Champions Cup loss end of era for Saracens with Farrell leaving April 8, 2024 For Owen Farrell, and likely the Vunipola brothers Mako and Billy, the curtain fell on a glittering Investec Champions Cup career with Saracens at the weekend. Because the trio of stalwart players – with over 600 Saracens, 250 England and 16 British and Irish Lions appearances between them – were dumped out of the continental [...]
Investec Champions Cup quarter-final draw, when do teams play? April 7, 2024 Premiership clubs made it three years on the trot with three teams in the Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals this weekend in a good showing for the domestic game in England. It leaves open the possibility of an all-English final later this year at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Northampton Saints, Exeter Chiefs and Harlequins each won [...]
Saints march on to Champions Cup quarters with win over Munster April 7, 2024 Northampton Saints reached their first quarter-final since 2020 yesterday after a ferocious performance saw them down Irish giants Munster 24-14 in the Investec Champions Cup. The victory at Franklin’s Gardens was hard-fought but with Munster dealing with illness in their camp, Northampton were able to pull away in the dying moments to reach the last [...]
La Rochelle need heroics to emulate Toulon three-peat in Champions Cup April 5, 2024 When La Rochelle reached last year’s Champions Cup final at the Aviva Stadium they became the third team – alongside fellow French Top 14 sides Toulouse and Toulon – to feature in three consecutive finals. Toulouse and La Rochelle managed to win two of their three appearances while Toulon’s Galacticos – featuring the likes of [...]
Ollie Phillips: Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 predictions April 5, 2024 The Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 takes place this weekend and the competition is so difficult to call. There are all-French ties, all-English ties and a number of multinational matches to get the taste buds salivating. I am backing three English Premiership, two United Rugby Championship and three French Top 14 teams to progress [...]
Leicester Tigers fined £47,000 for breaching salary cap April 1, 2024 Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers have been fined £47,000 for breaching the salary cap in the 2019-2020 season. The club has accepted and paid an overrun tax with the club’s chief executive Andrea Pinchen stating: “While disappointed to again have historic salary cap spending relating to 2019/20 season result in this overrun tax, as was [...]
Investec Champions Cup Barometer: Warriors gear up for Quins April 1, 2024 | Sponsored In the lead up to the 2023-24 Investec Champions Cup Round of 16, City A.M. has put together a barometer in partnership with Investec to assess which teams are hot – and which are not – ahead of this weekend’s knockouts. Team of the week: Glasgow Warriors, Scotland Llanelli is historically a tough place to [...]
Can recycled rugby balls help sport’s fast fashion-style dilemma? April 1, 2024 Rugby balls are set to go green after major manufacturer Rhino announced they will produce balls made of recycled rubber. The initiative, which is set to be fully in place by the end of the decade, will look to bring an end to a sport’s version of fast fashion, whereby a high churn culture does [...]
Red Roses dominance is bad omen for women’s game (but they’re great to watch) March 29, 2024 Having beaten Italy 48-0 with 14 players in their Women’s Six Nations opener, it is fair to say England’s Red Roses continue to be one of rugby’s most dominant teams ever. Yes, that makes successive World Cup failures harder to stomach but the England national team are otherwise seemingly unstoppable. However, their impressive win in [...]
Premiership rugby: Saracens make £5m loss and clubs to battle government? March 27, 2024 England’s top-flight Premiership rugby clubs are at loggerheads with the government over the repayment of loans worth over £150m from the Covid-19 pandemic. The first raft of repayments are due imminently, according to the Mail, and clubs are hoping to get repayment dates pushed back. The government is said to have provided low interest loans [...]