Category: Rugby

Rugby News

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Steve Borthwick sidesteps questions over future if England lose to Fiji

  • Janse van Rensburg, Caluori and Kloska to make debuts

  • Head coach: ‘My conversations with the RFU are private’


Steve Borthwick says he and his players are also feeling “the hurt and pain” caused by England’s losing streak but has sidestepped questions about his job security if his team are beaten by Fiji on Saturday. The head coach has not tasted victory since early February and will come under significant external pressure should his side slip to a sixth successive Test defeat at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium.

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Wallabies name Declan Meredith for Test debut against France as injuries mount up

  • Australia call up flyhalf to face back-to-back Six Nations champions

  • Jock Campbell replaced by Tom Wright in starting XV in Brisbane

Declan Meredith will debut against France as the reconfigured Wallabies paper over the cracks created by more soft-tissue injury carnage in Brisbane.

The ACT Brumbies flyhalf will wear the No 10 against the back-to-back Six Nations champions at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.

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‘No one can take it from me’: the rugby league players with one England cap

England coach Brian McDermott has just one international cap – and so do a surprising number of brilliant players

By No Helmets Required

Brian McDermott may have ended as many England careers as he has launched. The new head coach has picked a pool of 38 players who will train together in the buildup to the World Cup in October. He may have inadvertently handed a few players membership to an exclusive club. The surprising omission of Hull KR captain Elliot Minchella, the continued absence of quadruple-winning winger Tom Davies, along with the injured Wigan winger Liam Marshall and Catalans hooker Kruise Leeming suggests they will be joining the England one-cap club.

McDermott has picked 10 uncapped players, five of whom are middle forwards: Dean Hadley (Hull KR), Sam Walters (Wigan), Caleb Hamlin-Uele (Wakefield), Ben Talty (Brisbane Broncos) and Max King (Canterbury Bulldogs). All were chosen instead of Minchella and Owen Trout.

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Janse van Rensburg poised to face Fiji as England look to rebound from Boks defeat

  • Uncapped back set for Nations Championship call-up

  • Squad aims to bounce back at Hill Dickinson Stadium

England’s rugby players could be forgiven for wondering which way is up. On Sunday they were in South Africa, next Monday they will be in South America and they are now in sub‑Saharan Surrey preparing to face Fiji in Liverpool this Saturday. Ironically it is warmer in Bagshot this week than it is in Suva, albeit with fewer coral reefs and fresh coconuts.

Regardless of the rotating backdrop, though, there is no ­disguising the lingering disappointment of the 45-21 defeat against the ­Springboks in Johannesburg last weekend. ­Victory at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium would not repair everything overnight but there is widespread ­acceptance within the camp that they need to rebound strongly on Saturday.

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‘Appalled’ Wigan report racial abuse aimed at Nsemba after Magic Weekend

  • England player subject of racial abuse on social media

  • Club issue strong statement condemning incident

Wigan Warriors have reported the racial abuse aimed at Junior Nsemba after Super League’s Magic Weekend to the police with their coach, Matt Peet, calling on the sport to stamp out the treatment to which the 22-year-old was subjected.

The England international was the subject of racist comments on social media in the aftermath of Wigan’s victory over St Helens at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday evening. The Warriors have confirmed the matter has been referred to the relevant authorities and the Rugby Football League, while also issuing a strongly worded statement.

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The Breakdown | Will anyone stop the Springboks completing a Rugby World Cup three-peat?

Door is ajar for Rassie Erasmus’ side to surpass All Blacks when leading sides converge on Australia next year

The best sports teams constantly look to reinvent themselves. Their core principles remain in place but, crucially, they never, ever stand still. To do so is to risk slipping backwards relative to their competitors and arrive at the worst of all possible outcomes: a poorer, less successful version of themselves.

The ultimate example in rugby, until now, has probably been the All Blacks. For decades it was not only about winning the next game, but underlining their position, to quote one of their motivational whiteboard slogans from 2013, as “the most dominant team in the history of the world”. When you are chasing that kind of rarefied target you don’t allow the grass grow beneath your jandals.

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Wallabies were brave and brilliant against Ireland but still miss some key ingredients | Daniel Gallan

If Australia can keep playing with the same amount of ambition, skill and speed they showed in Sydney, they will trouble anyone in the Nations Championship

Did anyone inside the sold-out Allianz Stadium, or watching around the world, really expect Ben Donaldson to slot the game-winning kick at the death? A few minutes earlier, when his team still held a slender five-point lead, he had the ball on a tee a little closer to the poles and a little further away from the right touchline. That effort curled across the face of goal and never threatened to sneak inside the upright.

This one was more of a challenge. Just about the toughest challenge a right-footed kicker can encounter. He struck it better but started it too far to the right without the requisite bend. And as the ball sailed wide, it seemed to carry with it the story of Australia’s afternoon. Brave and brilliant, frenetic and entertaining, but ultimately still missing some crucial ingredients as they went down 31-33.

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Super League’s summer roadshow saves itself with Magic Weekend at Everton

After talk of shelving the concept 80,000 are set to descend on Merseyside this weekend to watch a round of fixtures inside 48 hours

Super League’s big summer roadshow returns for its 20th edition when Magic Weekend breaks both new ground in Liverpool and a whole host of records at Hill Dickinson Stadium likely bringing a sigh of relief that the concept was given a stay of execution.

Some clubs wanted Magic gone from the calendar and replaced with events such as a Nines festival or even replacing it with an on-the-road event for the Challenge Cup quarter-finals. But those critics will be silenced this weekend when more than 80,000 supporters head to Merseyside: 10,000 more than the previous best crowd for Magic a decade ago in Newcastle.

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Jock Campbell returns to Wallabies side to face Ireland after 1,316-day exile

  • Fullback has been in good form ahead of Nations Championship

  • James Slipper out of retirement as replacement loosehead prop

Jock Campbell will start at fullback in his first Test since late ⁠2022 when Australia take on Ireland in their first Nations Championship Test on Saturday.

Campbell ⁠played the last ⁠of his ​four Tests in Australia’s first ever loss to Italy in Florence in 2022, but had an ⁠impressive season in Super Rugby.

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‘I winged it for 17 years and continue to wing it now’: Joe Marler on rugby, retirement and role-play slang

The former England prop talks about his concern for modern players, his style and how he deals with fame

By No Helmets Required

As England prepare for their first match in the Nations Championship against South Africa and The Celebrity Traitors returns to our screens, Joe Marler – recently central to both – joins us for a chat about player welfare, Stephen Fry’s slang and the importance of men looking out for each other.

How much did you plan your exit route from rugby? Did your post-rugby career just fall into place?
“I would say my post-rugby experiences have followed my rugby experiences in the sense that I winged it for 17 years and continue to wing it now. There’s a distinct lack of planning on my behalf. I’m just very fortunate that I’ve got some lovely people around me who are far more intelligent and attentive to detail, and navigate me in the right ways.”

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