Category: Rugby

Rugby News

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Judge in rugby brain injury lawsuit tells legal teams to hurry up as cases drag on

  • Five years on and little progress made, says judge

  • Litigants have until October to choose 28 lead claimants

The judge overseeing the pretrial phase of the two landmark litigation cases about brain injuries in rugby has issued another rebuke to the legal teams on both sides over their lack of progress.

Senior Master Jeremy Cook started the latest round of case management hearings by reminding both the defendants and the claimants that “it won’t have escaped anybody’s notice that some of these claims are now over five years old, and we haven’t made much progress”. Since the cases involve claims of degenerative brain diseases, Cook said, time is at a premium.

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Sale warn England ‘superhuman’ Tom Curry needs time off to prolong career

  • Sanderson suggests player should miss summer tour

  • Back-rower sustained calf injury during Six Nations

Alex Sanderson has warned that Tom Curry’s physical playing style will shorten his career and has suggested England should give him the summer off with the World Cup next year in mind.

The back-rower sustained a calf injury in the warmup for England’s Six Nations defeat by Italy in Rome. Sanderson, the Sale director of rugby, said on Tuesday that Curry has a grade-three calf tear and “he’ll be back this season” – but when remains unclear. “With Tom being superhuman the usual layoff times tend to be diminished because of his character and physique,” Sanderson said.

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Six Nations 2026: our writers pick their tournament highlights

From the brilliance of Bielle-Biarrey to Carré’s jaw-dropping try, our highs and lows from a sensational championship

Player of the tournament Impossible to look past Louis Bielle-Biarrey who, among assorted records, has become the first player to score a try in every Six Nations game in successive seasons. But Italy’s Tommaso Menoncello and Ireland’s Stuart McCloskey also deserve a podium place.

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Still crazy: chaotic Six Nations showed the timeless appeal of great sporting drama | Robert Kitson

France’s dramatic triumph was proof that Test rugby played at full throttle ranks among the most compelling spectacles

L’Équipe’s front page headline summed it up perfectly. “So Crazy” did not just reflect Saturday night’s dizzying blur of a game in the Stade de France but pretty much the entire 2026 men’s Six Nations championship. Wales beat Italy who defeated Scotland who beat France who beat Ireland who beat England who, you’ve guessed it, beat Wales. Rugby, eh?

And maybe that is the single biggest takeaway from the most extraordinary Six Nations of them all. Never mind the players and the coaches, spare a thought for all those distractedly pouring orange juice on their cereal as they vainly try to rationalise six weeks of madness. The world’s oldest championship still manages to refresh parts others cannot reach.

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Paris paradox: did Borthwick liberate England or was it down to player power? | Gerard Meagher

Despite a huge upswing in performance against France, the head coach still has a case to answer for what went wrong in the Six Nations

Did England play like that because of Steve Borthwick or in spite of him? For all that the Rugby Football Union will deep dive, look under the bonnet, get into the weeds – pick your own favourite bit of corporate speak – it is the fundamental question that Bill Sweeney and his review panel must ask in the coming weeks. Did Borthwick liberate his players against France, or did they take matters into their own hands?

As usual, the panel will include input from Sweeney and Conor O’Shea as well as those from outside the building who insist on anonymity. It is said that despite the huge upswing in performance in defeat against France, the RFU is still determined to establish what went wrong during this Six Nations. That is a positive sign because when the dust settles, this still goes down as their worst-ever championship. The noises coming from the RFU suggest that they will not be blinded by the razzle-dazzle in Paris, that Borthwick still has a case to answer.

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George backs Borthwick to lead England at World Cup and takes aim at South Africa

  • Coach ‘the perfect person’ to lead side into World Cup

  • Springboks game ‘an amazing opportunity’ for players

Jamie George has insisted England can go toe-to-toe with South Africa when they lock horns with the world champions in July and believes his side will be among the favourites for next year’s World Cup if Steve Borthwick remains as head coach.

England are on a disappointing run of four straight defeats but, while Saturday’s 48-46 loss to France condemned them to their worst Six Nations campaign, the manner in which Borthwick’s side performed – scoring seven tries in Paris – has given rise to renewed optimism.

