Category: Rugby

Rugby News

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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.

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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.

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‘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.

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Now one of rugby league’s greatest sides, what next for Wigan Warriors? | Aaron Bower

This all-conquering team have cemented a place in the game’s folklore, but there will be no resting on their clean sweep this season

If there is one man who knows a thing or two about building a sporting dynasty, it is Sir Alex Ferguson. To that end, had we known the legendary Manchester United manager was the one to deliver Wigan Warriors’ motivational speech on the eve of the Super League Grand Final, the result would have felt like a formality before a ball had been kicked.

After all, it is not like this most outstanding of rugby league sides needs any additional help. Matt Peet’s team completed a historic quadruple with victory against Hull KR at Old Trafford on Saturday night. The first clean sweep of the Super League era and only the second in nearly a century.

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The Ineos Effect: hit and miss as Jim Ratcliffe’s tentacles have gone global

Ratcliffe has built an empire of assets across different sports but his teams have enjoyed varying degrees of success

Should Sir Ben Ainslie’s crew achieve the seemingly impossible and bring home the America’s Cup it will be the biggest sporting triumph yet for Ineos, whose tentacles now lie across the elite landscape in six disciplines. Despite heavy investment and the oversight of Sir Dave Brailsford it has been a mixed bag so far for Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s petrochemicals company; they have struggled to make their mark in Formula One and cycling, while it may take a superhuman effort to restore Manchester United to greatness.

They have encountered accusations of using sport to airbrush environmental concerns around their business. Ending Britain’s 136-year wait for sailing’s most vaunted prize would, in the short term at least, guarantee favourable headlines.

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Fairytale meets formidable: Hull KR and Wigan face off in Grand Final for the ages

Wigan’s last trophy was 22 days ago, Hull KR’s, over 14,000 days. Yet the Robins may still be the ones to beat the Warriors

Masters versus apprentices. History breakers versus history makers. The club that reign supreme over rugby league against the team aiming for the ultimate coup d’etat. However you dress it up, Saturday evening’s Super League Grand Final has all the ­makings of a classic and more subplots than you could ever imagine.

In the red corner, there is Wigan Warriors. Defending champions and so much more. They currently hold all four major trophies available to win: the World Club Challenge, the Challenge Cup, the League Leader’s Shield and the one they are aiming to defend on Saturday, the Super League title.

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Sanderson v Diamond friendship on sidelines in battle of the north | Robert Kitson

Newcastle head to Sale on the back of a 24-game losing streak with a pressing need to attract a fresh audience

It is supposed to be a snarling northern “derby” but, in reality, Sale’s Friday night date with Newcastle is a case of friends reunited. The Sharks’ Alex Sanderson and the Falcons’ Steve Diamond take their respective eight-year-olds to the same swimming class every week and have been mates for so long they know pretty much exactly what the other is plotting.

Sanderson, in particular, has been warning his squad they will need to be up for the fight against their bottom placed, winless opponents: “They’re already talking survival, food on plates and roofs over heads; we’ve got to match their emotional levels.” Diamond, for his part, has been busy stripping down his side’s tactics to the barest essentials to counter Sale’s big pack and territory based game. “We’re not even competitive at the moment,” he says. “There’s still players here who don’t understand what we’re trying to do on game day.”

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Hull KR’s Ryan Hall: ‘It was the human pull of this club that got me’

Veteran of six Grand Final wins with Leeds seeks a fairytale finale as his current club chase a first trophy since 1985

There have been few stories in recent years quite like the rise of Hull KR from the doldrums of Super League to the sport’s biggest domestic game in only four seasons. And there are few players as eloquent, experienced and in such an ideal position to tell it quite like Ryan Hall.

Hall is not your average rugby league player. He is a qualified accountant, having completed a degree while playing at the highest level. He can solve a Rubik’s Cube in under a minute and is capable of playing several musical instruments. Plus, there is the fact that Hall has played an integral role in one of the most incredible transformations any club have seen for some time.

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‘Only thing that’s missing’: Penrith co-captain disappointed to abandon World Club Challenge

  • Panthers tell NRL they will not be able to face Super League winner
  • Four-time premiers to meet Sharks in 2025 season-opener in Las Vegas

Isaah Yeo has admitted his disappointment that Penrith will skip the World Club Challenge, after the Panthers officially told the NRL they could not contest the only major trophy they are missing.

By defeating Melbourne in last Sunday’s grand final, the Panthers clinched both a historic fourth consecutive premiership and a date with the winner of the Super League decider between Wigan and Hull KR on Sunday (AEDT). But Penrith’s trip to Las Vegas for round one of the 2025 season has complicated matters, given the clash of premiers usually takes place in either England or Australia just before the NRL regular season begins.

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