People have said some very lovely things about the RWC final video. We’re extremely grateful to finally have it out in the world, and that the insane levels of time and effort that went into the week following the final have finally paid off.
Watch it now if you haven’t yet! 👇🏻
They did it again. Last November, Siya Kolisi's immortals became just the second side to ever retain the men’s World Cup. So, how did they do it, just how close was their 1-point win, and where, in the history of the game, does this side deserve to rank?
I’m not sure when, if ever, rugby last produced someone as culturally iconic as Siya Kolisi. Might be looking as far back as Jonah Lomu. What a captain
Paolo Garbisi is one of the most promising fly-halves in the world, and I was intrigued to hear Jonny Wilkinson's view on him. When ITV asked, Jonny evidently hadn't heard of him.
He's getting paid to talk about the match. On television. In public. Rugby punditry is ass.
Hi
@rugbyworldcup
just wanted to check the quarter finals are still going ahead? I noticed you’re removing all footage of the tournament wasn’t sure if you were calling it off. Thank you :)
Not being funny but if you’re Rugby Canada and you’ve just seen your amateur team push (possibly) the best pro team in the world all the way, you go ALL IN on women’s rugby. Give them ALL the funding - IMAGINE how good they’d be when fully pro
BREAKING: World Rugby announce that USA's Rugby World Cup qualification dreams are not over, as they consider kicking Wales out for being a fucking shambles
After Frawley missed those two drop goals in the European final, the previous biggest game of his career, I can’t stress enough the absolute balls it takes for him to absolutely sink two beauties to beat the world champions. Wow.
I absolutely love love LOVE Ben Earl’s snipe at the media in the post match interview.
The English media have been utter pricks to the entire team all Six Nations. The second something goes wrong they get lambasted. Look where that’s left Farrell.
Credit to him.
How was Herschel Jantjies not cited for this? Here he is clearly spotted holding an AK-47 to the shoulder/neck area of Alun-Wyn Jones. Totally unacceptable in our sport.
Ça me fait de la peine de le voir comme ça, vulnérable, essayant désespérément d’atteindre son casque comme un collégien harcelé à qui on aurait piqué la trousse. 🙁
(Et puis je me souviens qu'il fait 2m, qu’il est anglais et qu’il nous a cassé les couilles tout le match).
Time to get used to Italy being competitive in the Six Nations. The younger crop are beginning to get used to international rugby and the gap is closing 🇮🇹
Argentina and Australia are on the rise 📈
Here is how the teams are positioned as we enter the knockout stage of
#RWC2023
Men's World Rankings, powered by
@Capgemini
Idea for a podcast: watch back every game Bryan Habana played for South Africa until we find out which winger was slow on the turn henceforth giving him a competitive advantage (in rugby and in business)
This is what happens when you don’t let anyone watch/share clips of the sport’s biggest competition. Rugby won’t exist in 20 years thanks to how it’s marketed.
Rugby Union is not one of the top 20 for either participation or engagement for the
#GenZ
audience
Has rugby lost the next generation, and so the future of its sport?
I quit uni rugby in my final year at Derby because the environment was the most toxic thing I’ve ever seen in sport. I was a bit of an outsider for not wanting to shit in a bin bag. Uni rugby culture and can go die in a ditch
Initiations at uni sport are going to kill sport for many youngsters.
I'm old. I can't stop it happening.
I don't think the unis can.
What can be done?
If whoever did this to Traore isn’t sacked by the New Year, it simply isn’t good enough. How are you supposed to play in a team alongside someone who treats you like this?
Conspiracy: Andy Farrell asked Owen to take the Six Nations off so he can spend 3 years at Racing, then sign for Leinster and become Ireland’s signature 35+ year old fly-half
The standard of punditry & commentary on the Women’s Six Nations is consistently SO much higher than the Men’s. Really shows the value of picking a panel based on who keeps up with the sport rather than what they won 20 years ago.
Credit to all involved!
In 2019 South Africa win with a 6/2 split. In 2023 South Africa win with a 7/1 split. In 2027 South Africa will win with an 8/0 split. In 2031 South Africa will win with a 9/-1 split. In 2035 South Africa wi
We've all had a poke at England for how mad it is that they got so far, but credit to them. They punched far above what any of us expected as they played an effective gameplan. Kicking and defensive rugby wins games. It's the present and future of the sport
The comments on this post across socials are insane. How are there England fans who don’t realise Farrell has been basically their best player for over a decade now? Is it the shoulder charge stuff? Do people think kicking is always a bad thing? Or do they only watch whilst drunk
“You’ve finally done something in the game. You should be really proud of yourself” - world class sledging by Julian Montoya, as Jamie Ritchie gets a yellow card
Sam Prendegast looks the real deal. Shame he’s come through only halfway through Johnny Sexton’s international career, but a hugely promising player nonetheless
Obsessed with the fact Stuart Hogg came through as a young prodigy, worked his arse off, and eventually became Scotland's top try scorer after 50+ tests. Only for Duhan to just emerge and be like yo I have massive arms then nick it from him in the space of like 3 seasons
A lot of people questioning why Gatland has dropped Tshiunza. It actually makes sense imo. It’s because there’s no point us trying to speed up our ruck ball because no matter what, Rhys Webb will stop off and make a Sunday dinner before passing the ball at every fucking breakdown
HOW ON EARTH HAS HE DONE THAT?! 🤯
An outrageous piece of skill from Teddy Thomas has given
@Racing92
the lead in this quarter-final...
