Bath to win Premiership rugby title, Falcons to finish bottom September 20, 2024 It feels as though Northampton Saints only just lifted the Premiership trophy but we’ve already reached the eve of this year’s campaign. We’ve got a new coach in Leicester Tigers boss Michael Cheika, who I worked with at Stade Francais, and renewed ambitions. And we’ve also got the chance of seeing a sixth different winner [...]
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 [...]
Exclusive: Saracens back Premiership rugby games in USA, league supportive September 10, 2024 The Gallagher Premiership could host matches overseas again after Saracens backed the idea of taking English top-flight rugby back to the United States. Premiership clubs have not played a match in the US since 2017, when just 6,000 fans watched Newcastle Falcons take on Saracens in Philadelphia. But Saracens’ new chief executive Mark Thompson has [...]
British and Irish Lions will maul Wallabies on 2025 tour September 6, 2024 At this stage, 317 days out from the first Test in Brisbane, it’s difficult to see any other result than a 3-0 series mauling of the Wallabies when the British and Irish Lions tour Australia. A lot can change in the coming months and the southern hemisphere hosts could suddenly come good, but I have [...]
RFU and Premiership Rugby sign landmark deal to shape future of game September 4, 2024 Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney hailed a “significant milestone” in the English game on Wednesday as the national governing body, Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Players Association yesterday agreed a new eight-year Professional Game Partnership. The swathes of changes to the English game will see the national coach Steve Borthwick given dominion over [...]