Rugby

12:55 PM GMT Wales coach Wayne Pivac has opted for midfield muscle and selected Jonathan Davies to play at inside centre alongside George North in the Six Nations clash with England at the Principality Stadium on Saturday. Davies will make his first appearance of 2021 after being recalled to the side, while North, 28, is

11:34 AM GMT Ireland refreshed their pack for Saturday’s Six Nations trip to Italy and welcomed Johnny Sexton back after the captain missed the loss to leaders France in a disappointing start to the tournament. Ireland boss Andy Farrell has made seven changes from their disappointing start to the tournament. Ronan Kelleher, who scored one

5:23 AM GMT Rugby Australia [RA] remains confident of striking a deal to screen Super Rugby AU into the United Kingdom and Ireland, after New Zealand Rugby confirmed Super Rugby Aotearoa would be shown into those markets via RugbyPass. Despite describing the response to Super Rugby AU’s opening weekend of action across the Nine Network

1:39 PM GMT France’s Six Nations match against Scotland in Paris will go ahead on Sunday as planned after the hosts reported no further positive COVID-19 tests for a second consecutive day, organisers said on Wednesday. “Further to a meeting of the Six Nations Testing Oversight Group (TOG) this morning to review the latest test

11:06 AM GMT Five more players from France’s Six Nations squad — including captain Charles Ollivon — have tested positive for COVID-19, the French rugby federation (FFR) said on Monday, bringing the number of infected players to 10. Cyril Baille, Peato Mauvaka, Romain Taofifenua, Brice Dulin and Ollivon were the players who returned positive tests

8:22 PM GMT Associated Press France’s star scrum-half Antoine Dupont and four other first-team players who tested positive for COVID-19 are out of the squad for next Sunday’s Six Nations match against Scotland. The French rugby federation (FFR) said on Sunday that further tests carried out on Saturday showed that prop Julien Marchand and center

1:20 PM GMT New Zealand’s World Cup-winning fly-half Dan Carter announced on Saturday his retirement from professional rugby after an illustrious 19-year career. The 38-year-old, capped 112 times by New Zealand, played his last test in 2015 when he produced a man-of-the-match display to help the All Blacks to victory over Australia in the World

5:57 PM GMT France scrum-half and star player Antoine Dupont is set to miss his side’s Six Nations game against Scotland after testing positive for COVID-19 on Friday. All the players in the 31-man squad had been tested and so far 11 had been negative, with Dupont the only one to return a positive test,

5:56 PM GMT Wales have called up prop WillGriff John to their Six Nations squad to replace the injured Dillon Lewis, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) announced on Friday. Lewis will miss the rest of the Six Nations campaign after sustaining a neck injury. – Play ESPN’s Rugby Pick’em for FREE Sale Sharks’ John, 28,

11:14 AM GMT Nine minutes of brilliance were all the Queensland Reds needed to spark the new-look Super Rugby AU season into life during a crushing 41-7 home win over the NSW Waratahs. The hosts had scored 24 of their points by the 18th minute but only after the Waratahs had scored first – their

11:26 AM GMT Ireland’s Caelan Doris is unlikely to return for the remainder of the Six Nations after coach Andy Farrell said the Leinster back-rower would be out for the “foreseeable future” because of concussion symptoms. Doris, 22, had been named in the initial 37-man squad for the tournament but was withdrawn after reporting symptoms

1:17 AM GMT Four years on since the clean out at the Queensland Reds began, it’s time for the rebuilding era to end and for the side to deliver Brad Thorn some much needed silverware to cap off his tenure, and banish their rocky start to the year. Signing a one-year extension with the club

12:12 PM GMT The Wallabies at last have options at No. 10 but the team is crying out for one or more of them to stamp their authority on Super Rugby AU in the same way that Richie Mo’unga made an irresistible All Blacks case across the Tasman with the Crusaders. The opportunity is there

9:49 AM GMT A lobby group composed of players, officials, referees, coaches, medical experts and teachers has been formed to campaign for improved safety in the sport they describe as “broken.” Spearheading Progressive Rugby are former internationals, including Canada’s Jamie Cudmore, who is involved in a long-running legal dispute with his former club Clermont Auvergne,

12:25 PM GMT England and Wasps flanker Jack Willis will consult a specialist to determine the full extent of a knee injury that could end his season, the Premiership club’s coach Lee Blackett said. Willis injured his knee after he was twisted out of a ruck by Italy’s Sebastian Negri during England’s 41-18 Six Nations

12:20 PM GMT Scotland prop Zander Fagerson will miss the rest of the Six Nations after being handed a four-match ban following his red card against Wales, organisers said after a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday. Fagerson, 25, was sent off in the second half of Scotland’s 25-24 loss at Murrayfield on Saturday, having made contact

Feb 16, 2021 High-profile Queensland Reds recruit Suliasi Vunivalu has been dropped just days out from his would-be Super Rugby AU debut for allegedly pushing a security guard in a Brisbane pub. The champion NRL winger had arrived at Ballymore fresh off a premiership with the Melbourne Storm as Rugby Australia’s big-ticket item. But on

12:03 PM GMT Ireland coach Andy Farrell has said he expects captain Johnny Sexton and scrum-half Conor Murray to be available for their Six Nations trip to Rome to face Italy on Feb. 27. The half-back pairing missed Ireland’s 13-15 defeat to France on Sunday through injury with Sexton failing to clear return to play