9:39 AM GMT All Blacks flanker Ardia Savea has resisted approaches from French club rugby and added two years to his contract with New Zealand Rugby. The 25-year-old confirmed he had signed until 2021, reportedly backing out of a deal to play for Pau after next year’s World Cup in what he described as a

5:12 PM GMT Leicester Tigers have appointed caretaker boss Geordan Murphy as their new head coach, the Premiership club said on Tuesday. Murphy, 40, took charge of the team on an interim basis in September after head coach Matt O’Connor left following a 40-6 drubbing at Exeter in their season opener. “It is a huge

12:15 PM GMT Ireland lock Iain Henderson is set to miss the start of the Six Nations due to a thumb injury, his club Ulster said on Monday. The 26-year-old, who has played 40 times for his country, underwent surgery on Monday. “Iain Henderson had surgery today to repair a torn ligament in his thumb.

2:31 PM GMT Leicester Tigers head coach Geordan Murphy has said the club is at its lowest point in 20 years following their Champions Cup defeat to Racing 92 on Sunday. The result means the Tigers have lost eight matches in a row and are on the verge of exiting the Champions Cup at the

10:23 AM GMT ESPN staff South Africa will play Japan in a final Rugby World Cup warm-up fixture two weeks before facing the New Zealand All Blacks in their opening fixture of the global showpiece in Yokohama. The fixture will be played on Friday, Sep. 6 at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium in Saitama, north of Tokyo.

5:11 AM GMT Michael Cheika will remain as Wallabies coach through to the Rugby World Cup but he will have a new boss after Scott Johnson was unveiled as Rugby Australia’s new Director of Rugby. In what looks a good move for the longer-term health of Australian rugby, Johnson will oversee a new National High

Dec 17, 2018 Scott Johnson has been appointed Director of Rugby to oversee coach Michael Cheika, as part of a restructure aimed at boosting the struggling Wallabies going into the 2019 World Cup. Cheika will report to Johnson, who will return home in mid-March after a decade working in the USA and Europe, most recently

9:51 PM GMT The All Blacks career of exciting winger Nehe Milner-Skudder is all but over after he signed a three-year French club rugby deal. Toulon has confirmed the 27-year-old’s contract will join them in June next year before their Top 14 campaign, ruling him out of Rugby World Cup contention. The decision has been

4:56 AM GMT Crusaders coach Scott Robertson is far more than the breakdancing, surfer dude that he’s portrayed as and is ready to step into the All Blacks role, according to former Ireland fly-half Ronan O’Gara. New Zealand coach Steve Hansen said earlier on Friday that he would step down following next year’s Rugby World

11:31 PM GMT The decision has been made. Steve Hansen’s eight-year tenure as All Blacks coach will come to an end after next year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan, where New Zealand will be chasing an unprecedented third straight triumph. The first piece in the All Blacks coaching jumble has moved, making Steve Hansen’s looming