insert_link Sport All Blacks coach wants to include foreign-based players New All Blacks coach Scott Robertson said Tuesday he was pressing New Zealand Rugby to change its sacrosanct rule banning overseas-based players from Test selection, saying he wanted to pick from the best available. The governing body has refused to budge on the issue, believing selecting players enticed overseas on big-money contracts would weaken the domestic game at Super Rugby and provincial level. As recently as last month, chief […] todayJanuary 9, 2024
insert_link Sport Wales and Lions great JPR Williams dies John Peter Rhys Williams -- who died aged 74 on Monday -- was one of Wales' most celebrated players during his country's 1970s golden era. Better known as JPR, the full-back, adorned with trademark sideburns and socks round his ankles, was a terrifying sight for his opponents as he bore down on them with or without the ball. Indeed so bone-crunching were his tackles that on the 1971 British […] todayJanuary 9, 2024 5
insert_link Sport Peter Horne to “rebuild the Wallabies” Long-serving World Rugby administrator Peter Horne was appointed Friday as Australia's director of high-performance, with part of his brief to "purpose-build a new Wallabies program from scratch". Horne, an Australian, spent nearly 14 years working for the sport's world governing body, most recently as its high-performance director after a stint as general manager at Saracens. He was hired by Rugby Australia after the Wallabies abysmal World Cup campaign under […] todayDecember 22, 2023 10
insert_link Sport Contepomi to coach Argentina Former Argentina fly-half Felipe Contepomi was named on Monday to replace Michael Cheika as head coach of the World Cup semi-finalists. Contepomi, who played 87 times for Argentina and turned out for French clubs Toulon and Stade Francais and Irish giants Leinster, where he was also on the coaching staff from 2018 to 2022, moves up from the national staff to the top job at the age of 46. "The […] todayDecember 19, 2023 4
insert_link Sport Toulouse rout ‘Quins in Champions Cup Five-time winners Toulouse put English side Harlequins to the sword on Sunday, running in seven tries in a 47-19 Champions Cup rout at the Stoop while Exeter came from behind to stun Munster 32-24.With France captain Antoine Dupont pulling the strings at scrum-half, Toulouse chalked up three tries in the first half through Pierre-Louis Barassi, Dimitri Delibes and Peato Mauvaka as Quins struggled to find the form that saw them […] todayDecember 18, 2023 9
insert_link Sport Vunipola cleared to play Saracens No 8 Billy Vunipola is free to play against Connacht this weekend after the red card he received in last weekend's Champions Cup loss at the Bulls was overturned, tournament organisers announced on Wednesday.The England international was sent off in Saturday's defeat in South Africa for striking opposition back-rower Cameron Hanekom in the head at a ruck but a disciplinary hearing cleared him of a suspension."The committee determined that […] todayDecember 14, 2023 3
insert_link Sport Springboks to host Ireland South Africa will host Ireland, the only country they lost to when winning the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, in a two-Test series next July. SA Rugby announced on Friday that the countries will meet in Pretoria on July 6 and in Durban on July 13. Since the Springboks won a home series against the Irish in 2016, they have met three times with Ireland winning each international. […] todayDecember 9, 2023 5
insert_link Sport Fiji player guilty of sexual assault Fiji rugby union international Api Ratuniyarawa on Monday admitted committing a series of sex offences before he was due to play for the Barbarians against Wales.The 37-year-old lock pleaded guilty to two charges of assault by penetration and one of sexual assault when he appeared before a court in Cardiff.The offences against three women took place between October 31 and November 2, two days before the Barbarians-Wales match at […] todayDecember 5, 2023 1
insert_link Sport Referee Tom Foley steps away from officiating English referee Tom Foley, who received death threats after acting as television match official at the Rugby World Cup final, will step away from officiating Test rugby for the foreseeable future, it was announced Monday.Foley was TMO for October's final between South Africa and New Zealand in Paris, which the Springboks won 12-11 and the All Blacks had skipper Sam Cane sent off.The 38-year-old said last month that death threats […] todayDecember 5, 2023 1
