Rugby Union

A big ask. That’s the phrase being used over and over by pundits as Glasgow Warriors visit the Bulls’ backyard for Saturday’s United Rugby Championship final. Travelling close to 9,000 miles with just a week’s notice, playing at altitude in Pretoria against hugely physical opponents, who are the league’s highest …

Great Britain Sevens men’s team began their bid to secure the final place at the Olympic Games with a 35-19 victory over China at the repechage tournament in Monaco. The event, which finishes on Sunday, is the last chance to qualify for Paris 2024 and only one of the 11 …

Leicester Tigers have signed Will Wand after the centre left Championship side Coventry earlier in the summer. The 22-year-old, who Tigers welcomed as a “lifelong fan” with previous links to the Premiership club’s development teams, featured 42 times for Coventry in his two seasons with the second-tier club. Wand was …

Gloucester-Hartpury and Bristol Bears will renew their fierce West Country rivalry in the biggest game of the season on Saturday as the two sides meet in the Premiership Women’s final. Gloucester have been almost perfect in the defence of their title and finished top of the table after the regular …

GB Sevens captain Abbie Brown says she is “heartbroken” and “truly devastated” to miss this summer’s Paris Olympics because of a hamstring injury. Brown was aiming to join Wales’ Jasmine Joyce as the first British rugby players to appear at three Olympic Games, but was ruled out of the final …

Ireland Under-20s head coach Niamh Briggs says the emphasis on the development of the women’s game in the Irish Rugby Football Union’s recently unveiled strategic plan is “hugely positive”. The plan, which runs from 2024 to 2028, has set out five areas in which to improve different aspects of the …

England centre Emily Scarratt has signed a new deal to remain with Premiership Women’s side Loughborough Lightning next season. The 34-year-old, who has earned 111 Red Roses caps, has been with Loughborough since 2019 and has made 40 appearances for the top-flight club. She missed the start of the 2023-24 …

Exeter Chiefs have signed Canadian prop Stefania Evans for next season’s Premiership Women’s Rugby campaign. The former Leicester, Worcester and Bristol forward, 36, is the latest new signing to join Exeter, following the likes of Flo and Emily Robinson. “Stef is a very experienced player who can play at loose-head …

GB head coach Tony Roques has named a 12-player squad for the repechage tournament, which sees the return of both Tom Emery and Alex Davis. Roques took over as coach of the GB Sevens men’s team for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 where his side were defeated by Argentina in …

Bryan Habana says South Africa must return to their core principles in order to qualify for the men’s rugby sevens tournament at this year’s Olympic Games. Kenya beat the Blitzboks to a spot in Paris in African qualifying, but the reigning Commonwealth champions have another chance to book their place …

Head coach Steve Borthwick is “doing a great job” in charge of England, says new Japan boss Eddie Jones. Jones, 64, was sacked by England nine months before last autumn’s Rugby World Cup and replaced by Borthwick, who worked under the Australian during his first stint in charge of Japan …

Gloucester number eight Zach Mercer says he loved playing for Montpellier in France’s Top 14 as you “couldn’t get picked for England”. The Rugby Football Union’s policy of not selecting players based overseas meant that was not something Mercer had to consider. Mercer, who collected two England caps in 2018, …

Chris, Ashy and Matt Dawson bring you reaction to Northampton’s first title in 10 years. Source link

Jasmine Joyce has been dreaming of an Olympic gold medal for the last eight years after missing out in Rio and then Tokyo. Wales wing Joyce was part of Great Britain’s Olympic women’s sevens team which lost the bronze medal match on both occasions at those Games. Joyce is in …

From Swansea to New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland, Wales and Scarlets flanker Taine Plumtree talks about growing up in different parts of the world. His father, John, took coaching jobs in Wales, New Zealand and South Africa, offering Taine a taste of contrasting rugby styles. Plumtree junior now plays …

Danny welcomes Chris into the Baa Baas team hotel and has some big guests lined up! Source link

Head coach Matt Sherratt says he is delighted to keep Lee-Lo for another season. “He has been one of the leading centres in European rugby for a number of years and showed he can still perform at a consistently high level throughout last season,” said Sherratt. “He has been there …

Great Britain have named England pair Ellie Kildunne and Megan Jones in their 12-strong women’s sevens squad for this summer’s Paris Olympic Games. Both backs played an influential role as the Red Roses won a third consecutive Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam in April, before joining the sevens squad to …

Bristol Bears fly-half Holly Aitchison said the club will use their underdog status to their advantage when they face defending champions Gloucester-Hartpury in the Women’s Premiership final on Saturday. The Bears reached the league final for the first time in their history after beating Saracens in the semi-final two weeks …

Munster’s Graham Rowntree has been named United Rugby Championship coach of the year for the 2023-24 season. While Rowntree led Munster to the 2022-23 title, the Irish province were knocked out of this season’s play-offs by Glasgow last weekend. They entered the play-offs as top seeds having finished the regular …