Rugby Union

Ulster back row Nick Timoney has agreed a new two-year contract which will keep him with the Irish province until at least 2027. The 29-year-old has been a key figure for Ulster in recent seasons and captained the team to victory over Connacht in Galway at the weekend, delivering a …

Northampton Saints have announced that assistant coach Matt Ferguson will leave the club when his contract ends after the current campaign. Ferguson joined the club in 2018, with the bulk of his work focusing on Saints’ scrum, and played a key role in the club winning their first Premiership title …

Bristol Bears centre Kalaveti Ravouvou has signed a contract extension with the Premiership club. The Fiji international has scored seven tries for Pat Lam’s side since joining Bristol in the summer of 2023. He carried the ball 230 metres during last month’s 54-24 win at Leicester Tigers, the second highest …

Bristol Bears have signed Ireland fly-half Harry Byrne on loan from Leinster. Byrne has penned a three-month deal at the Premiership side and the Bears say he will act as cover for AJ MacGinty who is set to miss the next four months with a knee injury. The 25-year-old has …

Sabrina Fortune – who won gold at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in the women’s F20 shot put – said she was “over the moon” to become a Member of the British Empire (MBE). “I wanted to run around the kitchen and call every single person,” she said. Fortune, from Mold, …

Ugo, Ashy and Chris look ahead to a bumper 2025 and round-up a chaotic end to 2024. Source link

Scarlets hooker Ryan Elias was Lake’s deputy during the autumn internationals but has missed the last three weeks because of a neck injury, with his region hoping he might be fit for mid-January. Cardiff’s Evan Lloyd was also in the Wales squad in November, while Dragons hooker Elliot Dee made …

Saracens lock Hugh Tizard has been suspended for six games after accepting a charge of dangerous play following his red card against Newcastle Falcons last month. The 24-year-old was sent off in the last minute of Sarries’ 17-12 defeat on 29 November for coming in from the side on Newcastle’s …

Exeter: Hodge; Woodburn, Hammersley, Tua, Wyatt; Slade, Townsend; Sio, Frost, Street, Jenkins, Capstick, Roots, Fisilau, Vermuelen. Replacements: Innard, Goodrick-Clarke, Iosefa-Scott, Molina, Vintcent, Cairns, Haydon-Wood, Wimbush. Gloucester: Carreras; Wade, Llewellyn, Atkinson, Hathaway; Anscombe, T. Williams; Vivas, Blake, Gotovtsev, Thomas, Alemanno, Clement, Ludlow, Ackermann. Replacements: Singleton, Ford-Robinson, Knight, Jordan, Tuisue, Englefield, Harris, …

Head coach Richie Murphy believes Ulster’s 17-7 win over Connacht in Galway can be a “big moment” in the careers of some of his young squad. The northern province ended a five-game losing streak with the interpro victory and lifted themselves from 13th to eighth in the United Rugby Championship …

Connacht: O’Conor; Hansen, Forde, Aki, Cordero; Carty, Blade; Buckley, Tierney-Martin, Bealham; Murphy, N Murray; Prendergast (capt), Hurley-Langton, Boyle. Replacements: De Buitlear, Dooley, Aungier, Dowling, Jansen, Murphy, Jennings, Oliver. Ulster: Lowry; Kok, Carson, Postlethwaite, Telfer; Murphy, Doak; O’Sullivan, Andrew, Wilson; Treadwell, Izuchukwu; Matty Rea, Timoney (capt), McNabney. Replacements: McCormick, Warwick, Barrett, …

Harlequins: David; Isgro, Beard, Northmore, Murley; Smith, Care; Baxter, Walker, Lamositele, Herbst, Lamb, Chisholm, Kenningham, Dombrandt Replacements: Riley, Jones, Lewis, Launchbury, Cunningham-South, W Evans, Porter, J Evans Leicester: Steward; Brown, Kelly, Kata, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Montoya, Heyes, Henderson, Martin, Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell Replacements: Clare, Whitcombe, Cole, Holloway, Ilione, …

Northampton: Hendy; Freeman, Litchfield, Dingwall (c), Sleightholme; Smith, Mitchell; West, Walker, Davison, Munga, Coles, Kemeny, Pearson, Pollock. Replacements: Langdon, Haffar, Green, Mayanavanua, Scott-Young, Mapu, McParland, Hutchinson. Sin-bin: Smith (31). Newcastle: Brown; Radwan, Hearle, Doherty, Stevenson; Connon, Stuart; McCallum, Fletcher, Palframan, De Chaves, McDonald, Lockwood, Gordon, Chick (c). Replacements: Byrne, Rewcastle, …

Sanderson, who signed a new deal in May after returning to the club to take the top job in 2021, led Sale to the Premiership final in 2022-23 where they were beaten by Saracens. They also reached the semi-finals last season but were were beaten by Bath. He said the …

Bath: De Glanville; Cokanasiga, Lawrence, Redpath, Muir; Russell, Spencer (c); Obano, Dunn, Du Toit, Roux, Ewels, Hill, Pepper, Barbeary. Replacements: Annett, Van Wyk, Stuart, Molony, Underhill, Schreuder, Ojomoh, Reid. Saracens: Williams; Elliott, Lozowski, Hartley, Segun; Burke, Simpson; Brantingham, Dan, Balmain, Itoje (c), Isiekwe, McFarland, Knight, Earl. Replacements: Pifeleti, Mawi, Clarey, …

The Bears have one of the smallest squads in the league with 39 first-team players, and were already dealt a blow before Christmas with news that versatile back Max Malins – who can play at full-back or fly-half – will miss the rest of the season with an Achillies injury. …

Bristol: Lane; Bates, Ravouvou, Janse van Rensburg, Ibitoye; Worsley, Randall; Woolmore, Thacker, Lahiff; Dun, Owen, Luatua, Harding (c), Mata. Replacements: Oghre, Y. Thomas, Kloska, Hodgso, Grondona, Marmion, Williams, Elizalde. Sin bin: Harry Randall (21 mins) Sale: Carpenter, Roebuck, R. du Preez, James, O’Flaherty, Ford, Quirke; Rodd, Cowan-Dickie, Opoku-Fordjour, Van Rhyn, …

The Bears also lost back Max Malins – who is their second choice at fly-half – for the rest of the season to an Achilles injury last week. Academy player Sam Worsley started Friday’s match against Sale, while centre James Williams, who can also play at 10, returned from a …

Unquestionably, he’s one of the greatest finishers in Test rugby right now. Duhan van der Merwe took just 46 minutes to score a hat-trick against England in the Six Nations earlier in the year. That’s how coruscating he can be. Against Glasgow? Largely anonymous. We didn’t see a whole lot …

The Robinsons must solve the mystery of their missing dad and save the local steam train Source link