Rugby Union

Saints beat Leicester Tigers 31-12 in their opening match of this season’s PRC before narrowly overcoming a fired-up Nottingham side 31-29. “For Nottingham it was their European Cup final, it was their Prem final, you could see how serious they took it,” said Radford. “They got together in a huddle, …

Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter says he is excited at the prospect of being able to pick centre Tamati Tua. The 27-year-old joined Exeter in the summer from Super Rugby’s ACT Brumbies, but a neck injury meant he missed all of pre-season and the first block of Premiership games. The …

While Porter has played on both the loose and the tight for Ireland, Healy has the distinction of having appeared right across the front-row, having been pressed into emergency action at hooker against Scotland in the Six Nations of 2023. Ireland scrum coach John Fogarty still marvels at how he …

England centre Ollie Lawrence says former boss Eddie Jones’ criticism made him raise his game to meet the demands of Test rugby. Lawrence made his England debut under Jones against Italy in October 2020 but struggled for form and consistency under the Australian, who now coaches Japan. Jones said Lawrence …

South Africa are facing a Wales side who have lost a record 11 consecutive Test matches and left head coach Warren Gatland under pressure. In contrast the Springboks are looking for an 11th win in 13 games in 2024. “This is our last match of the season, and we are …

Erasmus and Gatland have coached against each other for Wales and South Africa, while the two were the opposing head coaches when the Springboks defeated the British and Irish Lions in 2021. “We’ve had good discussions. I think it was in Twickenham where we last saw each other last summer,” …

Waugh has also confirmed he is pursuing New Zealand internationals who are playing their club rugby abroad, and are therefore ineligible for All Black selection, for a trans-Tasman ‘Anzac’ team, combining both Australian and Kiwi players, who play the Lions on 12 July. While Waugh did not specify names, Richie …

McGuigan spent time coaching amateur clubs in the north west while he was a player at Sale and he says that he has found a real calling. He will now take up his new defence role ahead of the Premiership return against Leicester Tigers on 1 December. “My passion is …

Ireland prop Tadhg Furlong is expected to see his first action of the autumn series against Fiji at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. The tight-head suffered a hamstring issue in training before Ireland’s game against the All Blacks and was absent for both that defeat and the win against Argentina. …

Forwards Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Ben Earl (Saracens), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Ted Hill (Bath …

Exeter boss Rob Baxter says his team are “progressing” as he aims to turn around their poor form this season. The Chiefs lost a club-record six successive Premiership matches before the international break. Since then, they have parted ways with defence coach Omar Mouneimne but beaten Championship sides Cornish Pirates …

Harlequins winger Cassius Cleaves has signed a new contract with the London club. Quins vice-captain Cadan Murley and scrum-half Will Porter extended their deals at Twickenham Stoop last week. Cleaves, 21, made his Premiership debut coming off the bench in the opening day defeat at Sale Sharks before he was …

Saracens full-back Alex Goode will have surgery this week on a quad injury keeping him out for up to three months. The 36-year-old picked up the injury during the warm-up before their narrow defeat by Leicester on 26 October. The club said Goode, who has played in five of their …

Sleightholme, whose father Jon also played for Northampton and England, first joined his hometown club at the age of 13. He made his first-team debut in a cup game against Bristol in October 2018 and scored a try after only 15 seconds on his Premiership debut against Wasps the following …

After Prendergast’s introduction against the Pumas, Cormac Izuchukwu is the sole player from Farrell’s initial 35-man panel who has yet to win a cap. That is bound to change sooner, rather than later. Izuchukwu is highly rated by Farrell and the Ireland coaching staff, and an international debut seems like …

Chris, Ugo and Ashy discuss Wales’ troubles and England’s issues in the final 20 minutes. Source link

Wales have suffered another blow with the loss of their most experienced player for the final autumn Test series game. Source link

Former Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones has shared his experiences of being diagnosed and living with a common heart condition. Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects 1.4 million people in the UK. It causes an irregular heart rhythm, but because it is usually symptomless, there could be up to half a million …

Aaron Wainwright insists the Wales squad are fully behind head coach Warren Gatland despite their record losing run. The number eight, a try-scorer against Australia, has been one of the few shining lights for Wales throughout a so-far winless 2024. Wales have a last chance to halt their run of …

Men’s 15s Player of the Year Caelan Doris (Ireland) Eben Etzebeth (South Africa) Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa) Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa) Women’s 15s Player of the Year Pauline Bourdon Sansus (France) Ellie Kildunne (England) Alex Matthews (England) Alex Tessier (Canada) Men’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu …