Rugby

11:50 AM BST England coach Eddie Jones, restricted in his options by the ongoing Premiership season, has included 12 uncapped players in an initial 28-man training squad to begin preparations for the delayed Six Nations game away to Italy on Oct. 31. England will also have a non-cap match against the Barbarians the week before,

3:28 PM BST Sale Sharks’ final Gallagher Premiership match against Worcester Warriors has been postponed until Wednesday after the club reported a number of COVID-19 positive tests, the league announced on Saturday. Sharks had initially said that Sunday’s match would go ahead while Warriors, who said all their tests were negative, released a contrasting statement

10:42 PM BST The draw for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France will take place in Paris on Dec. 14 using seedings based on the world rankings taken after last year’s tournament, organisers said on Friday. Officials said it was the “least-worst option” following the disruption of the international calendar in 2020. However, recognising

2:23 AM BST Sam Burgess has stood down as assistant coach of South Sydney as the NRL and NSW Police launch an investigation into serious misconduct claims. The NRL has been shocked by allegations published in The Australian on Friday and has instructed its integrity unit to speak to South Sydney officials. The newspaper report

1:12 PM BST England and Sale Sharks centre Manu Tuilagi has been ruled out for six months with an Achilles injury, according to the Gallagher Premiership side’s director of rugby Steve Diamond. Tuilagi, 29, was injured 12 minutes into Sale’s 14-34 win over Northampton Saints on Tuesday. “Manu will be a loss to England and

3:18 PM BST Siya Kolisi with the trophy during the Rugby World Cup 2019 Champions Tour Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images/Getty Images Rugby World Cup-winning Springboks captain Siya Kolisi will resume his leadership duties in the national team colours on Saturday for the first time since lifting the Webb Ellis Cup last year. Kolisi has been named alongside

12:27 AM BST South Africa has voted to pull its four major franchises from Super Rugby and explore expanding their presence in the European PRO14 competition in a major shift for the game in the country. In a widely expected move, a Special General Meeting of the South African Rugby Union (SA Rugby) decided in

5:02 AM BST All Blacks coach Ian Foster said on Tuesday Rugby Championship organisers needed to move quickly to change the tournament’s schedule and allow his team to spend Christmas with family rather than in quarantine in New Zealand. The All Blacks are scheduled to play Australia in Sydney on Dec. 12 and would have

2:53 AM BST Rugby World Cup holders South Africa are “desperate” to play in the Rugby Championship this year, but there remains a number of hurdles before they will commit to the competition, according to director of rugby Rassie Erasmus. The Southern Hemisphere competition will be staged in Australia from Nov. 7 to Dec. 12

4:11 PM BST Juan Imhoff scored the game’s only try in the dying minutes as France’s Racing 92 came from behind to beat defending champions Saracens 19-15 in their European Champions Cup semifinal on Saturday. The victory sent Racing, who have never won the title, into their third final at the expense of the three-times

2:11 AM BST ESPN staff Springboks, Blitzboks and Junior Boks players have been named in two 25-man squads for the Springbok Showdown to be played at Newlands in Cape Town on Oct. 3. SA Rugby Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber, the newly appointed Springboks head coach, selected the outfits, which feature 13

12:15 AM BST Siya Kolisi says his Stormers teammates must each make their own decision as to whether to show support for Black Lives Matter when rugby resumes in the South Africa on Saturday. Kolisi, who led South Africa to Rugby World Cup success in Japan last year, has revealed in-depth discussions within the Stormers

1:40 PM BST Gallagher Premiership owners have said clubs could go bust and the professional game may cease to exist if the U.K. government does not provide financial aid after its U-turn on allowing fans at stadiums amid the coronavirus pandemic. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament that, as part of new restrictions to

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