Rugby Union News
Ebbw Vale are hopeful of restoring Evan Lloyd to their side for the return game against Pontypool in Super Rygbi Cymru after he was forced to pull out in the warm-up at Pontypool Park last weekend. Without their ace goalkicker and chief tactician The Steelmen fell to a 23-16 defeat as they lost ground at […]
The post SRC leaders Ebbw Vale aim for revenge over Pontypool appeared first on Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions.
Sale stopped free-scoring Bristol in their tracks as they moved into the Premiership playoff places with a stunning 38-0 victory at Ashton Gate. Bristol had high hopes of going top above their West Country rivals Bath, but Sale did not allow them any time or space on the ball and Bears’ trademark running game hit the buffers.
The scrum-half Raffi Quirke set the tone when he breached Bristol’s defence inside three minutes, and the Sharks never looked back. Tom Roebuck added a second try before half-time, then the captain Ben Curry’s interception score sealed the deal midway through the third quarter, before Roebuck’s fellow wing Tom O’Flaherty secured a bonus point 14 minutes from time.
Continue reading...Leicester fly-half returns to scene of South Africa’s autumn triumph, where his opposite number is also a familiar face
There will be those at a sold-out Twickenham on Saturday who will be sick of the sight of Handré Pollard. The 30-year-old fly-half returns to the stadium with Leicester six weeks after his accuracy from the tee kept the Springboks out of reach against England, his goalkicking once more a dagger to the heart of Steve Borthwick. That his opposite number will be Harlequins’ Marcus Smith only heightens the sense that England’s bete noire is back.
As was the case in the 2023 World Cup semi-final, Pollard began November’s victory over England on the bench, only to come on and turn the screw from the tee. He is the elder statesman of South Africa’s pool of No 10s but is at home playing the role of safe hand on the tiller, just when Rassie Erasmus needs it. For the Springboks it has been a year of experimentation, all the while maintaining their place at the top of the world rankings, but Pollard’s reliability, whenever Erasmus calls upon him, has been consistent. Cast your eye around the global game and there are no better candidates to shoot for goal if your life depended on it than South Africa’s double World Cup winner.
Continue reading...Swansea RFC will stage a minute’s silence ahead of their Super Rygbi Cymru game against Aberavon at St Helen’s on Saturday 28 December to honour the memory of one of their greatest players, Geoff Wheel. The 32-times capped Wales second row passed away on Boxing Day at the age of 73. He had been suffering […]
The post Geoff Wheel to be remembered at Swansea’s SRC game appeared first on Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions.
Brython Thunder will host Gwalia Lightning in the second Celtic Challenge Welsh derby during the festive period at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday. (KO: 2.30pm). Lightning beat Thunder 42-22 in the first of the Celtic Challenge Welsh derbies in a 10-try thriller at Ystrad Mynach last Saturday, to kick-off the new expanded home and away […]
The post Thunder and Lightning tinker with selection for derby rematch appeared first on Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions.
The Welsh Rugby Union will make a new lead appointment for the women’s game in Wales as a result of the review undertaken to examine its processes around recent contract negotiations with its senior Women’s national squad. The high profile role will directly manage the Wales Women head coach as well as set and implement […]
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Sharp shooters Billy McBryde and Kieran Meek took full advantage of Evan Lloyd’s absence from round 12 of Super Rygbi Cymru to leap frog the Ebbw Vale fly half as the leading points scorers in the league. McBryd jumped from third position to top of the pile after guiding RGC to a hard fought 28-34 […]
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The best and worst of the last 12 months and hopes for 2025 in our review of the year in rugby union
1 Antoine Dupont (France, Toulouse, France sevens)
2 Eben Etzebeth (South Africa)
3 Pieter-Steph du Toit (SA), Ox Nché (SA), Wallace Sititi (New Zealand), Ellie Kildunne (England)
dfdfd Player Club Points Scored (Kick Success %) Billy McBryde RGC 107 (73%) Evan Lloyd Ebbw Vale 105 (78%) Kieran Meek Pontypool 104 (76%) Josh Phillips Swansea 76 (81%) Ed Dunford Aberavon 60 (75%) Player Club Total tries Dewi Cross Cardiff RFC 9 Lewis Morgan Carmarthen 8 Joe Franchi Ebbw Vale 8 Cori Lewis-Jenkins Aberavon […]
The post SRC round 12 appeared first on Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions.
Newport condemned arch-rivals Cardiff to their first home defeat of the season as they enhanced their position in Super Rygbi Cymru with as 27-20 win at the Arms Park. The five precious points came thanks to stubborn defensive effort in the final 10 minutes as the Blue & Blacks threw the kitchen sink at the […]
The post Jac Lloyd guides Newport to SRC derby win in Cardiff appeared first on Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions.
RGC finally ended their search for a first win on the road – at the sixth time of asking – after running out victorious 34-28 at Bridgend Ravens in Super Rygbi Cymru. Tries from Dion Jones, Ethan Fackrell, Dan Owen and Rhodri King, as well 14 points from the boot of Billy McBryde, ensured the […]
The post Gogs break duck on the road in SRC with win in Bridgend appeared first on Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions.
Pontypool stunned Super Rygbi Cymru leaders Ebbw Vale in the Gwent derby – and then immediately set their sights on doing the double over their neighbours. Full-back Pat Lewis scored in each half, with No 8 Morgan Allen also crashing over in the second period, to bag the bragging rights for Pooler in a 23-16 […]
The post Lewis double helps Pooler topple SRC leaders Ebbw Vale appeared first on Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions.
The Welsh Rugby Union will complete a rare distinction of providing a full house of officials when defending U20 Six Nations champions England host France in Bath in the second round of the championship. Ben Breakspear will be the man in the middle at the Recreation Ground with fellow countrymen Ben Connor and Mike English […]
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Female athlete power on social media became ever more strident in 2024 – but the backlash also damaged careers and wellbeing
Lina Nielsen remembers the moment she had the idea. She was sitting around the Olympic Village in Paris with her sprinting teammates – and she was bored. “I said to Yemi Mary John: ‘I’m gonna make this TikTok’,” Nielsen recalls. She took herself to her bedroom, got out the flip phone each athlete had been given and typed into an Excel spreadsheet: “Where you at? Holla at me.”
Her five-second spoof of Kelly Rowland’s music-video texting fail took hardly longer than that to make. It also got 8m views. “It’s funny that the videos that do that best are the ones you don’t put any effort in,” says Nielsen with a laugh. She is still trying to make sense of the fact that her TikTok channel was the most popular of any British athlete at the Games, beating even the knit-tastic Tom Daley in second place. At the end of the Olympic fortnight her channels had been viewed by more than the Australian and German teams combined.
Continue reading...Gwalia Lighting won the opening Welsh derby of the Celtic Challenge league campaign over a young Brython Thunder side 42-22 in the first of two festive Welsh derbies at Ystrad Mynach this afternoon. A crowd of more than 500 turned up for a traditional and typically physical and bruising Welsh derby in the new home […]
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