Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has opened up about his infamous pre-Rugby World Cup press conference at Sydney Airport where he told a group of journalists to give themselves uppercuts.
Historic Aussie star Ellia Green lost his love for rugby. Then he found it again — at a suburban game
Ellia Green has won Olympic gold, world series and has competed on the biggest stages in sport, yet it was a club rugby match on a suburban field in Clovelly which proved one of the most special games of his career.
Quarter of World Rugby’s test group of ex-players ‘at risk’ of cognitive problems
- New service refers quarter of those seen for treatment
- Concern over high numbers of participants dropping out
A significant number of former elite players who have participated in World Rugby’s new brain health service programme have been identified as being “at risk” of cognitive problems in later life.
So far 131 former rugby union players have registered to take part after last April’s launch, although only 65 have completed the process. Of those, one quarter were referred for specialist treatment. The service is not designed to provide a diagnosis, only to provide a risk assessment for former players.
Continue reading...Queensland Reds coach Les Kiss to take charge of Wallabies in July next year
Rugby Australia chief executive officer Phil Waugh says the coaching transition from Joe Schmidt to Les Kiss next year is the “best possible outcome” for the Wallabies after confirming the Queensland Reds mentor would take the national role in July next year.
Les Kiss confirmed as next Wallabies coach with Joe Schmidt to stay on until 2026
- Kiss to see out Super Rugby Pacific contract with Queensland Reds
- Schmidt to remain in charge for end-of-season European tour
Joe Schmidt will remain as Wallabies coach until next mid-2026 before Less Kiss takes over, Rugby Australia has confirmed.
Schmidt was to have finished up after this year’s Rugby Championship but RA was keen for “minimal disruption to the Australian rugby ecosystem” and for Kiss to complete his Super Rugby Pacific contract with the Queensland Reds in 2026.
Continue reading...Saints’ Phil Dowson fears Premiership clubs ‘sleepwalking’ towards financial crisis
- Director of rugby backs plans for franchise league
- Expansion would end promotion and relegation
The Northampton director of rugby, Phil Dowson, fears the sport is “sleepwalking” towards another club going bust and endorsed plans for the Premiership to become a franchised league on the basis it would be more appealing to investors.
Premiership and Rugby Football Union executives have drawn up plans for an “expansion” league, akin to a franchise model, that would allow for teams to be added to the current 10 top flight clubs should they meet certain criteria. The RFU chief executive, Bill Sweeney, revealed that there is the possibility of expanding for the start of next season.
Continue reading...Rugby Australia set to announce Les Kiss as next Wallabies coach
- Reds coach expected to confirmed as Joe Schmidt’s successor
- Kiss will become fifth Wallabies coach in six years
The protracted process to secure Les Kiss as the next Wallabies coach has been finalised with the Queensland Reds mentor to be the fifth man to fill the seat in six years. Kiss is expected to front the media in Sydney on Wednesday before flying to Suva to join the Reds squad ahead of Saturday’s crucial Super Rugby Pacific encounter with Fiji.
He is contracted until the end of next year at the Reds, who sit fourth and are eyeing a title push this season. But it is understood the Queensland Rugby Union and Rugby Australia have negotiated a release for the former representative rugby league winger, who arrived at Ballymore last year after two decades in Europe.
Continue reading...Lachlan Galvin lifts lid on emotional toll of Tigers saga after ‘tough’ few weeks
- Teenager stars in win over Cronulla on return to first grade
- ‘It’s been pretty difficult,’ says Wests playmaker of contract situation
Lachlan Galvin has described the last fortnight of his life as “difficult” and “tough” after the wantaway five-eighth made a triumphant return to Wests Tigers’ NRL side.
Galvin claimed he was undaunted by making his first grade comeback – after a six-day exile in NSW Cup – at a packed Leichhardt Oval as he starred in the Tigers’ 20-18 golden point win over Cronulla on Sunday.
Continue reading...Melbourne Storm leave Indigenous elder ‘heartbroken’ after cancelling Welcome to Country
- Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin was to perform before NRL Anzac Day clash
- Club say was ‘miscommunication’ over decision to call off ceremony
Melbourne Storm are under fire after being accused of cancelling a Welcome to Country at its Anzac Day NRL match at the last minute, leaving an Aboriginal elder “broken-hearted”.
Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin said she was informed by the club on Friday afternoon that she was no longer required to address the crowd before the match at AAMI Park.
Continue reading...Sports quiz of the week: Jamie Vardy, Faith Kipyegon and Ben Youngs
Have you been following the big stories in football, cricket, snooker, athletics, rugby, boxing and tennis?
Continue reading...Ashton hat-trick helps Warrington surge to Super League win against St Helens
- Warrington 32-18 St Helens
- Wolves run in seven tries to move up to seventh
Sam Burgess has made it his business to keep his emotions in check for most of his tenure as Warrington Wolves coach – which made his reaction to Rodrick Tai’s crucial try here in the final quarter of a compelling contest leave no doubt about what this result would have meant to him and his players.
To be clear, it is still far too early in proceedings to be suggesting there is any form of early-season pressure on Warrington. But Burgess set the bar so high in his first season as a head coach last year by reaching both major finals that the very sight of the Wolves being as low as ninth with a third of the Super League season gone suggests something is not quite right.
Continue reading...‘You give everything in that first scrum’: meet Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Sale and England’s killer baby Shark
The 20-year-old prop is making a name for himself with eye-catching displays but visit of Saracens is a serious test
Some of English rugby union’s biggest names will be front and centre in Salford on Friday evening. Maro Itoje, Jamie George, Ben Earl and Tom Willis all start for Saracens while Tom Curry, George Ford and Luke Cowan-Dickie, among others, will trot out for Sale Sharks. Most 20-year-old props, invited to mix in such lofty company, would be feeling seriously intimidated.
It is increasingly obvious, however, that young Asher Opoku-Fordjour is different gravy. As anyone who saw his eye-catching performance against Harlequins last weekend will be aware, his strength and bullocking presence with ball in hand are quite something. “If last week’s anything to go by he’s tracking well, isn’t he?” nods Alex Sanderson, the Sharks’ director of rugby.
Continue reading...Jacob Umaga and the English rugby players driving Benetton to success
Five players raised in England have swapped the Premiership for life in the beautiful Italian city of Treviso
The weather starts to warm up nicely in Treviso at this time of year and so does the race for playoff places in the United Rugby Championship. Benetton – Treviso’s team and the cream of Italian rugby – are fifth in the league table and on course to reach the URC quarter-finals, booking a place in next season’s European Champions Cup in the process, but they could slip out of the top eight with just one defeat.
The club’s annual budget of €8m is half what league leaders Leinster spend, but the Benetton family expect a return on their money. With three games to play in the regular season and their place in the top eight still not secured, the heat is on. “There’s a lot more focus now,” says Jacob Umaga, the former England international who joined the club in 2022 when Wasps went into administration. “We’ve not reached our ceiling and we’ve got such a good squad. We’ve got two of our last three games away and know one poor performance will take us straight out of the top eight.”
Continue reading...‘Rob just put it down to bad luck’: Lindsey Burrow on her husband, MND and running her own marathons
Wife of rugby league legend who spent the last five years of his life raising awareness of MND and fundraising for a cure says the game will always be a part of her family’s life
This weekend Lindsey Burrow will run the London Marathon. Two weeks later, she will run the Leeds Marathon. And she’s not even what she’d call a good runner. “I think coming from Yorkshire and having that Yorkshire grit,” she says, with a smile, “I’m just quite stubborn.”
Burrow has always found getting out for a run good for her mental state and in the nine months since she lost her husband, it has become vital. “It’s just given me that headspace to go out and focus on something positive,” she says, speaking on Zoom from her Pontefract home. “And the marathons have given me a goal.”
Continue reading...NRL approves revised Perth team expansion bid to bring back the Bears
- ARLC agrees in principle to Western Australian government proposal
- Clubs and Rugby League Players’ Association still to sign off deal
The NRL is set to expand into Perth after the Australian Rugby League Commission agreed in principle to a revised proposal from the Western Australia government for an NRL team.
The ARLC has signed off on an increased offer from WA Premier Roger Cook, which has salvaged plans for the Perth Bears concept to enter the competition in 2027.
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