Hanrahan sparkles in classy Italian job

■ By JOHN RILEY Zebre ...............12 Connacht ........22 JJ HANRAHAN stole the show as Connacht concluded an underwhelming season with a...

Lions late show makes it sad finale for Ospreys

■ By BEN JAYCOCK Lions...................29pts Tries: van der Merwe 10, Visagie 31, 54; van Wyk 71, Dobela 82 Conversions: Dobela 32,...

Danny Care: ‘I never thought I’d achieve what I did’

Paul Rees talks to Danny Care about hanging up his boots and the incredible career he’s had at the pinnacle of...

Newcastle Falcons pin faith in their local lads

There's no silver bullet, no overnight fix, and Newcastle Falcons aren’t pretending otherwise. But what’s happening at Kingston Park is real...

Dragons swoop for Wyn

WALES loosehead Wyn Jones will join Dragons from Harlequins at the end of season, joining fellow prop Dillon Lewis in swapping...

Burger off the menu

SOUTH African centre Burger Odendaal will leave Northampton at the end of the season. The 32-year-old suffered a serious knee injury...

European Finals Preview: Northampton Saints and Bath shape up to face the French

Paul Rees sets the scene ahead of this weekend's grand finale to European competition in Cardiff As the Premiership hacks through...

Ealing enjoy champion feeling all over again

■ By LUKE JARMYN Caldy .................... 7pts Tries: Gallagher 51 Conversion: Davies 52 Ealing T ............ 34pts Tries: Hampson 2, Moore...

Ace Adamson bags four as Cambridge get the Blues

■By STEVE JACKSON Cambridge .......15pts Tries: Skelcey 17, Hanks 23 Conversions: Caven 24 Penalties: Caven 30 Bedford .............73pts Tries: Titherington 3,...

Pirates dig deep to stretch their winning run

■ By MIKE SINCLAIR C Pirates ...........38pts Tries: King 7, 63; Forsyth 37, Young 40, McNab 47 Conversions: Houston 7, 37,...

It’s famous five for Opoku to bag slice of Cov history

■By DAVID LAWRENCE Coventry ............................67pts Tries: Opoku 15, 18, 50, 65, 77; Kvesic 10, Penalty 40, Hinkley 59, Hitchcock 68, 79,...

Scottish are so ruthless, but Chinnor rue mistakes

■By JOHN VAUGHAN Chinnor ..............19pts Tries: Carter 11, Lines 32, Goss 71 Conversions: Chamberlain 32, 71 L Scottish ........ 24pts Tries:...

Strong back to lead the charge

PREVIEW Hartpury v Doncaster Today. 3pm MORGAN Strong lines up for Doncaster for the first time since his move to Coventry...

Ollie Hoskins: London Irish faith helped me to fulfil my Wallaby dream

Ollie Hoskins, the former Wallabies, Western Force, London Irish and Saracens prop, discusses his life in rugby after announcing his retirement...

Brendan Gallagher: European Cup’s given us some real pearlers

So this weekend in Cardiff will be the 30th European Cup Final, a pearl anniversary of sorts. Where did the time...

FIVE CLASSIC CARDIFF FINALS

1996: Toulouse 21-18 Cardiff (aet) Toulouse were the better team but the kicking of Adrian Davies kept Cardiff in the game...

Cross sparkles in Cheshire’s victory

Division 2 ■By LUKE JARMYN SET-PIECE dominance, some silky play in the loose and a man-of-the-match display by replacement back-rower Stuart...

The lame Bucks are so broken by Herts

Division 3 ■By GEORGE WELLBELOVE WITH the professional season drawing to a conclusion, attention turned to the grassroots stage as the...

Loney lauds new-look Lancashire’s fine start

Division 1 ■By JOSH THOMAS Somerset ..........17pts Tries: Taylor 7, Carter 45, Bailey 61 Conversions: Elswood 62 Lancashire ...... 24pts Tries:...

Brace of tries for Kendrick and Davies as Kent run riot

Division 1 ■By MO SHER Kent ................... 42pts Tries: Kendrick 4, 51, Everitt 16, Davies 30, 36, Talbot 44 Conversions: Evans...

Devon cream their way past Gloucestershire

■By MO SHER THE Gill Burns County Championship got underway with three matches across its three divisions, with ties taking places...

Culley concerned for game’s future

■By LUKE JARMYN WITH the RFU County Championships kicking-off this weekend, a former head of Northumberland and Dorset & Wiltshire men’s...

Rugby milestone for ref Davidson

SCOTLAND’S Hollie Davidson will become the first woman to take charge of a European final when she referees the Challenge Cup...

