Eddie Jones has warned Danny Cipriani he will be sent home from South Africa if he steps out of line after the fly-half received a first senior England call-up for three years. Cipriani’s return to the international fold is the most notable selection in Jones’s 34-man squad for the three‑Test series next month and while…
Category: Rugby
Sexton and Nacewa kick Leinster to Champions Cup glory against Racing 92
Irish rugby’s remarkable year shows absolutely no sign of ending. By no stretch of the imagination was this a classic final but it is impossible to deny the scale of Leinster’s achievement in becoming only the second team in history to win four European Cups. Given Ireland’s Six Nations grand slam and potentially a Pro14…
England plan to target Scotland’s Finn Russell, says Courtney Lawes
England’s forwards will head north on Thursday vowing to give Finn Russell another torrid day at the office in the Calcutta Cup match at Murrayfield this weekend. The Scotland fly-half has endured a mixed Six Nations campaign so far and, according to the English back-rower Courtney Lawes, further heavy punishment is heading his way. Nathan…
Toby Flood kicks Newcastle to win over Northampton in front of record crowd
This felt like a victory for Newcastle before the match had even kicked off. The Falcons, enjoying their best season for 16 years, attracted a crowd of 30,174 to St James’ Park for a match they had billed as The Big One. The attendance dwarfed their previous record home crowd of 11,750, set during a…
Saracens beat Harlequins on historic afternoon for rugby union
English rugby has its share of thorny issues at present but there is one fast-emerging success story out there. If a distinctly chilly Sunday afternoon in west London exuded little obvious glamour, the inaugural Tyrrells Premier 15s final represented the latest major positive stride for the domestic women’s game, a potentially significant staging post along the long,…
Wasps’ victory over Exeter is marred by a succession of injuries
It was every bit as tight as last season’s Premiership final between these teams when the Chiefs triumphed in added time, and yesterday Wasps had to dig deep to avenge that defeat. But victory on a chilly afternoon near Coventry came at a cost. Wasps have had some horrendous luck with injuries this season and…
Bible-studying rake wins Wallabies debut for first Test against Ireland
Former garbage collector and theologist Brandon Paenga-Amosa will cap a stunning rugby rise by packing down as Wallabies hooker against Ireland. Paenga-Amosa, who had been playing 12 months ago for Sydney club Southern Districts, is among three forwards to make their Test debuts against the Six Nations champions on Saturday night at Suncorp Stadium. Wallabies…
Sam Simmonds’ hat-trick helps Exeter Chiefs to easy win over London Irish
There remains a mathematical chance of London Irish avoiding relegation from the Premiership this season but any realistic hope of a reprieve was in effect ended on Sunday by a runaway Exeter. Although better sides than Irish would have struggled to stop the galloping Chiefs, for whom the England back-row Sam Simmonds scored a hat-trick of tries,…
Dan Leavy inspires Leinster to beat holders Saracens in Champions Cup
The jerseys were blue rather than green but otherwise this was an entirely familiar Anglo-Irish storyline. Leinster are through to the last four of the European Rugby Champions Cup while England’s Six Nations under-achievement has now been mirrored at elite European club level. The presence of three Pro14 sides in the semi-finals and none from…
Exeter march on and show no sign of letting up in victory over Sale
Exeter had already secured home advantage in the play-offs but there was no letting up from the champions who ensured they will finish at the top of the table for the first time with a bonus point victory over opponents on the trail of the Champions Cup who refused to go away. There is a…