Category: Rugby

Rugby News

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The Breakdown | Prendergast to Pollock via Paris: winners and losers from rugby’s ultimate weekender

A 72-hour TV blizzard was a test of sofa stamina as Ireland and England shone while South Africa looked ominous

By Sunday night one question swamped all else. When does a diet of endless televised rugby become too much of a good thing? People are well used to three consecutive Six Nations games on “Super Saturday” but the weekend was on a whole new level. It must have ranked among the most relentless 72-hour blizzards of rugby broadcasting in the game’s history.

The Breakdown, naturally, was keen to get among it. Friday night’s Ireland v Argentina game on ITV had its moments, happily, although not as many as England A v Argentina on YouTube. On Saturday, with South Africa 45-0 up against Italy by half-time, there was a case for covering the screen with a Turin shroud. Either way it was time for the haka in Murrayfield before Scotland v New Zealand, subsequently interspersed with an absorbing Champ game between Cornish Pirates and Richmond on Clubber TV.

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Feyi-Waboso and Tom Curry out of Nations Championship in fresh blow to England

  • Wing Feyi-Waboso sustained ankle injury on Sunday

  • Tom Curry out for rest of November with hip injury

England have been rocked by multiple injury blows after Immanuel Feyi‑Waboso and Tom Curry were ruled out of the rest of their autumn campaign. George Furbank, Ollie Chessum and Seb Atkinson are also expected to miss the clash with Japan on Saturday, with the two-try hero Henry Pollock in line for a rare start in a much-changed XV.

Feyi-Waboso sustained an ankle injury in the first half of the 45-22 victory against Australia on Sunday and will miss games against Japan, New Zealand and England’s match on finals weekend. Tom Curry, who sustained a hip injury while ­training last week, is also out for the rest of November.

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Borthwick gets a glimpse of first-choice back three – before injuries strike again | Gerard Meagher

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman and George Furbank can make an impact at the World Cup next year, providing they can stay fit

Rugby, at its heart, is a simple game. Win the collisions and you’ll more than likely win the match. Rule the skies, own the floor and the chances are you’ll end up on the right side of the ledger. Put square pegs in square holes and you can achieve the sort of attacking fluidity required for a record score against Australia. The complicated bit, once you stop trying to put them in round holes, is keeping those square pegs fit.

England’s emphatic win against the Wallabies on Sunday was the first time in two years Borthwick has been able to field a back three of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman and George Furbank. It was also the first time they have lined up with 11, 14 and 15 on their respective backs.

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Australia 44-12 Samoa: men’s Rugby League World Cup semi-final – as it happened

The NRL’s form referee, Adam Gee, is in charge of tonight’s proceedings.

Conditions: The south east of Australia is experiencing an unseasonal cold snap so tonight’s temperature will be around 15C, but made to feel much colder thanks to a serious southerly. We saw last night how much a strong wind can impact a game so both teams will need to be wise to the conditions and adjust accordingly.

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Steve Tandy warns Wales to be more ruthless after edgy win against Japan

  • Wales 28-21 Japan

  • Head coach wants more in New Zealand Test

Steve Tandy has admitted there is no hiding from his team’s below-par performance ⁠in their 28-21 home Nations Championship victory over Japan on Saturday where they looked flat at times and kept their ⁠opponents in the ⁠contest.

Wales recorded a bonus-point win as Josh Adams twice, Archie Griffin and Louis Rees-Zammit crossed, but they had to produce a desperate rearguard in the final moments to prevent Japan from an equalising score and a famous draw.

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New Zealand down spirited Tonga to reach Rugby League World Cup final

  • New Zealand 34-10 Tonga

  • Kiwis come from behind and will face Australia or Samoa

What had been billed as one of the most intriguing Rugby League World Cup semi-finals in history was, in the end, a brutal exposé of the standards the world’s chasing nations must rise to in order to match Australia and New Zealand.

Few nations have as close a connection to the rise of international rugby league quite like the Kiwis and Tonga. After all, it was Jason Taumalolo’s decision to switch his international allegiance from New Zealand to the Mate Ma’a in 2017 which lit the touchpaper for the rise of nations such as Samoa and Tonga, leading to a plethora of the world’s best players following suit.

