Australia puts New Zealand on clock for trans-Tasman tournament
Rugby Australia has given New Zealand a three-week deadline to agree to a trans-Tasman competition in 2021 that will include five Australian teams or face organizing its own domestic tournament ...
Player and spectators stabbed after rugby league match in Sydney
One man has been charged and another remains under police guard in a hospital after a lower-tier rugby league game in Sydney ended with one player allegedly stabbing another competitor ...
The three-time reigning Super Rugby champions clinched the unique domestic tournament, established in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with one week to spare.
Japan and Fiji to join Six Nations squads for eight-team tournament
Six Nations organizers announced plans for an eight-team tournament to replace the canceled November tests on Wednesday. Sources have told AFP that Japan, the 2019 Rugby World Cup host, and Fiji will be part of two four-team pools before a final playoff round in December. "We ...
Nihon University rugby chief apologizes for coach's abuse of players
The director of Nihon University's rugby department apologized on the team's website on Wednesday for the repeated abuse of players by the school's former head coach. According to the post by the director of rugby, Satoshi Hirayama, students' statements accused the head coach of abuses ...
Dragons coach defends Israel Folau's 'personal choice' to not kneel during anti-racism protest
Australian rugby star Israel Folau was at the center of a new controversy on Sunday when he opted against taking a knee during a Super League anti-racism protest, a decision backed as a "personal choice" by his coach. Folau, 31, playing for Catalans Dragons, raised ...
Former All Blacks Ben Smith, Aaron Cruden bound for Steelers
Former All Blacks Ben Smith and Aaron Cruden will join the Kobe Kobelco Steelers in the Japan Rugby Top League next season, the club announced Friday. Smith, who boasts 84 caps for New Zealand, was a member of two consecutive World Cup sides, winning the ...
All Blacks lock Andy Haden, known for lineout dive, dies at age 69
All Blacks lock Andy Haden, whose feigned fall from a lineout won New Zealand a match-winning penalty against Wales in 1978 and earned him lasting notoriety, has died. He was 69. Haden was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2003 and his condition, which had ...
Scotland could get Japan rugby rematch in eight-nation tournament
Scotland will get the chance to avenge their defeat by 2019 Rugby World Cup host Japan when the Six Nations countries along with the Japanese and crowd-pleasing Fiji compete in an eight nation tournament from November 14 to December 5, British media reported on ...
English Premiership unhappy with 'unilateral' calendar changes
English Premiership chiefs have criticised World Rugby's "unilateral decision" to stage test matches in December. The global governing body announced Wednesday a revised international calendar in response to the coronavirus pandemic that is set to see the Southern Hemisphere's delayed Rugby Championship taking place from ...
Scottish scrumhalf Greig Laidlaw looking forward to challenge of playing in Japan
The 34-year-old was officially introduced to Japanese rugby in an online news conference held by his new club, the NTT Communications ShiningArcs.
JRFU executive pushes for Top League sides' inclusion in new Southern Hemisphere tournament
If Japan's national rugby team is to grow stronger in the long term, the country's top clubs must compete against the best from the Southern Hemisphere, according to Japan Rugby Football Union Director Yuichiro Fujii. Fujii, who is tasked with strengthening the Brave Blossoms ahead ...
