Whether or not they are religious, Australian rugby officials will be praying major sponsors have been appeased by Israel Folau’s explanation for his recent comment about gay people being destined for Hell if they did not repent their “sins”. Folau created one of the biggest controversies in Australian sport this year when he expressed his…
Women’s rugby takes giant leap forwards with start of Super W
A new era looms as the inaugural season of Super W, the Australian women’s rugby union competition, kicks off this weekend with matches on both the east and west coasts of the continent. The competition is a new incarnation of the annual National XVs Championship, which previously ran over several days but is now a…
Piet van Zyl grabs two tries as bottom side London Irish batter Harlequins
It is all very well playing like this now. London Irish remain alive but the real story is the confidence and facility of their form, now that it has surely come too late for them. Nick Kennedy, their departed director of rugby, had always said it was there beneath the surface. Now it has burst…
Penalties are killing England, says Jonny May before second South Africa Test
England’s players have held a meeting to discuss their on-field discipline and vowed to clean up their act in the second Test against South Africa on Saturday. After four successive Test defeats the squad have acknowledged they urgently need to reduce their penalty count if South Africa are not to take an unassailable 2-0 lead…
Steve Black: ‘Cipriani is a fountain of energy … the dream never left him’
Steve Black’s pride is palpable. Danny Cipriani has just been handed his first England start for a decade against South Africa and the man he calls his “Super Dad” is beaming. “Danny has just stuck in there,” Black says. “He hasn’t become a broken man, he’s kept playing at the best of his ability and…
England and New Zealand dispute over Brad Shields may end up in court
England and New Zealand will be on a collision course that may end in the courtroom should Eddie Jones seek to select Brad Shields for the summer tour of South Africa in a dispute that is set to threaten World Rugby’s authority as arbiters of the global game. New Zealand have threatened to block England…
Saracens step up a gear to cruise past Gloucester as Alex Goode excels
Saracens sauntered to the play-offs after yet another second-half siege laid Gloucester to waste. They have now not conceded a second-half point in four matches – it was 40 unanswered here – and are hell-bent on returning to Twickenham later this month. Wasps will be the visitors in the semi-finals but after another nine-try showing,…
Schalk Brits gives up the biltong and beer for Springbok recall
Schalk Brits does not look 37 years old but he is giving hope to middle‑aged cocktail‑drinking holidaymakers everywhere. As recently as last Saturday, fresh from a family vacation – “I was sipping tequilas in Ibiza” – he was just another fan at Ellis Park enjoying a social day out having retired from rugby last month….
Scarlets’ Johnny McNicholl calls for artificial pitches to be banned
Johnny McNicholl has called for artificial pitches to be outlawed after he and a number of his Scarlets team-mates suffered burns and blisters during Friday night’s Guinness Pro14 semi-final in Glasgow and the region’s Scotland captain, John Barclay, ruptured an achilles’ tendon that will keep him out for six months. The following day the Wasps…
USA follow victory over Scotland with six-try beating of Canada
The USA extended their record unbeaten run against Canada to nine Tests in the first rugby Test ever played in Nova Scotia on Saturday, following their historic win over Scotland in Houston with a six-try, 42-17 victory over their struggling northern neighbours. Gary Gold’s blazing Eagles beat Scotland – US rugby has momentum Thanks to…