Rugby Union

Wales centre Ben Thomas has signed a new contract to stay at Cardiff. Thomas, who was due out of contract at the end of the 2024-25 season, made his Cardiff debut in 2019 and has played eight internationals. The 26-year-old can also play at full-back and fly-half where he has …

Kata, a versatile back who has established himself at centre with Tigers, has featured seven times so far under Michael Cheika this season, scoring three tries to take his overall club tally to seven. “Sol is a big talent and also a big character inside the squad,” Cheika said. “We …

Newcastle Falcons have signed centre Max Clark on a three-month deal. Previously of Bath and Welsh sides Dragons and Cardiff Blues, Clark had been training with Saracens. The 29-year-old played for them in the Premiership Rugby Cup last month and most recently for Ampthill in the Championship. Clark will be …

National League 1 clubs have united to join mounting calls for an overhaul of the way rugby union is run in England amid the ongoing crisis over record financial losses and executive bonuses. In an open letter, the twelve clubs criticise “major failures in governance and leadership” and a “lack …

Club captain Liam Belcher has extended his contract with Cardiff. The homegrown hooker had a year remaining on his existing deal but has committed his future for the longer term at the Arms Park. The 28-year-old has made 85 Cardiff appearances, either side of a one-year stint at Dragons, since …

Steward’s high-ball ability was preferred by Borthwick for November’s 29-20 defeat by South Africa and the Leicester man is the likeliest candidate to fill in for Furbank once more at Test level. Furbank’s absence will be keenly felt by Saints who hope that the win in Pretoria can kick-start their …

Booth is a former London Irish director of rugby, while he also spent seven years as Bath first-team coach and had an assistant role with Harlequins. He started at the Ospreys in the summer of 2020 when the Swansea-based team were in disarray and helped transform their fortunes. The 2023-24 …

Scotland prop Will Hurd has signed a contract extension with Leicester Tigers. The Leicestershire-born 25-year-old has made 44 first-team appearances for Tigers since first joining them in 2021 after a stint on the books at Glasgow Warriors. He made his debut for Scotland in Canada earlier this year and has …

Leinster second row James Ryan and Connacht centre Bundee Aki have signed contract extensions with the Irish Rugby Football Union [IRFU]. Aki’s new deal will keep him with Connacht and Ireland until the summer of 2026, while Ryan has extended his contract until 2028. New Zealand native Aki, 34, arrived …

Pollock first joined Saints’ academy at Under-13s level, and by the time he was 17 he had already featured for the senior side in the Premiership Rugby Cup. He has played nine games for Northampton this season and scored a try against Castres in his European debut for the club …

Stormers and South Africa prop Steven Kitshoff has revealed a neck injury he sustained in a scrum earlier this year left him “two millimetres from death”. The 32-year-old, who spent the 2023-24 season with Irish province Ulster, did not initially realise the severity of the issue sustained in a Currie …

Ashy and Chris analyse round two of the Champion Cup with special guest Tommy Freeman. Source link

The lock captained Tigers for the first time in their season opener at Exeter in August, but has featured only four times to date this term because of an injury suffered while training with the national side. Since making his senior debut for Tigers in 2020, he has made 60 …

After Saturday’s win, Cheika reflected on the demands of December positively, saying the lessons learned in defeat will prove to be important. “We have worked hard on that without panicking,” he said. “There are things we could have done better, yes sure, in all three games, but we have worked …

A pair of Exeter tries early in the second half reduced the gap to Toulouse to 23 points before the French side ran in three more scores. “The was a period after half-time where I thought we played some of our best rugby of the season against a very good …

Tadhg Furlong has signed a two-year contract extension with Ireland and Leinster until the end of the 2026-27 season. The 32-year-old, whose Ireland debut was against Wales in 2015, has made 78 Test appearances and has won the Six Nations title three times. Furlong played for the British and Irish …

As the English clubs, by and large, took a step forward, and the South African sides had a weekend to forget, Toulouse motored on with the minimum of fuss and the maximum of class. Having scored 61 points and nine tries in beating Ulster last weekend, they improved on that …

Newcastle: Redshaw; Radwan, Hearle, Doherty, Stevenson; Wilkinson, Stuart; McCallum, Fletcher, Callum Hancock, McDonald, de Chaves, Lockwood, Gordon, Chick (capt). Replacements: Byrne, Rewcastle, Connor Hancock, Baker, Leatherbarrow, O’Sullivan, Connon, Spencer. Dragons: Anderson; Rosser, Westwood, Owen, Andrew; O’Brien (capt), Hope; Martinez, Coghlan, Coleman, Cummins, Nott, Woodman, Lydiate, Wainwright. Replacements: Burrows, Reynolds, Latu, …

Toulon: Domon; Wainiqolo, Fainga’anuku, Sinzelle, Villiere; Garbisi, Serin; Priso, Baubigny, Sinckler, Ribbans, Alainu’uese, Ludlam, Ollivon (c), Isa. Replacements: Lucchesi, Brennan, Gigashvili, Halagahu, Tolofua, Danglot, Herve, Tuicuvu. Glasgow Warriors: McKay; Dobie, Tuipulotu (c), McDowall, Rowe; Weir, Afshar; Bhatti, Hiddleston, Talakai, Oguntibeju, Samuel, Venter, Darge, Mann. Replacements: Matthews, Sutherland, Z Fagerson, Cummings, …

Scarlets: Nicholas; Rogers, Roberts, J Williams, Mee; Costelow, G Davies; Mathias, van der Merwe, Thomas, Douglas, Lousi, Plumtree, Macleod (capt), Fifita. Replacements: S Evans, Hepburn, Holz, J Price, Taylor, Hughes, Lloyd, James. Sin-bin: Douglas 56 Black Lion: Tsirekidze; Tabutsadze, Tapladze, Kakhoidze, Shvangiradze; Matkava (capt), Peranidze; Kakovin, IKvatadze, Chkhartishvili, Chachanidze, Babunashvili, …