Sports

The Nations Championship has unveiled the Hemisphere Shield, which will be awarded to the winners of the finals weekend at Twickenham from 26-28 November. The new trophy will be contested alongside the Nations Championship title, with the results of all six north-south matches in London counting towards the overall hemisphere battle. Seven points will be […]

Victor Matfield says Rassie Erasmus would have learned a lot from the Springboks’ 42-38 defeat to the Wallabies in Perth. Erasmus made 13 changes to the starting XV that beat the All Blacks in Baltimore to clinch the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, giving fringe several players an opportunity in the one-off Test at Optus Stadium.

Mike Tindall and Jonny May reckon Rassie Erasmus deliberately creates problems for the Springboks, using setbacks to expose weaknesses and build depth for the future. The former England internationals were speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Rugby XTRA podcast after the Springboks’ 42-38 defeat by the Wallabies in Perth on Sunday. They discussed

Former England loose forward Lawrence Dallaglio has been forced to part with his 2003 World Cup winner’s medal and other memorabilia. The 54-year-old, who was declared bankrupt last year, has put the medal from England’s triumph in Australia up for auction with an estimated value of £50,000 to £80,000 (R1.1-million to R1.7-million). Dallaglio started at

A key All Blacks back has been ruled out of the Bledisloe Cup series against the Wallabies, while two heavyweight forwards return to the squad. Ruben Love was omitted from Dave Rennie’s 34-man squad after suffering a foot injury, ruling the flyhalf out of Tests in Auckland on 10 October and Sydney a week later.

Stormers boss John Dobson has revealed flyhalf Jurie Matthee will play no part in Friday night’s fixture in Edinburgh. Matthee hurt his ankle in last week’s URC round-one 29-15 win against Connacht. In a clip posted by Netwerk24 from training in Galway, Dobson said the 25-year-old is back home for treatment with loose forwards Evan

If the Stormers pack can suck in Edinburgh’s defence on Friday night, the opportunity is there for the Capetonians’ backline to strike from out wide. So says forwards coach Rito Hlungwani, who reckons that with a 6-2 bench split, the Stormers have the engine room to power on and create front-foot ball until the final

The Stormers face a revamped Edinburgh attack that ripped Ulster apart, with the hosts also set to welcome back a South African star for Friday night’s clash at Hive Stadium. Edinburgh opened their URC campaign with a 39-34 win in Belfast, racing into a 34-5 lead inside the opening hour before surviving a late Ulster

Reinhardt Ludwig says the pain of being left out of the Bulls team last season has motivated him to make the most of his opportunity in this campaign. The 24-year-old lock was a standout performer in the Bulls’ 47-13 opening-round URC win against Zebre in Parma, scoring two tries and winning a game-high 10 lineouts.

Defending champions Leinster have lost two members of the Irish outfit’s touring squad to injury for Saturday’s URC showdown with the Sharks at Kings Park in Durban. Loose forward Max Deegan and flyhalf Harry Byrne were both concussed in last week’s 27-26 loss to the Lions at Ellis Park and will go through the return-to-play