Rugby Union News
Joe McCarthy was a revelation alongside Tadhg Beirne and Tom Curry for the Lions, while Tom Lynagh had a brave debut for the Wallabies
Tom Wright Kicked well from hand and covered the myriad Lions attacks as best he could. Not at fault in any way for the scores conceded. 6
Continue reading...Andy Farrell’s Lions eased to victory in the first Test, leading 24-5 before Australia rallied to make the score respectable
The crowd count us down and Finn Russell boots the test series under way.
Officials for this match:
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia) & Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Television Match Official (TMO): Richard Kelly (New Zealand)
Continue reading...Have you been following the big stories in football, tennis, golf, cycling, boxing and rugby union?
Continue reading...Australia’s No 8 says team will try to ‘win every moment’ on Saturday
Nick Champion de Crespigny and Tom Lynagh come into injury-depleted squad
Australia captain Harry Wilson said the Wallabies were confident of beating the British & Irish Lions in the first Test at Lang Park on Saturday despite being heavy underdogs after losing several key players to injury.
The Wallabies have won only four of their last 11 Tests and on Saturday will be without regular fly-half Noah Lolesio and their best Test player of the last two years, loose forward Rob Valetini.
Continue reading...Rumours of a big-money, breakaway rugby union league called R360 stealing some of rugby league’s best talent has the game on red alert.
Flanker Nick Champion de Crespigny will make his Test debut for the Wallabies against the British and Irish Lions at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night, but there is no room in the 23-man squad for veteran flyhalf James O’Connor.
Long before he was a rugby union coach, Farrell captained Great Britain’s rugby league team against Australia
Andy Farrell knows more about playing for the Lions against Australia than anyone in his squad. He faced Australia 15 times for Great Britain’s rugby league team, winning just four of those matches. Farrell only played in Australia twice for the Lions, captaining the team in Brisbane in 1999 and Sydney in 2002. Both matches were a nightmare, his team humiliated by an aggregate score of 106-16.
Farrell’s introduction to the team was more enjoyable. He made the first of his 34 appearances for Great Britain at Headingley against New Zealand in 1993. He was only 18 years old and he scored on his debut. Let’s hope he savoured that moment. His third Great Britain international, in 1994, was an epic. Farrell started in the second row against Australia at Wembley in an arm-wrestle for the ages. This wasn’t a run-of-the-mill Australia side. This was one of the all-time greats.
Continue reading...The British and Irish Lions have been called “cocky”, with a former Wallaby World Cup winner declaring Australia has the perfect opportunity to upstage their highly-fancied rivals.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii said Monday the prospect of facing the British and Irish Lions had inspired him to switch from rugby league last year.
Wallabies star plays down feud with Sione Tuipulotu
21-year-old was sent off in State of Origin debut for NSW Blues
Wallabies gun Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has avoided throwing fuel on the fire ahead of a possible spicy rematch with British and Irish Lions centre Sione Tuipulotu in Saturday’s opening Test in Brisbane
The star league recruit and the Melbourne-raised Scotland captain had to be separated in a skirmish in their first meeting at Murrayfield last November.
Continue reading...Wales win 31-12 for first Test win since 2023 World Cup
Fiji 29-14 Scotland; All Blacks 43-17 France; Portugal 7-106 Ireland
Wales held on to end their 18-match losing Test run with a hard-fought 31-22 victory over Japan in Kobe. Playing under the closed roof of the Noevir Stadium, Wales scored three first-half tries, with Josh Adams opening the scoring and Kieran Hardy going over twice after Lee Seung-sin’s penalty, but Japan struck on the stroke of half-time through Shuhei Takeuchi.
Although Dan Edwards’ penalty extended Wales’s lead, they slipped into trouble as two tries in quick succession from Warner Dearns and Dylan Riley brought Japan back into the game. However, Edwards crossed with five minutes remaining to seal a first Test win since beating Georgia at the 2023 World Cup.
Continue reading...Twelve years of pain and regret has stalwart prop James Slipper desperate for Wallabies redemption in the upcoming three-Test series against the British and Irish Lions.
Have you been following the big stories in football, tennis, cricket, golf, boxing, rugby and motor sport?
Continue reading...More than a decade after he took on the British and Irish Lions as a rising young star, veteran fly-half James O’Connor is going to get another crack after being recalled to coach Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies squad ahead of the series opener at Suncorp Stadium.
Wallabies survive scare from surging Fiji at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle
Out stride the two teams, side by side, accompanied by mascots. The visitors are wearing white jerseys and black shorts, the hosts are wearing their First Nations jersey, which is predominately gold, with green accents to match the green shorts.
Angus Fontaine puts it all into context for the Wallabies.
Adventurous attack. Bone-rattling defence. Mistakes punished and opportunities seized. Get in the enemy’s faces and bring the crowd into the contest from the get-go. A ragtag NSW Waratahs gave Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies a bold blueprint for how to dismantle the British & Irish Lions in the first Test on 19 July.
Continue reading...