Category: Rugby Union

Rugby Union News

Posted on

Henry Arundell leads Bath to nervy win against Sale as Borthwick takes note

  • Bath 28-16 Sale

  • Hosts made to work for win by stubborn Sharks side

Almost everything is going swimmingly for Bath. At long last their long-awaited stadium redevelopment looks likely to happen and, on the field, the champions are two from two after the first couple of weekends. With Finn Russell due back in action next week to pick up the fly-half baton, it is going to take a seriously good side to steal their crown.

On a wet and windy night in Somerset, even so, they were made to work extremely hard for it by a stubborn Sale team who stuck in the fight and refused to go away. It was only with three minutes left that Max Ojomoh slid in to score his side’s bonus-point try and maintain his squad’s perfect start to the campaign.

Continue reading...
Posted on

No Beyoncé or K-pop so Argentina v South Africa will have to boost RFU’s bank balance

Twickenham needs to generate more cash but governing body’s grand plans are mired in red tape – just as well the Rugby Championship finale can offer respite

A quick look at Twickenham’s upcoming events and, alas, still no Beyoncé. No Bills, Bills, Bills for Mr Sweeney just yet. In fact, the Rugby Football Union’s ambition to host more concerts and thereby pay for Twickenham’s £660m rebuild has encountered a bit of a delay. It is understood that in July, Richmond council expressed its concern over transport links and told the union further exploratory work is needed.

A report, seen by the Guardian, reads: “Given the uncertainty regarding the ability of the rail industry to cater for the predicted increase in passengers, there [are] significant concerns about the additional demand placed on the transport and highway network by event goers and whether this demand can be satisfactorily managed. This is likely to result in a significant nuisance for Twickenham residents.”

Continue reading...
Posted on

Owen Farrell focused on forging another team identity after teeing up Donald

Fresh from a chat with the Ryder Cup captain, the Saracens stalwart is back at his old club with half an eye on an England return too

By his own admission, Owen Farrell was exhausted after the first weekend of the season. A stray boot to the face inside 10 minutes made for a bloody nose and a rude awakening on his second Saracens debut against Newcastle, 17 years after his first. Farrell soldiered on to the hour mark, helping Saracens to a bonus-point victory before an early train home on Saturday morning. It was Sunday that left him “emotionally drained”, however.

Farrell was glued to Europe’s Ryder Cup triumph, watching Luke Donald’s side so nearly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The 34-year-old is a keen golfer – he took the phone call from his father, Andy, to join the British & Irish Lions tour in July in a clubhouse – and played alongside Donald at last month’s PGA Championship Pro-Am at Wentworth.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Chessum granted special permission for early Prem return as Leicester captain

  • Most British & Irish Lions on mandatory 10-week break

  • Chessum returns despite featuring in all three Tests

Leicester’s new club captain Ollie Chessum has been cleared to return to domestic action against Harlequins ahead of schedule this weekend. The majority of British & Irish Lions squad members are not being permitted to resume playing for their clubs until next week but the Tigers forward has been given special dispensation.

The 25-year-old was injured for a large chunk of last season and ended up starting only 16 games and featuring off the bench four times. Despite being involved in all three Lions Tests against the Wallabies, the player management load group overseeing the welfare of top players has allowed him to face Harlequins at Welford Road on Saturday.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Will Skelton and Jake Gordon to start for Wallabies in second Bledisloe clash in Perth

  • Coach Joe Schmidt makes five changes to XV for final Rugby Championship Test

  • James Slipper to play 151st and final game after announcing retirement

Lock Will Skelton and scrumhalf Jake Gordon are among five changes to Australia’s starting 15 for the final Rugby Championship Test against New Zealand in Perth on Saturday.

Skelton replaces the dropped Lukhan Salakaia-Loto after returning from club duty in France, while coach Joe Schmidt’s preferred No 9 Gordon returns for his first test since the British & Irish Lions series after recovering from a hamstring strain.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Saracens’ McCall says welfare guidelines leave players unprepared for new season

  • Internationals must have 10 weeks off

  • Lions not available until third round of Prem

Saracens’ Mark McCall is the latest Prem director of rugby to question player welfare regulations that he believes have left internationals undercooked for the season’s start.

