Rugby Union

Wales climbed to the top of rugby union’s world rankings for the first time after beating England 13-6 in Cardiff. The hosts’ rise to the summit, which ended New Zealand’s unbroken 10-year occupation, comes just 34 days before the World Cup kicks off in Japan. Getty Images – Getty 3 …

Ruaridh McConnochie is set to make his England debut against Wales on Sunday after overcoming a hip injury. The Bath wing and sevens specialist was picked in the team to face the Grand Slam champions at Twickenham for the World Cup warm-up match last weekend but was among a trio …

Ben Te’o and Mike Brown have been omitted from England‘s 31-man World Cup squad by Eddie Jones. Former captain Dylan Hartley is another high-profile player to be cut. Every journey starts somewhere 🌄 Here is your 31-man England squad for Japan 🌹 ➡ https://t.co/iDqmKi3LQX pic.twitter.com/C2MDfA3iPI — England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) August 12, …

England got their World Cup preparations off to the ideal start with a 33-19 victory over Wales at Twickenham. It also brought an end to Wales’ 14-Test winning run which prevented them from climbing to the top of the global rankings, with 13 of the starters from Warren Gatland’s Grand-Slam …

Willi Heinz will make his England debut against Wales on Sunday as vice-captain despite his lack of Test experience. The New Zealand-born 32-year-old has been given the stage to prove he deserves a place at this autumn’s World Cup after being picked as the starting scrum-half for the warm-up Test …

Ben Te’o and Mike Brown are among the names to be left out of the England squad for Sunday’s international against Wales. The decision to exclude inside centre, Te’o, has cast further doubt over his prospects of being named in the final 31-man squad for the World Cup on Monday. …

English sport in the past 12 months has enjoyed an incredible revival and the momentum shows no sign of stopping. Although Kieran Trippier’s sensational free-kick marked the beginning of the end for England’s World Cup journey in Russia, the mood around the national team had shifted considerably. Eoin Morgan and …

Danny Cipriani has been omitted from England’s 38-man squad for their pre-World Cup training camp in Treviso, Italy. The fly-half was among the 35 players to have been picked in Eddie Jones’ training group on July 4, but the Gloucester player will not be going to the next one on …

1 George North: The Wales wing suffered a head injury on December 3 Northampton were wrong to return George North to the field of play following a head injury against Leicester but have escaped any sanction, the Concussion Management Review Group (CMRG) has found. North was injured in the first …

1 Stephen Myler kicked three conversions for Saints Northampton claimed a morale-boosting 24-5 win over Sale after a much-improved performance which moved them to sixth place in the Aviva Premiership standings. After four disappointing defeats, Saints returned to winning ways to maintain their impressive home record over Sale, inflicting a …