Image source, Getty Images Saracens hookers James Hadfield and Eoghan Clarke have become the latest players to extend their contracts with the Prem club. Flankers Nathan Michelow and Max Eke signed new deals on Wednesday, with props Phil Brantingham and Vilikesa Nairau putting pen to paper on Thursday. Hadfield, 28, has made 31 appearances for the club, scoring 13 tries, since first signing with them in 2023.
Bryn Ward was talking to his mother Wendy the other day when he suddenly remembered that his goal at the start of the season was to play five games for Ulster. Having only just turned 21, and still part of his home province's academy, it was a realistic target to set, only he managed to surpass it halfway through a season that has seen Ward play nine games for Ulster, and earn his first full call-up to the Ireland squad.
I'd like to say skills, but that has to be a wider project at provincial level where the standard of handling has dropped to an alarming level.
The Cork broadcaster on why his mother got him into rugby, Ireland's World Cup chances, not being a drinker and why Katie Taylor needs to fight in Croke Park Donncha O'Callaghan is a podcaster, television personality and former rugby union player from Bishopstown, Co Cork. He is a coach on Ireland's Fittest Family, and hosts The Offload podcast with Tommy Bowe.
Ulster opened the New Year with appropriate cheer, seeing off Munster at a bitterly cold Affidea Stadium to rack up a second successive interprovincial victory which saw them hit second in the URC table.
Leinster and Ireland full-back relieves the tense build-up that led to the elation of him scoring one of the most famous tries ever by an Irish player on last summer's Lions tour in Australia It's a dark, gloomy afternoon in Dublin, and as the rain pounds and the wind howls, we are nestled in the back of a cafe, safe from the elements, away from the madness of the Christmas rush outside.
Harry Byrne's goal-kicking proved the difference as error-strewn Leinster held off a determined Leicester to claim a 23-15 Investec Champions Cup victory at Mattioli Woods Welford Road. Each team scored two tries but three penalties and a conversion from Byrne were decisive as the bottom side Leicester's European campaign continued to falter and they remain pointless after their opening two fixtures.
The Royal Courts of Justice are a warren. They were built piecemeal over 125 years of intermittent construction, wings were added, blocks were expanded and then joined by a web of twisting staircases and long corridors. You navigate your way to whichever corner of it you have business in by checking the tiny print on the long daily case lists that are posted in the lobby early each morning, when the building always seems to be full of people hurrying in the other direction.
The launch of rugby's rebel R360 has been delayed until 2028 at the earliest after organisers admitted defeat in the first round of their battle to get the competition off the ground next year. In a statement issued this morning, Mike Tindall and his group admitted that there is a credibility problem for R360 which has dominated discussions behind the scenes at executive level all year.
It's hard not to feel like we let this one get away. While New Zealand were impressive in the final quarter on Saturday, it was their worst performance in our last 11 meetings, which now stands at 6-5 in favour of the All Blacks. After a nightmare start with Tadhg Beirne's red card, we managed the 20 minutes with 14 men really well, deservedly leading 10-7 at half-time and 13-7 after 60 minutes.
Sometimes in sport, as in life, you get what you deserve and at the Soldier Field on Saturday Andy Farrell's side did just that. For anyone to suggest anything otherwise is deluding themselves to reality. While I hate the much-used expression 'fail to prepare, prepare to fail,' our opening match of the Autumn series on Saturday in Chicago was that to a tee.
New Zealand were the Rugby Championship's fastest starters and Australia the slowest. So for the Wallabies to be 13-3 down after 15 minutes surprised few. The men in black were red hot from the get-go, moving with cohesion and precision, each pass and kick a dagger. Australia were back-pedalling, making mistakes, losing collisions. Caleb Clarke had cried through the anthems but his tears had dried in time to finish a slick catch and pass in the fourth minute.
There's just one more match left between England's Red Roses and the Rugby World Cup final 2025. On Saturday evening, the girls will take on France at Ashton Gate to vie for their place at Twickenham next weekend - and there are a whole bunch of places across London that'll be following the action. Watch the game go down at free screenings at Battersea Power Station or Canary Wharf, or at your local rugby club or participating pub.
Ellie Kildunne returns to the England starting XV in one of four changes for their Rugby World Cup semi-final against France on Saturday. Kildunne missed the Red Roses' quarter-final win against Scotland as she went through concussion protocols with Helena Rowland stepping in at full-back. Rowland has been named among the replacements for the semi-final at Ashton Gate while England have also restored Hannah Botterman at loosehead prop, Abbie Ward in the second row and Zoe Harrison at fly-half to the starting XV.
I'll never forget standing on the sideline of our first SaberCats match, watching one of our players get leveled by a brutal tackle. Most people would've stayed down. He didn't. He fought for every inch, rolled and kept driving the ball forward. The crowd erupted. That image stuck with me. In rugby, getting hit is part of the game, and when you get hit, you don't stop - you adapt mid-impact.
It's been a tough year for Marlie Packer, who had her captaincy taken away and faced self-doubt about her World Cup selection despite being a former world player of the year.
In 2025, we have not yet seen the best of Kinghorn − although, after a few errors against the First Nations and Pasifika XV, the Scot was strong off the bench in the second Test and started the third.
