Category: Rugby Union

Rugby Union News

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England invite Noah Caluori to training after sparkling five-try Prem debut

  • Saracens’ 19-year-old wing impressed in win over Sale

  • Jack Willis omitted from autumn internationals lineup

Noah Caluori, the 19-year-old ­Saracens wing, has been invited to train with England by the head coach, Steve Borthwick, after an incredible five-try barrage against Sale in his first start in the Prem on Saturday.

A 36-man training squad has been named to prepare for the upcoming autumn internationals, with Jack Willis the most notable omission by Borthwick after the No 8’s decision to return to play in France.

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Tom Willis to drop out of England reckoning after signing Bordeaux contract

  • No 8 to leave Saracens at end of the season

  • Only Gallagher Prem players eligible for England

Tom Willis will leave Saracens at the end of the season after signing a contract with Bordeaux that will make him ineligible for Steve Borthwick’s England squad. In a major blow to the head coach, Willis has rejected a new deal from Saracens in order to return to the club where he spent a chunk of the 2022-23 campaign once Wasps had entered administration.

Since heading to north London in 2023, he has established himself as England’s first-choice No 8 and was awarded an enhanced contract by the Rugby Football Union in recognition of the impact he has made.

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‘Inspiring’ Lewis Moody will make it a day of emotion at Leicester-Bath clash

Fans of his old clubs have chance to show support for their former flanker after shock of his MND diagnosis

Emotions are bound to run high at Welford Road on Saturday, and not just because Bath are in town to renew one of the great rivalries in English rugby.

Not even because Leicester’s round-four date with the reigning champions is a repeat of last season’s final, a little over four months ago, when Johann van Graan’s side resisted a fierce Tigers fightback at Twickenham to claim their first league title in 29 years.

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Wallabies star Len Ikitau wins John Eales Medal after ‘exciting’ year

  • ‘Flickitau’ is first centre to win Australia’s top prize

  • Tabua Tuinakauvadra crowned top Wallaroos player

Wallabies star Len Ikitau has won the John Eales Medal, becoming the first centre to claim Australian rugby’s highest individual honour.

Ikitau enjoyed a phenomenal year in the gold jersey, opening the voting period in spectacular style by delivering the magical match-winning flick pass to Max Jorgensen in Australia’s epic win over England at Twickenham last November.

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Owen Farrell to miss out on England recall for autumn internationals

  • Former captain will not be in training squad next week

  • Farrell has not played for England since 2023 World Cup

Owen Farrell is expected to be overlooked by Steve Borthwick for England’s autumn internationals campaign despite injury headaches at inside-centre. It is understood that Farrell will not be named in a training squad on Sunday for next week’s mini camp and as a result Borthwick is expected to omit the 34-year-old former captain when he finalises his squad on 26 October.

The Gloucester centre Seb Atkinson, who started England’s two summer victories over Argentina, is sidelined through injury and likely to miss all four autumn Tests, against Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Argentina, but as things stand that is not going to prompt Borthwick to turn to Farrell, who has not appeared for his country since the 2023 World Cup.

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Carter Gordon returns to Wallabies squad after early end to NRL stint

  • Former Gold Coast Titan flyhalf lured back by Rugby Australia

  • Coach Joe Schmidt selects 34 players for Tests starting 25 October

Carter Gordon could be the Wallabies’ flyhalf again by the end of the month after securing a release from his NRL deal to be part of Australia’s spring tour.

The 24-year-old’s move to the Queensland Reds was confirmed on Monday after Rugby Australia secured a release from the second and final year of his Gold Coast contract.

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Exeter’s Brown-Bampoe in the fast lane for great things for club and country

Wing has a masters in finance but has England ambitions and takes inspiration from Manny Feyi-Waboso

In his quieter moments Paul Brown-Bampoe has a recurring daydream. A packed Twickenham international stage, with him playing on one wing for England and his Exeter teammate Manny Feyi-Waboso on the other. “Of course I’ve imagined that day,” he says, smiling broadly. If the double-barrelled whizz-kids continue their current form it might just happen sooner rather than later.

Admittedly it is early days in the new Prem season but something potentially thrilling is stirring out west. Feyi-Waboso, after an injury-curtailed year, is back fit and firing with five tries in his opening two league games. The top-drawer Wallaby Len Ikitau has arrived to link up with Henry Slade in the Chiefs midfield and also lurking with intent is the 23-year-old Brown-Bampoe, a serious athlete with numerous strings to his bow.

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Northampton welcome back Lions – and not a day too soon as Leicester loom

Phil Dowson has Fin Smith, Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell and Tommy Freeman available again and eager to make up for last season’s 33-0 defeat

It does not feel like a coincidence that the Prem’s first derby weekend of the season marks the return of most British & Irish Lions players and for Northampton it is a welcome boost indeed. Phil Dowson has Fin Smith, Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell and Tommy Freeman back at his disposal as they seek to avenge last season’s 33-0 home drubbing at the hands of fierce rivals Leicester.

