Rugby

2:06 PM GMT England fly-half Katy Daley-Mclean, who led the women’s team to World Cup victory in 2014, announced her international retirement on Friday. Daley-Mclean played 116 times for England and became the third-most capped English player after Sarah Hunter and Rochelle Clark when the Red Roses beat France in their November internationals. Her decision

1:53 PM GMT Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones faces a race against time to be fit for the start of next year’s Six Nations after he was ruled out for up to 10 weeks with a knee problem. Ospreys lock Jones, who is test rugby’s most capped player and has played 143 internationals, suffered the

6:33 AM GMT All Blacks captain Sam Cane is concerned that his bouts of concussion may affect his future health but says rugby officials in New Zealand are focused on minimising the risk of head injuries and are leading the way in player welfare. The openside flanker has suffered several concussions, most recently towards the

8:08 AM GMT When they sit down to write the Australian rugby almanac for 2020 it’s unlikely those involved will be able to keep it to one edition. We should, in fact, prepare ourselves for volumes II, III and IV, such was the chaos created by the coronavirus pandemic. Those involved with the game, no

2:02 PM GMT World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and Welsh Rugby Union have confirmed they have received a solicitor’s letter which alleges a failure to protect players from the risks caused by concussions. The letter of claim, setting out their intention to sue, has been sent to the sport’s governing bodies with a total

3:20 PM GMT Sunday’s Champions Cup pool match between defending champions Exeter Chiefs and Toulouse has been called off after a number of Exeter players and staff tested positive for COVID-19, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) said on Wednesday. Due to the public health guidelines in place, EPCR said Exeter cannot send a matchday squad

11:38 AM GMT Eddie Jones has been cleared to continue as a consultant for Japanese Top League side Suntory Sungoliath after the Rugby Football Union said there is no conflict of interest despite England and Japan being drawn in the same 2023 World Cup pool. “Eddie has had a consultancy agreement with Suntory for over

12:22 PM GMT Rugby World Cup holders South Africa have been drawn with Ireland for the 2023 competition while New Zealand are paired with hosts France. Last year’s semifinalists England are in the same pool as Japan and Argentina and Wales will have to get past Australia and Fiji. In Pool A, New Zealand and

6:32 PM GMT Associated Press LONDON — Rugby Football Union (RFU) chief executive Bill Sweeney has said English rugby officials have yet to receive any legal contact from the group of former players preparing claims for negligence against national unions. Steve Thompson, one of England’s 2003 Rugby World Cup winners, former England flanker Michael Lipman

2:51 PM GMT Nigel Owens, the most-capped referee in world rugby, announced on Friday that he has ended his 17-year international career. Owens, 49, became the first referee to officiate in a century of tests when he took charge of an Autumn Nations Cup clash between France and Italy last month. The Welshman it was

11:08 AM GMT Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has signed a two-year contract extension that will keep him in charge until the 2023 World Cup, Scottish Rugby announced on Thursday, making him Scotland’s longest-serving coach in the professional era. Townsend, who won 82 caps for Scotland, took over as coach in June 2017 and has been

6:49 PM GMT Former England hooker Steve Thompson has blamed a lack of protection in his playing days for his diagnosis of early onset dementia and said he can no longer remember winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Thompson, who made 73 appearances for England from 2002-2011, revealed his diagnosis in an interview with The

3:53 PM GMT Former England captain Chris Robshaw and scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth are among 13 players who have been hit with suspensions for their COVID-19 breaches which saw the Barbarians’ fixture against England cancelled. The game was set to take place in October but was called off after a number of Barbarians players breached COVID-19

Dec 8, 2020 Argentina won’t forget their 2020 tour of Australia anytime soon. The Pumas’ Tri Nations campaign may have come to a disappointing end on Saturday, when the curtain came down on the tournament at Bankwest Stadium, but the 16-all draw against Australia will be merely a footnote of their rollercoaster few months Down

10:28 AM GMT England will host world champions South Africa at Twickenham during their 2021 Autumn International series, a rematch of the 2019 Rugby World Cup final in Yokohama which the Springboks won to secure their third title. Eddie Jones’s side will play Australia the week before and are lining up a third match against

10:30 PM GMT New Zealand’s twice Rugby World Cup-winning captain Richie McCaw was named Men’s 15s Player of the Decade by World Rugby. McCaw, who led the All Blacks to back-to-back World Cup titles in 2011 and 2015, saw off competition from former team mates Dan Carter, Kieran Read, Brodie Retallick and Beauden Barrett, as

8:30 AM GMT Eddie Jones has accused his critics of “disrespecting the players and the game” on Sunday after facing repeated questions about England’s playing style en-route to winning the Autumn Nations Cup. Jones admitted that his team had not been at their best and lacked sharpness as England beat France 22-19 at Twickenham with

6:50 PM GMT The sight of Owen Farrell handing out winners’;; medals to his England teammates — having taken 95 minutes and two halves of extra time to put a hugely inexperienced France to bed — was a fitting, surreal end to the most bizarre of years. This match between England and France saved the