England edge through despite Australia stalemate

By BEN JAYCOCK Australia……….. 22pts Tries: Talataina 30, Craig 40, McLaughlin-Phillips 79 Conversions: Bowen 31, 40 Penalties: Bowen 19 England ……………………....

Add Wings or Hats to Complete Your Fancy Dress Outfit

Adding the right accessories can make all the difference in transforming your look from ordinary to extraordinary. Whether you’re attending a...

Rugby Needs Fiji and Japan & Super Rugby

The idea of including Fiji and Japan in an annual Six Nations-style tournament in 2026, occurring every two years, is currently...

Halliday’s collective ultimatum

By NICK CAIN New Championship chairman Simon Halliday says the survival of many of the clubs in the second-tier professional league...

Montpellier U-turn blocks Thomas from playing in Wales

By PETER JACKSON Montpellier have done a U-turn on Henry Thomas, slamming the door on the former England prop playing in...

Global tournament to kick off in 2026

By SAM JACKSON The global season is taking shape with a biennial competition featuring all 10 teams from the Six Nations...

Dragons to go private

Dragons RFC will return to private ownership this summer after a takeover deal for the Newport-based region was agreed on Friday...

Georgia and Israel in line for Challenge Cup

By JON NEWCOMBE Teams from Georgia, Israel and South Africa are in the running to fill the two vacant spots in...

Cardall set to fire for the Falcons

By PAUL REES As Tim Cardall reflects on the eventful last nine months for the career, his hope for the new...

Oldest club gets extra help

Blackheath rugby club is among 52 community assets which will be revived thanks to almost £13 million of government levelling up...

The eyes have it! Marler sees Borthwick’s serious

By ADAM HATHAWAY Steve Borthwick revealed he had to eyeball Joe Marler to persuade the prop to return to international rugby...

Cowan-Dickie ruled out

England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie will miss this autumn’s World Cup in France with a shoulder injury. Newcastle’s Jamie Blamire and Saracens...

Sharks move for Creevy

Sale Sharks have brought in Argentina hooker Agustin Creevy to replace Akker van der Merwe, who has returned to South Africa....

Great match but why no female officials?

Up and running: Kelsey Jones scores the first try for Gloucester WHAT a great advert for women’s rugby. Last weekend’s Premier...

Still no openness

SO now we have the Champions Cup draw – or do we? We know which teams are in which group, but...

Leave game alone

OH dear oh dear, World Rugby are at it again, suggesting changes to the laws to “improve” the women’s game which...

This is how to run a sustainable club

IT IS now time for the RFU to listen to the chairmen and directors of the Championship clubs that have been...

Dream Team with Seb Nagle-Taylor

Doncaster's new signing and the former Bedford, Ealing, Jersey, Rotherham, Hartpury, Gloucester and Cornish Pirates No.8, chooses the best XV he...

You write off the All Blacks at your peril

JEREMY GUSCOTT OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK Before this edition of the Rugby Championship, people have been writing off New Zealand,...

Battle lines drawn over game’s future

NICK CAIN READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK HALLELUJAH! The English Championship clubs have finally got their act together to form...

Veterans not the answer at No.9

NICK CAIN The selection call by Steve Borthwick to pick two veteran scrumhalves, Ben Youngs and Danny Care, in his 41-man...

Lively Japan make Wales battle hard

By BEN JAYCOCK Wales................... 41pts Tries: Hughes 17, Lloyd 41, Florence 66, Edwards 76, Bradley 77, Hennessey 80 Conversions: Edwards 18,...

Baby Blacks crash to a record defeat

By DAN COUCH France ...... 35pts New Zealand ...14pts Posolo Tuilagi scored a brace as France dominated New Zealand to hand...

Ruthless McCarthy makes sure for Ireland

By SAM JACKSON Australia........... 10pts Tries: O’Donnell 24 Conversions: Bowen 25 Penalties: Bowen 27 Ireland...............30pts Tries: Nicholson 32, Gleeson 53, McCarthy...