For Saturday’s game Dowson has selected Smith, Mitchell and Freeman to start while Pollock is named on the bench and across the league a number of other Lions return now that the mandatory rest period has ended. Marcus Smith starts for Harlequins against Saracens, who field Ben Earl from the start. Jamie George is on the bench but Maro Itoje is still considered “unavailable”. Bath are led by Finn Russell in their West Country encounter with Gloucester with Will Stuart also starting. Ellis Genge lines up for injury-hit Bristol against Exeter.

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Senior rugby figures believe rebel R360 league all but dead after unions’ statement

  • Players who sign up would be ineligible for national sides

  • Proposed event yet to be sanctioned by World Rugby

Senior global rugby figures believe the rebel R360 venture is all but dead unless it can find a way to appease the world’s top nations. In a dramatic move the leading unions collectively made clear this week that players involved in the R360 competition would be ineligible for their national sides and have warned them to treat offers with “extreme caution”.

Privately there is a widespread view that those pushing the R360 concept, fronted by the England World Cup winner Mike Tindall, now face a struggle to get the project off the ground if the world’s top male and female players are required to forfeit their international futures to join the rebel league.

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James O’Connor returns keen to add ‘stardust’ to Leicester’s attack

  • Fly-half back in UK after facing All Blacks with Australia

  • O’Connor may play against Northampton on Saturday

James O’Connor, Leicester’s new Australian recruit, is hoping to bring a touch of sparkle to the East Midlands after finally linking up properly with the Tigers this week. O’Connor’s first spell last month was curtailed when he was swiftly recalled to the Wallabies squad to face New Zealand, but he is now back raring to go before his new club’s derby against Northampton on Saturday.

Having arrived in the UK only on Monday, the 35-year-old played a limited part in his first training session but seems poised to feature in the matchday 23 against the Saints. Leicester’s new director of rugby, Geoff Parling, will not confirm his team until Friday but hinted that O’Connor was in line for some action despite his latest long-haul flight. “He’s an experienced operator who gets up to speed quickly, put it that way,” Parling said. “When you’re in business class you can just put your feet up anyway. I don’t think it was too bad for him.”

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England among eight countries to ban players who sign up to rugby’s rebel R360 league

  • Statement says R360 players ineligible for internationals

  • Ireland and Scotland among those to impose sanction

The rugby unions for eight major nations have issued a joint statement saying that any players that join the breakaway R360 competition will be banned from playing for their countries.

England, Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, France and Italy have all agreed to bar their men’s and women’s players from the national setup if they sign up to the rebel event, which is being fronted by the former England player Mike Tindall.

More details soon …

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The Breakdown | ‘The road not taken haunts me to this day’: David Bishop on a rugby career full of regret

The former Wales and Pontypool scrum-half has written an autobiography on a life blighted by violence and reflects on the punch that ended his international career

Imagine, for a moment, the following scenario. Having broken his neck in a freak rugby accident and avoided paralysis by a millimetre, the player concerned is back for a meeting with his spinal consultant. The specialist advice is crystal clear. Make the most of your second chance and, if you fancy staying alive, never do either of the following again: dive off a high board or resume playing rugby.

And now just imagine being the kind of guy who leaves the room and immediately nips home to pick up his swimming trunks before heading to the nearest swimming pool. Who puts on the swimmers, climbs up to the highest platform and dives straight off. Not once but twice. The rationale being that, if he survives, there will be no reason not to give rugby another go.

This is an extract taken from our weekly rugby union email, the Breakdown. To sign up, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

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There are good guys and then there is Lewis Moody – MND has cruelly singled out the bravest of men | Robert Kitson

Moody’s diagnosis with motor neurone disease at the age of 47 is desperate news for all those who know and love him

Back when he was captaining England at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Lewis Moody went canyon swinging near Queenstown in New Zealand. Despite being utterly fearless on the pitch he was not brilliant with heights. That day, he wrote in his autobiography, was “the most terrifying experience of my life”. Or at least it was. A fortnight ago, he and his family were plunged into something infinitely scarier.

Moody’s diagnosis with the incurable motor neurone disease at the age of 47 is, first and foremost, desperate news for all those who know and love him. There are good guys and then there is “Moodos”, about whom nobody in rugby has a bad word. Cruel doesn’t come close to describing it.

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Bledisloe Cup live: Australia Wallabies 14-28 New Zealand All Blacks – as it happened

  • All Blacks secure 11th straight win over Wallabies

  • New Zealand run in four tries in wet conditions in Perth

Conditions in Perth are damp. It’s been raining on and off throughout the day so it will be slick under lights. Temperatures are mild and there’s little wind to speak of.

“As a South African following while doing a short stint in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, I am salivating ahead of this pivotal match,” emails Craig Sayers. “Indeed, my medulla oblongata has worked overtime this entire Rugby Championship, considering the effect on my heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure.

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