World Rugby

Fully contracted Black Ferns fifteens players on the cards

World Rugby is investing 12.4 million dollars in a three-tier tournament from 2023 which will help improve depth ahead of the expanded 16-team World Cup in 2025.

New Zealand would take part in a cross-regional tournament featuring Oceania and North American teams in June with the top three then joining the top three Eurpoean teams in a global event in September-October.

Cate Sexton, New Zealand Rugby's head of women's rugby development, says that sort of commitment would warrant contracting players.

TMO Joy Neville the latest target of online abuse

Neville was serving as the television match official in England’s win over France at Twickenham on Saturday. She played a major role in the outcome of the match by overturning referee Andrew Brace’s no try decision in the final minutes of the match and awarding Maro Itoje a try. This is a decision that many people have viewed as the right call.

World Rugby to give funding help as World Cup delay confirmed

It also announced a funding package of $3.9 million to assist unions hit by the postponement.

The ninth edition of the tournament was scheduled to be hosted in Auckland and Whangarei from 18 September to 16 October but World Rugby said last week it would be difficult to host the event as planned.

More than 600 players, staff and tournament personnel were expected to travel for the event, leading to risk surrounding safe and reliable travel among other problems.

'A near faultless player' - How the rugby world is reacting to Dan Carter's retirement

At 38, Carter’s retirement from the game will have surprised nobody, but it brings to an end an era in which the revered New Zealander walked the rugby world as a metaphorical god among men, the sport’s greatest of all time at 10.

Carter’s mark on the game will live on, but fans will no longer get the see him kick a ball in anger or fling an outrageous pass, at least not in a professional setting.

World Rugby to increase female representation on boards after governance review

The game’s governing body on Friday (NZ time) released interim findings of an independent-led review into its operations, with a key recommendation being a target of at least 40 per cent of women making up their committees and “the promotion of women leaders in the sport”.

Last May World Rugby came under fire for appointing just one female to their executive committee of 12 for a second successive term.

World Rugby agrees measures to ensure no repeat of last year's Francis Kean election gaffe

Eight candidates were unveiled in May by World Rugby to contest the election for seven places on its executive committee.

Kean was nominated and proposed by the Fiji Rugby Union and seconded by the Federation Francaise de Rugby, whose president Bernard Laporte was seeking to become World Rugby’s new vice-president, a role he went on to clinch. 

NZR reveal All Blacks plans for 2021

The impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic meant the national men's side played just six matches this year.

But they were set to play more than double that next year, after NZR chief executive Mark Robinson provided an update on Thursday after the organisation's final board meeting of the year.

The proposed scheduled included an opener against Fiji and two matches against Italy in New Zealand in July, a return to a full rugby Championship and an end of year tour to Europe for games against Italy, Ireland, and France.

Fiji sevens relishing local competition while World Series remains up in air

The Fijians finished third on last season's global circuit, which was cut short because of the global pandemic, while the first four tournaments of the 2021 season have already been cancelled.

Fiji's 23-man training squad goes back into camp on Wednesday and coach Gareth Baber said the players were handling a difficult situation as best they could.

Fiji's Jerry Tuwai named men's world rugby sevens player of the decade

The 2019 world player of the year beat out nine other finalists for the illustrious honour, including former Fiji teammate Samisoni Viriviri, Fiji-born New Zealand international Tomasi Cama and Samoan sevens icon Mikaele Pesamino.

The diminutive playmaker made his debut for Fiji at the 2014 Gold Coast Sevens and has gone on to win three World Series titles, an Olympic gold medal in 2016, and is a three-time world sevens player of the year nominee.

Big win for women's rugby with World Cup to be expanded in 2025

The landmark decision, taken by the Rugby World Cup board earlier this year, reflects the growing popularity of the women’s game globally through World Rugby’s transformational women’s strategic plan.

With interest and participation in the women's game continuing to climb, World Rugby has recognised that the increasing competitiveness in women’s international rugby.

This, in turn, has led to the World Cup being expanded, providing the opportunity for more teams to prove themselves on the biggest stage.