Guidelines mandated by the Professional Rugby Board – established as part of the club-country agreement – dictate that England players who took part in summer tours of Argentina and the US have 10 weeks off. They were available for the first set of Prem games last weekend, but could not take part in the two rounds of Prem Cup matches before that.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu leads South Africa to nine-try rout of Argentina

  • South Africa 67-30 Argentina

  • Feinberg-Mngomezulu bags record 37 points

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored 37 points in a stunning individual fly-half display as South Africa moved to the top of the Rugby Championship table with a 67-30 bonus-point victory over Argentina at Kings Park.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu scored a hat-trick of tries as he beat Percy Montgomery’s Springboks record for most points in a single Test, to go with scores for the hooker Malcolm Marx, the wing Cheslin Kolbe, the scrum-half Morné van den Berg, the flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit (two) and the replacement back Manie Libbok.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Newcastle’s Red Bull rebrand brings fresh energy to rugby’s troubled outpost

High-profile takeover has rejuvenated an ailing club, with the opportunity for Steve Diamond’s team to take flight and grow

Don’t mention the F-word. Such has been the pace of the Red Bull rebrand that one Newcastle official joked there would be spot fines for anyone who forgets it is no longer the Falcons giving them flight.

Energy drinks are in, feathered friends out, but the feelgood factor now coursing through the north-east promises more than just a dopamine hit. For the club, who only a few months ago were exploring a loan from their league rivals to stay afloat, and the revamped Prem, there is a feeling that the Red Bull revolution can be seminal.

Continue reading...
Posted on

‘I didn’t get empathy from Borthwick’: Ben Youngs on family trauma and why he rates Eddie Jones

Former scrum-half admits family illnesses made it difficult for him to embrace his achievement of being England’s most-capped player

“I found it hard, I really did,” Ben Youngs says as he explains why it was once so difficult to embrace his achievement of playing more times for England than any other men’s rugby player. Youngs won 127 caps and featured in four World Cups, but he used to look down at the ground whenever his longevity was mentioned.

Youngs retired from international rugby at the end of 2023, and played his last game for Leicester in the Premiership final in June, and so he can now give public voice to the trauma he carried for so long. While his sister-in-law Tiffany suffered for years with blood cancer, and his brother-in-law Jake endured motor neurone disease, Youngs played for England. He often felt as if he was putting himself ahead of everyone else while his brother and sister lost their partners to terminal illness.

Continue reading...
Posted on

James O’Connor starts for Wallabies after dash back from England for Bledisloe Cup Test

  • Australia’s No 1o named in starting XV after globetrotting week

  • James Slipper to become first Wallabies player to reach 150 Tests

Australia flyhalf James O’Connor has been rewarded with the No 10 jersey following his globe-trotting journey while prop James Slipper will become the first Wallaby to play 150 Tests in the Rugby Championship clash against New Zealand on Saturday.

O’Connor flew to England last week to join his new club Leicester Tigers only to head back to the Antipodes days later after being named in Joe Schmidt’s Australia squad for the final two Tests against the All Blacks at Eden Park and Perth.

Continue reading...
Posted on

What’s in a name? Prem loses some letters but hopes to keep gaining viewers

Season-opener between Sale and Gloucester promises to be a cracker in English rugby’s new frontier

Th ne PREM seas sta o Thursd nigh wi Sal Shar hosti Glouce befo Harleq enterta Bat an Newcas Re Bul fac Sarac on Frid.

That is a sentence, as uneasy on the eye as it may be, of which you can just about make sense. Much like the Premiership’s decision to lose a few letters as part of its rebrand.

Continue reading...
Posted on

Prem Rugby 2025-26: complete club-by-club guide to the season

Defending champions Bath are favourites to retain their title but Saracens will be boosted by Owen Farrell’s return

There have been six different title winners in as many seasons but the defending champions are favourites to buck that trend. In Johan van Graan Bath have a relentlessly process-driven coach, not someone who would allow an ounce of complacency to creep in, and they have Ollie Lawrence and Jaco Coetzee back for the start of the season after long-term injuries.

Continue reading...