Rugby Union News
Brython Thunder returned to winning ways with an impressive 17-33 victory against Glasgow Warriors in Round nine of the Celtic Challenge at the Scotstoun Stadium this afternoon. The Welsh side bounced back after last week’s defeat to Irish side Clovers with a big performance on the road in Scotland. Wales second row Gwen Crabb grabbed […]
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Name? Elliot Dee Position? Hooker What do your teammates call you? Shelby Go to coffee order? Double espresso What’s the first thing you do in the morning? Try and roll out of bed. First rugby memory? Training on the Welfare ground for Newbridge RFC U8s Are there any traditions or rituals you have before a […]
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Gwalia Lightning saw their title hopes falter after a 17-48 defeat to reigning champions and league leaders, Wolfhounds, in round nine of the Celtic Challenge at Ystrad Mynach this afternoon. Gwalia, unbeaten at home this season, found themselves pointless at half-time and down 39-0 after an impressive first half display by the Irish side. Replacement […]
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There will be no fewer than 15 Welsh international players lining up for the four teams in the PWR semi-finals this weekend – and one coach! New Wales women’s head coach Sean Lynn will be trying to lead his Gloucester-Hartpury into a third straight final to make it a hat-trick of titles before he switches […]
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Ebbw Vale will host Newport for the second weekend in a row at Eugene Cross Park, although this time it will be cup rugby. Last week’s 20-5 triumph sent The Steelmen back to the top of the Super Rygbi Cymru table and a similar result today would take them to the top of Pool B […]
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Slender victory against Scotland was met with criticism from former players but the prop believes free-flowing winning rugby is unrealistic
Ellis Genge has something to get off his chest. After a few pleasantries – his time off at the start of the week was a “nightmare” because his son has chicken pox – he soon finds his stride. The England prop cannot understand the negative reaction to last weekend’s one-point victory in the Calcutta Cup. England’s first win over Scotland in five years, and their second in a row in this year’s Six Nations, ensured they retain an outside chance of winning the title.
“It is difficult as a player to digest the fact that people were disappointed that we just won the Calcutta Cup back after five years,” Genge says. “We won the game and people are still upset about it. It blew my mind, to be honest. Ex-players, recently retired and long retired, and people from years and years ago, I just can’t believe how out of touch they are, the spiel that I’m reading from people saying how off it we are. We won two games on the bounce and you’re upset about it, I don’t get it. Let’s not be naive, you can feel that people were booing when we were playing. It’s the feeling at the moment, for whatever reason, it is the way it is.”
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Brython Thunder hit the road to Scotland to face Glasgow Warriors in Round 9 of the Celtic Challenge at Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow, on Saturday, March 1st (KO:3:45pm). The Welsh side will be looking to bounce back and build on their Celtic Challenge campaign against a Glasgow Warriors side only two points ahead of them in […]
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Gwalia Lightning return home to face the Celtic Challenge league leaders and reigning champions Wolfhounds in Round 9 at Ystrad Mynach on Saturday, March 1st (KO: Midday). The Welsh side sit third in the table behind Irish sides, Wolfhounds and Clovers, with only four points between the top three sides in the league and two […]
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Centre Hannah Jones will captain Wales during the Women’s Six Nations 2025 Guinness campaign. Jones will be joined by vice-captains Keira Bevan and Alex Callender in a new on-field leadership team appointed by new Wales Head coach Sean Lynn. Jones has been capped by Wales 60-times and has been Wales captain since being appointed for […]
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Dragons head coach Filo Tiatia has been given a long-term boost by the re-signing of centre Aneurin Owen and back row man Harri Keddie. The two former Wales U20 stars are both home-grown regional players who have become mainstays as senior players. The 24-year-old Owen had played in 14 of the 15 games to date […]
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Ellis Mee, who would not have registered with many before this tournament, has been one of the shining stars so far
Sure, it’s still early days but Wales’s upbeat performance against Ireland showed how quickly perceptions can change. Even a few weeks ago the name Ellis Mee would not have registered with many Six Nations fans. Now, after an eye-catching debut last weekend, the lanky 21-year-old is being tipped by no less an expert than Jamie Roberts to become a regular fixture for Wales. Less than a year ago the 6ft 4in Mee was playing for Nottingham in the Championship – memo to the Rugby Football Union: there is plenty of untapped talent out there – and was scouted by the former Wales international James “Cubby” Davies while playing for Nottingham Trent University. Then, after just 10 professional games for Scarlets, he was parachuted into the national team as part of a productive back three alongside his similarly positive clubmates Blair Murray and Tom Rogers. Suddenly it’s all Mee, Mee, Mee …
Continue reading...When Ellis Mee made his Wales debut last weekend it was his first representative team rugby. The 21-year-old former Nottingham Trent University and Nottingham wing came within inches of steering Wales to a famous victory over reigning Six Nations champions Ireland in Cardiff as he stretched for the corner. “It was close, very close. My first thought was I […]
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The Ospreys have moved quickly to find a centre replacement for the injured Owen Watkin and have signed up Fijian skipper Waisea Nayacalevu for the rest of the season. Nayacalevu famously led Fiji to victory over Wales at Principality Stadium earlier this season and was in charge of the team that beat England at Twickenham […]
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Ospreys hooker Dewi Lake has been called up to the Wales senior men’s squad, taking the total number of players to 38. In addition, the following players have been released back to Cardiff Rugby, Ospreys and Scarlets this week ahead of round twelve of the United Rugby Championship at the weekend. Cardiff Rugby Ellis Bevan […]
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The qualification maze might seem unsatisfactory to some, but often it comes down to personal preference
There was no disputing the most iconic rugby image of the weekend. Maro Itoje hoisting the Calcutta Cup might normally have secured the crown but did you see that magnificent picture of Bundee Aki in Cardiff, complete with heroically battered nose and blood-stained Ireland shirt? As the BBC commentator Andrew Cotter wryly observed: “Bundee Aki looks like he’s about to wrestle the whole of Cardiff … and I would back him.”
As warrior portraits go it was up there with some of rugby’s all‑time greats: a blood-soaked Jean-Pierre Rives, a mud-plastered Fran Cotton, a truly terrifying Sébastian Chabal. Test rugby is a game of light and shade and, for all its shafts of beauty, the sport also has its fearsome competitors. The internet loved it, not least the ArtButMakeItSports account on X which drew a brilliant parallel between the striking Aki picture and the work of the late American painter Cy Twombly.
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