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Townsend endures familiar script with Ireland’s green energy overpowering Scotland | Luke McLaughlin

Slips at key moments proved costly with Andy Farrell’s team able to easily maintain a stranglehold on this fixture

There were some Ireland fans who even said they would not begrudge Scotland victory, the triple crown, and, potentially, a first Six Nations title. There was a sense Gregor Townsend’s side had earned their day in the sun, somehow, especially after the glorious fourth-round triumph against France. And this Ireland team have certainly had their share of vitamin D against Scotland.

Ireland’s players, it soon became clear, did not see it that way. They were visibly keen to remind Scotland that no one is owed anything in elite sport. This was meant to be a transitional season for them, but the quality of this performance penned a depressingly familiar script from a Scottish perspective.

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England need to use their eyes and leave gameplan behind to overturn odds in Paris | Ugo Monye

Steve Borthwick must throw off the shackles in Paris to inject some attacking energy into his far-too predictable side

The inquest into England’s Six Nations campaign has already started and when that is the case before the championship has even finished it is never a good sign. Everyone has their own opinions on what is wrong and I’m sure that is the same within the squad too. When you are on runs like England are, different players come up with different reasons for their problems and different fixes – and that makes the situation all the more difficult.

If there is one thing holding England back it is their gameplan. I don’t say that as a reaction to these three defeats, I felt that they stagnated during the autumn and tightened things up despite chalking up four victories. The best illustration I can give is the 2024 tournament. England had lost to Scotland, went to York in the fallow week, contrived to throw off the shackles in attack and it paid immediate dividends.

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Process is progress as Scotland seek Six Nations title eliminator triumph

After 11 straight defeats against Ireland, victory in Dublin would vindicate Gregor Townsend’s faith in his players

Trusting the process. It sounds like a fine idea in principle: although it really depends if your process was any good in the first place.

Gregor Townsend faced down a familiar cacophony of criticism after Scotland’s opening defeat by Italy last month. The same old shortcomings had been exposed, it was said, and another year of disappointment beckoned. Townsend had insisted the embarrassing capitulation against Argentina in November, from 21-0 ahead, was a “line in the sand moment” – only to see that line swiftly washed away in the sheeting Roman rain.

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Desperation and destiny on the line when Wales and Italy collide in Cardiff

Two sides on different recent trajectories meet with Steve Tandy finding cause for optimism despite another wooden spoon looming

Which is the sharper motivator, the avoidance of fresh humiliation or the attainment of new heights? Cardiff could be the place this weekend for any students of psychology more interested in such nuances than anything so obvious as an actual attempt to win the title.

Suffice to say, neither Wales nor Italy can win the Six Nations this weekend, nor exert any influence on its outcome. It is mathematically possible for Wales to knock England into last place for the first time in the extended championship’s history, but students of mathematics needn’t bother. For the record, Wales would need to win with a bonus point and, in concert with France, who play England, cover their current deficit of 100 in points difference.

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Fans storm field as South Sydney veteran Alex Johnston breaks NRL try-scoring record

  • Wild celebrations during game despite threat of fines

  • Winger scores 213th try of his career against Roosters

Thousands of fans have stormed onto the field at Allianz Stadium to celebrate South Sydney veteran Alex Johnston breaking the NRL’s try-scoring record.

The winger entered the history books when a break down the left edge put him over for his 213th career try, and his second in Friday’s clash with bitter rivals Sydney Roosters.

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‘That day changed my life’: when Italy beat England in rugby league

Italy have finally beaten England at rugby union. Their rugby league team did it at the first attempt

By No Helmets Required

In a bar at the Valle d’Aosta ski resort last Saturday evening, there were only two people celebrating when Tommaso Menoncello raced away to seal Italy’s first win against England in rugby union, at the 33rd attempt. One of them was on the field the day Italy beat England at rugby league. Not that Gioele Celerino told the England fans who surrounded him and his pal, offering congratulations on Italy’s historic triumph. “I was too humble!” he jokes. “In the pub, everyone came over to me and the other guy and said ‘congratulations’ like we had just finished playing!”

Celerino was part of the team that beat England in a warm-up match before the World Cup in October 2013. Steve McNamara’s star-studded England side – Kevin Sinfield, Rob Burrow, Sam Tomkins et all – were stunned by an Italy team drawn from Australia, France, Argentina and England, coached by Carlo Napolitano, the son of Salford restaurateurs.

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