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New Zealand reach Women’s Rugby League World Cup final as Waaka hat-trick sinks Samoa

  • Kiwi Ferns defeat Fetu Samoa 32-0 in semi-final

  • Centre Waaka scores three of Kiwi Ferns’ seven tries

A Stacey Waaka hat-trick has helped secure New Zealand their place in the Women’s Rugby League World Cup final.

The Kiwi Ferns were rarely threatened in their 32-0 victory over an inexperienced Fetu Samoa in Newcastle, running away with it late with four tries in the final 12 minutes on Saturday afternoon. The dual international Waaka made the most of her opportunities, setting up New Zealand’s early first try, before securing three of her own. With her hat-trick, Waaka drew level with Australia winger Jaime Chapman atop the tournament’s try-scoring tally with nine.

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England have been backed into a corner – it should bring out their best against Australia | Ugo Monye

Maro Itoje must make sure his side’s emotions do not boil over and the breakdown battle will be pivotal

England are riled up, they feel backed into a corner and if history shows us anything, it is that they tend to perform when their backs are against the wall. It’s a very English trait and Steve Borthwick’s tenure has been punctuated with performances when his side feel as though they have a point to prove. The players certainly have that as they begin their autumn campaign against Australia.

It actually makes me more confident in an England victory. They will have a siege mentality, just as they did against France in the Six Nations – they might not have won that match but it was the best performance of the campaign by some distance. They will want to put on a real show of unity and that can have a galvanising effect. I was nervous about this fixture at the start of the week; I’m less so now.

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Australia need a way to turn moments into momentum to revive spirits

The Wallabies have a squad capable of magic but doubts remain over whether their talents can be knitted into a great team

There are moments when Australia look like a team that can take on the world. Moments when they’re trailing by two in the 83rd minute at Twickenham and all of a sudden Len Ikitau has snapped an underhand pass through to Max Jorgensen and he’s haring down the wing to score in the corner. Moments when Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has ripped his way around Tom Curry, inside Bundee Aki, and over Tadhg Beirne, to send Tom Wright racing into the empty space of the British and Irish Lions backfield. Moments when they’re down to 11 men and defending a four-point lead with five to play against the Springboks, and somehow come out of it with a win.

And then there’s the rest of it. There’s never yet been a Wallabies team that didn’t have these flickers and sparks of ability in them, but it has been a long time since there has been one that could do it often enough, for long enough to win, and then all over again in the next Test and the one after. They lost all four Tests on tour in Europe last autumn, and two more in the summer besides. Then they went on an unbeaten run through six more against Italy, Japan, Argentina and South Africa before being knocked on to their backsides by the All Blacks in back-to-back defeats in the Bledisloe Cup, 31 points one week, 22 the next.

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Injury crises and Borthwick under scrutiny: it’s that time of year again for England rugby

Sunday’s hosts need to stop looking for excuses and focus on what they can control to kick off the Nations Championsip against battle-hardened Australia

Several things are increasingly guaranteed from an English rugby perspective around this time of year. Bang on cue the injury news and the weather both start to worsen. Cracks in the relationship between the players and their head coach, in this case Steve Borthwick, begin to surface. And as the crowds stream up from Twickenham railway station past the biltong and burger stalls, no one has much idea what to expect.

This year it has been the same old story. Particularly on the injury front. If Tom Curry, Alex Mitchell and Archie McParland had not all been hurt on the Bagshot training pitch, all three would probably be in England’s matchday 23. With Guy Pepper, Benhard van Rensburg, Sam Underhill, Kepu Tuipulotu and Chandler Cunningham-South also out of the running, the squad is not quite as fizzing with energy and dynamism as it might be.

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Fin Smith fit to face Australia as Ben Curry replaces injured twin Tom in England line-up

  • Maro Itoje captains England after missing summer Tests

  • Concerns Tom Curry may miss all Nations Championship

Fin Smith has successfully come through his final fitness Test to be named at fly-half for England’s autumn opener against Australia while Ben Curry is selected at openside flanker for the first time since the summer of 2025.

Steve Borthwick has made four changes to the side that beat Argentina in July with George Furbank also coming in at fullback, Maro Itoje returning to captain the side and Fin Baxter getting the nod at loosehead prop. The Exeter back-row Greg Fisilau is in line for a debut from the bench.

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