World 7s is a waste of time and money

WHY do we participate in the travelling circus that is the World Sevens Series? Rugby 7s is now very rarely played...

Gabriel Ibitoye must grab chance – Matt Banahan

By Jon Newcombe Matt Banahan is looking forward to watching Gabriel Ibitoye press his England claims during the upcoming European window....

Oh, for a one-stop TV shop for the lot

CHRIS HEWETT THINKING ALLOWED Gogglebox: Bath taking on La Rochelle on Friday night PICTURE: Getty Images HERE’S a brain teaser: if...

Glad to hear the French say: Non!

FRANCE is a foreign country: they do things differently there. For one thing, they have a pyramid league system that works...

Montpellier are pushed all the way by Dragons

By SIMON THOMAS Dragons ............. 14pts Tries: Basham 26, O’Brien 40 Conversions: O’Brien 27, 40 Montpellier ..... 18pts Tries: Tambwe 13,...

Morgan returns to boost Ospreys

Preview Ospreys v Lions By BEN JAYCOCK Today. 3.15pm WINGER Keelan Giles brings up a century of Ospreys appearances today as...

We are going to have a real go at Pau, says Diamond

PREVIEW... By PAUL REES Ospreys v Lions Today. Kick-off 1pm, Stade du Hameau STEVE Diamond has picked a strong side for...

Gloucester on a roll after standing up to Edinburgh

By Luke Jarmyn Gloucester ......... 15pts Tries: Blake 10, Tuisue 64 Conversion: Carreras 11 Penalty: Carreras 45 Edinburgh ........... 10pts Try:...

Bayonne ……… 17 Scarlets ……… 16

■By TOM CLEMENTS JORIS Segonds broke Scarlets’ hearts with a late penalty that denied the Welsh side an opening round victory....

Connacht …… 43 Zebre …………… 12

■By JOHN FALLON IRISH sevens star Chay Mullins crowned his Connacht debut with a hat-trick. Academy players Sean Naughton and Fiachna...

Emanuel marks historic Cardiff debut in style

■By SIMON THOMAS Lyon ....................37pts Tries: Dumortier 7, 38, Parisien 25, Charcosset 48, Gonzalez 63 Conversions: Meliande 26, 49, 64 Penalties:...

Cheetahs v Perpignan

Preview Today. 1pm INVITATIONAL outfit the Cheetahs, led by DoR Frans Steyn, picked up two wins from four last season and...

Jordan Poole: Coventry on right track to win Championship promotion

By Ben Jaycock Captain Jordan Poole says Coventry are on track to finish the club’s three-year plan with promotion to the...

Saracens aiming to be more clinical – Georgia Evans

By Ben Jaycock Having fallen short in recent years, the PWR’s all-time most successful side Saracens are seeking redemption this season....

Dream Team – Charles Rylands

CHARLES RYLANDS, THE AMPTHILL AND FORMER BEDFORD BLUES AND CARDIFF MET FLANKER, CHOOSES THE BEST XV HE HAS PLAYED WITH OR...

Get rid of the regions and call for Cotter, says Ring

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW MARK Ring never thought Welsh rugby would come to this; their four regional...

Lowe’s running out of time to win the big one

Cutting a dash: James Lowe in action for Leinster PICTURE: Alamy NOBODY in recent seasons has cut a deeper swathe through...

Tiueti steps up to win it at the death for Coventry

■By PAUL SMITH Coventry ........... 14pts Tries: Nayalo 4, Tiueti 79 Conversions: Richman 4, 79 Hartpury ............ 13pts Try: A Benz-Salamon...

Mitchelow is in right place to snatch it for Ampthill

■By OLLIE AUST L Scottish ........14pts Tries: Anderson 8, Trenholm 25 Conversions: Kerr 9, 26 Ampthill ........... 15pts Tries: Sylvester 67,...

Olowofela’s double steers Archers home

■By STEVE JACKSON Cambridge ....... 10pts Tries: Brownlie 10, Caven 19 Nottingham ..... 43pts Tries: Olowofela 16, 42; Dickinson 23, 32,...

Cornish at the double to clinch it for Ealing

■By BEN MORRIS Bedford Blues .................. 17pts Tries: Worley 11, Garside 25 Conversions: Maisey 12, 26 Penalty: Maisey 3 Ealing Trailfinders...

Doncaster Knights want a replay after lights go out at Chinnor

By Mo Sher Chinnor ............. 18pts Tries: Hardwick 17, Worboys 50 Conversion: Hardwick 18 Penalties: Worboys 6, 24 Doncaster ........ 13pts...

350-mile trip is no problem for Pirates

By LUKE Caldy .................... 3pts Penalty: Barker 46 C Pirates ...........22pts Tries: Relton 6, 61, Hocking 59 Conversions: Houston 7, 62...

All eyes now set on 2025

Paul Rees looks forward to what happens next in the international arena after a demanding Autumn Series Coming man: Sam Prendergast...

