Worcester Warriors’ new owners have confirmed the team will remain at their Sixways home following a takeover by a consortium that includes the former Swindon Town chairman Jed McCrory. Worcester have been up for sale for the past year with the former owner, Sixways Holdings Limited, reportedly valuing the club at £26.7m. Since then Worcester…
Saracens win in Lyon to guarantee place in Champions Cup quarter-finals
Saracens became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals with a bonus-point victory over Lyon and they will secure the position of top seeds if they defeat Glasgow at Allianz Park on Saturday. Glasgow will be playing for a place in the knockout stage after picking up five points against Cardiff Blues. They will…
Leicester’s George Ford starts try-fest in wild win against Newcastle
They reckon they have been through some turbulent times here of late but this was as wild and unfathomable as anything seen in these parts, quite possibly ever. If Leicester have become famous for anything over the years it is for something rather meaner and more curmudgeonly than this. Eighty-two points liberally shared about and…
Michael Schumacher turns 50, FA Cup third-round shocks and sneaky drinks
1) Today, Michael Schumacher turns 50. He won a grand prix for the first time at Spa in 1992 for Benetton. He’d go on to win five more in Belgium, and another 85 elsewhere. He didn’t win at Spa in 1998 though, and was ultra-keen on telling telling David Coulthard all about it after colliding…
Champions Leinster move top after ending Toulouse’s unbeaten run
Toulouse have shown signs this season of regaining the eminence they enjoyed in the formative years of the European Cup but they were given a reminder in draughty Dublin of how far they have to go as the holders, Leinster, moved to the top of the group with a bonus point victory. Gloucester out after…
Nathan Hughes’s England hopes worsen thanks to ‘What a joke’ tweet
Nathan Hughes’s hopes of featuring in England’s autumn internationals have suffered a further blow after a comment made on Twitter during his disciplinary hearing on Wednesday landed the Wasps No 8 in more hot water. In another setback for both -England and Wasps, Dan Robson has been ruled out until the new year by injury,…
Adam Thompstone salvages losing bonus point for Leicester at Racing 92
On balance Leicester could have picked a better weekend to head to Paris. At least there were no riots or tear gas canisters inside Racing’s stunning new indoor home but an 80-minute water cannon bombardment might have been less arduous than some of the on-field punishment they soaked up en route to a 14th defeat…
Josh Bassett try gets Wasps back to winning ways against Northampton
The future shape of English club rugby is again a subject of heated debate but for Wasps the soothing balm of this much-needed victory was all that mattered. After only one win in their previous 13 games they badly needed a confidence-building start to 2019 and the return of England’s Joe Launchbury helped secure a…
Michael Cheika focused on All Blacks not job security, says Michael Hooper
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has ignored any talk of his job security as the Wallabies prepare for their Bledisloe Cup clash with the All Blacks in Auckland on Saturday, according to captain Michael Hooper. Cheika’s side were beaten 38-13 by the All Blacks in Sydney last week and pundits have said the team’s performance in…
Chris Ashton to miss England clash with Wales because of calf injury
England have suffered a major blow in the buildup to their Six Nations grand slam eliminator against Wales on Saturday after Chris Ashton was ruled out with a calf strain. Ashton suffered the injury during a training session at Twickenham on Friday and after further assessment over the weekend he was left out of the…