Bullscot
Billy Vunipola scored a six-minute hat-trick as England completed their preparations for the Test series against Argentina with 41-21 victory over a South American XV.
Seven players will make their first senior starts for England against the Sudamerica XV in Montevideo, Uruguay, on Sunday (19:30 BST – British Summer Time; 20:30 South African Time).
Warren Gatland has named 17 new British & Irish Lions in his 23 strong matchday squad to tackle the Barbarians in the opening game of the 125th anniversary tour in Hong Kong on Saturday.
Vern Cotter is to become Scotland’s next head coach – but at present will not be available until his contract with Clermont Auvergne ends in 2014. Unless an early release is negotiated for the New Zealander, Scott Johnson will remain head coach until next June.
Ulster and Ireland hooker Rory Best has been called up to the British and Irish Lions squad for their tour to Australia, which begins with a trip to Hong Kong to face the Barbarians next Saturday.
Dylan Hartley will miss out on this year’s British and Irish Lions tour of Australia. The Northampton Saints captain was sent off yesterday during the Aviva Premiership Final against Leicester Tigers at Twickenham.
Rob Webber will captain England for the first time in Sunday’s game against the Barbarians at Twickenham. The Bath hooker leads a youthful side which has nine players aged 24 or under in the starting XV and sees Matt Kvesic and Marland Yarde make their debuts.
We are all well aware of the host of South African rugby players who are plying their trade outside of South Africa. For this article we venture into the land of make belief and choose a squad made up entirely of players with South African connections playing in the current season’s RaboDirect Pro12 competition. – The ‘Raboboks’
After 22 rounds and two play-off games, the 2012/13 Pro12 season wraps up on Saturday with the Final at the Royal Dublin Society. It is, appropriately, between first and second seeds, Ulster and Leinster.
The culmination of many English players’ dream is to play at Twickenham and both Leicester and Northampton will be hoping to put on a spectacle in the Premiership final at HQ on Saturday.
English flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson will seek to add a continental crown to his honours when his Toulon take on French rivals Clermont in the European Cup final on Saturday.
The match at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium might be between two French Top 14 clubs, but on paper it is a truly international clash, with top players from across the globe ready to battle it out for the ultimate honour in northern hemisphere club rugby.
Cricket Scotland announced on Tuesday that Kyle Coetzer has been appointed as the new Scotland cricket captain. He will take charge for the first time this Friday when Scotland play Pakistan in the first of two One Day Internationals.
Scotland international centre Joe Ansbro has announced his retirement from rugby today following the neck injury he sustained at the start of this season. The 11-times-capped London Irish back suffered a C1 fracture in his club’s pre-season friendly with Munster in Cork last August.
Leinster (11) 17/15 (10) Glasgow Warriors
This is Saracens fourth successive Premiership semifinal and their fifth overall, however they have lost their last three semifinal encounters in all competitions.
After 132 games over 22 rounds just four of the 12 participating teams now go forward to the knock-out phase in the quest to find the RaboDirect Pro12 champions of 2012/13.
The European climax of the HSBC Sevens World Series kicked off in Scotland with Round Eight this weekend, the Glasgow Sevens at Scotstoun Stadium. The Tournament ran from Saturday 4 to Sunday 5 May.
With ONE more game to go, who will take the CUP, South Africa or New Zealand?
Well, that question was answered in Green and Gold… Blitzbokke take the Glasgow title, with a win by 28 / 21.
Scott Johnson, the current head coach of the Scotland team has been appointed Director of Rugby for Scottish Rugby. The post has been described by Scottish Rugby as “absolutely integral to Scotland’s standing on the world stage in the next decade and beyond.”
Guy Mercer is under no illusions about the importance of Bath’s final match of the season, and insists the players are ready to end their Premiership season on a high.
With just four points separating the top three teams who have already qualified for the Pro12 play-offs, no-one can yet be certain of their position in the table.
London’s Olympic Stadium will host five games at the 2015 Rugby World Cup which is being held across 13 venues.
British and Irish Lions tour manager Andy Irvine has announced the squad of 37 players for the upcoming tour of Australia which starts at the beginning of June. The squad will be captained by Sam Warburton who was introduced to the media, gathered in London for the announcement, by head coach Warren Gatland.
A man who has steered his club to the most league titles in Celtic rugby has today been appointed to the position of Scotland forwards coach.
Jonathan Humphreys, the former Welsh hooker and captain, will join the Scotland management ahead of the quadrangular tournament with Samoa, South Africa and Italy in June. He will be on a two year contract.
The 2013 British and Irish Lions squad to tour Australia this year is due to be announced tomorrow, Tuesday 30 April. The squad of 36 or 37 players will stop off in Hong Kong en route to Australia where they will kick start their tour with a game against the Barbarians on Saturday 1 June.
Saracens and Toulon will both have uncharted territory in their sights when they clash in today’s semi-final showdown at Twickenham Stadium – a debut place in a prestigious Heineken Cup final.
Favourites Clermont qualified for their first ever European Cup Final after ousting twice former winners Munster 16-10 in a bruising semifinal at Montpellier on Saturday.
When Toulon’s superstars roll into town for this weekend’s Heineken Cup semi-final they will find in their way a Saracens side who are the only English club left in the last four of Europe’s elite club competition.
Dean Greyling will make his first start for the Vodacom Bulls this season, when the Pretoria-based side take on the Waratahs in a Vodacom Super Rugby clash at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
Benetton Treviso are on course for their highest-ever RaboDirect PRO12 finish but head coach (former Springbok flyhalf) Franco Smith insists he is not concerned about the final table.
The RaboDirect PRO12 is in line to record its best ever attendances since the competition changed to a home and away format ten seasons ago.
It was all change yet again at the top of the Pro12 table following Round 20, with Ulster retaking the top position, whilst Glasgow Warriors slipped to third.
And with just two rounds left, and a maximum of 10 points on offer, five teams are still vying for the four play-off places.
This weekend sees action in the penultimate round of the league stage of the Aviva Premiership with the first match of the round being between Gary Gold’s Bath and Leicester Tigers. The final match of the weekend is scheduled for Sunday afternoon with London Wasps at home to Exeter Chiefs.
Grant Gilchrist, the 22-year-old Edinburgh Rugby lock, will win his first cap for Scotland in Saturday’s final 2013 RBS 6 Nations Championship match against France in Paris.
Gilchrist, the 6ft 8ins product of the Alloa and Stirling County clubs, replaces the injured Richie Gray. The only other change to the starting line-up sees the experienced Alasdair Strokosch preferred to Rob Harley at blindside flanker.
Ex-London Welsh team manager Mike Scott has been banned for life from rugby union for falsifying documents to make it appear a player was English.
The club were deducted five points and fined £15,000 on Thursday for fielding an ineligible player after selecting New Zealander Tyson Keats this season.
Bottom of the table France travel to Dublin to face fourth placed Ireland in the RBS Six Nations Championship on Saturday. This is part of the fifth round of fixtures of this year’s Championship. The match is scheduled to kick off at 19.00 South African Time.