Rugby Union

Danny, Ashy and Chris assess the autumn for England, Scotland and Wales. Source link

The Rugby Football Union has announced unprecedented operating losses of £37.9m in their accounts covering the 12 months to June 2024. England’s men have played only four matches at Twickenham in that period, with the Rugby World Cup in France wiping out the autumn internationals, while there were three away …

England and Saracens wing Jess Breach is out of action until February after sustaining a hip injury. The 27-year-old, who won her 43rd cap as England clinched the WXV title with victory over Canada in October, has beeen a mainstay of coach John Mitchell’s back three. “It is not brilliant,” …

Farrell is aiming to sign off before starting his Lions role with another win after Ireland bounced back from their All Blacks defeat with victories over Argentina and Fiji. Australia, in contrast, arrive in Dublin on the back of a disappointing 27-13 loss to Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday. Under …

The coming men: Tom Jordan’s best positions are 10 and 12 but against the Boks he started at 15 and was incredibly dangerous. He will not displace Kinghorn come the Six Nations but Scotland’s bench will be a whole lot stronger with him on it. His versatility opens up all …

Chris & Paul Grayson react to England beating Japan plus Sara’s at the World Rugby awards Source link

England’s autumn win over Japan was a one-sided affair and there wasn’t a huge amount of upside for Steve Borthwick’s side. Those games are difficult to get motivated for because of what has gone on before with the defeats by New Zealand, Australia and South Africa but I thought there …

That list of achievements is certainly lengthy. Ireland’s first back-to-back Six Nations titles since 1948-49, a first Grand Slam in a season featuring trips to Paris and London, a first win on South African soil, a first southern hemisphere series victory in 39 years and, most memorably of all, ending …

England captain Jamie George says his side are “in a very good place” after ending their Autumn Nations Series by thrashing Eddie Jones’ Japan at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium. The nine-try win ensured Steve Borthwick’s side avoided six straight losses and ended their autumn campaign with a victory after close defeats …

Overall, these sides have met in 37 previous Tests with Australia winning 22, Ireland 14 and the pair sharing a draw at Croke Park in 2009. Ireland have won the past three meetings, a run that included a series victory in Australia in 2018, and another triumph on Saturday would …

England back Kildunne’s accolade comes off the back of a year that also saw her represent Team GB at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where they finished seventh. She beat Red Roses team-mate Alex Matthews to the award, as well as France’s Pauline Bourdon-Sansus and Canada’s Alex Tessier. In the last …

England: Furbank; Freeman, Lawrence, Slade, Sleightholme; M Smith, Van Poortvliet; Genge, George (capt), Stuart, Itoje, Martin, T Curry, Underhill, Earl. Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Baxter, Opoku-Fordjour, Isiekwe, Cunningham-South, Randall, F Smith, Roebuck. Japan: Matsunaga; Osada, Riley, Fifita, Naikabula; McCurran, Saito; Okabe, Lee, Takeuchi, Waqa, Uluiviti, Shimokawa, Himeno, Makisi. Replacements: Matsuoka, Morikawa, Tamefusa, …

Bristol Bears ran in six tries to claim a 40-15 bonus-point victory in the Premiership Rugby Cup over Championship side Ampthill. After conceding an early penalty which Ampthill fly-half Josh Barton sent through the posts, a youthful Bears clicked into gear and scored five unanswered tries in the first half. …

Scotland: Kinghorn, Graham, Jones, Tuipulotu (c), Van der Merwe; Russell, White; Schoeman, Ashman, Z Fagerson, Gilchrist, Cummings, Ritchie, Darge, M Fagerson. Replacements: Richarsdson, Sutherland, Hurd, Craig, Bayliss, Horne, Rowe, Jordan. Australia: Wright, Kellaway, Suaalii, Ikitau, Potter; Lolesio, Gordon; Bell, Faessler, Alaalatoa, Salakaia-Loto, Skelton, Valetini, Tizzano, Wilson (c). Replacements: Paenga-Amosa, Kailea, …

Scrum V pundits Gwyn Jones, Ken Owens and James Hook give their thoughts on Warren Gatland and his future as Wales head coach. Wales have lost 12 Tests in a row and their thrashing at the hands of South Africa in Cardiff brought a winless 2024 to an end. With …

After nerves and a restless night, Izuchukwu’s debut was almost marked with a dream try only for the score to be chalked off for a forward pass. The flanker admitted he “had a feeling” the ball had crept forward even as he dived across the whitewash. Instead, he received his …

Japan head coach Eddie Jones did not attend his pre-match news conference on Friday because of health reasons. The former England boss was well enough, however, to return to Twickenham on Saturday as he finalised his side’s plans to inflict a damaging defeat on the hosts. Japan arrive in London …

New Zealand recorded an 18th consecutive win against Italy to wrap up their autumn series on flanker Sam Cane’s final appearance for the All Blacks. But the lacklustre visitors had to fight for their 29-11 victory in Turin. Italy started better and Paolo Garbisi’s penalties gave them a 6-3 lead …

For now, Gatland is working on the basis that he will be in place to take charge of his 150th game for Wales – the Six Nations opener against France in Paris on 31 January. Top of the agenda is improving the conditioning of his squad who have struggled to …

In Pool C, Ealing Trailfinders saw off London Scottish 36-5 in a one-sided affair in the capital. Knowing that a win would keep them in contention in the all-London pool, Ben Ward’s men took the lead through centre Jordan Holgate, after a well-worked lineout move. The away team then responded, …