Rugby news

• New cross-border competition launch

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  A NEW cross-border European club competition will launch next month in a bid to bridge the gap between domestic rugby and Rugby Europe’s Super Cup. The Ascent Rugby Series will initially feature seven clubs from five nations, bringing together two teams each from Germany and the Netherlands, alongside representatives from Czechia, Poland and Belgium. The […]
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• Mike Tindall: R360 will transform our game

  26-07-2026 05:45 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  Mike Tindall says delaying Rugby R360 until after the 2027 World Cup was the right decision, insisting the breakaway competition can still transform the club game, improve player welfare and attract a global audience when it launches in 2028.
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• Jeremy Guscott: The TMO is part of our world but the referee must have the final say

  26-07-2026 05:02 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  Jeremy Guscott believes the TMO is now an essential part of modern rugby, but says World Rugby must introduce clearer protocols to ensure the referee remains the ultimate decision-maker.
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• Robshaw: Resting Itoje was right call

  26-07-2026 05:00 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  ■By BEN JAYCOCK CHRIS Robshaw backs England’s decision to rest captain Maro Itoje this summer, insisting the lock will reap the rewards at next year’s World Cup while hailing the inaugural Nations Championship for bringing fresh meaning to the July Test window. The former England skipper believes protecting Itoje after a demanding season with club, […]
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• Ben Earl: England star Henry Pollock is unlike anyone I’ve seen before

  26-07-2026 05:00 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  Ben Earl knows exactly what Henry Pollock is going through after spending years waiting for his own England opportunity – but believes the back rower’s patience will be rewarded.
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• You’re quite right, Ben, that was brutal

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  ENGLAND’S Ben Earl is spot on when he says England’s travel schedule during the Nations Championship has been ‘brutal’. Playing three Test matches on three different continents on successive weekends and covering 26,000 miles! Brutal would seem to underplay it. Steve Borthwick’s squad moved between Johannesburg, Liverpool and Santiago del Estero for games against South […]
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• Young guns with world at their feet

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  Ben Jaycock selects the best of the best in the newly expanded event which saw South Africa beat France in the final to retain their world title THE newly expanded 16-team World U20 Championship in Georgia saw South Africa secure historic back-to-back world titles with a victory in the final over France. England finished fourth […]
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• We are in a good spot, says Kingsholm chief exec

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  By SAM JACKSON GLOUCESTER chief executive Alex Brown says discussions over fresh investment in the Prem club are continuing, insisting any potential deal must be right for the long-term future of the Cherry and Whites. The comments come after Gloucester’s latest financial accounts revealed losses had risen sharply from £516,355 to £2.91 million for the […]
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• Wales are getting better, says Morgan

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  By SAM JACKSON WALES captain Jac Morgan insists his side are making tangible progress despite ending their Nations Championship campaign with heavy defeats to Argentina and world champions South Africa. Steve Tandy’s men opened the tournament with an encouraging 39- 24 victory over Fiji in Cardiff before suffering comprehensive losses in South America and Durban, […]
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• Townsend has put Scotland on the up

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  SCOTLAND’S promising performances in their first three Nations Championship matches seem to have gone under the radar a little. A fine win in Argentina followed by a battling performance in South Africa show that Gregor Townsend is taking his team in the right direction. Their win over Fiji in their ‘away’ match at Murrayfield leaves […]
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• Tindall: R360 will transform our game

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  MIKE Tindall says it was the correct decision to delay the launch of Rugby R360 until after next year’s World Cup but remains confident it will be a massive success once it does spark into life. ■By GARY FITZGERALD The former England centre believes the rebel club tournament is still needed to help transform the […]
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• Tindall: R360 will elevate game

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  hit those levels of games and also get rewarded for it. The international game is this huge beast which is the focal point of the game and attracts huge crowds and audiences around the globe. “Everyone who watched the last Six Nations saw just how good a product it can be in terms of excitement, […]
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• This time, the TMO was right to stand ground

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  Try or no try? Henry Slade tackling Bautista Delguy last weekend I’M not the biggest fan of the TMO and their level of interference in the ebb and flow of modern rugby matches, but credit where it is due, he was spot on last Saturday night in informing referee Angus Gardner that the Argentine player […]
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• THINKING ALLOWED

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  CHRIS HEWETT It’s time for Pumas to spice things up again DEAR old Jason Leonard, who learned a thing or two about the realities of rugby at the sharp end over the 119-cap stretch of a record-breaking international career, recalls every last detail of his first tutorial with the Argentine arch-scrummager Diego Cash, in the […]
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• The TMO is part the referee must of our world but have the final say

