Rugby

10:36 AM BST Scotland fullback Stuart Hogg will captain the British & Irish Lions in the opening match of their South African tour, when they take on the Gauteng-based Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday. Welsh winger Josh Adams is the only player retained in the starting lineup from the side that beat Japan 28-10

3:10 PM BST Samoa’s national rugby sevens teams are stranded in Dubai after failing to meet their own government’s COVID-19 requirements en route home from missing out on qualification for the Tokyo Games, sports officials said on Thursday. Players and staff from the men’s and women’s teams were denied passage on a flight from Dubai

10:36 AM BST Scotland fullback Stuart Hogg will captain the British & Irish Lions in the opening match of their South African tour, when they take on the Gauteng Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday. Welsh winger Josh Adams is the only player retained in the starting lineup from the side that beat Japan 28-10

2:14 PM BST South Africa named a strong team to take on Georgia on Friday in their first test in 20 months since winning the World Cup in Japan in 2019. The test is one of two warm-ups for the Springboks ahead of their three-test series against the British & Irish Lions and new coach

2:00 PM BST Full-back Leigh Halfpenny will make his 100th test appearance when Wales host Canada at the Principality Stadium on Saturday and there could be as many as five debuts for the home side in the international friendly. Coach Wayne Pivac has been forced to make a number of changes from the side that

12:30 PM BST Premiership Rugby will be expanded to 14 teams in the 2022-23 season after a Rugby Football Union (RFU) Council voted to temporarily pause relegation in a bid to improve the financial situation of clubs hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The vote was conducted to improve the financial stability and sustainability of professional

10:35 AM BST South African Rugby President Mark Alexander has accepted there will be no fans at stadiums for the British & Irish Lions series but is confident the COVID-19 protocols in place will allow all the scheduled games to go ahead. The Lions, who will face the Springboks in three tests from July 24,

5:25 PM BST Scotland’s rugby team have broken camp ahead of next month’s tests against Romania and Georgia to self-isolate following consultation with Scottish Government medical advisers, a statement said on Monday. A planned international between Scotland A and England A on Sunday was called off because of COVID-19 cases in the Scotland squad. Three

3:24 PM BST South Africa will resume training activities on Monday afternoon after a COVID-19 scare in the squad as they build up to their first test in 20 months against Georgia on Friday, officials have confirmed. Initially three players tested positive for the virus over the weekend, but scrum-half Herschel Jantjies has since been

9:21 AM BST Olympic men’s rugby sevens champions Fiji and silver medallists Britain have been grouped with hosts Japan and debutants Canada for the men’s tournament at the Tokyo Games, World Rugby said on Monday. Rugby World Cup Sevens and World Series champions New Zealand face neighbours Australia in Pool A, which also features Argentina

5:12 AM BST Referee Romain Poite has admitted he got a late call wrong that denied New Zealand a chance of a series victory against the British & Irish Lions in 2017 and that he trashed his Eden Park changing room in anger at his mistake. The three-Test series ended 1-1 following a 15-15 draw

1:27 PM BST South Africa cancelled a Sunday training session after three unnamed Springbok players tested positive for COVID-19 on the eve on the British & Irish Lions’ departure to the country for a three-test series next month. The players had been put into isolation and a decision on further team activities would be taken

8:54 PM BST Two late tries by winger Louis Lynagh ensured that Harlequins were crowned English Premiership champions for the first time in nine years on Saturday as they beat holders Exeter 40-38 in a Twickenham final full of superb tries. Harlequins struck first with an early penalty try, only for Exeter’s forwards to deliver

5:28 PM BST The British & Irish Lions beat Japan 28-10 in the warm-up for their South Africa tour on Saturday but the match was overshadowed by a shoulder injury for captain Alun Wyn Jones which could jeopardise his participation. The veteran Welsh lock was forced off after eight minutes supporting his left arm, seemingly

11:10 AM BST ESPN Reuters Scotland’s Zander Fagerson and Hamish Watson have been ruled out of the British & Irish Lions lineup to face Japan on Saturday due to injury. Prop Fagerson has a back spasm and will be replaced by Ireland’s Tadhg Furlong, while flanker Watson suffered a head injury in training on Tuesday

4:45 AM BST Wallabies coach Dave Rennie is disappointed the red-card replacement trial will not be adopted in international rugby, saying he “can’t understand” the northern hemisphere’s resistance to it. World Rugby is poised to green light both the 50/22 and goal-line dropout variations that have been used in Super Rugby AU over the past

3:28 PM BST South Africa have said they are hopeful Duane Vermeulen will be fit enough to join the British & Irish Lions series, as assistant coach Deon Davids suggested on Wednesday the No. 8 was a “couple of weeks” away from joining the squad. Davids was coy on whether the forward would be available

11:23 AM BST Warren Gatland has named his first British & Irish Lions team for the 2021 tour with Alun Wyn Jones captaining the side against Japan on Saturday. Gatland’s team is without those in Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership final and features players from Wales, Scotland and Ireland. This weekend’s match is at Murrayfield and is