3:18 PM BST ROME, Nov 6 (Reuters) – New Zealand set world records for the most test points and tries scored in a calendar year as a second-string All Blacks team crossed the line seven times in a 47-9 win over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday. Ian Foster’s side have scored

10:53 PM BST Second-half tries by debutant lock Thibaud Flament and hooker Peato Mauvaka and superb goal-kicking by Melvyn Jaminet helped France to a 29-20 victory over a battling Argentina in a typically intense clash in the Stade de France on Saturday. Flament was playing fly-half in the fifth team of England’s Loughborough University five

3:51 PM BST Ireland tore Japan apart with a stunning display of attacking rugby, particularly from their dynamic pack, to mark captain Johnny Sexton’s 100th cap with an impressive 60-5 victory at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. Twenty-nine unanswered first half points, including tries from James Lowe, Jamison Gibson Park and two for Andrew Conway

10:22 AM BST England captain Owen Farrell is a doubt for their match against Tonga on Saturday after returning a positive COVID-19 test. The Rugby Football Union said in a statement on Friday that Farrell would miss the Captain’s Run training session ahead of the game due to the result. The news comes after an

1:58 AM BST Motivated by the stunning return of Quade Cooper, Kurtley Beale is hoping to add his own influence to a Wallabies team on the up and keep his dream of a fourth Rugby World Cup appearance alive. The veteran Test back is enjoying a first taste of Dave Rennie’s Wallabies environment, after being

10:02 AM BST Wales will be without captain Alun Wyn Jones and loose-forward Ross Moriarty for the remainder of the autumn international series after they were ruled out for “a number of months” on Tuesday. Welsh Rugby have confirmed the pair will both need surgery, lock Jones for his troublesome shoulder and Moriarty after he

2:19 PM BST A number of players from Wales’ women’s team are set to receive a contract for the first time, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) announced on Wednesday. The Union have agreed for 25 contracts to be offered, up to 10 will be professional and up to 15 will be retainer agreements for a

Nov 3, 2021 Former New Zealand prop Carl Hayman has been diagnosed with early onset dementia at the age of 41, shining the spotlight on concussion-related illness in former rugby players. Hayman, who played the last of his 45 tests at the 2007 World Cup, revealed to New Zealand sport website ‘The Bounce’ he had

10:14 PM BST ESPN staff While there were two games over the weekend, World Rugby’s November Test window officially begins this Saturday. And there are some mouth-watering fixtures to be played, highlighted by the weekend’s closing encounter between Scotland and Australia at Murrayfield on Sunday afternoon [BST]. Read on as we bring you all the

2:13 PM BST South Africa full-back Damian Willemse has been handed a rare start as one of four changes to the match-day squad for the autumn international series match against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday. Willemse, an exciting utility player who can feature almost anywhere in the backline, has been brought into the side that