Rugby News
Wales captain wants energy from home supporters
Galthié beefs up pack for visit of in-form Italy
The Wales captain, Dewi Lake, has urged fans in Cardiff to lift his side for the Six Nations meeting with Scotland on Saturday.
After last week’s record thrashing by France, Wales have lost 13 consecutive Six Nations matches, while Scotland arrive at the Principality Stadium in upbeat mood after their handsome Calcutta Cup triumph over England.
Continue reading...England captain reaches milestone against Ireland
Itoje: ‘I know she would have loved the occasion’
Maro Itoje says his late mother will be at Twickenham in spirit when the England captain wins his 100th cap in the Six Nations showdown with Ireland on Saturday.
After Florence Itoje died in December, the Saracens second-row was absent from the start of England’s pre-tournament training camp in Girona to attend her funeral in Nigeria.
Continue reading...Do satellite channels have a future? Is free-to-air as important as it was? Will Netflix and Prime make moves?
What were once a DVD postal service, an online bookstore and an American cable channel renowned for showing B movies in motel rooms are now heavyweights in the sports broadcasting market. Netflix and Amazon have changed the global landscape, leaving TNT Sports under pressure to hold on to its subscribers.
I spent the last Super League off-season living in a stable (true story) with no access to satellite or cable, but still got my sports fix via free-to-air networks and subscriptions to Premier Sports, Prime Video and Netflix. I was fully sated on a diet of live rugby union, football, cricket, NFL and NBA – all for less than a Sky Sports or TNT subscription. So how will the increased competition between broadcasters affect league and union viewers?
Continue reading...Captain’s moment must be celebrated at Twickenham on Saturday, as should Edwin Edogbo’s first Ireland cap
I was struck by Tommy Freeman’s comments this week when he said he had struggled mentally on the back of the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia last summer. It struck me because it was a very similar sentiment to that expressed by Maro Itoje earlier in the season, and it was a feeling with which I could sympathise. After the 2009 tour of South Africa, I was wrecked.
All but one of the England lads who went on that tour needed major surgery within a year of it finishing but, even if the body is holding up, you just don’t quite feel right. You’re back at your club, expected to be one of the best performers and don’t want to admit you’re tired, but sometimes you need someone to intervene and tell you to take a breather. There’s endless data these days but, for all that, mental fatigue can be hard to quantify and there can be no doubt that is something the Ireland squad is wrestling with at the moment.
Continue reading...Have you been following the big stories in football, rugby union, MMA, rugby league, skiing, skeleton and cricket?
Continue reading...‘We will see huge amount of damage from social media’
England captain’s 100th cap in crunch clash with Ireland
The England captain, Maro Itoje, has warned of the corrosive effect of social media on professional athletes and wider society before the crucial Six Nations encounter with Ireland on Saturday.
Itoje will win his 100th England cap at Twickenham in what has become a must-win game for the hosts after last weekend’s deflating defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield. The buildup has been marred by racist abuse on social media of the Ireland second row Edwin Edogbo, after the 23-year-old made his debut from the replacements’ bench in their win against Italy in round two.
Continue reading...Five changes to the XV that stunned England
Wales call up Bath-born Gabriel Hamer-Webb
Gregor Townsend expects Blair Kinghorn and Duhan van der Merwe to be fuelled by “huge determination” against Wales after they were restored to Scotland’s starting XV for Saturday’s Six Nations meeting in Cardiff.
The British & Irish Lions duo were high-profile omissions from the 23 for the first two championship matches against Italy and England amid question marks about their form. The Toulouse back Kinghorn will start at full-back in place of Tom Jordan, who drops to the bench, while Van der Merwe, Scotland’s record try-scorer, returns at wing to take over from Jamie Dobie, who is out due to injury.
Continue reading...Ireland’s pack was rocked by Italy in their Six Nations meeting and England have taken note
Two snapshots will be nagging away in Irish minds before Saturday’s visit to south-west London. The first is the sobering sight of Tadhg Furlong and Dan Sheehan, both distinguished British & Irish Lions, being rocketed skywards by Italy’s power in the set scrums last Saturday. The second dates back 14 years to another Anglo-Irish contest that epitomised the “no scrum, no win” ethos that remains non-negotiable at the highest level.
The airborne Furlong footage has certainly caught the eye of England’s front-rowers and a quick dip into the archives will also remind both teams of what can happen when things up front go pear-shaped. In 2012, Ireland were left badly exposed when Mike Ross injured his neck at the first scrum and ended up conceding a penalty try, six scrum penalties and three scrums against the head as they subsided to a humbling 30-9 defeat.
