Former Australia under-20 international fullback Mason Gordon has retired aged just 22 because of ongoing concussion symptoms.
Rugby by rail: the romance (and regret) of going to games by train
Railway lines formed rugby league as we know it but out-of-town stadiums mean some journeys are easier than others
Like the more adventurous of you, I’ve reached matches via bus, tube, ferry, plane, train and, mainly, automobile. You might also have gone by tram or bike. But when ill health stopped me from driving to rugby for several years, I embraced the horseless carriage to get to St Helens, Newcastle, Coventry, Leeds, London Broncos and more. The train certainly took the strain.
A sport that was born before cars and buses needed the Victorian railway routes that allowed teams and their supporters to leave their locale and establish a national competition. The railways begat professional rugby league as we know it.
Continue reading...Wallabies blow with Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii to undergo surgery before Lions clash
- Australia star suffers fractured jaw after on-field collision
- Suaalii may miss rest of NSW Waratahs’ Super Rugby season
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii is in a race against time to be fit to face the British & Irish Lions, with the Wallabies star set to miss the rest of the Super Rugby Pacific regular season with a fractured jaw.
Suaalii will undergo surgery on a “small undisplaced fracture” he sustained in an accidental collision with a NSW Waratahs teammate against the Queensland Reds on Friday night.
Continue reading...Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s Super Rugby season over due to fractured jaw
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s Super Rugby season is over, with the Waratahs fullback ruled out for at least a month due to a fractured jaw.
Bulldogs book ticket to Las Vegas as teams locked in for NRL’s 2026 season opener
- Dragons, Cowboys and Knights to join rugby league festival in March
- Hull and Leeds clash revealed but women’s fixture yet to be confirmed
The NRL will attempt to capitalise on Canterbury’s popularity by putting them on the plane to Las Vegas next year, alongside St George Illawarra, North Queensland and Newcastle.
Head office confirmed the four men’s NRL teams for the league’s third Vegas extravaganza, with all teams on their maiden trip for the 1 March (AEDT) event.
Continue reading...The Breakdown | Rugby union’s bonus points barely change the Premiership table. Should we scrap them?
Research shows they make a major difference to 2.28% of positions, while play-off semi-finals also look redundant
The business end of the domestic season has arrived and the Premiership and United Rugby Championship tables, as ever, are being carefully scrutinised. Two from Bristol, Sale and Saracens are now vying to make the Premiership playoffs with two games left while the race for the URC top eight will boil down to the final weekend.
At which point some know-all will intone the well-worn mantra: bonus points will be crucial. And we’ll all nod solemnly and start contemplating how Team X or Team Y can best set about scoring either four tries or losing by seven points or fewer. Without necessarily stopping to think whether the cold, hard mathematics support that supposition – or indeed ever have done.
Continue reading...Leicester turn to Geoff Parling as head coach after hunt for Cheika’s successor
- Former lock will remain with Australia for Lions series
- Leinster confirm Caelan Doris out for four to six months
Geoff Parling has been appointed as Leicester’s new head coach, bringing an end to a drawn out recruitment process to find Michael Cheika’s successor. Parling is currently employed as the Australia assistant coach but will return to Welford Road after this summer’s British & Irish Lions tour.
The former second-row Parling, 41, spent six years at Leicester and will be a popular appointment among the Tigers faithful. Paul Gustard, Graham Rowntree, Leon MacDonald and Stuart Lancaster were heavily linked with the role but Leicester finally landed on Parling, who has agreed a long-term contract.
Continue reading...Door open for overseas Wallabies to take on the Lions, says Australia coach Joe Schmidt
- Players like Samu Kerevi, Pete Samu and Will Skelton in frame
- Squad of up to 40 players to be picked before first Test in Brisbane
Such is the magnitude of the challenge and occasion that Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt is set to ditch his no overseas-based players selection strategy for the blockbuster series against the touring British and Irish Lions.
While not picking talent from outside of Australia is not strictly a set-in-stone policy, Schmidt has made clear his preference to mostly overlook Wallabies stars playing offshore, or heading overseas.
Continue reading...Sneyd inspires Warrington to defeat Leigh and reach Challenge Cup final
- Semi-final: Warrington 21-14 Leigh
- Sam Burgess going to Wembley for second straight year
These may still be considered the formative years of Sam Burgess’s coaching career but, as Warrington celebrate back-to-back Challenge Cup finals, it was worth a moment to reflect on how, just as he did in his playing days, Burgess belied his lack of experience on the biggest stage once again.
This year has not been anything like as enjoyable a season in charge of the Wolves for Burgess. After the high of guiding Warrington to a cup final and a playoff semi-final in his first year as a head coach, the early part of this campaign has been much more testing for the 36-year-old, with inconsistency at the heart of most of what they have done. It is perhaps easy to forget that, in coaching terms at least, he is still incredibly young.
Continue reading...Former Scotland and Lions coach Sir Ian McGeechan says he has prostate cancer
- 78-year-old says he has recently undergone radiotherapy
- McGeechan led four British & Irish Lions tours
Sir Ian McGeechan, the former head coach of Scotland and the British & Irish Lions, has urged rugby players and all younger men to get themselves tested after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The 78-year-old, who is the consultant director of rugby at the Championship club Doncaster, led Scotland to the grand slam in the 1990 Five Nations. McGeechan oversaw four series as the Lions head coach, defeating Australia in 1989 and South Africa in 1997. He also led the team on tours of New Zealand in 1993 and South Africa again in 2009.
Continue reading...Competitive Itoje willing to learn from Mount Rushmore of Lions captains
Maro Itoje has listened to Martin Johnson and Sam Warburton as he prepares his ‘tough men’ for Australia
Do you know what really stuck out as Maro Itoje sat chatting in the O2 Arena after the British & Irish Lions squad announcement? His biceps. This year’s Lions jersey is tight enough on the shoulders and sufficiently short on the arms to make their already well-muscled captain look like Popeye on steroids. Say what you like about the Lions squad but they have chosen a strong leader.
It has worked for them in the past. Who can forget the pipe‑smoking Willie John McBride and his classic response – “Do you think there will be many of them?” – when an angry hotel manager in South Africa threatened to call the police to arrest a number of 1974 Lions who had been enthusiastically “rearranging” the furniture. Legend also has it that Ian McGeechan picked the hulking Martin Johnson as his skipper in 1997 partly because of the intimidating effect he might have on the Springboks – and the referee – when he entered their changing room.
Continue reading...Scary Suaalii incident as star KOd in brutal head knock from teammate
Joseph Suaalii left Allianz Stadium on a stretcher on Friday night after an ugly incident involving teammate Andrew Kellaway left him knocked out.
Sports quiz of the week: Leeds, Lions, Zhao Xintong, camogie and F1 winners
Have you been following the big stories in football, rugby, snooker, Formula One, cricket, golf, horse racing and GAA?
Continue reading...Olympic star, 30, dead after ‘horrific’ incident before training
Fijian wing Josaia Raisuqe, who won Olympic rugby sevens silver in Paris last year, has died after the 30-year-old’s car was hit by a train on Thursday, his Top 14 club Castres said.
Historic captain, two Aussie-born picks as Lions named for Australian tour — with coach’s son out
England’s Maro Itoje said it was a “tremendous honour” to be named captain of the British and Irish Lions rugby union team on their upcoming tour of Australia as the squad was announced Thursday (Friday AEST).