Rugby Union

Sale Sharks and England prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour is set to miss the next six weeks with an elbow injury. He hyperextended the joint in the opening scrum of Sale’s Prem defeat by Exeter Chiefs on Friday. The 21-year-old, who featured in two of England’s four internationals last month, has started …

Available for over a year Chris, Tom and GRO bring you immediate reaction to the draw for the 2027 World Cup. England and Wales meet in Pool F while we can look forward to another instalment of the ‘Tom English derby’ as Scotland and Ireland were drawn together for the …

Ulster back row Juarno Augustus said that his side are preparing to face a “physical” Racing 92 side in Friday’s Challenge Cup opener (20:00 GMT). Richie Murphy’s side have had a good start to the United Rugby Championship season, picking up four wins from their five games. Racing 92 are …

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter says the postponement of proposed global franchise league R360 is positive for the Prem. The new league was set to start next year, but has been put back until at least 2028. Most global unions and the British & Irish Lions had said players …

New Zealand and Harlequins forward Layla Sae has been ruled out of the rest of the Premiership Women’s Rugby season after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Sae joined Quins last month as injury cover on a deal until the end of March. The 25-year-old, who has 19 caps for …

Bristol Bears boss Pat Lam has labelled returning centre James Williams as “the glue” which he hopes will keep his side’s midfield together this season. Williams, 28, made his return to league action following a couple of months out through injury during Bristol’s comfortable 46-12 victory against high-flying Northampton Saints …

Available for over a year Danny, Ashy and Chris dissect another dismal day for Wales as they end 2025 with a record home defeat. How much would the young Welsh players actually have learned from their 73-0 defeat to South Africa? We also discuss Eben Etzebeth’s red card for the …

Former Ireland full-back Rob Kearney has told the BBC’s Ireland Rugby Social podcast that he expects “big changes” in rugby union guidelines over the “next three to six months” to improve the game as a spectacle. Talking to BBC Sport NI’s Gavin Andrews and former Ireland team-mate Conor Murray, Kearney …

Sale Sharks have signed winger Gurshwin Wehr on a short-term deal until February 2026. Having started his career with Griffons, the 27-year-old turned out for South African side Griquas last season, where he won the Currie Cup. He joins as injury cover for Joe Carpenter, who is recovering from an …

Two pacey finishes – the first an 80m interception, the second the match-winner – took him to six tries in six games, while a clever chip kick helped set up impressive number eight Arthur Green’s score. But just as important to Johann van Graan, who compared Arundell’s top-end speed to …

Available for over a year It’s finally happened. The stars aligned and we managed to get Ashy and his old sparring partner Manu Tuilagi in the same room to talk about that infamous moment at Welford Road 14 years ago. Chris helps us finally get to the bottom of what …

Available for over a year In episode two of our bumper Champions Cup preview, Ashy and Chris catch up with Lions hero Hugo Keenan who reflects on his winning try in the MCG and Leinster’s ambition to add fifth star to the jersey. High-flying Sale winger Tom Roebuck looks back …

Saracens: Daly; Caluori, Cinti, Tompkins, Malins; Farrell, Van Zyl; Carre, Dan, Riccioni, McFarland, Tizard, Gonzalez, Earl, Willis Replacements: Hadfield, Mawi, Street, Wilson, Isiekwe, C Bracken, Burke, Hall Bath: De Glanville; Cokanasiga, Harris, Butt, Arundell; Russell, Spencer; Obano, Dunn, Du Toit, Roux, Ewels, Bayliss, Reid, Green Replacements: Frost, Van Wyk, Stuart, …

Earl, who can play at flanker and number eight, has established himself as a key player for club and country and has scored seven tries in 46 international caps. He played in all four games of England’s Six Nations title-winning campaign in 2020 and was part of Steve Borthwick’s side …

Wales captain Dewi Lake insists a record 73-0 defeat by South Africa will not dent his side’s confidence, but will instead drive the squad to improve. Lake said the record home loss had only emphasised the size of the gap Wales must close and will fuel the squad rather than …

Both sides put their 100% starts to the season on the line coming into the game and it was the visitors who suffered an early setback when second row Connor Evans received a yellow card for a deliberate obstruction just three minutes in. Crowley skewed the resulting penalty wide but …

Bristol: Jordan; Bates, van Rensburg, Williams, Ravouvou; Worsley, Marmion; Woolmore, Thacker, Chawatama; Rubiolo, Batley, Grondona, Harding (c), Mata. Replacements: Oghre, Lahiff, Halliwell, Owen, Ivanishvili, Wolstenholme, Rees-Zammit, Boshoff. Northampton: Furbank (c); Todaro, Litchfield, Thame, Caqusau; Smith, McParland; Iyogun, Wright, Davison; Prowse, van der Mescht, Kemeny, Graham, Chick. Replacements: Smith, West, Kundiona, …

Francesca McGhie got Trailfinders off the mark inside three minutes but visitors Saracens replied quickly, going level with a score from Sydney Gregson. With relentless attacking play, Saracens turned their trailing start into a 26-point half-time advantage with further tries from Marlie Packer, Alysha Corrigan, Lotte Sharp and Campbell. There …

Gloucester: Redshaw; Russell, Joseph, S. Atkinson, Thorley; Byrne, Williams (c); Knight, Blake, Gotovtsev; Thomas, Alemanno, Gwynne, Ludlow, Trenholm. Replacements: Freeman-Price, Rapava Ruskin, Fasogbon, Jordan, Basham, Austin, C. Atkinson, Cotgreave. Harlequins: Anderson; Isgro, Beard, Evans, Murley; Smith, Porter; Baxter, Walker, Lamositele; Lewies, Treadwell, Cunningham-South, Evans, Dombrandt (c). Replacements: Turner, Wenger, Delgado, …

In the six seasons between 2015 and 2021, Exeter were champions of England twice and runners-up on the other four occasions. While in 2020, they became European champions when they defeated French side Racing 92 in the final. However, since losing in the Prem final in 2021, Exeter have failed …