Rugby Union

Harlequins moved up to third in the Premiership Women’s Rugby table with a 34-19 win at Bristol Bears. After Millie David’s try had given the hosts an early lead, Harlequins battled back to lead 20-19 at the end of a tight first half with tries from Lauren Torley and Ellie …

Northampton extended their year-long unbeaten home run and avenged their Premiership defeat away to last season’s beaten finalists Leicester three weeks ago. Malelili Satala’s first senior try gave Leicester an ideal start but that was as good as it got for the in-form Tigers at a sold-out Franklin’s Gardens. Nineteen-year-old …

Full-back Hugo Keenan says Ireland are not looking at Friday’s Test with New Zealand in Dublin as a “revenge game”. Ireland’s opening autumn international is the first time the sides have met since the All Blacks knocked coach Andy Farrell’s side out of the World Cup in 2023. Keenan admits …

Dragons also finished 15th in 2022-23 and last season. In a statement Dragons said: “We thank Dai for his contribution, professionalism, and dedication to Dragons RFC throughout his time at the club and wish him and his family well for the future.” Tiatia, who has been named interim head coach, …

As Wales prepare to get their 2024 Autumn Nations Series under way this weekend, how well do you recall their last autumn campaign? There was no series in 2023 because of the Rugby World Cup in France, so you will have to stretch your mind back two years to test …

England’s defence failed to match that coordination and intent. After nine minutes, on their first real attack, New Zealand sliced through all too easily. Flanker Wallace Sititi drew Tommy Freeman and George Furbank on the short side before flipping an offload to Tele’a, who cruised around covering prop Ellis Genge …

Ealing’s win was the only upset of the day as Premiership sides beat second-tier opponents in the day’s other five matches. Gloucester had the nerviest afternoon as they won 31-26 at close neighbours Hartpury. The Cherry and Whites led 26-14 at half-time having secured a four-try bonus point before the …

Munster: Mike Haley; Shay McCarthy, Tom Farrell, Rory Scannell, Diarmuid Kilgallen; Billy Burns, Ethan Coughlan; John Ryan, Diarmuid Barron (capt), Stephen Archer; Fineen Wycherley, Tom Ahern; Peter O’Mahony, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes. Replacements: Niall Scannell, Kieran Ryan, Ronan Foxe, Evan O’Connell, Ruadhán Quinn, Paddy Patterson, Tony Butler, Ben O’Connor. All …

Scotland’s defence in the face of gathering Fijian power was weak. Hastings banged over a penalty, Tom Jordan came on for an excellent debut after Rowe had the misfortune to be on the end of a howitzer tackle and Ashman returned. A storm weathered? Not really. Mali Derenalagi powered over …

Chris, Ashy and Matt Dawson react to New Zealand’s dramatic win over England. Source link

It made sense at the time. In the grey matter and guts alike, the rationale felt right. With 62 minutes on the clock, and an eight-point advantage on the scoreboard, you tighten the grip, not chance your arm. Steve Borthwick chose that point to withdraw fly-half Marcus Smith – architect …

After missing a year of Test rugby through injury, Darcy Graham wore a smile as wide as Murrayfield following a scintillating individual display against Fiji that reminded Scotland exactly what they had been missing. The electric winger, 27, bagged four tries and injected the sort of pace, creativity and unpredictably …

For 28 matches over 111 years, it was as one-sided a rivalry as you could get, with the All Blacks winning 27 and there was one draw. However, one famous afternoon in Chicago in November 2016 got Ireland on the board, and things have developed from there. Another landmark victory …

England prop Joe Marler has retired from international rugby having won 95 caps. Marler made his England debut during the 2012 summer tour of South Africa and was part of three Six Nations-winning sides in 2016, 2017 and 2020. He also represented England at three World Cups, including in 2019 …

Hindsight is very handy, but I was surprised with the timing of some of the changes England made, as I didn’t feel they were necessary. They replaced the entire front row early in the second half when they were still handling themselves well. New Zealand were behind in the scrum …

England have called-up Sale Sharks prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour to the 36-player squad preparing to face Australia in the Autumn Nations Series. The 20-year-old was a member of England’s Under-20s side which won their age grade World Cup this year. Opoku-Fordjour replaces Joe Marler, who has announced his retirement from international …

While Friday represents Ireland’s first game since July, New Zealand will arrive in Dublin buoyed by a thrilling 24-22 victory over England on Saturday, with the win sealed only when George Ford’s last-kick drop-goal attempt for the hosts sailed wide. “That was some Test match, eh?” added Goodman, who has …

Exeter Chiefs beat Saracens 29-12 in Saturday’s top-of-the-table match to leapfrog the visitors at the Premiership Women’s Rugby summit. Both teams won their opening four fixtures, but Saracens went into Saturday’s game as league leaders having picked up two more bonus points. But the Chiefs ended that 100% start by …

England prop Joe Marler has deactivated his X account after posting that the haka “needs binning” before Saturday’s match against New Zealand. Marler, 34, will not feature in the Autumn Nations Series opener at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium after breaking his foot during the first Test against the All Blacks in …

It had certainly come at a bad time. With All Black great Aaron Smith retiring after last year’s World Cup, new coach Scott Robertson getting his feet under the table and Roigard having lit up the Super Rugby season, the 23-year-old was presumed by most to be New Zealand’s new …