Gloucester Rugby forced to pull Russia flag from player shirt January 8, 2025 Gloucester Rugby has been forced to remove a Russian flag from the shirt of one of their players after a complaint from a fan. The Cherry and Whites have operated a policy, since 2015, of rewarding their international stars with the flag of their Test nation on their club shirt. But Gloucester were forced to [...]
Springboks enter long-term deal with British rugby brand Rhino January 1, 2025 The South Africa rugby Springboks have a seven-year deal with ball supplier Rhino in a major boost to the British-founded brand. The deal will see the world champions use Rhino balls for their home Test matches while the agreement stretches to the women’s international team, and the Currie Cup. Rian Oberholzer, chief executive of SA [...]
Youngs and Cole: For The Love Of Rugby duo look to 2025 December 28, 2024 Leicester Tigers duo Ben Youngs and Dan Cole review at 2024, look ahead to 2025 and discussed their podcast For The Love Of Rugby. The last 12 months has been an incredibly interesting time for rugby union for a number of reasons. Steve Borthwick’s England had a rough back end to the year but took [...]
Ollie Phillips: Dupont leads my 2024 rugby union awards December 20, 2024 For my last rugby union column of 2024 in print it’s only right that we hand out a couple of awards covering the last 12 months. Rugby has seen an Olympic Games sit front and centre of the calendar while there have been some surprises in terms of domestic winners. It wasn’t easy but I’ve [...]
DCMS fear rugby future as £30m in taxpayer loans expected to be written off December 18, 2024 The government could be forced to write off nearly £30m of taxpayers’ money loaned to sports bodies, clubs and the arts during the Covid-19 pandemic. The figures, revealed today by the National Audit Office, provide a stark update on the £474m aid package provided by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Rugby union was [...]
Leinster, Clermont, Tigers and Sharks to serve up Champions Cup delight December 13, 2024 Set an alarm for 5:30pm on Saturday, settle in, pour yourself a brew or glass of wine, put on the dual screens and enjoy what will be the standout matches of the second weekend of Investec Champions Cup action. Because Leicester – having been forced to rest a number of players for their huge clash [...]
Super League Hull FC get new owners worth reported £500m December 11, 2024 Super League club Hull FC was taken over on Wednesday by two businessmen who are reportedly worth a combined £500m. The club, which lost its IMG Grade A status after the conclusion of the 2024 season, has been taken over by former Leeds Rhinos president Andrew Thirkill and businessman David Hood. The pair entered into [...]
Premier Sports boss on Champions Cup, 24/7 rugby channel and rights December 5, 2024 Ahead of the Investec Champions Cup, City AM sat down with Richard Sweeney of Premier Sports as the broadcaster takes on European rugby’s rights. When the Champions Cup TV deal between TNT Sports and European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) came to an end, many assumed a copy-and-paste agreement would see the partnership continue. But the [...]
Maher social media aide to be paid more by Bristol Bears than some players December 3, 2024 Bristol Bears Women is hiring a social media specialist solely to work with new star signing Ilona Maher on a higher salary than most of the club’s players. The West Country outfit this week signed one of the most recognisable faces in rugby, American sevens sensation Maher, and saw their follower numbers leap as a [...]
RFU boss Bill Sweeney paid £1.1m despite heavy losses November 25, 2024 England Rugby chief executive Bill Sweeney was paid £1.1m in the last financial year despite the game struggling to stay on its feet. It comes as the governing body for rugby in England announced record losses nearing £40m and confirmed there would be redundancies within the organisation. The Rugby Football Union insists that their year, [...]