Rugby

The Gallagher Premiership will aim to restart the season on Aug. 15, it announced on Friday. The league was originally scheduled to return on April 24 but has since been suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus crisis. Last week, the UK government gave permission for elite sport to return behind closed doors from June 1

Injured rugby union player Michael Fatialofa will be discharged from a British hospital on Friday, his wife said, just five months after breaking his neck and fearing he would never walk again. “My delightful husband is coming home tomorrow night,” Fatialofa’s wife Tatiana said on her Twitter account on Thursday. “5 MONTHS I’ve waited.” Fatialofa,

11:31 AM BST ESPN staff Two-time World Cup winner Dan Carter lobbed at Blues training on Thursday morning, five years after he left New Zealand and Super Rugby. Rumours of Carter’s impending return to New Zealand rugby emerged on Wednesday evening after a WhatsApp message from Blues coach Leon MacDonald was leaked. All that was

New Zealand Rugby is “optimistic” about hosting northern hemisphere teams in an international schedule later in 2020 as the country edges closer to lifting social distancing restrictions. New Zealand will decide on Monday whether it is ready to lower its COVID-19 alert system a notch to level 1, which would end curbs on mass gatherings

New Zealand’s Super Rugby teams will be able to replace red-carded players and drawn matches may be decided by a golden-point tiebreaker when the country’s domestic competition starts on June 13, New Zealand Rugby (NZR) said on Tuesday. The changes are aimed at making the game more exciting for fans and will be trialled during

England’s Gallagher Premiership and second-tier Championship clubs have been given the green light to resume individual training from Tuesday with strict social distancing measures, the Professional Game Board announced. Competitive sport has been suspended in the UK since March in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 39,000 people. The government last

Rugby Australia is in talks with the government about allowing New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina’s teams to enter the country and be based in a “hub” for a condensed Rugby Championship later in the year. After a two-month lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19, Australian authorities have allowed sports to restart domestic competition

With South Africa moving to Level 3 of the nationwide State of Disaster lockdown on June 1, professional sports teams have been given the green light to resume non-contact training behind closed doors. As of Monday, teams and individual athletes, including rugby and football, will be allowed to train under social distancing rules. This is

Resuming training is safer than visiting a supermarket and some Gallagher Premiership players and coaches are “finding all the reasons” to avoid returning to play amid the coronavirus pandemic, Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter said on Thursday. Exeter were top of the standings when the season was suspended in March due to the

5:09 AM BST ESPN staff Major League Rugby [MLR] will welcome a new franchise from 2021 with the LA Giltinis confirmed as one of two expansion teams for next season. And they have already acquired some expertise in the coaching ranks with veteran Australian coach Darren Coleman [head coach] and former Wallabies back-rower Stephen Hoiles

World Rugby’s Executive Committee has approved 10 optional law trials for member nations to implement to minimise the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus through player contact, the global governing body said on Thursday. The trials are designed to reduce contact in rucks, scrums and mauls by 25%-50% and unions will be allowed to implement

World Rugby has rejected a proposal for an unofficial World Cup event next year aimed at boosting the game’s finances after the coronavirus stoppage. Former Rugby Football Union CEO Francis Baron had put forward a plan for a six-week 16-team invitational tournament in the UK and Ireland which he said could raise up to 250

2:34 AM BST ESPN staff Rassie Erasmus has donated his “lucky shirt” as part of South Africa Rugby’s R32-12 campaign that is raising funds to feed people in need during and after the coronavirus pandemic. Erasmus, who guided the Springboks to Rugby World Cup glory in Japan, is donating the shirt and a talk to

England and Saracens lock George Kruis will play in Japan for the Panasonic Wild Knights next season, the Top League club said on Monday. Welsh centre Hadleigh Parkes will also join Kruis at the club with the pair expected to arrive in Japan in November ahead of the 2021 Top League season, which begins in

Agustin Pichot has accused Rugby Africa president Khaled Babbou of “betrayal” for his defeat in the World Rugby election. Pichot lost the election to become World Rugby chairman against incumbent Bill Beaumont by a 28-23 margin earlier this month. He later stepped down from his role on the World Rugby Council after the result and

Southern hemsiphere rugby body SANZAAR and the Six Nations have entered a consultation process aimed at creating an aligned global rugby calendar “in total transparency with unions, clubs and players”, a joint statement said on Friday. The hope is to have international windows that are aligned between the northern and southern hemisphere, to lessen the

World Rugby Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit has confirmed he will stay at South African Super Rugby side the Stormers after initially giving notice he would terminate his contract. Players in South Africa had a 21-day window to opt out of their current contracts and become free agents in light of pay cuts

Gallagher Premiership Rugby clubs will be unable to resume training for at least another two weeks, according to the Professional Game Board Chair Chris Booy. The league was originally scheduled to restart on April 24 but it has since been suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic. Coronavirus: Postponements and cancellations in sport “A meeting