Rugby

11:12 AM BST Tonga advanced to next year’s Rugby World Cup finals after crushing Hong Kong 44-22 on Australia’s Sunshine Coast on Saturday. Sonatane Takulua scored a hat-trick of tries as the Tongans claimed the final berth in Pool B, where they will face defending champions South Africa, Ireland, Scotland and Romania. Hong Kong, who

4:15 PM BST England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) have recommended that only players recorded as female at birth be allowed to play in women’s rugby and will hold a vote on transgender participation next week. The RFU said on Friday that it began a review of its existing policy in 2020 with a survey that

11:48 PM BST Liam Napier Humbled and hurt, the All Blacks stand on the verge of inciting a full-scale national inquiry. The unforgiving New Zealand rugby public have been vehement in their relentless feedback since the All Blacks lost the third Test against Ireland in Wellington last Saturday to fall to their first home series

3:01 AM BST ESPN staff Ian Foster and Sam Cane have been retained as All Blacks coach and captain respectively. The duo will now come under immense pressure to right their poor recent run of results in the Rugby Championship, where the All Blacks begin their campaign away to the Springboks in South Africa. “We

3:22 PM BST Gloucester Rugby lock Ed Slater has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND), the club confirmed in a statement. Slater, 33, had his diagnosis confirmed last week. He will retire from professional rugby with immediate effect. The statement read: “Gloucester Rugby is deeply pained to announce that Ed Slater has been diagnosed

1:50 AM BST ESPN staff An already tough week for the All Blacks has taken another turn, after vision of back-rower Akira Ioane and former Test scrum-half Justin Marshall needing to be separated emerged on social media. The video shows Ioane needing to be held back by teammates while Marshall is restrained by injured winger

9:00 AM BST England prop Joe Marler has revealed that he forgot he was a father after suffering concussion. Rugby has been facing up to issues with concussion after a group of former players announced legal action against World Rugby, the Welsh Rugby Union and the Rugby Football Union over a perceived failure to protect

11:17 AM BST England, Scotland and Wales will field joint men’s and women’s Britain teams from the 2022-23 World Rugby Sevens Series with a view to improving their Olympic prospects, their respective governing bodies said on Wednesday. Rugby sevens made its Olympic debut in Rio in 2016 and returned in Tokyo last year, with Britain’s

1:23 AM BST ESPN staff As New Zealand Rugby [NZR] officials prepare to meet and attempt to plot a path out of the All Blacks’ mire, the team’s media manager has revealed she was responsible for cancelling coach Ian Foster’s Sunday press conference. Jo Malcolm, an employee of NZR, says she made the decision because

Jul 18, 2022 Test rugby is a game of fine margins. In the 32nd minute of Saturday night’s series-defining loss to England, the Wallabies looked to exit their own half after opening up a 10-3 lead following a Noah Lolesio penalty goal. First Hunter Paisami caught the restart and took off back at the English

2:11 PM BST Ireland have jumped to No. 1 in the men’s World Rugby rankings following their historic 33-22 victory over New Zealand on Saturday. The All Blacks picked up a 42-19 victory in their first Test meeting, but Ireland followed with a 23-12 triumph on July 9 and a 33-22 win on Saturday, which

Jul 17, 2022 Rugby Australia have released a statement on poor fan conduct at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday following the Wallabies 21-17 series loss to England. In several videos shared on social media on Sunday, one man was seen scaling the SCG stands to sit and urinate on the roof before he was

1:09 PM BST Former Wales captain Ryan Jones said he feels like his “world is falling apart” after being diagnosed with early onset dementia at age 41. Jones said he had received the diagnosis last December, with doctors telling him he was one of the worst cases they had seen. He was also diagnosed with

10:57 PM BST England will leave Australia with the Ella-Mobbs trophy in their keeping after taking out the three-Test series with a thrilling 21-17 win over the Wallabies at the SCG on Saturday night. Playing the likely last ever rugby Test match at the SCG, the Wallabies fell just short in their quest to farewell

10:57 PM BST Ireland’s Hugo Keenan runs the ball during the Test against New Zealand in Wellintgon, July 16, 2022 Brendan Moran/Sportsfile via Getty Images A courageous Ireland held off a fierce All Blacks fightback to claim an epic 32-22 win in Wellington on Saturday and seal a series victory 2-1. Warhorse captain Johnny Sexton was

5:27 PM BST South Africa claimed a decisive 30-14 third-Test victory over Wales on Saturday to secure the series and halt a run of northern hemisphere victories after success for Ireland and England. Fly-half Handre Polland scored 20 points, including the first try, as the world champions outscored the tourists three tries to one. Bongi

10:26 PM BST England coach Eddie Jones has said officiating delays and the high number of cards are a blight on rugby and called for change before next year’s World Cup. The increased use of the Television Match Official (TMO) to spot infringements as well as a lower threshold for yellow and red cards as

11:16 PM BST Former Wallabies playmaker Bernard Foley is backing young fly-half Noah Lolesio to remain calm under pressure, adamant he can lead Australia to victory in the series decider at the SCG on Saturday night. Thrown into the deep end just 20 minutes before the opening Test in Perth after Quade Cooper was a