Gregson gets going to put Saracens in charge

By HARRY SCOTT-MUNRO Leicester................. 5pts Try: Bartlett 57 Saracens...............38pts Tries: Clifford 2, Sharp 4, Senft 12, Campbell 21, Gregson 47, 53...

Burton back with a hat-trick to spark Trailfinders

By NATHAN JOHNS Trailfinders...... 31pts Tries: Burton 7, 32, 59; Dow 44, Taylor 40+1 Conversions: Taylor 8, 33, 40+2 Sale....................... 5pts...

Kabaya lines up to take on champs

Preview Loughborough v Gloucester-Hartpury Today. 3pm By BEN JAYCOCK ENGLAND international Sadia Kabeya makes her first start of the season as...

The Six Nations logo is an AI experiment that’s gone wrong

Rugby Matters by Brendan Gallagher - A weekly look at the game's other talking points I see the new Six Nations...

If you’re out for a 15, call Toulouse

WHERE have all the full-backs gone? Well you could start looking for them at Toulouse. When Belgium’s Matias Remue made an...

Without a doubt, we are living in the ‘shameless era’

IT was even worse than we first thought. To recap. The RFU were emerging from a ruinous Covid period, some of...

College looks to conquer the world

NEWS EXTRA By ROB COLE LLANDOVERY College have two more targets in mind after hanging onto their WSC U18 title with...

Ollivent seals win with very last kick

By ANDREW SMITH Rotherham T.......... 15 Blackheath............. 12 A CORBAN OLLIVENT drop goal snatched victory for Rotherham with the last kick...

Happy hosts back to winning ways

By PADDY MARSH Plymouth A.............24 Darlington MP.......14 PLYMOUTH Albion recorded their first win in six with a hard-earned victory over bottom...

Nugent is the in a battle of difference attrition

By RICHARD ASHTON Rams..................... 5pts Try: Duda 72 Richmond............ 7pts Try: Pim 4 Conversion: Grieve 5 RAMS slipped to a second...

Spirits are not dampened as Ailes inspires victory

By TOM MARKHAM Sedgley Park.........28 Rosslyn Park.............0 ROSSLYN Park were sunk in stormy conditions at Park Lane, as Sedgley come away...

Lions savour first back-to back wins

By JAKE WILSON Leicester L..............22 Dings......................... 15 THE Lions made it back-to-back wins for the first time this season in a...

Pope expecting to play a major role in a highly eventful month

By BEN JAYCOCK AUSTIN Pope and his partner, Izzie, are expecting a baby any minute, but the inside centre has shown...

Rogers has the Will to inspire win

By JOHN ALLANSON Bishop’s S................ 14 Sale FC....................... 7 IN appalling conditions, both sides moved the ball around impressively, but a...

Posa has class to down the leaders

By RICHARD GORE Sheffield........... 24pts Lymm.................... 5pts In the clear: Archie Crapper extends Sheffield’s lead and, below, Jack Dawson scores for...

Forward power wins the day as Otley crushed

By NICK DOYLE Otley..........................26 Tynedale................. 41 DESPITE a better performance than in recent eeks, Otley were blown away by Tyndale’s forwards....

Hull cope with the conditions to grind out a win

By RICHARD GORE Hull.....................29 Harrogate......... 12 A GAME played in constant driving rain and a gale-force wind was won by a...

Darragh is winner as tie abandoned

By MIKE BROWN Billingham................ A Fylde........................... A BILLINGHAM thought they had weathered the Fylde storm, but Darragh had other plans in...

Dale keep plucky Chester at bay…

By EDWIN WILLIAMS Wharfedale............2 2 Chester..................... 19 WHARFEDALE had chances to put the game out of Chester’s reach but in the...

Harrogate’s ideal for Nuu as he looks to the future

By CHRIS COLLYER Convert: Harrogate centre Junior Nuu RUGBY league convert Junior Nuu is on a short-term contract with Harrogate and...

Tykes sneak home to top the table

By BEN CROPPER Leeds Tykes........... 12 Sheffield Tigers.....11 LEEDS Tykes came through a wind-affected tussle by the narrowest of margins, to...

Masterly Minikin destroys Hoppers

By ETHAN BENTS Preston G....................0 Hull Ionians............39 HULL Ionians bounced back from two defeats in a row to blow away Preston...

Falcons are finally flying both on and off the pitch

By PAUL REES Flyer: Falcons Adam Radwan’s try against Saracens NEWCASTLE’S search for new owners has been boosted by an upsurge...

Students learn fast as they beat the weather

By SAM SMITH L’ghboro S........29 Macclesfield... 19 THE weather was the only dampener in a fine game as both teams put...

Harry happy to be the hero after schoolboy error

By PAUL BOLTON Bournville............... 18 Cinderford............... 20 HARRY Johnson was Cinderford’s villain turned hero as the Forest of Dean side snatched...

Hinckley hold firm to secure fine win

By BILL HOOPER Old Reds............. 19pts Hinckley............ 21pts IN whirlwind conditions Hinckley held off a late surge from Old Reds to...