Rugby

4:34 AM BST Trans-Tasman rugby relations have seemingly sunk even further into hostility with New Zealand Rugby (NZR) accusing Rugby Australia (RA) of back-tracking on a deal to condense the Rugby Championship to five weeks. SANZAAR was in damage control on Thursday morning after the tournament organisers released their six-week draw for the tournament, of

3:17 AM BST South Africa Rugby (SA Rugby) is in negotiations with Guinness PRO14 organisers to add additional teams to the European competition in the coming seasons, the latter confirmed on Wednesday. The Cheetahs and Southern Kings have competed in the competition since 2017, though the latter will be replaced in 2021 after being put

1:26 AM BST The Rugby Championship has hit yet another snag, after New Zealand Rugby hit out at the schedule released on Thursday morning. The draw for the six-week tournament was unveiled by tournament hosts Rugby Australia and SANZAAR boss Andy Marinos in Sydney, only for NZ Rugby to soon state the Dec. 12 date

9:08 AM BST Bledisloe Cup Tests will bookend the four-nation 2020 Rugby Championship, which kicks off in Brisbane on Nov. 7 with the schedule released by SANZAAR on Thursday. The tournament, involving Australia, New Zealand, world champions South Africa and Argentina, will be be played as six double-header fixtures, with the last to be played

9:08 AM BST Wallabies coach Dave Rennie is considering Noah Lolesio for a Test debut at No.10 in New Zealand next month after the Brumbies playmaker’s eye-catching return from injury in Saturday’s Super Rugby AU finale. Rennie has played match-maker in his first Wallabies camp, pairing 20-year-old Lolesio with Queensland Reds No.10 and experienced international

8:42 AM BST England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU) CEO Bill Sweeney painted a bleak picture for the sport as he asked the British government for financial support after its U-turn on allowing fans in limited numbers at stadiums amid the coronavirus pandemic. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament that, as part of new restrictions

3:13 AM BST Argentina coach Mario Ledesma is confident his coronavirus-ravaged side will recover in time for the Rugby Championship in Australia although they are likely to be rusty as they return to international rugby. More than a dozen players and staff, including Ledesma, tested positive for COVID-19 over the past few weeks as the

3:08 PM BST The 2020 women’s Six Nations championship will resume with round four matches on Oct. 25, seven months after the tournament was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, organizers announced. Both the men’s and women’s competitions were suspended in March, with four matches in the men’s event still to be completed and six

11:52 AM BST Sale Sharks staged a late comeback to beat Harlequins 27-19 in the re-arranged Premiership Rugby Cup final, lifting their first silverware since 2006. A try and penalty late on from South African brothers Dan du Preez and Robert du Preez put Sale ahead, with back row Faf de Klerk sealing the winner

3:45 AM BST The South African Rugby Union (SA Rugby) has placed the Southern Kings into voluntary liquidation because of debts of R55 million ($3.37 million) and no chance of generating any income this year. The Kings, based in Port Elizabeth, were withdrawn from all competition last month due to their financial position following a

7:56 PM BST Holders Saracens stormed into the semifinals of the European Champions Cup after quelling a spirited Leinster comeback to win 25-17 at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Saturday in a keenly-contested rematch of last season’s title clash. Four-time champions Leinster came into the contest as Pool 1 winners after securing six victories from as

4:27 AM BST Australia’s new coach Dave Rennie has appointed former England lock Geoff Parling as his forwards coach for his first season in charge, Rugby Australia said on Friday. Parling played 29 tests for his country and another three for the British and Irish Lions on their triumphant tour of Australia in 2013. The

1:48 PM BST Georgian police have arrested the vice president of the country’s rugby union, Merab Beselia, over the shooting of player Ramaz Kharazishvili, who was shot in the leg at the sport’s governing body’s offices in the capital Tbilisi on Wednesday. Kharazishvili, 32, the former captain of the Georgian national Sevens team, underwent surgery

2:04 AM BST South Africa have been dealt a second major injury blow in as many days, with Lood de Jager ruled out for up to six months with a recurrence of the shoulder injury that forced him out of last year’s Rugby World Cup final. De Jager, who re-injured the shoulder playing for England’s

12:03 AM BST ESPN staff South Africa’s domestic rugby season will finally kick into full gear when a seven-team competition starts on Oct. 10, ending a seven-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. South African Rugby confirmed the move on Wednesday, with matches to be played through the festive season and the final on Jan.

1:01 AM BST ESPN staff New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has moved to end the Bledisloe Cup stand-off by relaxing the country’s quarantine restrictions for the Wallabies. The annual trans-Tasman series was again thrust into uncertainty on Sunday when Wallabies coach Dave Rennie said the current quarantine restrictions in New Zealand were unacceptable for

10:25 PM BST South Africa fly-half Handre Pollard faces “several months” on the sidelines after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligaments while playing for French Top14 side Montpellier on Friday. The 2019 World Cup winner was carried off the field on a stretcher during the 41-17 loss to Racing 92 and scans have now revealed the

5:24 AM BST Ian Foster could be without several key playmakers for the Rugby Championship with a number of All Blacks reportedly telling NZ Rugby they do not want to be away from their young families for an extended period. A RNZ.co.nz report on Monday suggested each of Beauden Barrett, Richie Mo’unga and TJ Perenara