Rugby Sevens – Worldwide Sports News

March 11, 2026

Codebreakers: rugby players who shift between union, league and sevens

Male and female players are increasingly willing and able to switch codes, with some even playing all three

Charlotte Caslick epitomises the term code agnostic. The 31-year-old has clocked up 328 appearances for Australia in rugby sevens, winning Olympic gold, Commonwealth gold and a Sevens World Cup along the way; she’s played rugby union for her state and country; and rugby league in the world’s biggest women’s club competition in any code, the NRLW. So, why is she – and so many other players from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific – good enough to switch between codes – and why do they want to?

“It probably comes down to the way we grow up,” says Caslick. “We play so many different sports all year round, changing between them. Boys will play school rugby on Saturday then club rugby league on Sunday for as long as they can. More girls are starting to do that as well. Throw in touch or oztag, and we have so many opportunities. It challenges athletes to find where they are best suited. Until you get exposed to different formats, you don’t know which one is for you.”

February 5, 2026

‘England couldn’t be in a better place’: Danny Care on the Six Nations, Rugby World Cup and Harlequins

The England legend discusses punditry, rugby sevens and the pride he felt while watching Joe Marler in The Traitors

Are you surprised at the complete turnaround in England’s results or did you see this coming? “I’m not at all surprised because I saw the team trending in the right direction. I was involved for the back end of the 2023 World Cup campaign and it was amazing. Then a lot of experienced heads left, but the young lads had learned so much from those boys: Courtney Lawes, Billy Vunipola, Joe Marler, Ben Youngs, Dan Coles. Then in the 2024 Six Nations we got that win against Ireland and in Paris I remember standing behind the posts watching a couple of tries, going: ‘That’s how England should play!’ That’s the blueprint. There was Ben Earl, Marcus Smith, playing quickly, physical direction, carving up the French defence. Even though we lost, I remember thinking: ‘That was my last ever game for England, annoyingly – they’re gonna do all right from now and I’m not going to be a part of it.’ But in a way, maybe I played the tiniest part in their transition. The last year has been a joy to watch.”

Do England need to win the Six Nations to be serious contenders for the Rugby World Cup next year? “They have to win it just to prove to themselves that they are that good, but not necessarily this year. It’s going to be really tough, but I believe the boys can do it. The last game’s in France: it would be quite special to do it there 10 years on from when we won a grand slam over there. It would be a brilliant feeling for them to realise what it takes. A lot of the lads starting for England at the moment experienced how close we were to reaching the 2023 World Cup final, the fine margins, and they’ll be way better players for it come 2027. Obviously I’m biased, but we’re in a nice side of a draw so I’m very hopeful England can go all the way. Eighteen months away from a World Cup, England couldn’t be in a better place.

December 22, 2024

Generation TikTok: how sportswomen set the bar higher than the men

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.