Ahead of the Game: Yorkshire land financial boost from Castore deal October 2, 2024 Yorkshire have agreed a multi-million pound kit deal with Castore in a major boost for the cash-strapped county. The five-year contract is the first significant commercial deal brought to the club since their leadership was overhauled following the return of Colin Graves as chairman in February. Graves has yet to secure the £4m outside investment [...]
Argentina can humiliate establishment with Rugby Championship win September 28, 2024 As the Rugby Championship reaches its climax, can Argentina upset the apple cart and topple the Springboks? What constitutes a world class rugby team? Is it World Cup wins alone or is in an era of dominance year in, year out? How about a team with fewer resources than the others going into the final [...]
‘Michael Cheika suits the Premiership, he just gets stuck in’ September 27, 2024 I remember when I was a player at Stade Francais in Paris, Michael Cheika wanting to get involved with training at an authentic level. He got absolutely smashed by former French lock Pascal Papé and Italian legend Sergio Parisse, leaving the Aussie at the bottom of a ruck. “F**k yeah, f**k yeah,” the former Wallabies [...]
Plans submitted for Worcester Warriors redevelopment September 25, 2024 Plans have been submitted to redevelop the former home of Worcester Warriors as part of a bid to revive the defunct Premiership Rugby club. Worcester ceased to be a Premiership club during the 2022-23 season having fallen into administration. But with a new Professional Game Partnership agreed to shape the next eight years of English [...]
Ed Warner: Seb Coe, Gary Glitter and the most powerful job in sport September 19, 2024 Seb Coe, newly confirmed as one of seven candidates for the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is regarded as a serial vote winner. It wasn’t always thus. Witness his single term in office as the MP for Falmouth and Camborne in Cornwall, ousted by Candy Atherton as Labour swept to power in 1997. [...]
Fans: Ludicrous Premiership rugby ticket costs may price us out September 18, 2024 Rugby fan groups have called on Premiership clubs not to price out supporters with “ludicrously high” tickets. Data collected by City A.M. on the eve of the new season reveals that the average adult ticket for a seat on the half-way line in a club’s main stand costs £74, ranging from £48 at Newcastle Falcons [...]
Ireland confirm replacement for British and Irish Lions coach Farrell September 17, 2024 Simon Easterby will take charge of Ireland’s rugby union team while Andy Farrell is away coaching the British and Irish Lions. Farrell will lead the touring side to Australia next summer for a three-Test series against the Wallabies. It means he will not be able to lead Ireland in the 2025 Guinness Six Nations, where [...]
Saracens chief Mark Thompson: TV deals, club losses and future of rugby September 17, 2024 Saracens Rugby’s new chief executive Mark Thompson discusses TV broadcast deals, the club’s path away from their recent £5m loss and the state of rugby union and its future. Being a rugby bigwig cannot be far from the most stressful job in sporting governance; the English game is a borderline failure and clubs are churning [...]
Rugby needs to look to USA and other wild ideas September 13, 2024 When I read this week in City A.M. that Premiership rugby clubs are keen to head to the United States again I was pleased, if not too surprised. It didn’t really take off in 2016 and 2017, when clubs from the Gallagher Premiership last went across the pond, but that’s not to say rugby cannot [...]
Gallagher re-sign as Premiership Rugby sponsor in uplifted deal September 12, 2024 Insurance giant Gallagher this morning reaffirmed their commitment to English top flight sport, signing an increased value sponsorship deal with Premiership Rugby. The move will take Gallagher’s title sponsorship span with the Premiership to beyond a decade upon conclusion of the three-year extension, which begins at the start of the 2025/26 season. Gallagher – whose [...]