Tag Archives: rugby news

With the 2019 Six Nations on the horizon, coach Joe Schmidt has named his 38-man squad for the opening two rounds. The announcement saw three uncapped players make the grade, and with the provincial teams performing well currently, Schmidt stated that some late changes may need to be made dependent on the domestic matches between now and the opener against England …

Two-time champions Saracens reached the European Cup quarter-finals on Sunday with a bonus-point, four-try 28-10 win over Lyon, extending their record to a perfect five wins in five in the competition. Saracens, the 2016 and 2017 winners, join defending champions and four-time winners Leinster as the second side to make the last eight of this year’s competition. Centre Nick Tompkins …

Sale Sharks’ superb win over Gloucester has been overshadowed by a post-match confrontation. The English Premiership side defeated Gloucester 30-15, moving seven points behind them into fifth. Sale Sharks Director of Rugby, Steve Diamond, spoke to the media in the post-match press conference. Journalist Sam Peters, working on behalf of The Sunday Times, was present in the press pool but …

Munster – 26 Leinster – 17 Sean McMahon reporting from Thomond Park  Munster secured a 26-17 win over Leinster at Thomond Park to end a four-match losing streak against their fiercest rivals. This game will live long in the memory, not for the quality of rugby on display but for the level of physicality and indiscipline which featured heavily throughout. …

Argentina’s Nicolas Sanchez scored 13 points to help Stade Francais stage a comeback against lowly Grenoble at Stade Jean Bouin in the Top 14 on Saturday. The Parisians trailed 17-0 after 21 minutes but Sanchez, who only arrived in the French capital at the beginning of December, guided his side to a third straight win after a run of four …

Northampton produced one of the upsets of the English Premiership season to beat league leaders Exeter 31-28 at Franklin’s Gardens on Friday. Wales international Dan Biggar scored 16 points for the Saints, including a try, penalty and four conversions, with South Africa’s Cobus Reinach, Fraser Dingwall and Piers Francis also crossing for the home side as Northampton secured a bonus …

The Sportsground was the venue for the latest instalment of festive inter-provincial fixtures in the PRO14. Connacht played host to Ulster, and both sides would have fancied their chances of a win. The hosts have gotten the better of Ulster recently, while the Northern province were gunning for a fifth win in a row having seen off Munster last week. …

A quality festive clash ensued at the RDS as the Champions hosted a buoyant Connacht side. Leo Cullen rang in the changes for the Conference B leaders, so he would have been wary of a Connacht team that boasted five wins in a row – with good reason. It took the visitors just five minutes to get on the board, …

Ulster are currently in PRO14 action against Munster at Kingspan Stadium. It’s been a bruising affair, characterised by one of the very first actions of the game. Within the first ten seconds, the home support’s singing of Stand Up For The Ulster Men was punctuated by Robert Baloucoune clattering into Darren Sweetnam in the air as the Munster winger collected …

South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth and New Zealand winger Nehe Milner-Skudder will join Toulon at the end of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, the club’s president Mourad Boudjellal announced on Thursday. Etzebeth, who has 75 Springboks caps, has signed a two-year deal with the Top 14 outfit and 2015 World Cup winner Milner-Skudder will feature for the side for three …

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen announced Friday that he will retire after next year’s World Cup in Japan, saying the world champions needed some “fresh thinking”. “I think it’s right for the team to have someone new after the World Cup, some fresh eyes, some fresh thinking,” he told reporters. Hansen took over in late 2011 after working as Graham …

Fiji ran out convincing winners of the Cape Town leg of the World Rugby Sevens series after beating the United States 29-15 in the final on Sunday. Fiji turned the tables in emphatic fashion after they were beaten by the Americans in the quarterfinals of the first leg of the series in Dubai a week earlier. The match was effectively …

Two tries in the last minute enabled New Zealand to stay in contention for the title on the first day of the World Rugby Cape Town Sevens tournament at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday. New Zealand, winners of the opening tournament of the 2018/2019 season in Dubai last weekend, faced elimination before the quarter-final stage for the first time in …

Perpignan lost 22-11 to Bordeaux-Begles on Sunday in a record 11th straight league defeat in one season for a Top 14 club. The Catalans take over from Mont de Marsan who failed to win on 10 occasions in the top-flight in 2012-13. Bordeaux-Begles move up to sixth in the table with their second victory in a row and remain unbeaten …

The Barbarians are in London once again as they take on Argentina for the Killik Cup. The competition hasn’t been kind to the side in recent years – winning just one of the past five fixtures, back in 2014. But some positive results in the past year, featuring wins over the likes of Tonga, Munster and (an admittedly depleted) England …

Aphiwe Dyantyi has been named the 2018 World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year at the organisation’s awards ceremony in Monaco. The Lions wing began his Springboks career in style this year, scoring a try against England in the first Test of their Tour. Since then he has featured prominently in South Africa’s Rugby Championship campaign, scoring a brace of …

Mattia Bellini has been ruled out injured as Italy prepare for their final Test of the November series against world champions New Zealand in Rome amid frustration at having two tries disallowed in their weekend loss to Australia. Zebre wing Bellini, 24, scored Italy’s only try in the 26-7 defeat to the Wallabies in Padua on Saturday before going off …

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus defended the character of Siya Kolisi after the possibility of a citing against his captain emerged in the aftermath of South Africa’s hard-fought 26-20 win against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday. Television footage appeared to show Kolisi’s head making contact with the head of Peter Horne as he tried to extricate himself from being pinned to …