England run in eight to leave Fiji in pieces

By BEN JAYCOCK England ......................... 53pts Tries: Cleaves 15, Penalty 27, Jibulu 33, Thomas 47, Thame 50, Michelow 54, Woodman 67,...

Georgia on a high as they stun Argentina

By SAM JACKSON Georgia ............20 Argentina ......... 0 On a day in which the race to top Pool C was blown...

Italy keep control to master South Africa

By DAVID ROBSON South Africa ...26 Italy ................. 34 Italy produced a superb display of wet weather rugby to stun hosts...

Blair joins Rennie at Japan’s Kobe Steelers

Former Edinburgh boss Mike Blair is to join Japanese side Kobe Steelers as attack coach. The 42-year-old, who made 85 appearances...

Reds to kick off their defence against Cov

By SAM JACKSON Champions Jersey Reds will begin the defence of their Championship crown against third-placed Coventry when league action starts...

Time to balance a weighty problem

CHRIS HEWETT GUEST COLUMNIST ACLEVER man once predicted that progress would eventually turn out to be a circle rather than a...

There’s more woe from the Smiths

Rugby's optimists – and there are still some of you out there, just as there are people who continue to think...

Torture of the ice age gave us faith

SHANE WILLIAMS WALES AND LIONS LEGEND DON’T tell me or any of the boys from 2011 that the players in the...

Arundell’s deal a blow for England

ON THE BLINDSIDE BY NEIL FISSLER Follow me on Twitter: @neilfissler Henry Arundell, one of England’s most exciting talents, could be...

Biarritz to keep on spending

Biarritz Olympique are poised to step in and continue the spending splurge that their president Jean-Baptiste Aldigé had planned for Agen...

Akker’s on way to Bulls

Former Sale Sharks hooker Akker van der Merwe is set to return to South Africa, where he has been offered a...

Kiss weighing up his options

Former London Irish boss Les Kiss appears to be in demand after speaking to clubs in Super Rugby and United Rugby...

Gloucester are keen to get Savage

Gloucester have been linked with a move for their former star Tom Savage who has been playing in Japan with Suntory...

Ex-Tiger Burns making his way back to Japan

Former England fly-half Freddie Burns is heading back to Japan next season after a spell playing in Super Rugby for the...

Take it to the limit one more time

Paul Rees says the heat will be on for England and Wales as the training ramps up It is boot camp...

Baldwin still glad he headed to Falcons

Jon Newcombe talks to Newcastle’s new defence coach and finds a man who is certain he has made the right decision...

Great to see Dupont going for Paris gold

RUGBY MATTERS – BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points Rather overlooked during a hectic end of...

Pride clear to see at London Irish

Well that didn’t take long. No sooner had we mentioned in this column and elsewhere that London Irish were looking to...

We need more diversity at the top

At the time of writing World Rugby boasts 132 members and affiliate nations and at the forthcoming World Cup nine of...

Talent shines in stellar year

THE BEST XV FROM THE 2022-23 SEASON IN THE PREMIER 15s Ben Jaycock canvassed the views of the Premier 15s reporters...

25 years on and the pain is fading …

Next week marks the 25th anniversary of the end of what became known as the “Tour of Hell”. Jon Newcombe talks...

Recalling when all roads led to the sea

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW As any half-decent student of European history knows, the first Russian Revolution of...

John Eales, the quiet man who became an inspiring skipper

Brendan Gallagher looks back at the players who shone on the biggest stage, this time focusing on John Eales' leadership in...

Lamaison brought the house down

The 1999 World Cup was a curate’s egg of a tournament, combining the crass with the truly historic. This was the...

My Life in Rugby with Ian Whitten: ‘I think I took more good options than bad ones’

The former Ireland, Exeter and Ulster centre talks about his life in the game PULLING on the Ulster jersey for the...

RFU needs to strike the right financial balance

JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME EARLIER this week, the RFU president Nigel Gillingham, sent out a newsletter...