Capuozzo among the winners at the World Rugby Awards

The 2024 Six Nations gets underway on Friday night and there is a titanic tussle to kick things off in Marseille, as France host last season's Grand Slam winners Ireland. Last year's clash in Dublin was a tremendous example of everything that's good about the Six Nations and this encounter at the Stade Velodrome should be no different. Ireland to…

Rugby writer Adam Julian sums up the first Women's XV international tournament - and examines how the Black Ferns find themselves once again so far behind England The inaugural WXV1 concluded on Saturday at Go Media Stadium in Auckland with England overpowering the Black Ferns 33-12 to win the title. The Red Roses finished 2023 with an unblemished…

Bundee Aki has been nominated for the World Rugby Player of the Year Award after his impressive performances for Ireland at the World Cup. The Connacht man played every minute in all five of Ireland's games at the tournament and scored five tries. He is one of four nominees for the award, along with last year's winner and France captain Antoine…

Off the field, she is the Black Fern with the highest public profile and recognisable to a much broader audience outside of rugby's typical supporter base. Her presence alone should draw more attention to next Saturday's O'Reilly Cup test against Australia in Hamilton. That can only be a good thing as New Zealand Rugby attempts to fill FMG Stadium…

With both rugby codes taking greater steps into professionalism in a transformative era for women's sport, opportunities to flourish as a full-time athlete are growing and growing. It's hard to quantify the impact of the Black Ferns' momentous Rugby World Cup win at Eden Park last November, but it's clear that success could have a lasting…

The six new Black Ferns - Grace Gago, Layla Sae, Lucy Jenkins, Rosie Kelly, Katelyn Vahaakolo and Mererangi Paul - received their first call-ups in new head coach Allan Bunting's squad of contracted players for 2023. Another four - Awhina Tangen-Wainohu, Kendra Reynolds, Sylvia Brunt and Santo Taumata - were also awarded their first full-time…

New Zealand's rugby took a'back-to-the-future' trip in 2022, something highlighted by the Rugby Almanack of New Zealand editors in their annual traverse of all matters rugby. After three seasons of turmoil caused by Covid-19, there were elements of rugby getting back into complete action, the only areas suffering as a result of the Covid hangover…

Here's our chance to see some of the stars of the Rugby World Cup take the field again - and this time games are being played all across the motu. So you discovered the joys of women's rugby last November - welcome! We are stoked to have you join us. The good news is we are just days away from seeing our Black Ferns back in action with Super Rugby…

There are many, many things that make Antoine Dupont probably the best player in the world, but his defence is not necessarily one of them. It is not really a weakness, but it is not a strength, until now. Ireland's Mack Hansen would certainly attest that the France scrum-half's defence is not too shabby. After an interception from Ireland, Hansen…

Andy Farrell will name his Ireland team to play France on Thursday as his side prepare for their second Six Nations game. Ireland's tournament got off to a great start as they ran out 34-10 winners against Wales in the opening game of the championship last Saturday in Cardiff before France narrowly avoided defeat against Italy the following day in…

With the highly-anticipated Six Nations set to kick-off this week, catch up on how each team is shaping upof the nations that will be challenging for the honour of top European team in 2023. FRANCE Last year: ChampionsCoach: Fabien GalthieCaptain: Antoine Dupont Key Players: Damian Penauld (wing), Romain Ntamack (flyhalf), Gregory Aldritt (No 8),…

MONACO (AP) - Ireland flanker Josh van der Flier and New Zealand flyhalf Ruahei Demant were voted world rugby players of the year on Sunday. Van der Flier was part of the Irish team that claimed an historic first series win over the All Blacks in New Zealand in July. He averaged more tackles per game - 15 - than any other men's tier one player this…

Canadians Sophie de Goede and Emily Tuttosi have been named to World Rugby's Women's 15s Dream Team of the Year. De Goede, who captained Canada to fourth place at the recent Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, was also a finalist for the Women's 15s Player of the Year award won by New Zealand fly half Ruahei Demant. De Goede, a powerful No. 8, led the…

The world's No.1 rugby side prepare for the third game of their 2022 end-of-year Tests, as Ireland welcome Australia to the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The two sides come into this match with their current fortunes a mile apart, the visitors having lost two of their three games in their tour, including a first ever defeat to Italy in Florence last…

Bewildering Ardie Savea snub for World Rugby award Incredibly, as World Rugby have announced their shortlist for their annual awards shindig, to be held in Monaco on 20 November, All Blacks superstar Ardie Savea has somehow not made the list, despite turning in a string of superb performances for New Zealand in the last year. A panel of renowned…

New Zealand's running game trumped England's power to win a thrilling final of the women's Rugby World Cup 34-31 in Auckland on Saturday and retain their title in front of a record 40000 crowd. It was a spectacular end to a tournament that has broken records for attendances and came after England played three-quarters of the game with 14…

An emotional Wayne Smith has spoken of his pride in the Black Ferns and captain Ruahei Demant in particular as the hosts upset the odds and held off England to win the World Cup final at Eden Park tonight. The 34-31 nerve-shredding win was the Black Ferns' sixth World Cup final victory but none have been as difficult as this. Defending a slim lead…

The annual Autumn Internationals rugby carnival is underway, with England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland to be tested by the best the southern hemisphere has to offer. New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina are all in action over a five-week period, which began with Scotland's narrow defeat to Australia at Murrayfield last…

Auckland have stormed into the Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) final after bouncing back to stun defending champions Waikato The Storm were heading for the semifinals when the country was plunged into lockdown last August and Auckland could not play once the FPC restarted, as the city remained locked down until restrictions were eased in December. Neither…

La Rochelle were of course crowned as European champions, as they defeated Leinster thanks to a last-gasp try at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille. Much of the discussion after the final has been based around La Rochelle's director of rugby Ronan O'Gara, although their maiden European title certainly wouldn't have been possible without some…

Wayne Smith and the Black Ferns during a training session. Photo / Photosport The Black Ferns have announced their first squad of the year as the Rugby World Cup draws closer. Black Ferns coaches Wayne Smith, Wesley Clarke and Whitney Hansen have named 31 players in the squad set to host Australia, Canada and USA next month. Seven players are in…

The Black Ferns have scooped the big awards at a glittering ceremony in Monaco this morning, with director of rugby Wayne Smith named coach of the year, captain Ruahei Demant player of the year and Ruby Tui winning best breakthrough player. It represented an extra triumph for the Black Ferns, who battled back from their lows of last year to defend…

Black Ferns director of rugby Wayne Smith has been named World Rugby's coach of the year at a ceremony in Monaco this morning, with star wing Ruby Tui winning women's breakthrough player of the year. Smith said via a video message he was "uncomfortable" receiving the award given the quality of the other candidates; Ireland coach Andy Farrell,…