Category: Rugby

Rugby News

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No wages and little clarity: what next in the Salford Red Devils fiasco?

As Salford and the RFL battle to see who can look the most shambolic, we answer the questions you might be asking

By No Helmets Required

Fiasco, farce, omnishambles, call it what you like – even Malcolm Tucker would struggle to put a gloss on events at Salford Red Devils and the RFL in the last few months. With their new owners repeatedly failing to lodge the funds that would guarantee the club can get through the season, Salford remain in special measures, administered by a governing body that has seen the majority of its board resign, other senior staff leave under black clouds and a former deposed leader return in a remarkable coup. As Salford and the RFL battle to see who can look the most shambolic, we answer the questions you might be asking.

How can Salford finish fourth last season and lose their first four games this time? Winning the battle of the pointless against Huddersfield on Thursday night was a rare moment of joy for Salford since bowing out of the Super League playoffs six months ago. On paper, Paul Rowley’s side should challenge for silverware. Instead, they have played like relegation fodder, their star players totally undermined by not being paid and their employers in disarray.

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Premiership ready to rumble again with a post-Six Nations glow

The English top flight has clouds on its horizon but it returns with Derby Weekend full of promise and intrigue

Premiership Rugby executives have been picking the brains of their counterparts at World Wrestling Entertainment of late. The bad news is that rugby union’s version of the Royal Rumble is not in the pipeline, the good is that there is no better organisation when it comes to selling its stars and the Premiership has evidently been doing its homework over how to follow suit.

The findings were instructive. Better to encourage profiles to develop organically than force growth and it was interesting to hear the Rugby Football Union (RFU) chief executive, Bill Sweeney, suggest recently that Netflix might have mis-stepped by opening this year’s Six Nations documentary with an episode all about Marcus Smith, Twickenham’s golden boy, buying a car. Rugby is not football was the gist of Sweeney’s argument in his latest podcast appearance.

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Drovers do it again to add SRC Cup to trophy cabinet

Ebbw Vale’s long Wait for a cup final success continues after they were blown apart by Llandovery at Church Bank as the Drovers won the inaugural Super Rygbi Cymru Cup 39-7. Euro Evans’s side ran in fvie tries as they turned the screw in the second half to turn their slender 13-7 interval lead into […]

The post Drovers do it again to add SRC Cup to trophy cabinet appeared first on Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions.

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Encouraging start to Wales U18 campaigns

Carwyn Leggatt-Jones

Both the Wales U18 Women’s and Men’s teams came up with victories at the weekend as they warmed-up for the upcoming Six Nations Festivals. Siwan Lillicrap’s women’s side beat Italy 17-10 in Treviso while Richie Pugh’s men’s side were convincing 33-17 victors’ against Scotland in Newcastle. “We played three ‘halves’ of 25 minutes in what […]

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Lynn names Wales Women’s side to face Scotland

Hannah Jones

Head coach Sean Lynn has picked his first Wales side for the Guinness Women’s Six Nations opener away to Scotland at the Hive, Edinburgh on Saturday, March 22nd (4.45pm). Hannah Jones will captain the side with Keira Bevan as vice-captain for the trip to the Scottish capital. Props Maisie Davies and Jenni Scoble and lock […]

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Ebbw Vale chasing title in first cup final in 27 years at Llandovery

Jason Strange’s development plan at Ebbw Vale will reach a new milestone when The Steelmen play in their first cup final in 27 years at Llandovery’s Church Bank. When Strange returned as head coach at his hometown club he had a massive clear out of players, scoured his locality for talent and three seasons on […]

The post Ebbw Vale chasing title in first cup final in 27 years at Llandovery appeared first on Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions.

