Rugby

12:39 PM GMT The Autumn Nations Cup game between France and Fiji on Sunday is likely to be cancelled following a string of positive coronavirus cases within the Fiji team, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday. The source, who declined to be named because they are not allowed to discuss

3:00 PM GMT Leicester Tigers have parted company with director of rugby Geordan Murphy after a disappointing 2019-20 season, the Gallagher Premiership club said on Friday, bringing an end to his 23-year association with the club. Murphy spent 16 seasons at Leicester as a player, making more than 300 appearances, before becoming the team’s head

11:00 AM GMT Jack Willis will make his Test debut against Georgia on Saturday at Twickenham in England’s opening match of the Autumn Nations Cup. Wasps flanker Willis, 23, enjoyed a remarkable 2019-20 campaign where he was named both RPA Player of the Year and Gallagher Premiership Player of the Season. Elsewhere in the side

10:04 PM BST Scotland’s Fraser Brown scored two tries in a 48-7 win over Georgia as he captained the side for the first time, while Finn Russell made an impressive return to the team in Friday’s test at Murrayfield. Darcy Graham (2), Hamish Watson, Stuart McInally, debutant Duhan van der Merwe and Blair Kinghorn added

2:38 PM BST England’s match against the Barbarians on Sunday has been called off after the Barbarians were forced to remove 12 players from their squad on Thursday for breaching their coronavirus code of conduct. England were set to face the invitational side as a warm up to their Six Nations finale against Italy on

7:45 PM BST Wasps head coach Lee Blackett said 11 of his players are unavailable for Saturday’s English Premiership final against Exeter Chiefs because of COVID-19 concerns. The players who are missing out on Wasps’ return to the Twickenham showpiece for the first time in three years have either tested positive for the coronavirus or

5:40 PM BST England’s Six Nations warm-up match against the Barbarians on Sunday is in doubt after a number of the invitational side’s players breached COVID-19 protocols, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) announced on Thursday. Eddie Jones’ England team were due to face the Barbarians at Twickenham prior to their final Six Nations game against

1:27 PM BST Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones will equal the world record for most test caps when he leads the side against France in Paris on Saturday. The lock will play his 148th test, which includes nine for the British and Irish Lions, to move level with retired former New Zealand captain Richie McCaw.

8:00 PM BST Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan accepts RA must do more to unearth the next Indigenous Wallaby to follow in the famous footsteps of the Ella brothers and others like Kurtley Beale and Andrew Walker. RA on Wednesday unveiled the 2020 First Nations jersey to be worn against New Zealand and Argentina in

11:34 AM BST The British and Irish Lions announced on Wednesday they will host Japan in Edinburgh next June ahead of their tour of South Africa. The Lions, who traditionally tour Australia, New Zealand or South Africa every four years, will be playing Japan for the first time, with the match to be held at

9:53 AM BST Wasps have been given the green light to play in Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership final against Exeter Chiefs after the latest batch of COVID-19 results came back all negative. Wasps returned seven positive COVID-19 tests last week, and a further four on Monday, placing their participation in the Premiership final in doubt. They

6:23 PM BST New Zealand, England and Canada have been confirmed as the top three seeds for the women’s 2021 Rugby World Cup after the game’s governing body opted to use rankings from the start of the year with southern hemisphere teams unable to play due to COVID-19 curbs. The draw for the tournament will

3:21 AM BST The first two Tests of the Bledisloe Cup are behind us, with New Zealand holding a 1-0 advantage following Sunday’s comprehensive 27-7 victory at Eden Park in Auckland. That result came seven days after the series opener had finished in a dramatic 16-all draw in Wellington, where the two teams engaged in

2:48 PM BST Wasps’ participation in the Gallagher Premiership final is in doubt after the club returned four more positive COVID-19 tests on Monday, bringing a total of 11 positive tests for the club within a week. Wasps are not training as a group ahead of Saturday’s final, after seven positive tests were returned last

7:11 AM BST All Blacks coach Ian Foster will need to wait until later in the week before he is fully aware of who will be on the plane to Sydney on Sunday for the Rugby Championship with a number of injuries to assess. Prop Joe Moody, midfield back Peter Umaga-Jensen and lock Sam Whitelock

6:22 AM BST All Blacks coach Ian Foster says he isn’t worried about Caleb Clarke coping with the Jonah Lomu comparisons coming his way after the rookie winger bulldozed through the Wallabies on Sunday. Clarke was the standout performer in New Zealand’s 27-7 victory, the winger opening up some flimsy Australian defence on a number

7:49 AM BST We knew the All Blacks’ response would come. But it was inspired by perhaps an unlikely source as winger Caleb Clarke announced himself on the world stage with a brilliant tackle-shredding display in New Zealand’s 27-7 win over the Wallabies at Eden Park on Sunday. The 20-point victory — which extended New

2:15 AM BST ESPN staff The world champion Springboks have officially withdrawn from the Rugby Championship, leaving just Australia, New Zealand and Argentina to challenge for the 2020 title. SANZAAR, the tournament organisers, announced on Friday that South Africa would not travel to Australia due to several factors including South African government travel restrictions, player