Rugby

11:24 AM GMT Andy Farrell has handed winger James Lowe his Six Nations debut, picking him over Jordan Larmour, as he announced his team to face Wales in the Principality Stadium on Sunday on the Six Nations. Johnny Sexton has recovered from an injury to captain the side in his 12th Six Nations tournament and

1:05 PM GMT Amid the turmoil and uncertainty COVID-19 has caused, the 2021 Six Nations kicks off on Saturday in the annual battle for European rugby supremacy. The stands will be empty, the streets of the six magnificent cities will be quiet, the pubs shut — yet for five weekends, national pride is on the

2:28 PM GMT Franco Smith has named a relatively inexperienced side for Italy’s opening Six Nations game against France on Saturday, with 10 of the starting XV having fewer than 10 caps. Smith has handed Juan Ignacio Brex his first cap for Italy and he will be partnered by Marco Zanon who has just four

12:20 PM GMT Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has named Finn Russell in his team to face England after the fly-half missed the Autumn Nations Cup through injury. Full-back Stuart Hogg will lead the side with Cameron Redpath making his debut for the national side. – Play ESPN’s Rugby Pick’em for FREE “We learned a lot

12:09 PM GMT Fabien Galthie has named a more experienced side compared to last year’s Six Nations for his side’s opening game against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday. The main names missing are Romain Ntamack and Virimi Vakatawa who are injured. – Play ESPN’s Rugby Pick’em for FREE Mattieu Jalibert will replace the

11:00 AM GMT Owen Farrell is back at fly-half for England while Mark Wilson returns to the starting line-up for their opening match of the 2021 Six Nations against Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday. Farrell played at inside centre for the last two matches of the Autumn Nations Cup, but the England captain reverts to

7:11 PM GMT Wales have suspended wing Josh Adams for the first two matches of the Six Nations after he breached the team’s strict COVID-19 protocols, coach Wayne Pivac confirmed on Wednesday. Adams attended a family gathering on Sunday after the squad were given two days off from training. 2 Related “We are extremely disappointed

3:06 PM GMT The delayed Women’s Six Nations will take place from April 3 across four weekends in a new play-off style format, organisers announced on Wednesday. Earlier this month, the women’s tournament was postponed until spring or the summer due to the coronavirus pandemic. The revised tournament will begin with two pools of three

11:45 AM GMT The Six Nations is set to go ahead in full after France eased its strict COVID-19 quarantine protocols for the annual tournament, the country’s sports minister Roxana Maracineanu said. France has placed restrictions on travel to and from the United Kingdom which led to French clubs withdrawing from the European Champions Cup.

8:08 AM GMT They say a change is a good as holiday, if that is indeed the case then few others could have used a vacation like Australian rugby after its 25-year association with Fox Sports came to an end last year. The new kid on the rugby broadcasting block is only partly that, with

3:29 AM GMT New Rugby Australia chief executive Andy Marinos has reinforced chairman Hamish McLennan’s extension of an invitation to South Africa and the British & Irish Lions to contest their series Down Under, but insists having the Wallabies take on France is the governing body’s priority. Marinos at last got his feet under the

1:10 AM GMT Rugby Australia (RA) chairman Hamish McLennan continues to push the nation’s credibility of staging events during the coronavirus pandemic, raising the prospect that the British & Irish Lions’ tour of South Africa could instead be contested Down Under. Having already flagged a potential mini World Cup in Australia, McLennan says RA would

3:45 PM GMT France are to cut their Six Nations squad from 37 to 31 players as they set up a bubble to avoid COVID-19 contamination, the French league and federation said on Saturday. The initial agreement between the national league (LNR) and the federation (FFR) said that the France squad would feature 37 players

12:44 PM GMT England’s Billy Vunipola hopes a strong showing in the Six Nations can help him cement a spot in Warren Gatland’s British & Irish Lions squad for their tour of South Africa this year. Vunipola missed Lions’ 2017 visit to New Zealand due to injury but is confident he will be part of

10:04 AM GMT Hosts and reigning champions New Zealand will take on neighbours Australia at Auckland’s Eden Park on the opening night of the women’s World Cup in September, organisers said on Friday. The hosts will be hoping for a bumper crowd for a triple-header at the 44,000 seater stadium on Sept. 18 to kickstart

6:17 PM GMT Fresh doubt has been cast on whether the Six Nations will go ahead as scheduled as organisers seek travel exemptions from the French government. The French government introduced strict travel restrictions to and from the UK including a 6pm curfew, a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of travel, and a seven-day

12:00 PM GMT England coach Eddie Jones and the captains of the four home unions have said they want the British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa to go ahead this year rather than 2022. The tour, scheduled for July 3-Aug. 7, is in doubt due to the COVID-19 pandemic that remains a crisis

12:00 PM GMT England coach Eddie Jones and the captains of the four home unions have said they want the British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa to go ahead this year rather than 2022. The tour, scheduled for July 3-Aug. 7, is in doubt due to the COVID-19 pandemic that remains a crisis