Le Garrec shines as France eye resurgent England

Le Garrec shines as France eye resurgent England

Nolann Le Garrec put his hand up as a worthy successor for Antoine Dupont's number 9 shirt with an all-encompassing display in France's 45-24 victory over Wales in the Six Nations. Le Garrec, 21, rightly won the man-of-the-match award for his performance behind a dominant pack, linking perfectly with Thomas Ramos as the clock wound down and the French turned the screw on the home side at Cardiff's […]

March 11, 2024 6

Sport

‘Outside chance’ of title as Scotland travel to Italy in Six Nations

Scotland have an outside chance of claiming their first Six Nations title in a quarter of a century as they face improved Italy in Rome on Saturday. The Scots' last championship triumph came in 1999, the last year of the old Five Nations before Italy joined the tournament. They have not finished higher than third in the intervening 25 years but Gregor Townsend's team go into this weekend's […]

March 8, 2024 1

Sport

Ireland eye Six Nations title but Farrell still wary of England

Andy Farrell has insisted his native England remain capable of scuppering Ireland's bid for successive Grand Slams even though the visitors will be overwhelming favourites to win Saturday's Six Nations clash at Twickenham. Ireland head coach Farrell's men have been the outstanding team of the tournament, with bonus-point wins over France, Italy and Wales suggesting their failure to get beyond the quarter-finals of last year's World Cup in […]

March 8, 2024 4

Sport

Struggling Canterbury Crusaders sign Wales back McNicholl

Canterbury Crusaders have signed New Zealand-born back Johnny McNicholl from Welsh club Llanelli Scarlets as cover for the injured All Blacks star Will Jordan and British and Irish Lions full-back Leigh Halfpenny. "We have had a couple of injuries and Johnny has a massive history here," head coach Rob Penney said Wednesday. "We had conversations which morphed into him coming home, which is fantastic for us." McNicholl made 39 […]

March 6, 2024

Sport

England sweating on Fin Smith injury ahead of Ireland clash

England face an anxious wait on the fitness of Fin Smith ahead of Saturday's Six Nations clash with title-chasing Ireland. Smith was the only member of Steve Borthwick's squad to miss training on Tuesday as he recovers from a calf injury. With only Thursday's main session left before the Twickenham showdown, time is running out to prove his fitness. Losing Fin Smith would be a blow for England […]

March 6, 2024 2

Sport

All Blacks back Jordie Barrett suspended for three weeks

All Blacks back Jordie Barrett was handed a three-week suspension on Wednesday after receiving a red card in the Wellington Hurricanes' last-gasp Super Rugby win at the weekend. Barrett was initially shown a yellow card on Saturday for a high tackle on Queensland Reds fullback Jordan Petaia, which was upgraded to a red card after a review by the television match official. "The FPRC assessed the player's actions as […]

March 6, 2024 4

Sport

Pressure on Galthie to refresh for Wales Six Nations trip

The aftermath of France's dour start to the Six Nations, including a humbling to Ireland and a draw with Italy, has continued to overshadow the build-up to Sunday's trip to Wales. Head coach Fabien Galthie is being urged to hand new faces a chance with their title hopes all but over. When the 54-year-old took over in late 2019 he had spent years observing why Les Bleus had underperformed […]

March 6, 2024 6

Sport

French blank Britain to capture LA Sevens rugby title

France beat Great Britain 21-0 in Sunday's championship match to capture the World Rugby SVNS Series title at Los Angeles, completing a stellar debut for Antoine Dupont. Antoine Zeghdar's try and a conversion by Stephen Parez-Edo Martin in the seventh minute lifted France ahead 7-0 at half-time. Martin converted his own try in the ninth minute for a 14-0 French lead and Theo Fornier added a try in the 13th […]

March 4, 2024 3

Sport

France’s Galthie ‘absolutely not in danger’, says federation chief

Fabien Galthie's position as France head coach is "absolutely not in danger", French Rugby Federation (FFR) president Florian Grill said on Monday after the side's Six Nations title hopes were dealt a massive blow with the drab draw against Italy. Les Bleus have won just once so far this tournament, a narrow win at Scotland, sandwiched between a humbling at home to Ireland and Sunday's 13-13 draw with […]

February 27, 2024 6