Rugby

11:22 AM BST Gael Fickou will be shifted from centre to the wing to make up for the absence of the injured Teddy Thomas as France look to win the Six Nations for the first time in 10 years when they take on Ireland on Saturday. Fickou is replaced by Arthur Vincent at centre in

6:51 PM BST British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland has warned players who miss the team’s warm-up fixture against Japan on June 26 that they will be at a disadvantage when he makes his final selection for the tour of world champions South Africa. The Lions are locked in a battle with Premiership Rugby

2:34 PM BST Ireland prop Cian Healy will win a 100th cap in Saturday’s Six Nations clash against France in Paris as coach Andy Farrell made just a single, enforced change from the side that thumped Italy last weekend. Ireland can mark Healy’s milestone with a bonus-point victory that would ensure they win the Six

8:28 AM BST SA Rugby is investigating a breach of COVID-19 regulations during which a young rugby player from a club in Border tragically passed away after picking up a serious injury during a tournament match. The name of the deceased player is Vizicelo Sebenza Zondani and the incident happened at a tournament at Ngqwele

4:56 AM BST It’s the nature of sports that, over time, you watch a player’s journey from its beginning to end and all the triumphs and defeats, the joy and heartache that come and go along the way. As a rugby player in Australia, that means their start in club rugby, rise through the professional

11:45 PM BST The Wallabies know exactly what they must fix up if they’re to claim victory in Bledisloe III this weekend in Sydney and extend the series into a deciding fourth game a week later in Brisbane. The Australians have based themselves up in the Hunter Valley but haven’t escaped the downpour saturating the

2:43 PM BST Ireland centre Garry Ringrose will be out for the rest of the year after suffering a broken jaw in the Six Nations win over Italy at the weekend, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) said on Monday. The 25-year-old collided with the knee of Italy winger Edoardo Padovani while trying to block

11:31 AM BST Wasps’ uncapped fly-half Jacob Umaga has earned a call up to England men’s Six Nations squad ahead of Saturday’s match against Italy in Rome. The match concludes the tournament for both sides, which was halted earlier in the year due to the coronavirus pandemic. England boss Eddie Jones has named Umaga in

7:37 PM BST England won a record-extending 16th women’s Six Nations title, with a game to spare, after they took an unassailable lead in the standings when France failed to beat Scotland on Sunday. France needed to win their final two games to be in with a shout of winning their first title since 2018

3:42 AM BST All Blacks number eight Ardie Savea and prop Nepo Laulala are on paternity leave and will miss the Rugby Championship opener against Australia next weekend, coach Ian Foster said on Sunday. Both players were absent when the New Zealand squad boarded their flight across the Tasman Sea on Sunday, but Joe Moody

10:38 PM BST France geared up for the Six Nations Super Saturday in style as Antoine Dupont scored a couple of tries in a 38-21 home victory over Wales in a friendly international on Saturday. Les Bleus recovered from a wobbly start to put on an inspired performance at the Stade de France with Cyril

8:07 PM BST Exeter Chiefs completed a momentous double when they beat Wasps 19-13 in a rain-lashed, arm-wrestle of a Premiership final in a near-empty Twickenham on Saturday, a week after winning the European Champions Cup. In appalling conditions of relentless rain and swirling wind, where the only noise in the 82,000-capacity ground came from

8:27 PM BST As Joe Simmonds chipped the ball through the swaying posts to seal Exeter Chiefs’ remarkable domestic double, it was just about the only part of the season that went to script. Exeter Chiefs have been the best team in the land since we began this campaign 372 days ago, and their Heineken

12:56 PM BST Saturday’s Super Rugby Unlocked fixture between the Lions and Cheetahs at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, South Africa, has been called off. The cancellation happened after two players from the Lions squad tested positive for COVID-19. “The decision was taken as part of prescribed precautions advised by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases

10:04 PM BST Scotland’s Fraser Brown scored two tries in a 48-7 win over Georgia as he captained the side for the first time, while Finn Russell made an impressive return to the team in Friday’s test at Murrayfield. Darcy Graham (2), Hamish Watson, Stuart McInally, debutant Duhan van der Merwe and Blair Kinghorn added

2:38 PM BST England’s match against the Barbarians on Sunday has been called off after the Barbarians were forced to remove 12 players from their squad on Thursday for breaching their coronavirus code of conduct. England were set to face the invitational side as a warm up to their Six Nations finale against Italy on

6:19 AM BST Former Wallabies captain David Pocock has called time on his professional rugby career after 15 years. The 32-year-old, who retired from international rugby after 78 Tests following the World Cup last year, has elected not to see out the final year of his playing contract in Japan. Love Rugby? Australian users can

7:45 PM BST Wasps head coach Lee Blackett said 11 of his players are unavailable for Saturday’s English Premiership final against Exeter Chiefs because of COVID-19 concerns. The players who are missing out on Wasps’ return to the Twickenham showpiece for the first time in three years have either tested positive for the coronavirus or