Rugby News
Australia’s new cross-code star Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has been surprisingly dropped from the Wallabies’ starting lineup against Wales following his impressive debut against England.
The 21-year-old, who was man-of-the-match in the thrilling win over England at Twickenham last Saturday having played the entire 80 minutes, will revert to the bench in Cardiff on Sunday.
Continue reading...The Australians are taking nothing for granted as they prepare to meet Wales at Principality Stadium despite their amazing fightback triumph over England at Twickenham a week ago. That 42-37 victory had the whole rugby world talking about it being a turning point for the Wallabies as they build towards next year’s clash with the […]
The post Wallabies searching for ‘repeatability’ appeared first on Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions.
Ospreys scrum half Kieran Hardy has been called up to the Wales senior men’s squad. He replaces Tomos Williams (Gloucester Rugby) who has been released due to a shoulder injury sustained during the match against Fiji last weekend.
The post Hardy called up for Wales appeared first on Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions.
The Rugby Football League is facing a potential revolt after a number of high-profile professional rugby league coaches signed a letter calling for the Sheffield coach, Mark Aston, to be allowed an independent appeal against his 18-month ban for a breach of head injury protocol.
Aston, who has been involved with the Eagles for almost 40 years as player and coach and was man of the match in their 1998 Challenge Cup final win against Wigan, has been told he will be suspended until April 2026 after a tribunal determined he “deliberately flouted the rules” on head injuries earlier this year.
Continue reading...Shape of the game has tilted significantly since the latest law tweak that risks tactical monotony and a lack of charm
Steve Borthwick does not normally vent in public so when he does it means he is properly hacked off. “I don’t think any of us want rugby union to turn into Aussie rules,” muttered England’s head coach, not even bothering to downplay his distaste for the new refereeing crackdown on kick chase “escort” defenders that he fears will drag the sport down a path it regrets. “I am not sure everyone wants to watch more kicking and more scrums.”
Slightly ironic, perhaps, coming from a coach whose side barely played any expansive rugby for much of his first year in charge. On this occasion, though, Borthwick is absolutely within his rights. Inside the last fortnight the shape of the game has tilted significantly, with the odds now in favour of athletic kick chasers who have greater freedom than ever to make life a misery for full-backs underneath high balls.
Continue reading...Joseph Suaalii was Monday hailed as a “freak” by his Australian midfield partner Len Ikitau while head coach Joe Schmidt said the former NRL star’s debut was “confidence-boosting”.
Australia’s Brett Robinson said it was a “proud moment” for him after he became the first chairman of World Rugby from the southern hemisphere on Thursday and vowed to unify all the different factions.
Whatever else South Africa are expecting from England, it’s not a surprise. The Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus says they picked the team three weeks ago, during a training camp in Jersey. Nothing he’s seen in the way England played against New Zealand and Australia seems to have changed his mind. If anything, the two defeats only confirmed what he already suspected.
“You know, when you lose two games, even if it’s by a point or last-minute try, the pressure does start to build,” Erasmus said, “I’ve been there. I certainly know how quickly it can get to you. And when that happens you normally fall back on to what works for you.”
Continue reading...Warren Gatland is not shying away from rugby being results-focused and is hoping this weekend’s Autumn Nations Series game against Australia can provide the opportunity to secure a victory. Wales and Australia will meet at Principality Stadium on Sunday 17 November, KO 4.10pm with Wales looking to reverse the two narrow defeats suffered against Joe […]
The post Gatland looking to ‘get across the line’ against Wallabies appeared first on Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions.
Steve Borthwick has insisted he is well equipped to block out the pressure of England’s current plight after Rassie Erasmus suggested he is under the pump and may feel like he “has a gun against his head”.
A number of ex-England stalwarts, including Clive Woodward and Will Carling, have taken aim at Borthwick after Saturday’s last-gasp defeat by Australia extended his side’s losing run to four. He retains the Rugby Football Union’s “100% support” but England could slip to eighth in the world rankings should they fail to arrest their losing streak against Erasmus’s Springboks on Saturday in the first meeting between the sides since last year’s ill-tempered World Cup semi-final.
Continue reading...Former Wales internationals Catrina Nicholas-Mclaughlin and Ashley Beck have been confirmed as the head coaches for Gwalia Lightning and Brython Thunder for the new expanded Celtic Challenge tournament. Nicholas-McLaughlin, who was capped 60-times for Wales, will continue as Gwalia Lightning head coach, while Beck, who won seven Wales caps, is head coach of Brython Thunder. […]
The post Brython Thunder and Gwalia Lightning coaches named for Celtic Challenge appeared first on Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions.
A World Cup winner in 2023, the loosehead is part of South Africa’s feared ‘Bomb Squad’ and a hero in his home country
Ox Nché is far from the finished article. By his own admission, the Springboks prop has just about mastered the basics. He’s not bad at the flourishing touches but there is a long way to go in his development.In short, he is a work in progress. “I’m learning, actually. I can do just one layer so far,” he admits. “And obviously the icing.”
Nché is, of course, talking about making cakes. The 17-stone loosehead is obsessed with them. His favourite is chocolate caramel, his mantra is that “salads don’t win scrums” and asked the secret to his set-piece prowess he bursts into a bout of his gentle, infectious laughter before shooting back “cake!”.
Continue reading...Danny Cipriani has become the latest former England star to weigh in with criticism of Eddie Jones, insisting he felt the Australian refused to select him at Test level because he “couldn’t be bullied” by Jones.
Cipriani will return to a rugby field this weekend when he takes part in the inaugural 745 Game, a cross-code hybrid match featuring some of rugby union’s and league’s biggest names to raise money for those living with motor neurone disease. The event, which will be held at Headingley, was devised by Rob Burrow and Ed Slater before Burrow died earlier this year.
Continue reading...England are looking to banish their autumn frustrations at South Africa’s expense this Saturday and have vowed “not to shut up shop” against the reigning world champions. Successive defeats by New Zealand and Australia have dropped Steve Borthwick’s side to seventh in the world rankings but the players insist they can confound expectations and turn their month around.
Rather than ditching the high-risk defensive system that has so far conceded eight tries in two games this month, England intend to double down and be even more aggressive with and without the ball in their first rematch against the Springboks since last year’s agonising World Cup semi-final defeat.
Continue reading...Warren Gatland says he would probably head to the beach with a glass of wine “away from some of the pressure” if it was decided he should not continue in his role as Wales head coach.
Wales have lost their last 10 Test matches and are without a Test win since the 2023 World Cup. Defeat against in-form Autumn Nations Series opponents Australia on Sunday would inflict a record run of bad results on them, eclipsing the current sequence and that of 2002 and 2003 under Gatland’s fellow New Zealander Steve Hansen.
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