Rugby

3:32 PM GMT Lock Cory Hill and scrum-half Gareth Davies have been included for unbeaten Wales as they face struggling Italy in a Six Nations clash in Rome on Saturday — the only changes to the team that defeated England last month. Davies will replace the injured Kieran Hardy, while Hill comes in for Adam

8:00 AM GMT This article is part of ESPN’s Women’s History Month. COVID-19 ravaged the world in 2020. The virus, which was silently transmitted, brought services to their knees. Those working on the frontlines were not just doctors, nurses, teachers or police anymore. Suddenly, they were counsellors to members of their communities who had lost

10:05 AM GMT The weekend’s action brought wins for the Force and Brumbies in Super Rugby AU, while the Highlanders and Crusaders were triumphant across the ditch in Super Rugby Aotearoa. Read on while we review some of the big talking points across the four fixtures. CRUSADERS ARE SOMETHING DIFFERENT This won’t come as a

5:32 AM GMT The defiant NSW Waratahs maintain they boast a “championship-winning” roster despite suffering yet another historic Super Rugby AU defeat. Reeling from record losses to the Queensland Reds and Brumbies to start their 2021 campaign, the Waratahs on Friday night handed the Western Force their first Super Rugby victory since being booted out

11:15 PM GMT The Western Force have heaped more misery on the NSW Waratahs with a drought-busting 20-16 Super Rugby AU victory in Sydney. The Force rallied from 13-0 down to record their first Super Rugby win since also beating the Waratahs in Perth in July, 2017 – in their final game before being booted

9:15 PM GMT Winger Jona Nareki scored a hat-trick of tries and created another in a brilliant display as the Highlanders rallied to a 39-23 victory over the Chiefs in Super Rugby Aotearoa in Hamilton on Friday. The Highlanders turned the match on its head with a three-try blitz in seven minutes at the start

1:11 PM GMT Wales scrum-half Kieran Hardy has been ruled out of their Six Nations clash with Italy on March 13 as he recovers from a hamstring injury sustained in Saturday’s 40-24 win over England. Hardy scored a fine solo try with a quick “tap-and-go” from a penalty that caught the English side unawares, but

2:20 AM GMT Wallabies captain Michael Hooper would love to see Japan play more international Tests, but says rugby’s various governing bodies need to be careful not to burn out players in the process. Japan hasn’t played an international since the 2019 World Cup, when they made it to the quarter-finals before being knocked out

7:12 PM GMT This year’s women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand is set to be pushed back until next year due to the uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, World Rugby said on Tuesday. “World Rugby has made the difficult decision to recommend the postponement of Rugby World Cup 2021, scheduled to be hosted in

1:15 AM GMT All Blacks halfback Aaron Smith has re-signed with New Zealand Rugby through to the 2023 World Cup in France. Smith, the most capped New Zealand scrumhalf of all-time with 97 test appearances, will also remain with his long-time provincial side the Highlanders as part of his extension. “Last year was a tough

3:39 PM GMT French referee Pascal Gauzere has conceded he made mistakes in his handling of England’s 40-24 defeat to Wales, according to World Rugby’s head of match officials Joel Jutge. Jutge, speaking to Midi Olympique, said the two spoke on the phone on Sunday about the controversial first-half calls from Saturday’s game — Jutge

11:12 AM GMT England Rugby condemned the online abuse directed at its players after prop Ellis Genge said he received death threats following Saturday’s Six Nations defeat by Wales. Genge said he was sent abuse on social media after footage surfaced of him not clapping Wales players off the pitch following England’s 40-24 loss at

Feb 23, 2021 Niamh Lewis When Eammon Ashton-Atkinson, an Australian television reporter, decided to film his rugby club as they went to the biannual Bingham Cup in 2018, he could never have imagined the positive reaction a documentary about it would receive. The film Steelers is about London-based Kings Cross Steelers, the world’s first gay

7:10 AM GMT Waratahs assistant coach Chris Whitaker says it’s the COVID pandemic and not the lack of player development that has thrust his franchise into arguably its deepest hole of the professional era. The Waratahs were on Saturday night hammered 61-10 by the Brumbies in Canberra, the record margin against their southern rivals coming

1:03 AM GMT Super Rugby Aotearoa roared into life over the weekend, with wins for competition favourites the Crusaders as well as the team that might finally be able to push them, the Blues. Super Rugby AU was into its second week and again it was the title fancies, the Reds and Brumbies who triumphed,

6:54 PM GMT Wales remained on course for the most unlikely of Six Nations Grand Slams after they beat an indisciplined England 40-24 in a controversial match in Cardiff on Saturday. – Play ESPN’s Rugby Pick’em for FREE Wales led 17-14 at half-time with tries by Josh Adams and Liam Williams — the first after

5:53 PM GMT Ireland scored six tries in a 48-10 bonus point victory over Italy on Saturday to earn their first win of this year’s Six Nations and condemn the hosts to a 30th consecutive defeat in the tournament. Tries from Garry Ringrose, Hugo Keenan and Will Connors gave the visitors a seemingly unassailable 24-point

2:43 PM GMT Sports minister Roxana Maracineanu threatened to withdraw the French team’s authorisation to play in the Six Nations if the rugby federation (FFR) does not properly investigate the origin of a COVID-19 outbreak within the squad. France’s game against Scotland was postponed after 11 French players, as well as staff, including head coach