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Six Nations Under 18 Festivals return

U18s

 The Six Nations Under 18 Festivals return in 2025, with Wellington College in England hosting the Women’s Festival from 11th – 19th April, and Vichy in France the stage for this year’s Men’s Festival which runs from the 10th – 18th April. As a vital development platform for the women’s and men’s game, the festivals […]

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France’s Peato Mauvaka cited for head-first lunge at Scotland’s Ben White

  • Hooker cited for foul play after Six Nations finale
  • Mauvaka had received yellow card over incident

The France hooker Peato Mauvaka has been cited for foul play after an off-the-ball incident with Scotland’s Ben White in their final Six Nations match.

Mauvaka received a yellow card for throwing himself head first into the grounded scrum-half during France’s title-clinching win in Paris on Saturday. The incident was referred for a bunker review at the time but the punishment was not increased beyond the 10 minutes in the sin-bin.

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Newcastle Falcons’ future in limbo as losses prompt recruitment freeze

  • Steve Diamond says bailout won’t keep Falcons alive
  • Ealing and Coventry fail to meet promotion criteria

The survival of Newcastle Falcons as a professional rugby team will require more than just a one-off £4m bailout from the remaining nine Premiership clubs, according to a senior Falcons employee. Steve Diamond, their director of rugby, has confirmed Newcastle may have to negotiate a potential short-term loan to participate in next season’s Premiership, raising fresh doubts about the club’s longer-term viability.

Diamond has already been forced to put a freeze on player recruitment for next season following confirmation the Falcons have been discussing a possible central loan if they fail to secure fresh investment between now and mid-June. Their longtime backer Semore Kurdi has been actively seeking a buyer for the club since last year.

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‘Three-peat’ Lynn and Gloucester-Hartpury players ready to switch on for Wales

Sean Lynn will be joined by five victorious Gloucester-Hartpury players in joining up with Wales’ Guinness Women’s Six Nations squad this week after securing an historic hat-trick of Professional Women’s Rugby titles at the weekend. The new Wales Women’s head coach masterminded a ‘three-peat’ for the Circus as they hit back from a 19-5 deficit […]

The post ‘Three-peat’ Lynn and Gloucester-Hartpury players ready to switch on for Wales appeared first on Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions.

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Llandovery and Ebbw Vale set for SRC Cup final showdown

Jason Strange believes the lessons learned in Ebbw Vale’s two semi-finals defeats last season could allow them to finally get across the line and win the Super Rygbi Cymru Cup at Llandovery on Thursday night. The Steelmen were forced to come from behind at Swansea to maintain their unbeaten run in Pool B and join […]

The post Llandovery and Ebbw Vale set for SRC Cup final showdown appeared first on Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions.

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Saracens and Leicester to trial separate away sections for Premiership fans

  • Trial to take place in two games next month
  • Will Evans: ‘Players want this. You’ll see a better product’

The Premiership will trial away ­sections for supporters in two forthcoming matches in April, in an effort to improve atmospheres in top‑flight fixtures.

It is understood that for ­Saracens’ fixture against Gloucester on 19 April and Leicester’s match against ­Harlequins on 26 April, ­specific areas for visiting supporters to congregate in will be created.

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Vibrant Six Nations leaves Andy Farrell with tricky decisions on Lions selection

England finished strong while Ireland appear to be fading, but the head coach must avoid an over-reliance on recency bias

The streets of Cardiff on Saturday night made the last days of the Roman empire look positively sedate. There were almost as many puddles of sick outside the Queens Vaults pub as England had scored tries inside the Principality Stadium, the glossy veneer of “Super Saturday” replaced by the dejected, what-just-happened stagger home. Truth be told, the pissed-up paying public weren’t looking too flash either.

What a deeply sobering weekend to be a player in red. To lose 68-14 against anyone at Test level is a nightmare; to do so under the roof at home against England is full-on zombie apocalypse stuff. An Aussie dollar or two, then, for Andy Farrell’s thoughts as he left the ground pondering his options for the British & Irish Lions series against the Wallabies this year. As things stand, representatives from Wales will be hard pressed to fill a phone box.

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