Continue reading...Prop gets erroneous credit for Traitors appearance
‘Who am I to correct her? I didn’t really know what to say’
Anyone who tuned in to the celebrity version of The Traitors last year will be familiar with the former England rugby player Joe Marler. With the exception, it turns out, of Princess Anne who was involved in a case of mistaken identity during the Calcutta Cup pre-match formalities at Murrayfield last Saturday.
Clearly unaware Marler had retired from rugby 15 months ago, the Princess Royal stopped for a chat with her new favourite prop while being introduced to the England team in her role as patron of Scottish Rugby. She even confided how amusing she had found him on Celebrity Traitors, which would have been fine had the player in front of her been Marler rather than another bearded English front-rower, Joe Heyes.
Continue reading...Longstanding owner Neil Hudgell has revived club and the Super League champions take on Brisbane Broncos with the world crown up for grabs
To appreciate the absolute highs, you perhaps have to first experience the ultimate lows: when Hull KR walk out for Thursday’s World Club Challenge, few will be better placed to say they have done that quite like their longstanding owner, Neil Hudgell.
The Super League champions will aim to be crowned the world’s best club rugby league side for the first time when they take on the NRL’s Brisbane Broncos. To satisfy the unprecedented demand, they have taken ownership of the venue of their great rivals, Hull FC, for one night only – with 25,000 supporters, double the capacity of their Craven Park home, buying tickets in record time.
Continue reading...Steve Borthwick’s response to stinging defeat in Scotland is to hand a first start to English rugby’s young tyro
A week can be a long time in the Six Nations, never mind in politics. One minute England are contemplating title showdowns in Paris, the next they face a must-win game against Ireland to remain in contention. A swift riposte to the defeat in Scotland last weekend is required urgently and Steve Borthwick’s team selection reflects the management’s desire for a significant gear change.
It has clearly played straight into the hands of Henry Pollock, whose ambition to start for England is about to be realised after seven caps off the bench. His promotion reflects the need to re-energise all involved in the Murrayfield meltdown, as does the starting return of Tom Curry and Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman’s shift back to the wing and Marcus Smith’s bench resurrection.
Continue reading...Henry Pollock to make first Six Nations start on Saturday
Coach hails player who can ‘thrive on’ commotion
Steve Borthwick has backed Henry Pollock to thrive in the face of any wind-up tactics from Ireland on his first England start on Saturday, tipping his rising star to bring “euphoria” to Twickenham.
Pollock comes into the side at No 8 as England seek to get their Six Nations campaign back on track. He will go up against a raft of players and coaches with whom he rubbed shoulders on the British & Irish Lions tour of Australia last summer. Borthwick, however, has challenged the 21‑year‑old player to express himself in front of the Twickenham crowd.
Continue reading...Antoine Dupont and Matthieu Jalibert have thrilled during Les Bleus’ storming start to the Six Nations
The greatest double acts roll off the tongue. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Morecambe and Wise, Lennon and McCartney. It’s the same in sport: Lillee and Thomson, Torvill and Dean, Redgrave and Pinsent. After a while their individual talents complement each other so perfectly it becomes hard to mention one without the other.
Which is what is now happening on the rugby fields of Europe. For Butch and Sundance read Antoine Dupont and Matthieu Jalibert, the creative partnership behind a France team weaving the prettiest of Six Nations patterns. Between them “Jalipont” are helping to fashion some of the most spectacular attacking rugby anyone could wish for.
Continue reading...Premiership-winning Canterbury winger hit in stomach and leg in Greenacre shooting
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Former NRL star Matt Utai is in hospital fighting for his life after being shot multiple times on his front lawn, in what police are treating as an ambush attack with no clear motive.
The 2004 premiership-winning Canterbury winger was left with serious leg wounds after the attack in Greenacre, in western Sydney, at about 6am on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Northampton coaches eased post-Lions burden
England back played 34 games last season
England’s Tommy Freeman has revealed the extent of his mental struggles after the victorious British & Irish Lions tour of Australia at the end of a season when he exceeded the player welfare limits for the number of appearances.
Freeman played in 34 games last season – 19 for Northampton, nine for England and six for the Lions – and has spoken of a “built-up anxiety” as a result of the workload. The mandated limit is 30, but players were given dispensation for the Lions tour on the proviso they were allowed five weeks off on returning from Australia and missed the first two rounds of the 2025-26 season.
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