Pure genius.
#HeinekenChampionsCup
Loving Sam Warburton’s comms, as always. It’s really important to fringe rugby fans that he explains why teams kick, why it’s necessary, and why it creates space to attack. His analysis here is top notch
If Gatland singled out a referee and put them in a position whereby fans are sending threats to their partner and kids, I’d be ashamed of him and calling him out for it. It’s insane to see certain fans sticking so heavily by their decision to do this to Wayne Barnes. THREAD:
Cory Hill is Wales captain. I’m a lifelong Cymru fan, but I hope we lose by 50 on Friday for this alone. Fuck this, fuck Hill and fuck Gatland for selecting him.
Try saving lineout steal against all odds✅
Spoiling ball at the breakdown✅
Charming shithouse chats with Dickson✅
Bitching about his teammates endearingly✅
Nailed on tactical yellow card✅
Scathing post-match interview after a win✅
Full house on Peter O’Mahony bingo tonight
I want to make it clear that I think the
@WelshRugbyUnion
is a total mess and I support the strikes but at the same time if you want me to start at scrum half against England next week I'll give it a go
The dinosaurs who run rugby are amazing at Not Caring About Young People but I really didn't think this would stretch to the Italy u20s side who literally just beat England
Six Nations upheaval on the cards as South Africa set to join from 2025, with most likely scenario involving the Boks replacing Italy, rather than an expansion to seven teams. Story for
@MailSport
…
As a lover of both rugby and live music I hope Irish fans/rugby fans never shut up about the Zombie moment cause it’s an absolute belter and the Irish fans gave it some absolute beans. Incredible stuff
I stand by my belief that Eddie Jones is the greatest rugby coach of all time (alongside Wayne Smith) and it’s insane that we’re even having conversations about how much England took him for granted
After dropping the "Blues" from the name, the team from the Welsh capital have now also dropped the "Cardiff" and become the first ever unnamed pro sports team.
Bath Rugby can today confirm that
@taulupe
will be leaving the club at the end of the current season for an unnamed Welsh side.
Read the full announcement here ⬇️
#ThankYouTaulupe
🔄 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼
#FranceU20
Suite à la mise à disposition des joueurs par le XV de France Masculin, Posolo TUILAGI intègre la composition d'équipe U20 pour la rencontre face à l'Angleterre. Simon HUCHET sera finisseur.
#FRAANG
#SixNationsU20
#NeFaisonsXV
After round 2 last year, Wales were yet to score a point in the Six Nations. This year, they have two huge wins under their belt.
The power of giving a shit about women's rugby.
It's easy to view this as a non-story but it's actually a pretty huge milestone. The sport is pretty bad at promoting individualism and unique personalities - probably with thanks to the rugby values shtick. Kolisi is such a distinct personality & deserves to be a household name
Siya Kolisi has become the first and only active rugby player to have 1M Instagram followers. Impressive but shows how far the sport has to go in building individual stars..
Captain obvious alert but whoever can beat this Ireland and/or France team straight up deserves to win the World Cup. I literally have no clue how either of them can lose a game, but one of them has to
I suddenly cared about the Prem Rugby Cup when it became apparent that London Irish could lose it in dramatic circumstances. Seeing Paddy Jackson miss 4 kicks on the trot made that a truly unforgettable game. We LOVE to see it.
Amazing, amazing stuff. Well done Worcester.
Just gauging interest on something.
If, hypothetically, in France during the World Cup, we organised an official Squidge Rugby touch tournament that anyone could participate in, would anyone be interested?
Idea is very early days at the mo, but would love to know your thoughts!
I feel personally embarrassed by Jiffy asking if having a fake hit runner is crossing. The guy retired 25+ years ago, those things didn’t exist in his era. Which is fine, but put someone more recent on comms for a game in 2024
@BillBeaumont
Love this move Bill my chum. This sport is for the elite gentlemen of our society and you and your coileagues have shown the bravery to keep it that way ❤️