Rugby – Page 10 – Worldwide Sports News

October 31, 2024

Joe Marler’s haka remark acts as added incentive for All Blacks

New Zealand are unlikely to lack motivation with squad feeling disrespected and England can expect a backlash

There are all sorts of ways a team might get ready for a big match against the All Blacks. Fair to say that the tactic of actively going out of your way to pissing them off, which is the one England seem to have gone for this week, comes in a way down the list. Joe Marler’s original tweet that the haka is “ridiculous” and “needs binning” has gone down like cold sick with New Zealanders.

“I’m wondering if he wishes he could have articulated himself a little bit better,” said their head coach, Scott Robertson, on Thursday. “The haka is not just about the All Blacks, it is about New Zealand as a country, it means a lot to us.”

October 31, 2024

Canterbury sack Josh Addo-Carr over failed drugs test

15-time NSW State of Origin representative failed roadside test
29-year-old was pulled over by police in September

Josh Addo-Carr has been sacked by NRL club Canterbury with immediate effect after failing a roadside drugs test in September.

Addo-Carr’s fate was sealed on Thursday when the Australian Test winger was forced to front the Bulldogs board of directors and explain why he should not have his contract torn up.

October 30, 2024

Tupou Vaa’i: ‘Playing for All Blacks is a good way to show my love for my brother’

New Zealand forward on handling the emotion of losing a sibling at a young age and Jonah Lomu’s career impact

For years the names barely changed. Between them Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick played 262 Tests for New Zealand, breaking the record for the most capped second-row pairing in international rugby. By the end they made Stonehenge feel like a temporary art installation and their departures removed the twin pillars upon which the best modern All Black sides were built.

So no pressure on those following in their giant footsteps. Scott Barrett at least hails from one of rugby’s most famous family dynasties but perhaps the most intriguing member of New Zealand’s recent starting packs is the less celebrated Tupou Vaa’i. Tucked away behind the vowels is a man with a deeply moving backstory and an inner drive to match anyone on the field at Twickenham this weekend.

October 29, 2024

The Breakdown | Sizing up four southern hemisphere giants before rugby’s autumn series

The Springboks want a clean sweep but Australia, Argentina and New Zealand may have more modest November targets

Four southern hemisphere giants are preparing for combat over the horizon. With 90% of all men’s World Cups, and having contributed more than 62% of the tournament’s semi-finalists since 1995, they arrive with reputations to uphold. Are they the forces they once were, or are they there for the taking?

October 28, 2024

Rugby league’s 2025 Ashes series makes late switch to England’s shores

Australian officials revived interest in first tour since 2003
One of three Tests expected to take place in London

Australia, the reigning world champions, are set to tour England in 2025 – the first time in more than 20 years – after late talks were held about switching the location of the next Ashes series.

There has not been a traditional three‑match series since 2003, when Great Britain lost 3-0 at home despite leading with less than five minutes remaining in all the games. That wait looked to have ended after confirmation last year England would tour Australia. But the series now appears to be taking place in England.

October 27, 2024

High-stakes season switch goes from Premiership grit to Twickenham glitz | Michael Aylwin

International stage gears up to keep sport financially afloat but future plans will come at the cost of players and fans

Fans of English rugby – the real ones who follow the Premiership – could be forgiven for outrage at the suspension of the domestic game for the next few weeks. Such have been the remarkable matches coming at us from all angles in the first six rounds of the season, any resentment at November’s narrowing of focus on Twickenham, where tickets tend to be reserved for certain types, would be only natural.

As exhilarating as it may be, domestic rugby pretty much everywhere, but certainly in England, does not wash its face financially. So, over to the international game to try to keep everything afloat.

October 27, 2024

Victor Radley: ‘I love coming to England. Every year gets better’

NRL and England forward on World Cup heartache, the challenge of Samoa and loving life in South Yorkshire

There are not many who would be willing to swap Bondi beach for the outskirts of Barnsley in mid-October but for Victor Radley, his annual month-long excursion to England is not so much a chore but rather than the highlight of his year.

The 26-year-old NRL regular raised eyebrows two years ago when he decided to represent his Sheffield-born father and pledge his allegiance to England instead of push for an Australia call-up. Some wondered if it would be a mere one-off, with the chance to play in a World Cup too good to refuse. But for the third straight year, Radley is back in England colours.