Gloucester bring in reinforcements

GLOUCESTER have signed scrum-half Mike Austin on a permanent deal after an impressive spell on loan from Championship side Hartpury. Forwards...

Williams and Burns hunt for new clubs

WALES full-back Liam Williams will leave Saracens at the end of the season. The 34-year-old has not played since injuring his...

Oundle cruise to victory at HQ

OUNDLE are champions of the Papa Johns Cup after beating Huddersfield 52-19 in the Regional 1 Championship final. The Peterborough side...

Classy Rokoduguni blasts in a hat-trick

■By CHRIS WEARMOUTH RAF Men ............38pts Army Men .........31pts THE permanence of class was on show at Kingsholm as Se-mesa Rokoduguni...

Komaitai the star as Army retain title

■By CHRIS WEARMOUTH RAF Women ......12pts Army Women .. 47pts BRITISH Army women’s head coach Sarah Mitchelson paid tribute to the...

The Leicester Lip’s still talk of the town

PETER JACKSON THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW Stunner: Austin Healey breaks through to set up the winning try against Stade...

Priday gave life service to Cardiff

ALUN Priday made his debut for Cardiff against Harlequins in January 1953, a year which would end with victory over New...

Jordie gets runaround

FOR their ritual romp against Zebre in Dublin last weekend, Leinster played Jordie Barrett from the start. He was still there...

Tonbridge’s six of the best lead way but Dorking and Barnes aces also nab spot

THE BEST XV FROM 2024-25 AS VOTED FOR BY OUR CORRESPONDENTS Ben Jaycock canvassed the views of The Rugby Paper’s National...

Lewis Chessum chasing his dream at Leicester Tigers

Ben Jaycock talks to Leicester lock Lewis Chessum, who has a big goal for when he returns from sabbatical in Japan...

Wales’ star backs in fitness race to make JWC

■ By ROB COLE Rapid: Tom Bowen WALES U20 are sweating on the fitness of two key back line players ahead...

‘Mongrel’ Plumtree craves Wales recall

■ By SIMON THOMAS TAINE Plumtree says his father’s example has rubbed off on him when it comes to his life...

Steady Pirates are primed for attack

■ By MARK STEVENS FOR the first time in years, the Cornish Pirates are heading into the off-season without the usual...

Green sets his sights on a big finish at Coventry

■ By CHRIS COLLYER DAN Green has enjoyed his first season at Coventry after making the step up from Newport (Salop)...

Kvesic returns to Worcester

■ By SAM JACKSON MATT Kvesic says it was a ‘no-brainer’ to return to Worcester next season. He becomes the first...

Give players the tools to problem solve in-game

Coach to coach Steve Hill puts the questions to Tim Stevenson, below, the head coach at Drybrook RFC who won this...

I was thrilled to finally receive my Lions cap

JEFF PROBYN A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME IT’S funny how at a time when the game is looking forward...

HUGHSHIELDS

YOUNG GUNS NORTHAMPTON FLY-HALF Northampton Saints academy fly-half Hugh Shields has followed the career of Fin Smith closely and hopes to...

Results

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U20s star signs for Scarlets

NEWS EXTRA WELSH-qualified U20s World Cup winner Ioan Jones is joining the Scarlets from Gloucester. Full-back Jones, part of England’s winning...

Newport battling in honour of ‘BJ’

PREVIEW: Super Rygbi Cymru Trophy Ebbw Vale v Newport 2.30pm ■By ROB COLE NEWPORT skipper Ben Roach has two big reasons...

Britain’s first European king on trip down memory lane

■By ROB COLE Champ: Tony Rees with the European Cup in 1997 TONY Rees and Alain Penaud will share a moment...

Try-fests galore as fans flock to ProD2

JAMES HARRINGTON FRENCH COLUMN Try time: Flyer Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored again for Bordeaux in their victory against Castres PICTURES: Getty Images...

Savea stars as Moana move into contention

Super Rugby Pacific round-up ■By BEN JAYCOCK ARDIE Savea’s mesmerising performance guided Moana Pasifika past the Blues at Mount Smart Stadium...

Steelers hit back to book semi-final spot against the champs

Japan League One round-up Try: Waisake Raratubua KOBE Steelers overcame an early deficit to book their place in the semi-final agaonst...

Premiership Round 17: Best head-to-head matchups of the weekend 

Every player in the Premiership will need to be at the top of their game this weekend, with so much riding...

What the new Championship format could mean for English rugby 

The Championship announced a rebrand and a new system this week in a promotional video, marking a new beginning for the second...