Rugby

10:56 PM BST While COVID-19 continues to disrupt the Super Rugby Pacific season across the ditch, it appears to be smooth sailing in Australia — for now at least! The exact make-up of Round 5 will be confirmed later on Wednesday, but there are no such troubles for the Six Nations, which reaches its conclusion

3:33 PM BST Alun Wyn Jones will make his 150th international appearance when Wales host Italy in their final Six Nations clash at the Principality Stadium on Saturday. Meanwhile, fly-half Dan Biggar, who will earn his 100th cap this weekend, has retained the armband despite the return of regular skipper Jones who was initially been

12:40 AM BST ESPN staff Moana Pasifika are staring down the prospect of a fourth postponed Super Rugby Pacific match as COVID continues to wreak havoc with the New Zealand fixtures in the new-look tournament. The Highlanders on Tuesday cancelled training as they deal with an outbreak of cases across their squad, while the Blues

3:19 PM BST England will be without flanker Tom Curry for their Six Nations finale against France in Paris on Saturday, a blow to coach Eddie Jones as he looks to finish the campaign on a much-needed high. Curry injured his hamstring in the 32-15 home loss to Ireland on Saturday that left England out

3:33 PM BST Ireland second row James Ryan will miss their final Six Nations match against Scotland on Saturday as he goes through return to play protocols after suffering a concussion in last weekend’s 32-15 victory over England. The Leinster lock left the pitch at Twickenham after less than two minutes following a head-on-head tackle

9:51 AM BST Spain hung on to beat Portugal 33-28 in Madrid on Sunday and seal a place at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France for the first time in 24 years. Spain, whose last and only previous appearance was at the 1999 tournament, will be in Group B alongside holders South Africa, Scotland,

8:05 PM GMT TWICKENHAM, London — It took Ireland 70 minutes to finally break England’s resolve. Having been reduced to 14 men after just 82 seconds, England showed incredible defiance to frustrate and bother Ireland and at one stage, it looked like Eddie Jones’ players were going to pull off one of the most remarkable

6:50 PM GMT Ireland took full advantage of a red card for England lock Charlie Ewels after less than two minutes of Saturday’s Six Nations encounter at Twickenham to claim a bonus-point 32-15 victory that keeps them in the hunt for the title. Ewels was sent off for a head-on-head tackle on Ireland second row

Mar 12, 2022 England second-row Charlie Ewels was shown a red card after just 82 seconds in their key Six Nations clash against Ireland at Twickenham. It was the earliest red card ever shown since the championship began in 1883, with the lock being sent off for a dangerous tackle after his head connected with

4:21 PM GMT Centre Chris Harris scored a brace of tries as Scotland edged to a 33-22 bonus-point victory over Italy in their Six Nations encounter at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, inflicting a 36th successive defeat in the competition on their hosts. Centre Sam Johnson, wing Darcy Graham and fullback Stuart Hogg also crossed

10:44 PM GMT France were not at their flamboyant best but a try from flanker Anthony Jelonch helped the Six Nations leaders to a 13-9 victory over a Wales side full of fight at the Principality Stadium on Friday, a seventh win in a row for Fabien Galthie’s team. France stay on course for their

1:12 PM GMT Tom Curry will feature at open-side flanker for England against Ireland in their must-win Six Nations encounter at Twickenham on Saturday, while No. 8 Alex Dombrandt is among the replacements after he tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday. Coach Eddie Jones selected a pack he thinks can counter the Irish, who he

1:39 PM GMT Scotland’s Matt Fagerson and Hamish Watson have returned to beef up the back row against Italy in the Six Nations in Rome on Saturday as coach Gregor Townsend makes five changes to the team beaten by France a fortnight ago. Fagerson returns from injury while Watson missed out on the 36-17 rout

12:41 PM GMT France duo Romain Taofifenua and Damian Penaud have tested positive for COVID-19, forcing coach Fabien Galthie to make changes from the team who beat Scotland for Friday’s Six Nations clash against Wales. “We were notified this morning that they were positive so we had to make last-minute changes,” Galthie told a news

2:09 AM GMT Former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika is poised to coach at a third straight Rugby World Cup, with the Australian set to be unveiled as Argentina boss by the end of the week. Argentine newspaper, La Nacion, was first to report news of Cheika’s looming appointment, with the current Stan Sport panelist set

Mar 8, 2022 Ireland captain Johnny Sexton will retire after next year’s World Cup and said he wants “to go out at the top” after signing one last contract on Tuesday to lead his country to the global showpiece in France. The former world player of the year, who will be 38 by the time

4:18 AM GMT All Blacks greats Jeff Wilson and John Kirwan have taken aim at Australian rugby, suggesting the country again must cut back to four Super Rugby franchises if it can’t find a way to keep more of its top-level talent on home soil. While the New Zealand and Australia teams are still weeks

2:09 AM GMT South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has denied he made public his now infamous 62-minute video critique of the performance of the match officials after the first Test against the British & Irish Lions last year. Erasmus was found guilty of misconduct by an independent committee in November and suspended from