Rugby World Cup: France, New Zealand and Italy go in Pool A September 6, 2023 A Rugby World Cup group that spans four continents and includes the hosts, three-time winners and a number of difficult challengers, Pool A could be the surprise package. France and New Zealand are favourites to progress to the last eight where they will likely be rewarded with a Test against either Ireland, Scotland or South [...]
Mitchell and May in line for England Rugby World Cup starts September 6, 2023 England are set to name Alex Mitchell at scrum-half and Jonny May on the wing as Steve Borthwick’s side get set to face Argentina at the Rugby World Cup on Saturday. Mitchell and May were both excluded when Borthwick named his squad but injuries to Jack van Poortvliet and Anthony Watson ensured the duo travelled [...]
New rugby agreement must provide England team to ‘be proud of’, club CEO says September 6, 2023 A new Professional Game Agreement for rugby must have the ultimate aim of improving England’s fortunes, new Gloucester Rugby chief executive Alex Brown has told City A.M. The deal between clubs and the Rugby Football Union, which dictates salary caps and player release rules among other aspects of how the top flight functions, is due [...]
Are France the Rugby World Cup hosts with the most to lose? September 5, 2023 Focus heading into this Rugby World Cup will be on the underwhelming hopes of England and Wales, and the dreams of success for Scotland and Ireland. But in hosts France there are a fascinating series of events that could help make or break their World Cup challenge. Being hosts in a Rugby World Cup isn’t always [...]
England need to channel spirit of 2007 at Rugby World Cup September 1, 2023 England could, realistically, be knocked out of the Rugby World Cup in France by 10pm on 17 September. The car crash that is the national team head across the Channel in the coming days to play Argentina and Japan in their opening two matches. After that they take on Chile and Samoa, but by then [...]
Exclusive: Greenpeace to target Rugby World Cup fan zones August 30, 2023 Greenpeace is planning to target next month’s Rugby World Cup as the campaigning group ramps up protests against “greenwashing” by oil companies. The organisation told City A.M. it would make its presence felt at the tournament’s official fan zones and outside stadia in France, where the action begins next week. It follows a summer of [...]
Spotlight falls on Steve Borthwick coaching after Fiji set off more England alarm bells August 28, 2023 Steve Borthwick declared himself “deeply honoured” and “excited” upon being named the successor to old mentor Eddie Jones as England rugby coach in December. “The English game is full of talent and I want to build a winning team which makes the most of our huge potential and inspires young people to fall in love [...]
World Rugby streaming service to make all World Cup games available everywhere August 25, 2023 World Rugby has announced the launch of RugbyPass TV, a new streaming platform that will ensure live coverage of every game at the Rugby World Cup is available everywhere. British-based rugby fans will be able to follow the tournament in full on ITV’s channels, but in territories without blanket broadcast coverage the games will be [...]
Courtney Lawes to captain England on 100th cap as Jonny May gets surprise call August 24, 2023 Courtney Lawes will win his 100th cap when he captains England in their final warm-up match before the Rugby World Cup against Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday. With Owen Farrell serving a four-match ban for a dangerous tackle, Lawes is retained as skipper to become the fifth England player to amass a century of Test [...]
The Notebook: Andy Silvester on how AI could save your August out-of-office, a dream headline and why GCSEs need a rethink August 24, 2023 Embrace the long break, even if it’s made my job harder August has never felt so – for want of a much better word – Augusty. It’s mighty quiet out there, and that isn’t just because of the City’s long-discussed issues attracting floats and the slowdown in M&A. Indeed, more and more of my contact [...]