Rugby

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Week 2021, this May, ESPN highlights the stories of athletes, coaches and other sports figures who have experienced personal battles with mental health, and who want to use their platforms to openly discuss what happened next, and what helped them. These stories reflect a broad range of subjects and

6:26 PM BST South Africa will play their first test matches since lifting the World Cup in November 2019 when they host Georgia for two tests in July as a warm-up for the British & Irish Lions series, a major boost to new head coach Jacques Nienaber. South Africa has been hardest hit by the

11:09 AM BST England will play tests against the United States and Canada in July in front of at least 10,000 spectators at Twickenham Stadium, the Rugby Football Union said on Monday. Eddie Jones’ side will host the United States on July 4 and Canada on July 10. Before the two tests, England’s A side

11:00 AM BST England prop Joe Marler has urged the British & Irish Lions to bring a clinical psychiatrist with them when they tour South Africa later this year. The 37-man squad for the tour was announced last Thursday and Marler has advocated that the mental wellbeing of the players has to be a priority

11:13 PM BST The Wallabies and France will meet in three Tests in the space of just 11 days in July, with the teams playing two midweek Tests. The first Test is in Sydney on Wednesday, Jul. 7 at the SCG followed by a Tuesday night Melbourne match at AAMI Park on Jul. 13 and

12:21 PM BST Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones will lead the 2021 British & Irish Lions on their tour of South Africa this summer. Jones, 35, holds the record for the most caps in men’s international rugby, and is regarded as one of the great second rows. The hugely experienced lock will join forces with

2:27 PM BST The strength of a British & Irish Lions squad is judged heavily by the players who failed to make the cut. Warren Gatland said this was the “hardest and most challenging squad” to pick, and when looking at the names missing out on the 37-man party travelling to South Africa this summer,

11:00 AM BST England’s Poppy Cleall has said that the Women’s Six Nations cannot continue to include matches with “professionals v amateurs” and urged the unions to invest more in the game. The Red Roses were the only professional team in the 2021 tournament with finalists France being semi-professionals. A number of Scottish players are

6:27 AM BST Happy to claim the underdog status, coach Dan McKellar says the Super Rugby AU season has positioned the Brumbies perfectly to snatch the title from competition favourites Queensland on Saturday night. McKellar said when he looked at the draw pre-season he had concerns that if his team had finished top of the

12:46 AM BST The stage is now set for both Super Rugby finals to be played this weekend, with the Brumbies emerging from their dogged contest with the Force to join the Reds in the Brisbane decider, while the Crusaders host the Chiefs earlier on Saturday, a game that was already confirmed ahead of Super

12:40 PM BST England scrum-half Ben Youngs has ruled himself out for the British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa this year to spend more family time this summer, with his wife pregnant with their third child. The 31-year-old was among more than 50 players under consideration for the tour, which will take place

12:18 PM BST England celebrated a bizarre 17-15 win over France in a women’s test match on Saturday after they were declared winners following a floodlight failure midway through the second half. The visitors were declared winners after a 20-minute delay, during which both sets of players wandered around the pitch, because more than 60

11:48 AM BST The Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals will take place at London’s Twickenham Stadium in May in front of up to 10,000 fans, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) said on Friday. The matches were due to take place in Marseille on May 21 and May 22 respectively but were moved out of

1:57 PM BST England Rugby and Scottish Rugby said on Thursday they would join football and other sports’ social media blackout this weekend in a show of solidarity against online abuse. All social media channels run by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), including England Rugby, Premier 15s, Greene King IPA Championship and GB7s will switch

3:10 PM BST Six Nations champions Wales will begin their title defence against Ireland in the first round of the 2022 tournament while Scotland host England on the same day, organisers announced on Wednesday. The tournament begins on Feb. 5 while the final round will be played on ‘Super Saturday’ on March 19. 1 Related

11:40 AM BST Wales centre George North will miss the British & Irish Lions tour in South Africa due to a serious knee injury, it was announced on Monday. North, 29, ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) when he played for Ospreys against Cardiff Blues on Saturday. North’s injury came when he appeared to have

6:09 AM BST All Blacks superstar Beauden Barrett has reaffirmed his desire to return to the No. 10 jersey at Test level, declaring his time in Japan with Suntory Sungoliath has motivated him to become better than ever in the playmaking hotseat. Barrett, a two-time winner of World Rugby’s Player of the Year award at

12:58 PM BST Premiership Rugby announced on Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with the British & Irish Lions to release its players at the end of their domestic commitments and before their warm-up game against Japan. The match against Japan on June 26 is being held outside World Rugby’s Regulation 9 window for