England Red Roses watched as the Black Ferns and France played out a brutal semifinal encounter at Eden Park, just hours after they’d played out their own epic win over Canada to seal their place in the Rugby World Cup grand final. Nursing several bumps

Nov 6, 2022 Rugby league and rugby union often sit at polar ends of the Australian sporting spectrum, despite being similar in so many ways. It is a big-brother, little-brother relationship, of sorts, with the NRL dominating domestically but the 15-player game leaving rugby league for dust internationally. So it is almost unfathomable that a

7:39 AM GMT Has there been a more gripping weekend of international rugby? Between the Rugby World Cup semifinals in New Zealand and the Autumn Nations Series, the action was as evenly-contested as you could have hoped for. Sure there were a couple of blowouts along the way, but from the two semis at Eden

4:13 AM GMT AUCKLAND, New Zealand — For perhaps the first time in Black Ferns history, the side will be entering the 2021 Rugby World Cup final as underdogs as they look to down tournament favourites England and end the side’s current 30-game win streak. With close to 40,000 fans expected to pack into Eden

Nov 1, 2022 Winger Emiliano Boffelli scored 25 points as Argentina shocked a misfiring England 30-29 on Sunday to claim their first win at Twickenham since 2006 and end a 10-game losing streak stretching back to 2009 against the team they face in their opening game at the World Cup. Boffelli scored a superb try

6:53 PM GMT Eddie Jones said he does not feel there are fundamental problems in the England ranks after their shock 30-29 defeat to Argentina but instead said the loss was down to “individual” and “elemental” mistakes. Jones had labelled England’s four-Test autumn schedule a mini-World Cup, but their campaign got off to a poor

8:49 PM BST AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Following two incredible semifinals on Saturday night, tickets for an explosive grand final have been snapped up with New Zealand Rugby looking to release every available seat to ensure a completely packed-out Eden Park next weekend. With over 8,000 tickets sold within minutes of the Black Ferns nail-biting

8:49 PM BST Auckland, NEW ZEALAND — Untested since their second pool match against France, England had had it much their own way throughout the tournament and expected to have it much the same in their semifinal, but their opponents Canada refused to make it easy, forcing them to work until the final minute in

3:40 AM BST England booked their place in the Rugby World Cup final with a nail-biting 26-19 win over Canada at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday, a length-of-the-field try by Abby Dow swinging the game in the two-time champions’ favour. The tournament favourites, who will be playing in a sixth straight final, extended their

7:34 PM BST New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson has told media Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan has “jumped the gun” after he announced talks had begun on a return of a combined ANZAC team to face the British & Irish Lions in Australia in 2025. The ANZAC XV team, a combined team between the

11:17 AM BST Owen Farrell will captain England against Argentina on Sunday with Alex Coles making his Test debut. With Courtney Lawes absent, Farrell skippers Eddie Jones’ team once again with Northampton second-row Coles earning his first Test cap in the pack. The match is England’s first of four this autumn, and despite the team

5:40 AM BST A potential historic women’s British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand is on the cards according to New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson in a massive boost for the women’s game in New Zealand and for the home nations in the UK. Making the announcement to media at the Black Ferns

Nov 2, 2022 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

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,

1:19 AM BST 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