Fans vote with feet as Champions Cup semi-final weekend set for bumper attendance May 4, 2024 When Dublin’s Croke Park and Toulouse’s Le Stadium play hosts to this weekend’s Investec Champions Cup semi-finals, it’ll mark a bumper weekend of attendance figures for European rugby’s governing body EPCR. Because the sell-outs across the Irish Sea – for Leinster’s clash with Northampton Saints – and the English Channel – for Toulouse’s tie against [...]
English teams Harlequins and Northampton Saints underdogs in Champions Cup May 3, 2024 Like most people, I will look at this weekend’s Investec Champions Cup fixtures and go on to predict a final between four-time champions Leinster and five-time winners Toulouse. The two clubs are European powerhouses and it would take some upset by either Harlequins across the English Channel or Northampton Saints across the Irish Sea to [...]
Meet Daniel Loitz, the man trying to resurrect London Irish rugby legacy April 30, 2024 When London Irish went bust in 2023 many thought that was the end of one of Premiership Rugby’s famous clubs. But businessman Daniel Loitz wants to buy the club. What does the Bernadotte Dynasty of the Swedish royal family, a Kazakh steel works company, an Uzbek railway project, the Berlin Wall and the fall of [...]
RFU and Premiership Rugby close in on £264m funding deal April 29, 2024 The Rugby Football Union, RFU, and Premiership Rugby have finally agreed a new Premiership Game Partnership, worth £264m, which will shape the English game for the next eight years. It is understood that legal details are all that remain between now and the new deal being signed, with the Telegraph suggesting the central policy will [...]
Saracens star Billy Vunipola apologises after being tasered and arrested in Majorca April 29, 2024 Vunipola denied he had been violent in the incident at a Palma bar.
Judo star Skelley channelling rugby’s Wilkinson for Paris 2024 success April 29, 2024 A Paralympic champion whose rugby career was curtailed by sight loss is channelling Jonny Wilkinson on his journey to Paris 2024. Chris Skelley, a visually impaired judo player, dreams of emulating the England rugby legend in his bid to climb further into the sporting history books. Skelley was thrown into rugby and judo by his [...]
Women’s rugby must get radical to avoid making mistakes men’s game did April 26, 2024 For the women’s game to be truly successful I believe it needs a radical overhaul; a revolution that will change the face of rugby forever. Because the reality is that it is hard to get excited for this weekend’s final round of the Women’s Six Nations. England are expected to win, even against closest competitors [...]
Champions Cup final could be bumped from ITV1 to make room for FA Cup April 23, 2024 Broadcaster ITV is facing a scheduling conundrum next month with the FA Cup final and the Champions Cup rugby final set to take place on the same day at the same time. Due to the derby between Manchester United and Manchester City being one requiring heightened security, the kick-off was moved to 3pm. But the [...]
Dallaglio charity in gruelling 1,500km cycle from Rome to Nice April 22, 2024 A gruelling cycling challenge spearheaded by Rugby World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio is into its second stage as a peloton cycle from Rome to Nice in aid of charity. The 1,500km challenge aims to raise £100,000 for RugbyWorks, a charity founded by the England international. Dallaglio said: We are currently over half way through the [...]
Premiership rugby: Top four race shows product deserves off-pitch stability April 21, 2024 When Joe Carpenter won an 82nd minute turnover against the run of play to hand his Sale Sharks side a 37-31 victory over Harlequins, it catapulted the Mancunians from eighth into sixth in the Premiership table and reduced the deficit to the play-off spots to just three points. With Northampton Saints five points clear of [...]
