Rugby Union

Northampton face Pretoria Bulls in the European Champions Cup this weekend, having begun their campaign with a 35-27 victory in Pau. Hendy scored the last of their five tries, but the number of wasted opportunities, which led to them trailing 14-12 at the interval, was a cause for concern. “We …

The match kicks off at 17:30 GMT on Sunday at Ashton Gate and Lam acknowledged the timing was “not the best” for fans who want to attend. Yet he said the home supporters can be the ones to make a difference as the team looks to bolster its chances of …

Leicester teenager George Pearson has signed a new deal with the Prem club just days after making his European debut for Tigers. The 19-year-old academy product, who has featured at full-back and on the wing in domestic and continental cup competitions for the East Midlands club, made a noteworthy impression …

The 29-year-old tighthead came off the bench during England’s autumn wins against Australia, New Zealand and Argentina and is one of England’s 25 players on Elite Player contracts for the 2025-26 season. In total he has 53 caps and was also called up to the British and Irish Lions squad …

“Fingers crossed, I get out. I’m just itching to give back to the team.” Wafer, 22, made the decision to leave Ireland to play in the PWR towards the end of last season. “I’m loving it,” she said. “I’m going to uni in St Mary’s in Twickenham and it’s a …

Exeter have appointed James Wilson as their new assistant backs coach. The 42-year-old New Zealander has most recently been part of the coaching set-up at Southland. The former back had playing spells at Bath and Northampton in the Premiership as well as spending time playing in his homeland and Japan. …

Northampton winger James Ramm has been given a two-match ban after receiving a red card in their European Champions Cup win in Pau. Ramm spent 20 minutes in the sin-bin for pulling down lock Thomas Jolmes as he caught the ball in the air. An independent disciplinary panel found him …

After starting the season with a draw in their opening Prem game, Saints reeled off four wins in a row to go top of the table before suffering a first defeat away to Bristol Bulls, which dropped them to third. But they bounced back last weekend with victory in Pau …

Ulster hooker Tom Stewart says he is getting “into a bit of a groove” ahead of Saturday’s Challenge Cup trip to Cardiff. Stewart made an impact off the bench as he touched down one of seven second-half tries as Ulster marked their return to action last week with a commanding …

Gloucester back row Deian Gwynne has been banned for three weeks for making eye contact with Castres’ Florent Vanverberghe. Gwynne was shown a yellow card for the incident in the 48th minute of Gloucester’s Champions Cup win against the French side on Saturday and was cited after the match. The …

“One of the most pleasing aspects of Saturday was how we reacted after the yellow card. “Our response after that, the way we controlled the tempo of the game, we didn’t give away one penalty, we didn’t give away a point. To be away from home and for us not …

Available for over a year Chris, Ashy and Ugo pick apart the opening weekend of the Champions Cup. Was it the shot in the arm the tournament needed? Or were there still too many predictable results? Edinburgh caused the biggest upset of the round in what was a great weekend …

England lock George Martin is to leave Leicester Tigers at the end of the season – and is expected to join Saracens. The 24-year-old has scored nine tries in 73 appearances for the club and was a member of their Premiership title-winning side in 2022. He made his England debut …

“I thought we were the better side but just didn’t get a great performance. In the last 20 minutes we dug in and got a couple of tries, and to come away from home and get five points here is still pretty good. “It was really physical, we had to …

Exeter: Hammersley; Woodburn, Slade, Ikitau, Feyi-Waboso; Skinner, Chapman; Sio, Yeandle, Tchumbadze, Jenkins, Zambonin, Hooper, Roots, Fisilau Replacements: Dweba, Goodrick-Clarke, Roots, Pearson, James, Cairns, Haydon-Wood, John Cheetahs: Annies; Hartzenberg, Ackermann, du Plessis, Nkabinde; van der Walt, Jansen van Vuren; Dawson, van der Westhuizen, Coetzee, Wegner, Sekekete, Uys, Venter, van der Merwe …

Gloucester: Redshaw; Joseph, Llewellyn, Atkinson, Thorley; Byrne, Williams; Knight, Blake, Gotovtsev, Thomas, Alemanno, Gwynne, Ludlow, Trenholm. Replacements: Innard, Rapava Ruskin, Fasogbon, Jordan, Basham, Austin, Atkinson, Russell. Castres: Chabouni; Ambadiang, Karawalevu, Botitu, Baget; Popelin, Fernandez; Walcker, Zarantonello, Azar, Ducat, Vanverberghe, Delaporte, Cope, Ramototabua. Replacements: Durand-Pradere, Sokobale, Chilachava, Maravat, Papalii, Doubrere, Herve, …

Pau: Luc; Arfeuil, Maddocks, Decron, Laporte; Desperes, Robson; Etchebehere, Montoya, Zabala Arrieta, Jolmes, Picquette, Zegueur, Credoz, Isa. Replacements: Rey, Seneca, Papidze, Capelli, Kpoku, Hewat, Souverbie, Valentino. Northampton: Furbank; Ramm, Hutchinson, Dingwall, Hendy; Smith, Mitchell; Fischetti, Wright, Davison, Coles, Van der Mescht, Kemeny, Pearson, Chick. Replacements: Smith, Iyogun, Kundiona, Prowse, Pollock, …

Bath: De Glanville; Cokanasiga, Ojomoh, Redpath, Arundell; Russell, Spencer; Obano, Dunn, Stuart, Roux, Ewels, Bayliss, Pepper, Reid. Replacements: Tuipulotu, Van Wyk, Du Toit, Molony, Hill, Carr-Smith, Carreras, Underhill. Munster: Daly; Kilgallen, Farrell, Kelly, Abrahams; Hanrahan, Casey; Milne, Barron, Ryan, Edogbo, Ahern, Beirne, Hodnett, Coombes. Replacements: Barron, Loughman, Ala’alatoa, Wycherley, Quinn, …

Leinster: J O’Brien; T O’Brien, Ringrose, Frawley, Larmour; Prendergast, Gibson-Park; P McCarthy, Sheehan, Clarkson, Snyman, J McCarthy, Conan, Van der Flier, Doris (capt). Replacements: Kelleher, Boyle, Furlong, Mangan, Deegan, McGrath, Byrne, Ioane. Sin-bin: J O’Brien (50 mins) Harlequins: Anderson; Cleaves, Beard, Northmore, Murley (capt); Evans, Porter; Wenger, Walker, Williams, Treadwell, …

Lyon: Meliande, Mathiron, Regard, Maraku, Dumortier, Jackson, Couilloud, Moukoro, Sarragallet, Gomes, Geraci, Roux, Okuya, Shvangiradze, Baret. Replacements: Marchant, Rey, Maalo, Sanson, Gouzou, Cassang, Masi, Parisien. Newcastle Red Bulls: Chamberlain, Spencer, Hearle, Grayson, Obatoyinbo, Connon, Stuart, Brocklebank, McGuigan, McCallum, Usher, Hodgson, Gordon, Christie, Mafi. Replacements: Fletcher, Hancock, Rewcastle, Baker, Neild, Cruz, …