Rugby News

Two names off the list at RCT A former France captain has just been told he is no longer a captain at his own club. Charles Ollivon and Baptiste Serin both drop out of Toulon’s leadership group this season, a decision Franck Azema confirmed on Friday in his first pre-season announcement as head coach of…

Sir Steve Hansen calls the Springboks’ hour-before-kick-off front-row switch a debacle. Ewen McKenzie reckons it bought South Africa nothing at all.

£150,000 against £1 million That gap is the whole story. Henry Pollock earns somewhere near 150,000 pounds a year at Northampton, according to the English press, topped up by his Elite Player Squad money from the England setup. His agent has floated a figure roughly seven times that. Phil Dowson fronted up on Thursday morning…

Ten months, two operations, one date Screws and plates, taken out of a prop’s foot. That is what it took to get Fin Baxter back on a rugby pitch. Jason Gilmore ended the suspense on Thursday, confirming the Harlequins loosehead will start the pre-season match against Edinburgh on Friday 18 September. “Fin will be ready.…

Sir John Kirwan says the Springboks bore him. Victor Matfield told him to keep that opinion to himself. Three days before Soweto, the two philosophies are arguing out loud.

Forty-eight hours That is how long Swys de Bruin left the Springboks Women before they face the Black Ferns. The head coach resigned with immediate effect on Thursday, two days out from the biggest fixture of their year. Reports point to a dispute over a win bonus he believed he was owed. SA Rugby confirmed…

Seven weeks behind everyone else That is the deficit Tom Curry carried back from Sale’s pre-season camp in Portugal this week. His team-mates spent the summer training. He spent it rehabbing. Hip surgery, a rod fitted, stem cell treatment. And now the question that follows him everywhere: should he change the way he plays? Curry…

Zero point five four That is the whole gap. 0.54 ranking points between South Africa and New Zealand going into Saturday’s third Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry at FNB Stadium in Soweto. Three weekends, three fights over the same piece of ground. The Boks surrendered top spot at Ellis Park in the opener. They snatched…

Dave Rennie named his side for Saturday’s third Test against the Springboks today, and the biggest call was leaving Fabian Holland out of the starting pack. Peter Lakai starts for the first time in the series.