Rugby news

• Wales gunning for a semi-final place

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  By BEN JAYCOCK Touchdown: Brogan Leary goes over for Wales PICTURES: World Rugby POOL A RICHARD Whiffin’s Wales side moved to the brink of a first World Championship semi-final since 2013 after brushing aside Uruguay with a seven-try display in Tbilisi. Backing up their hard-fought opening victory over hosts Georgia, Wales stayed unbeaten in Pool […]
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• Jamie George: England’s Discipline was too poor in Johannesburg

  05-07-2026 05:00 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  Skipper Jamie George ordered his England side to sort out their discipline after they caught another bout of yellow fever here yesterday.
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• Discipline was too poor, says George

  05-07-2026 05:00 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  From ADAM HATHAWAY in Johannesburg SKIPPER Jamie George ordered his England side to sort out their discipline after they caught another bout of yellow fever here yesterday. George’s crew were beaten 45-21 by world champion South Africans at Ellis Park having played the last seven minutes with 13 men as they ran out of gas […]
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• Word of caution on expansion of PWR

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  WITH talk of expanding the number of teams in the PWR and the high level of overseas players already in the competition, the RFU need to ensure that whilst having the best players from around the world in the PWR is very welcome, it cannot come at the expense of the Red Roses in future. […]
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• Willis is my main man in dream XV

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  JACK Willis’s player-of-the-match performance for Toulouse in the Top 14 final last weekend at the end of another blockbuster season for the flanker must surely all-but guarantee him a second Player of the Season accolade in a row when the great and the good of French rugby gathers in Paris for its annual Nuit du […]
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• We want to best club in the world – Rowe

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  EXETER chief executive Tony Rowe believes the 100 per cent takeover by American consortium Black Knight Rugby can push the club on to becoming “the best in the world”. The multi-million-pound acquisition brings an end to 155 years of traditional member ownership at Sandy Park. Rowe said: “Within three to four years, we expect to […]
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• Toulouse show that loyalty brings its own rewards

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  YOU could write a book about what makes Toulouse great and one day I might do exactly that ... but one thing that always strikes me is continuity of coaches and playing philosophy and style. In the 31 years since rugby turned professional in Skrela, served between 1993 1995 they have had and 2015 while […]
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• Toulouse are hit by huge fine

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  TOULOUSE, who beat Montpellier in last weekend’s Top 14 final to clinch their fourth successive league title, have been fined €2.47 million (£2.88m) for violations of the “salary cap”. They escaped a points deduction as the National Rugby League’s disciplinary committee was limited to imposing financial sanctions. The fine fell short of the record €3m […]
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• Tough draw for Bath and Northampton

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  PREM champions Northampton and last year’s winners Bath have been drawn in the same tough Champions Cup pool for next season along with URC runners-up Bulls and Billy Vunipola’s Top 14 beaten finalists Montpellier. Stade Francais, who reached the Top 14 semi-finals, and Cardiff – the top-ranked Welsh side in the URC – complete a […]
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• Top 14 shows how it’s done

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  IT WAS not that long ago that Top 14 finals used to be tight, largely risk averse affairs. The occasion tended to be the winner, but the winds of change that have blown through the game gusted strongly in Paris last weekend when Toulouse and Montpellier both started in a hurry and never let up. […]
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• Time for Scotland to prove they can take on the best for the full 80 minutes

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  Former Scotland tighthead WP Nel, below, says the Nations Championship could define Gregor Townsend’s side, insisting they have the talent to compete with anyone – but must finally prove they can live with the game’s most physical packs. By Ben Jaycock Q & A Just the job: Huw Jones scores for Scotland in the Six […]
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• The time when Eddie was on fire

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  RUGBY MATTERS BRENDAN GALLAGHER A weekly look at the game’s other talking points DOESN’T 10 years disappear in a flash. Ten years ago this week England were completing a 3-0 series win in Australia which I’ve always thought to be their best achievement since 2003 and that includes reaching two further World Cup finals, in […]
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• Test matches are the lifeblood of the game

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE... EVERY WEEK JEREMY GUSCOTT THE main shop window of rugby union as a sport is the international game, and in global terms it is the main commercial driving force, and has a reach that is far wider than that of club rugby. Although there have been comments for some time that in […]
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• Taste of winning is good, says Lake

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  AFTER a long losing run, it was Wales’ third consecutive win, following on from victories over Italy and the Barbarians, a fact which their skipper, Dewi Lake, was keen to point out. He said: “That’s three wins now and it’s important that we continue to build the experience of winning as it’s important as a […]
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• Scotland push New Zealand all the way

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  By SAM JACKSON POOL B NEW Zealand held off a battling Scotland side in Kutaisi to stay unbeaten and move top of Pool B. Scotland caused New Zealand problems throughout with their scrum and driving maul, scoring three of their four tries from powerful lineout drives, but the Baby Blacks had enough attacking threat to […]
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• Schmidt has no desire to be head coach again

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  AUSTRALIA boss Joe Schmidt says he has no desire to be a head coach again when he leaves his current position after the Nations Championship fixtures against Ireland, France and Italy, ruling out a return to Leinster when Leo Cullen moves on at the end of next season. Schmidt, 60, said: “I don’t really have […]
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• Rugby’s rocking all over the world

