An international arrest warrant was issued on Friday against former Australia rugby captain Rocky Elsom, who was sentenced in his absence to five years in prison by a French court for misuse of corporate assets, a lawyer in the case told AFP.
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.”
Continue reading...‘No trust and confidence’: Rebels launch $30m lawsuit against Rugby Australia
Axed Super Rugby club the Melbourne Rebels have kicked off a $30 million course case against Rugby Australia in the Federal Court of Australia to try get themselves back into the Pacific competition.
Suaalii’s $9m Rugby Australia secret revealed as controversial agent strikes again
It may be at least five years until we see Joseph Suaalii back in the NRL again amid the report that his rich deal with Rugby Australia includes a secret contract clause.
The Breakdown | Once at war with the world and himself, Sexton in his own words is revealing
If you thought you knew the celebrated former Ireland fly-half, it’s time to look deeper – this is no leafy lane memoir
Perhaps the most tell-tale aspect of Johnny Sexton’s new autobiography is that it took seven years to stitch together. Seven years? Not since James Joyce took a similar timeframe to write Ulysses has there been such a slow-cooked Irish literary stew. And as Peter O’Reilly, Sexton’s excellent (and potentially long-suffering) ghostwriter, reveals in the final acknowledgments, there was little need for many supplementary interviews because of “Johnny’s exceptional memory for detail”. Combine those twin ingredients and a tasty dish is all but assured.
Because Johnny can remember everything and everyone. What his friends said and did, what his enemies were thinking (or, at least, what he thought they were thinking), how he felt at certain crucial moments. If it reads at times like a cold-eyed dispatch from an endless battle that is, for a good deal of his career, how it felt. “For so much of the time I was at war – with opponents, with rivals, sometimes with coaches, often with myself. For the most part … it felt like a fight.”
Continue reading...Manu begins life in Japanese rugby union just 10 days after disappointing prelim exit
Just 10 days after his rugby league career ended, Joseph Manu has been captured training with his new Japanese rugby outfit Toyota Verblitz.
Santiago Grondona’s debut double leads Bristol to blistering win over Bath
- Bath 26-36 Bristol
- Argentinian helps earn bonus point in first half
The days of low-scoring West Country derbies have gone the way of cassette tapes and Ceefax. A week ago, Bristol scored 41 points and still contrived to lose at home to Gloucester and last January they beat Bath 57-44 at Ashton Gate. This cracking game was not quite the same crazy whirl but the scoreboard still revolved at times like a fruit machine in Las Vegas.
When the music stopped and the nine tries were finally collated it added up to another hugely satisfying away day for Bristol, rewarding a consistently vibrant performance full of movement and purpose.
Continue reading...‘Overly aggressive’: Details emerge over ‘rude’ and ‘unacceptable’ Cheika spat
Leicester head coach Michael Cheika has been hit with a two-week suspension after being found guilty of disrespecting an independent match-day doctor.
South African pitch invader knocked out cold in brutal hit
A pitch invader was knocked out cold by a security guard during a rugby match in South Africa.
Rugby convert Joseph Suaalii jumps gun before chat with Wallabies coach
Rugby convert Joseph Suaalii may have got a little ahead of himself before he even suits up for his first game in the 15-man code.
Relentless South Africa will not let up after claiming Rugby Championship
After beating Argentina to seal the title, the world champions will look to sweep England, Wales and Scotland
Two World Cups, a British & Irish Lions series and now the Rugby Championship. South Africa are in possession of every major trophy available to a southern-hemisphere team. Does this put them on par with the all-conquering All Blacks of Richie McCaw and Dan Carter? It is a question best unpacked over a second pint in the pub. That it is worth asking, though, is a testament to the evolution of this team under Rassie Erasmus and the potential heights they may yet reach.
This 48-7 win over Argentina included all the familiar notes of a Springboks classic. Their scrum consumed the Pumas pack with Ox Nché – a man who famously joked that “salads don’t win scrums” – feasting in the set piece, winning a string of first-half penalties seemingly on his own. Eben Etzebeth, now with a record 128 caps for his country, began the day with tears in his eyes and was totemic throughout. Pieter-Steph du Toit, who continues to produce player-of-the-match performances with his father’s hamstring surgically implanted in his left leg, bossed the breakdown and scored two of his team’s seven tries.
Continue reading...‘Gutted’: Same old story as Wallabies’ horror record extended despite gutsy effort v All Blacks
The Wallabies’ Test drought in New Zealand extended to 23 years when their brave challenge in Wellington was repelled by an All Blacks’ onslaught on Saturday.
Fergus Burke: ‘Owen Farrell was awesome but I’ve got to be my own player’
Saracens’ new fly-half is not daunted at the prospect of following in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor
Certain acts are tougher to follow than others. Imagine, say, playing Hamlet at the Old Vic with the ghost of Sir Laurence Olivier on your shoulder. Or succeeding Sean Connery as the next James Bond. As he prepares for his first home league game as Owen Farrell’s heir apparent, Saracens’ new fly-half, Fergus Burke, knows he is stepping into some exalted shoes.
Which, of course, presents an instant dilemma: do you try to be a carbon copy of your predecessor – give or take the Wigan accent – or resolve to be your own man? Sitting in St Albans, his freshly adopted home town, the 25-year-old Burke has already made his mind up. “Stepping into someone else’s role … there’s obviously a bit of expectation. I just try and park that. Owen was an awesome player and one of the best this club has seen. But I’ve got to be my own player. I can’t be thinking too much about what’s been.”
Continue reading...‘A line in the sand moment’: Premiership’s troubles laid bare by report | Robert Kitson
Seven of the 10 Premiership clubs are balance sheet insolvent but all of rugby must change, says James Haskell
Rarely has the gap between how rugby would like to be perceived and the unvarnished reality felt wider than it did on a grey midweek lunchtime in the City of London. The Honourable Artillery Company – “Turn right just past the cannon, sir” – remains a seriously valuable piece of real estate which made it an interesting choice of venue from which to launch a coruscating critique of the financial state of English club rugby.
It was certainly instructive to sit among seated rows of money men and lawyers listening to assorted experts, academics and – boom, tish! – the former England flanker James Haskell assessing the findings of a newly published independent report into the health of the Premiership’s finances. Interrupted only by the occasional chiming of a splendid grandfather clock, it was the most contemporary of debates in the most old school of settings.
Continue reading...Record breaker left out of Wallabies squad in bid to end drought as injured star sidelined
Nic White has gone from starting No.9 to out of the Wallabies squad completely for the second Bledisloe Cup clash in Wellington as Dylan Pietsch earnt his maiden start in a gold jersey, replacing injured winger Marika Koroibete.