CATEGORIES

I wanted to finish at the highest level possible

I WAS still in Notts County's football academy when I first took up rugby at Nottingham High School.

We'll benefit from tour - Townsend

HEAD coach Gregor Townsend believes the successful tour of the Americas will bring huge benefits for Scotland in the coming seasons.

Promotion on the agenda as Chinnor move to next level

CHINNOR'S promotion to the Championship brings an end to the uneven number of teams in the division meaning each side will be in action during every round.

Kildunne wants to get teeth into gold

CROSS-CODE star Ellie Kildunne says Great Britain 'would not to be stupid strive for a gold medal' given the quality of their squad.

Bronze for South Africa as Williams steps up at the death

SEAN Williams scored a last-play winner as South Africa overcame Australia to win 26-19 and secure bronze.

A golden finish for greatest showman

ANTOINE cemented Dupont himself as one of the greatest cross-code rugby players of all time as his second half performance guided France to an Olympic gold medal.

Burke is tipped to take Prem by storm

FERGUS Burke is the perfect replacement for Owen Farrell and can take the Premiership by storm.

RFU urged to ditch overseas player ban

PAUL Gustard believes the RFU should look at scrapping the overseas player ban and allow Steve Borthwick to pick players based outside the Gallagher Premiership.

Bears defend hosting Prem game in Cardiff

BRISTOL Bears COO Tom Tainton insists rugby must continue to \"take calculated risks\" to widen its appeal and draw in new fans if it's ever going to become a sustainable sport.

It takes a long time to learn 'the dark arts'

SO IT was a second defeat in New Zealand for an England team that promised so much and yet failed to take on board the lessons from their first game, perhaps being a little too confident in what they had previously achieved in that game and the game against Japan.

Vannes facing a tough early test

PROMOTED ProD2 winners Vannes will kick off their first-ever season in the Top 14 at home against 23-time French champions Toulouse on the evening of Sunday, September 8, to round out the opening weekend of the 2024/25 campaign.

A drop of magic is just what we need

TRANGE as it may sound to generations of rugby lovers raised on a fizzydrink, dopamine-heavy diet of high-scoring matches, there was a time when tries were rare enough to be memorable.

Pontypool swoop to recruit Allen

THERE has been plenty of movement in the transfer market in Welsh rugby as the new Top 10 elite clubs build their squads for the launch of the Super Rygbi Cymru league that kicks off in September.

England need to beat the big boys

IT IS intriguing to see England being touted already as serious 2027 World Cup contenders on the back of their 2-0 series defeat this month in New Zealand.

Hardy on hand to grab last-gasp win

WITH 80 seconds left of the clock, replacement Kieran Hardy touched down to end Wales’ run of nine consecutive defeats.

Valetini leads the way for Wallabies

THE good times keep on rolling at the start of Joe Schmidt’s tenure as Australia made it four wins on the spin for the first time since 2021 courtesy of an almighty performance from their back row.

All Blacks spreading the word in San Diego

NEW Zealand’s debutants rose to Test level as the All Blacks dispatched their rivals Fiji in their final outing before next month’s Rugby Championship.

England going in the right direction

IF WE measure England from the time Steve Borthwick took over as head coach to where we are now there has been an improvement in performance.

Best team in the world, I screamed

FRIDAY night was the highlight of my shortlived rugby career so far and was the perfect way to start my first year as a professional player.

Battling Wales run out of power

WALES were overpowered in their final outing as tournament hosts South Africa won the battle for seventh place.

New Zealand too good for Ireland as they finish third

NEW Zealand secured third place in the u20 rugby championship with victory over the Irish, after coming alive in the second half and scoring 31 unanswered points in half an hour.

Glory for a band of brothers

ENGLAND emerged victorious for the first time in the tournament since 2016, denying France a fourth championship in a row and completed a historic Six Nations and World Championship double, going undefeated in 2024.

Packer out to defend WXV crown in Canada

MARLIE Packer enjoyed one of the greatest nights of her rugby career in the first edition of WXV – little wonder she cannot wait for the second.

Freeman: We left with NZ respect

TOMMY Freeman flew out of New Zealand on Monday morning beaten but not bowed claiming England had won the respect of the All Blacks.

Holden keen to learn the McGeechan way

MALIQ Holden admits he couldn’t have asked for a better role model to learn from than Sir Ian McGeechan after landing his first head coach role.

2027 World Cup is closer than you think, says Borthwick

STEVE Borthwick admits he faces a race against time to get England up to speed as he turns his sights to the 2027 World Cup.

Top of the world

England U20s too strong for France in final showdown

Ex-Bath wing to play for Knights

FORMER England winger Semesa Rokoduguni will play for Doncaster Knights in the Championship next season.

Hunslet become dual-code outfit

A DUAL-CODE rugby club is set to return to the Rugby League heartland of Leeds, with Jason Robinson's former club Hunslet launching a 15-man, semi-pro franchise team.

Time for players to behave properly

THERE are no 'good' responses to Melvyn Jaminet's violently racist outburst on social media, or the serious sexual assault allegations levelled against Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou during France's July tour of Argentina and Uruguay.