October 27, 2024

Wasteful Australia hold off New Zealand to banish their Pacific Cup demons

Kangaroos run in four tries to the Kiwis’ two in 22-10 victory
Zac Lomax double lifts visitors into final after heartbreak last year

Australia have exacted revenge on New Zealand for last year’s heartbreaking Pacific Cup final with a 22-10 win that propels the Kangaroos into the decider of this year’s tournament. Nearly a year after the Kiwis handed Australia their biggest loss, a try-scoring double to Zac Lomax saw off the chance of another defeat before a hostile Christchurch crowd on Sunday.

The Kangaroos still appeared below their best, with Angus Crichton notably bombing an early try and new halfback Mitch Moses spraying a kick and then putting a line dropout out on the full. Regardless, the win over an admittedly understrength New Zealand helps vindicate a raft of changes made to the Australian team following last year’s 30-0 debacle in Hamilton.

October 27, 2024

Australia make history with New Zealand shutout to seal spot in Pacific Cup final

Kiwi Ferns held scoreless for first time as Jillaroos claim 14-0 victory
Tamika Upton stars and captain Ali Brigginshaw returns in style

Australia have booked their spot in the Pacific Cup final after fullback Tamika Upton starred in a 14-0 defeat of titleholders New Zealand in Christchurch.

Already under pressure from their loss to the Kiwi Ferns in last year’s Pacific Cup final and a handful of controversial selection choices since then, the Jillaroos were made to overcome second-half injuries to Kezie Apps and Olivia Higgins on Sunday. But Upton’s attacking brilliance proved the difference between the sides, despite New Zealand being the better starters and holding firm on their goal line for long stretches.

October 23, 2024

Super League expansion to 14 teams nears as Wakefield replace Broncos

Grading system means nine clubs are safe from relegation
Expansion talks may start ‘sooner than expected’

Super League expanding to 14 teams as early as 2026 appears to be looming after the publication of IMG’s gradings on Wednesday led to Wakefield being readmitted into the competition for 2025 in place of London Broncos, who have been demoted to the Championship.

Rugby league clubs agreed last year to replace conventional promotion and relegation with a gradings system that measured clubs in a variety of on- and off-field metrics. The 12 clubs with the highest ranking would be admitted to Super League, with the gradings reviewed every year.

October 22, 2024

Wallabies name $5m man Suaalii in 34-man squad for Grand Slam tour

Code-hopper Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii is being thrust straight into the big-time after being named in the 34-man Wallabies squad for spring tour of the UK fresh out the NRL having not played a game of rugby since he was a schoolboy star.

October 18, 2024

The Lion king in waiting? Why Ireland’s new talisman Caelan Doris fits the bill

The country boy from Lacken who is now a world-class No 8 on enjoying captaincy, a fascination with psychology and his penchant for hot yoga

It will be another six months before Andy Farrell finally has to choose his British & Irish Lions captain for the 2025 expedition to Australia. Plenty of time for the landscape to change and, theoretically, for one or two surprise contenders to emerge from the shrubbery. Until, that is, you sit down with the staggeringly impressive Caelan Doris and realise there is little need for Farrell to look anywhere else.

A bold prediction? Hardly. It is not rocket science that a world-class player with the universal respect of his peers, a university degree in psychology and a warm smile might just fit the bill. Ireland have produced some illustrious Lions captains in the pro era, from Brian O’Driscoll to Paul O’Connell and Peter O’Mahony, and another top-drawer candidate lurks quietly in the wings.

October 15, 2024

Rocky Elsom speaks over international arrest warrant, five-year prison sentence

Former Wallabies skipper Rocky Elsom has claimed the French court hearing that resulted in his five-year jail sentence was a “clear perversion of justice.”

October 14, 2024

Rugby convert Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii wearing sky blue again as he begins career with Waratahs

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s only conversation when he met Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt on the weekend was about family, but the rugby convert has declared he’s “ready” to suit up in a gold jersey as soon as he’s called on.

October 13, 2024

‘It’s been an incredible ride’: Wales and Lions centre Jonathan Davies retires

Davies won 96 caps and two grand slams for Wales
Centre played six Tests for British and Irish Lions

The former Wales, British and Irish Lions and Scarlets centre Jonathan Davies has announced his retirement from professional rugby.

The 36-year-old, who won 96 caps for Wales, left Scarlets at the end of the 2023-24 season having scored 55 tries in 209 appearances across two spells for the Welsh region.