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK JEREMY GUSCOTT THE Television Match Official is here to stay, simply because there’s no turning the clock back. Advances made in broadcast technology, where anyone can record and rewind, means that the evidence is there for any controversial incident during a match to be examined – whether it’s by armchair […]
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• The King of Spain hoping to have a clear run

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  KING Felipe VI’s next World Cup gig will be rather different to the one he celebrated with his football team in New Jersey last Sunday. For a start, he won’t find his way to the podium blocked by Donald Trump’s reluctance to leave it. An Olympian in his own right as a yachtsman at the […]
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• Smith: We must keep working to improve

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  By ADAM HATHAWAY Style: England’s Fin Smith runs with the ball during the Test against South Africa and, below, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso scores against Fiji PICTURES: Alamy FIN Smith looked back on England’s Nations Championship summer then admitted his frustration it could not have lasted longer. Fly-half Smith started all three games and in the last […]
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• Shaunagh: We need to be aware of differences

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  ■By BEN JAYCOCK SHAUNAGH Brown is urging rugby clubs to stop treating every player the same after revealing she felt isolated early in her career. The former Harlequins and England flanker/prop went on to win 30 international caps after beginning her sporting career in the hammer throw, representing England in the 2014 Commonwealth Games. However, […]
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• Shaunagh Brown: We need to be aware of differences

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  Shaunagh Brown says rugby clubs must stop treating every player the same, urging them to embrace individuality and create environments where everyone feels they belong.
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• Scarratt is a great signing

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  EMILY Scarratt has committed her long-term future to the Red Roses coaching team after being appointed England’s attack coach and that is great news for John Mitchell and his team. Scarratt is a two-time World Cup winner and will bring great experience to the role. She took on the role on an interim basis during […]
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• Saracens appoint Ed Coetzee as their new CEO for 2026/27 Prem season

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  Saracens have appointed former Sharks and CA Brive chief executive Ed Coetzee as their new CEO, with the experienced rugby administrator set to lead the club into its 150th anniversary season.
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• Saracens appoint Coetzee as their new CEO

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  By SAM JACKSON SARACENS have appointed experienced rugby administrator Ed Coetzee as the club’s new chief executive officer ahead of the 2026-27 season. Coetzee, right, arrives from French club CA Brive, where he has served as chief executive since July 2024. Before moving to France, he spent more than a decade with the Sharks, progressing […]
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• Rugby brain injury case faces High Court ruling

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  More than 500 former rugby union and rugby league players are fighting attempts to strike out part of their landmark brain injury claims against the sport’s governing bodies.
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• RFU policy to make game more inclusive

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  THE RFU has launched a landmark anti-sexism and misogyny policy alongside a new grassroots toolkit in a bid to make rugby a safer and more inclusive sport for women and girls. Developed in partnership with Women in Sport, the initiative follows research involving more than 600 volunteers across community clubs in England. The findings revealed […]
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• Referess should not be above criticism

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  RUGBY MATTERS A weekly look at the game’s other talking points BRENDAN GALLAGHER THERE was much to absorb in the recent Nations Championship - some good and some bad - but before we move on I want to return to a rank injustice that World Rugby inflicted on Italy following their only half decent performance […]
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• Pendlebury puts Bray in charge of his U18s squad

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  By SAM JACKSON Captain: Sale back rower Charlie Bray ENGLAND U18 head coach Jonathan Pendlebury has named a 28-player squad for next month’s U18 International Series in South Africa, with Sale Sharks back row Charlie Bray appointed captain. Bray, a Kirkham Grammar School student, leads an experienced group that includes 17 previously capped players as […]
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• Now Winters looking to kick on with Bath

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  ■By BEN JAYCOCK Bright future: Sam Winters in action and, inset, Sam Kelly after being sent off SAM Winters believes his performances at the World U20 Championship have put him in the perfect position to kick on at Bath after enjoying a breakthrough tournament in Georgia. Having scored a try and gained valuable experience against […]
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• Not much sign that Wales can close gap

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  THE new Open golf champion was barely four months old when his father’s bombardment in Brisbane condemned Wales to defeat on a scale they had not known in more than a century. Almost 40 years on, the result still bears supreme testimony to the most one-sided of all World Cup semi-finals: New Zealand 49, Wales […]
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• No, Eddie, hydration breaks are a bad idea

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  NO, No, No! Eddie Jones has been suggesting that rugby borrows from the FIFA World Cup and instigates hydration breaks midway through each half but please let’s not even contemplate that, let alone do it. The game is already way too fractured almost to the point of ruination with constant TMO breaks destroying any sense […]
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• Nick Cain: England’s direction of travel still unclear

  26-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  Nick Cain believes England’s summer ended with encouraging signs, but says Steve Borthwick still has major questions to answer over discipline, squad depth and whether his side are on course to challenge for major honours.
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