Rugby Union

Sale’s win over Bristol took them up to third in the Premiership with one game to go. Victory away to Exeter Chiefs in their final game will assure them of a play-off spot for a third consecutive season, with all of those finishes since Ford joined the club from Leicester …

Watch highlights as Edinburgh score seven tries in beating Ulster 47-17 to book their place in the United Rugby Championship quarter-finals. BBC News

Former Wales and British and Irish Lions back Leigh Halfpenny has had his impending Harlequins exit confirmed. The 36-year-old had already been linked with a move to French second-tier club Beziers in the summer when his contract with Quins expires. The former Scarlets, Toulon, Cardiff and Crusaders full-back has made …

New Zealand and Canada tied 27-27 in a thrilling second round of the Pacific Four series in Christchurch. Teenager Braxton Sorensen-McGee, who scored two tries on her debut in last week’s opening match against Australia, began the scoring for the world champion Black Ferns in the sixth minute. Defending champions …

Walder has also spent time as Bristol’s backs and skills coach and joins Exeter as the club comes to the end of their worst season in the top flight. They have won just four Premiership games all season and are guaranteed to finish second from bottom. Walder will be part …

Newcastle: Obatoyinbo; Redshaw, Hearle, Arnold, Stevenson; Connon, Stuart; Brocklebank, Blamire, McCallum; Hawkins, De Chaves, Neild, Gordon, Chick. Replacements: Byrne, Rewcastle, De Bruin, Usher, Lockwood, Davis, Spencer, Pepper, Sin bin: Chick (21 mins), Neild (23 mins) Red card: Stevenson (72 mins) Gloucester: Carreras; Wade, Harris, Atkinson, Cotgreave; Anscombe, Williams; Knight, Singleton, …

A frenetic opening saw Edinburgh blow two big chances from close-range line-outs only to recover and cut Ulster open soon after, Graham being the man doing the cutting. Wes Goosen put the wing through a gap and ran all the way to the posts at a packed Hive Stadium. Nice …

Munster: Abrahams; Nash, Farrell, Nankivell, Kilgallen; Crowley, Casey; Milne, Scannell, Archer; Kleyn, Beirne (capt); O’Mahony, Hodnett, Coombes. Replacements: Barron, J Wycherley, Ryan, F Wycherley, Ahern, Murray, O’Brien, Kendellen. Benetton: Rhyno Smith, Ignacio Mendy, Tommaso Menoncello, Ignacio Brex, Paolo Odogwu, Jacob Umaga, Alessandro Garbisi; Thomas Gallo, Siua Maile, Simone Ferrari, Scott …

Northampton Saints have announced 11 players, including fly-half Charlie Savala, are set to leave the club at the end of the season. Following the news earlier this month that Burger Odendaal and Temo Mayanavanua will leave Frankin’s Gardens, the club have now confirmed plans of an expanded clear-out following a …

Saracens have signed Fijian prop Vilikesa Nairau from Championship club Coventry on an undisclosed contract. The 22-year-old has represented his country at under-20 level. Nairau began his career playing in Fiji for FMF Suva Rugby and moved to Coventry last year. “I would like to thank the almighty God for …

Long-serving Exeter Chiefs coach Ali Hepher has left the Premiership club by mutual consent. The 50-year-old had been suspended from his role as backs and attack coach last month in the wake of Exeter’s club-record 79-17 loss at Gloucester. The former Northampton fly-half had been part of Exeter’s coaching set-up …

Retiring scrum-half Danny Care has been given special dispensation to wear the number nine shirt in his final game on Sunday, despite being named on the bench. Starting scrum-half Will Porter will wear the 21 shirt after Harlequins were granted permission by the Premiership and opponents Exeter to go against …

Harrison told the club website:, external “I’ve loved my time as a Shark and it’s really hard to accept that it’s coming to an end. I’ve played and worked with a brilliant group of players and coaches, who have become some of my best mates. “I never imagined I would …

Saracens back Brandon Jackson has signed a new deal to stay with the Premiership club for the 2025-26 season. The 23-year-old has made six Premiership appearances for Saracens – four coming this season. The academy graduate scored 18 tries in 26 games for Championship side Ampthill last season. He has …

Iain Henderson says Ulster’s slow start and mid-season struggles left them with too much to do to secure a United Rugby Championship (URC) play-off and a Champions Cup spot for next season. Last Friday’s defeat by Munster at Thomond Park meant there will be a premature end to Ulster’s campaign …

Kennedy opted to take a break from sevens after Ireland’s quarter-final exit against Fiji at Paris 2024. He missed what proved to be the men’s sevens’ last tournament in Los Angeles earlier this month, when they finished 11th and suffered relegation in the World SVNS Series. “The financial/cost-cutting excuse is …

After 26 regular-season games, the sides finishing in third to sixth will play quarter-finals. The winners of those games will go into semi-finals against the teams who finished first and second, before a final to crown a Champ Rugby winner. With no automatic promotion spot, the winner will then enter …

“We know the magnitude of the game and we know the outcomes. If we don’t, that means that we don’t finish in the top eight and then we play in the Challenge Cup next year. “We’re confident that we’re moving in the right direction to be able to get a …

He was greeted as a “wildcard appointment”, has been admired as a “very sharp student of the game” and is seen by one former team-mate as a “big coup” for Leicester Tigers. When Geoff Parling returns to Tigers in the summer after 10 years away, he will do so as …

Friday’s game against Gloucester marks the final one at Kingston Park for captain Callum Chick and hooker Jamie Blamire, two Newcastle stalwarts, who are heading to Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers respectively next season. It continues a talent drain of homegrown players from the club, which included Adam Radwan’s move …