The Cape Crusaders: Meet the Munster fans travelling 6,200 miles for domestic URC final May 23, 2023 Every fan dreams of watching their team make a final and, hopefully, win a trophy. But imagine if the grand finale for your domestic league is 6,200 miles away from your home stadium. Well that’s exactly what faces fans of Irish province Munster, whose United Rugby Championship showdown on Saturday is a 17-hour plane journey [...]
Fergie time: Sale Sharks bring in Manchester United LEGEND before Premiership final May 23, 2023 Premiership rugby team Sale Sharks have received a pep talk from legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson ahead of Saturday’s final against Saracens, City A.M. can reveal. The 81-year-old, who won 25 major titles with United, visited Sale on T to speak to players before their first Premiership final since 2006 on Saturday at [...]
Major Welsh rugby sponsor pulls out amid WRU financial deal with clubs May 22, 2023 A major sponsor of Welsh rugby has withdrawn its backing of clubs in the country in what appears to be a stark warning against the Welsh Rugby Union. Oil 4 Wales will step away from rugby until the funding strategy recently announced for the four professional regions is redesigned. The company has links to all [...]
Chapeau to you La Rochelle, it was a Champions Cup final for the ages May 21, 2023 You’d have been forgiven if, by the 12th minute of Saturday’s Champions Cup final between Leinster and La Rochelle, you’d turned over to Garden Rescue or Midsomer Murders because the match looked all but done and dusted. A brace from Dan Sheehan and a third try from Jimmy O’Brien gave Irish province Leinster a 17-0 [...]
Smart rugby ball all the range or unnecessary nuisance? May 20, 2023 Is there such a thing as too much technology in sport? Is there a desire to have every aspect of the game you love monitored by TV screens and officials anywhere but inside the stadium? Rugby was early to embrace of on-field technology, introducing a Television Match Official (TMO) at the highest level much earlier [...]
‘Top man Sergio Parisse deserves Challenge Cup title to retire with’ May 19, 2023 I really love Champions cup and Challenge Cup finals weekend. It doesn’t matter how each team got there, what’s important is that they’re in with a shout of winning one of club rugby’s big prizes. That said, I think both matches this weekend in Dublin will see wins for the traditional European powerhouses, Leinster and [...]
Wasps have Championship licence revoked, club sent to bottom of pyramid May 18, 2023 The Rugby Football Union have withdrawn Wasps‘ licence to play in the Championship next season in a major blow to the former Premiership club. A statement read: “The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has withdrawn the licence for Wasps to continue to play in the league structure. “This means that Wasps will not be able to [...]
Rugby World Cup Barometer: Ford wading way into England squad? May 18, 2023 | Sponsored In the lead up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup, City A.M. has put together a barometer in partnership with City Index to assess whose form is hot – and whose is not – in the race to be part of the tournament in France later this year. Player of the week: George Ford, England [...]
‘It’s not hard to imagine a future where the IPL simply is cricket’ May 18, 2023 As the ICC is set to change the way it distributes revenue, with India getting a significant portion, Ed Warner states that it is not hard to imagine a world where the IPL simply is cricket. The venality and self-interest that drive decisions in international cricket have been so well known for so long that [...]
O’Driscoll: Champions Cup double with La Rochelle can make O’Gara as coach May 17, 2023 A La Rochelle victory in the Champions Cup final would be the greatest moment in Ronan O’Gara’s coaching career, says his former Ireland teammate Brian O’Driscoll. O’Gara’s stock has risen monumentally since he took his first role as assistant coach at Parisian side Racing 92 a decade ago. After five years in the French capital, [...]