Cheslin Kolbe scored two tries as world champions South Africa inflicted yet more November international misery upon England with a 29-20 win at Twickenham on Saturday.
Teams and live updates
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‘Gutted’ Wales working hard to strike back – Morgan
Jac Morgan says Wales are “working hard towards the weekend” after picking themselves up from the disappointment of just being shaded by Fiji in their opening Autumn Nations Series game at Principality Stadium. The Ospreys flanker is one of four changes to the side that started against Fiji for Sunday’s third showdown of the year […]
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Darcy Graham equals record as Scotland run in nine tries despite Portugal grit
- Autumn Nations Series: Scotland 59-21 Portgual
- Wing takes try total to 29 in 41 appearances
Wing Darcy Graham equalled the record for the most tries for Scotland as they ran in a total of nine in a dominant 59-21 victory over Portugal in their Test at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Graham scored the third of Scotland’s five first-half tries to bring his total to 29 in 41 international appearances and equal Duhan van der Merwe’s record.
Continue reading...Thomas aiming to back Gatland’s faith
Ben Thomas doesn’t like to make a fuss about anything he is doing and so when Warren Gatland declared before the Autumn Nations Series that he was “the best back in Wales” it led to a lot of ribbing from his Cardiff Rugby teammates. Gatland had every right to make his bold statement given the […]
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Wales at risk of record low with World Cup rout of Australia a fading memory
Warren Gatland’s side take on the Wallabies knowing defeat will mean they surpass their longest run of Test losses
Another match, another inquest into the state of Welsh rugby. This time, the hand-wringing is particularly fervent, for Wales stand on the brink of an unwanted threshold. Should they lose to Australia in Cardiff on Sunday they will surpass their longest run of Test defeats.
Losing to Fiji last weekend was upsetting on any number of levels, but the sharpest pain was the fact it was a 10th defeat in a row, equalling the run under Steve Hansen that stretched from 2002 to 2003, the year they last collected the wooden spoon in the Six Nations.
Continue reading...Smartball has revolutionised data in rugby and refereeing could be next | Gavin Willacy
New technology can tell how much a kick is swirling but not whether a pass is forward or a try has been scored – yet
By Gavin Willacy for No Helmets Required
While Twickenham debated why England can’t hold on to a lead at home and whether the southern hemisphere is pulling away from the north in rugby union now as well as league, those watching the Autumn Nations Series on TV saw a new toy being played with.
Viewers as well as match officials, broadcasters and coaches could now see exactly how much spin was on a pass, how high a kick went and how much it was spiralling. But however impressive the smartball technology, two of rugby’s thorniest questions – did that pass go forward? And did the player ground the ball for a try? – remain unsolved.
Continue reading...Borthwick faces up to South Africa in defining test of England’s character | Robert Kitson
A win would resurrect the autumn but a heavy defeat by the world champions could see his team equal an all-time low
Not for the first time in rugby union’s turbulent professional history there is a lot happening. A mooted breakaway global league is the latest curveball threatening to destabilise the sport with even the newly elected chair of World Cup suggesting rugby’s financial sustainability is “at crisis point”. No one, from the top down, can be entirely sure how the medium-term future will pan out.
Much the same, frankly, can be said about England as they prepare to face the double world champions South Africa. A morale-lifting win, by whatever means, would transform an uncertain current narrative and cast their recent string of near misses in a relatively more flattering light. A proper pummelling by a strong Springbok side, on the other hand, could result in them dropping to the equal lowest world ranking in red rose history.
Continue reading...Ireland 22-19 Argentina: Autumn Nations Series rugby union – as it happened
Ireland’s defence holds firm as they get back to winning ways against a spirited Argentina.
OK, I’m going to stick my neck out.
Argentina to nick it by a score!
Continue reading...Wallabies power up for Sunday by recalling Skelton and Kerevi
Joe Schmidt has recalled two juggernauts among a package of six changes to his Australian side that beat England 42-37 at Twickenham last weekend ahead of Sunday’s Round 2 clash with Wales in the Autumn Nations Series. The giant La Rochelle lock Will Skelton returns to second row duty, while centre Sam Kerevi, one of […]
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‘One of the worst moves ever’: Wallabies shock as ‘mindless’ Suaalii axe confirmed
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has confirmed Joseph Suaalii will start Australia’s Test against Wales in Cardiff on the bench despite setting the rugby world alight in his debut against England.
Freddie Steward’s selection can strengthen England in defence and in attack | Ugo Monye
Steve Borthwick’s team always kick a lot but they must use the ball well to have a chance against these brilliant South Africans
The kicking duel is going to be pivotal at Twickenham on Saturday. South Africa have said they’ve been expecting it all along and it’s what they’re going to get. Over to England – don’t disappoint. It might not be as aesthetically pleasing, maybe the impetus to win becomes greater as a result, but the thinking is obvious if you cast back to last year’s World Cup semi-final.
I understand the selection of Freddie Steward, that Steve Borthwick genuinely believes selecting someone who is 6ft 5in and whose point of difference is his aerial strength gives England the best chance of beating South Africa. I also understand that World Rugby’s clampdown on escorts is increasing the number of contestable kicks and is having an impact on these autumn Tests. I also have a feeling that England are using the latter to almost excuse the former. In the 2023 Six Nations, England averaged 40 kicks again, which was the most of all countries. Earlier this year it was 30, the same as in New Zealand over the summer, but the point here is that England kick a lot and have done for a while. A directive that encourages kicking would appear to suit them yet they seem to be outwardly disappointed about it, perhaps in the knowledge that adopting that sort of style will not be universally well received.
Continue reading...Jamie George expects ‘war’ with South Africa as England aim to end losing run
- Captain backs side to revel in ‘confrontational game’
- ‘Historic rivalry’ continues at Twickenham on Saturday
England are braced for physical warfare when they seek to end their losing streak against South Africa on Saturday, according to the captain, Jamie George.
Steve Borthwick’s side host the back-to-back world champions at Twickenham having endured a four-game losing streak and have dropped to seventh in the world rankings. The Springboks, meanwhile, have returned to the No 1 spot and are heavy favourites to compound England’s misery.
Continue reading...England warn rebels that joining rugby breakaway would end Test careers
- Plans afoot for global league with eight franchise teams
- But RFU insists anyone who signs up won’t be in Test side
Steve Borthwick’s ailing national side could be decimated by England players signing up to a breakaway global league, with the Rugby Football Union adopting a view that they would be sacrificing their Test careers if they did so.
Plans are afoot for a new league featuring eight franchise teams and about 200 players which would take matches around the world across major cities. Twenty players are said to have signed up in principle for the league, which is believed to be backed by US and Middle East money and due to begin in 2026.
Continue reading...France against New Zealand still offers all that is holy in rugby union
Teams meet in Paris on Saturday having delivered brutality and artistry in some of the sport’s greatest games
It is France-New Zealand time again. These words should conjure a frisson in any rugby connoisseur – and, by and large, they do. There are other more intense rivalries – the All Blacks against South Africa or Australia, for example, or England against, well, anyone – but for the promise of all that is holy in union, the brutality and the artistry, nothing quite stirs the imagination like Saturday night’s encounter in Paris.
All the more so given it is a quarter of a century since the greatest France-New Zealand episode of them all – some say the greatest match, full stop. On Halloween 1999, a suitably portentous date, these two met at Twickenham in the semi-final of the Rugby World Cup. What unfolded, it hardly requires a student of the game to recall, was the sort of nightmare only the French seem capable of inflicting on the All Blacks, who saw their 24-10 lead early in the second half shapeshift into a scarcely believable 43-31 defeat.
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