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  Brendan Gallagher settled down to watch six Nations Championship Test matches in a row. How did he find it? And did he make it all the way from New Zealand to Argentina via Japan and South Africa? Read on to find out... 8.10am: New Zealand 34 France 32 And so it began. Bristling, quick tempo, […]
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• Revamp sounds good to me

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  THE most predictable story of the week concerned yet another revamp of the much-maligned, used-and-abused Champions Cup, which was once the Lord Mayor’s Show of club rugby but has long been mutating into the other thing. The least predictable was the growing possibility that the governing class might be on the brink of doing something […]
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• READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  NICK CAIN Excluding the Willis brothers is self-harm WHETHER England progress to the quarter-finals or go out of the football World Cup against Mexico in the early hours of Monday morning, there is one glaring truth: Without Harry Kane’s ‘Captain Fantastic’ goal-scoring touch they would not have made the last 16. Yet Kane, and Jude […]
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• Pritchard hits his marks to lift Australia

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  ■By SAM JACKSON Star man: Treyvon Pritchard takes charge POOL D AUSTRALIA set up a winner-takes-all showdown with France for a place in the last four after producing a commanding victory over Fiji. The Junior Wallabies were inspired by outstanding Queensland Reds centre Treyvon Pritchard, who delivered another reminder of his immense potential with a […]
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• Prendergast seals Irish comeback

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  ■By BEN JAYCOCK Australia ..........................31pts Ireland............................. 33pts Tries: Pietsch 3, Campbell 14, Canham 24, Lonergan 27, McDermott 53 Conversions: Gordon 25, 28, 54 Tries: C Prendergast 10, van der Flier 19, Gibson-Park 40, Keenan 47, Clarkson 77 Conversions: S Prendergast 11, 40, 48, 78 Lift-off: Ireland celebrate Hugo Keenan’s try IRELAND launched their Nations Championship […]
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• Nations Championship gets off to a humdinger of a start

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  THE Nations Championship naysayers – and there is an army of them – should take a look at the competition’s inaugural fixture between New Zealand and France in Christchurch yesterday. It was a humdinger of a match in which a shadow French side, minus a band of Toulouse luminaries headed by Antoine Dupont and Thomas […]
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• Nations Champ ‘worth £1billion’

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  ■By SAM JACKSON TOM Harrison, chief executive of Six Nations Rugby, is confident the Nations Championship will become a $1 billion sports brand, generating almost double what it stands to make in its opening media rights cycle. He told The Times: “We are going to create a billion dollar asset out of the Nations Championship. […]
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• Move semi-finals up north to help promote our sport

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  THE letter from Simon Marlow-Ridley and Peter Jackson’s column last week certainly made interesting reading on the subject of the Prem semi-finals going to neutral venues. Peter pointed out the fantastic attendance in France for the semi-finals and this would be helped by the fact that the venues were probably in place at the start […]
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• Morgan’s double is enough to quell Fiji

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  ■By ROGER PANTING JAC Morgan scored two tries as Wales began their Nations Championship campaign on a bizarre afternoon at the Cardiff City Stadium. Before a record low crowd for an international in Cardiff, Wales were officially the away side with Fiji having forfeited home advantage competition and the South Sea Islanders will ponder long […]
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• Mighty Marlie did it again for Sarries

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  MARLIE Packer was at her formidable best on Sunday in the PWR final. In her 121st and final appearance for Saracens she made a sensational try scoring contribution and showed her superb leadership skills, flair and intelligence to guide her team to victory over Trailfinders SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO: The Rugby Paper, Tuition House, St […]
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• Japan have too much in reserve for Italy

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  ■By JAMES WILSON JAPAN saw off Italy in Tokyo despite head coach Eddie Jones being absent through suspension. Jones was barred from Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium while serving the final game of a four-match ban imposed by the Japan Rugby Football Union for verbally abusing officials during a tour of Australia earlier this year. Forwards […]
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• I’ve loved it all, says Packer

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  MARLIE Packer admits she was overwhelmed by the affection shown to her during an emotional farewell week after signing off her Saracens career by helping the club win a record fourth PWR title. By BEN JAYCOCK Foursome: Marlie Packer with the PWR trophy PICTURE: Getty Images The former England captain scored twice as Saracens crushed […]
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• Italy battle to subdue the Brave Blossoms

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  By BEN JAYCOCK On the front foot: Japan attack POOL B ITALY kept their semi-final hopes alive with a clinical victory over Japan, condemning the Brave Blossoms youngsters to a second successive defeat in Pool B. Both teams arrived desperate for a first win after opening-round defeats, and it was Japan who edged a fiercely […]
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• Ireland’s win was down to Goose

  05-07-2026 04:59 via therugbypaper.co.uk
  
  FORMER Ireland coach Philip Doyle, who died last week aged 61, was responsible for masterminding the biggest upset result in the women’s game when his Ireland team defeated New Zealand in a pool match at the 2014 World Cup. Prior to that the all-conquering Black Ferns had not lost a World Cup game since the […]
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