1+ hour, 19+ min ago (520+ words) All Blacks in defence against Wales and New Zealand Test centurion Mils Muliaina. Former All Blacks duo Mils Muliaina and Jeff Wilson believe that there is one damning statistic which shows why Scott Robertson's side have endured a mediocre season. New Zealand only lost three of their matches in 2025, but they ultimately failed to achieve their aims this year. Defeats to Argentina and the Springboks stopped them from winning the Rugby Championship title, while a 33-19 reversal against England ended their Grand Slam hopes. Pressure has therefore increased on Robertson with one thing particularly standing out to Muliaina and Wilson when they poured over the stats. While there has been plenty of criticism over the All Blacks attack, their defence has also struggled at times and they were shocked by the lack of dominant tackles. The number stood at 4.5 per cent,…...

1+ hour, 23+ min ago (756+ words) Springboks scrum dominance against Ireland and outspoken pundit Matt Williams. Matt Williams has once again urged World Rugby to step in despite praising the Springboks" performance against Ireland in Saturday"s end-of-year Test. South Africa defeated the Irishmen 24-13 in a display which was based on power and utter scrum dominance. Andy Farrell"s side had no answer to it, conceding a series of penalties and copping four yellow cards and a red as a result. "While we"ve got some honest talk to be had about Ireland, let"s not forget we witnessed a masterful team performance from South Africa," Williams told Off The Ball, before the controversial pundit praised the Springboks" ability to adapt to the laws. He added: "What they did with the 7-1 bench, there"s the laws, how can we best exploit these laws to our advantage?...

1+ hour, 32+ min ago (1323+ words) England head coach Steve Borthwick feels his side are tracking as planned, after claiming their 11th successive Test win. If you'd have said to any England fan this time last year that they would end 2025 with a run of 11 successive Test victories, they would have likely laughed you out the door. The 2024 Autumn Nations Series campaign was a tale of "what if' for England. The width of the post and a missed drop-goal denied them a win over the All Blacks, a stunning 83rd-minute effort from Max Jorgensen saw the Wallabies win a week later, and despite a strong fight, they eventually fell to the Springboks. A win against Japan saved Steve Borthwick's side from an unwanted 0-4 record, and proved only a momentary break from the losers column too as England slipped to a 27-22 defeat to Ireland at the start of…...

14+ hour, 23+ min ago (688+ words) All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson and New Zealand legend Jeff Wilson. All Blacks legend Jeff Wilson believes that Scott Robertson has the playing talent at his disposal but it is now up to the head coach and his backroom team to find the answers ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup. New Zealand endured another mediocre campaign by their high standards as they came second to the Springboks in the Rugby Championship and failed in their Grand Slam quest during the end-of-year tour. Robertson's men only lost three games in 2025, which followed four defeats in 2024, but the performances remain unconvincing, with little progress evident. Wilson believes that this is pretty much the set of players, barring one or two changes, such as Richie Mo'unga's return, that will take the All Blacks through to the World Cup. However, the 52-year-old feels…...

14+ hour, 49+ min ago (506+ words) England legend claims Tom Curry 'knows what he's doing' as Felipe Contepomi backlash rumbles on England legend Andy Goode has created yet more debate online this week, claiming that Tom Curry "knew what he was doing" when he tackled Juan Cruz Mallia during England's 27-23 victory over Argentina. The former England fly-half shared a video on X (formerly Twitter) of the incident with the caption: "I can see why the Argentinians feel hard done by, Curry knows what he's doing." The incident in question led to some rather unsavoury scenes following the match, when the clearly riled-up Los Pumas players clashed with Curry and others in front of shocked supporters. Contepomi, clearly incensed by the issue, launched into a character assassination of Curry at the following press conference, labelling him a bully and questioning why we are allowing fans to look…...

16+ hour, 52+ min ago (479+ words) Ellis Mee has been added to the Wales squad. Wales head coach Steve Tandy has unveiled a 30-man squad that includes four new faces after 13 players were released ahead of their clash with the Springboks. Saturday's Test falls outside of World Rugby's international window and subsequently both sides have been hit hard by player unavailability due to their club commitments. Forwards Adam Beard, Rhys Carre, Olly Cracknell, Archie Griffin, Nicky Smith, Dafydd Jenkins and Freddie Thomas have all been released, as have key backline players Tomos Williams, Jarrod Evans, Louie Hennessey, Max Llewellyn, Nick Tompkins and Louis Rees-Zammit, with their absences a significant setback for the weekend's hosts. Therefore Tandy has added second-row James Ratti, uncapped prop Garyn Phillips (both Ospreys), winger Ellis Mee (Scarlets) and hooker Evan Lloyd (Cardiff) to his squad. The Wales head coach is also without…...

16+ hour, 57+ min ago (1204+ words) " "The big winner was experienced Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx, who was crowned as the Men's 15s Player of the Year - a fitting reward after he was also among the nominees in 2018." Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx and England flanker Tom Curry. It's time for our Monday wrap of who has their name in lights and who is making the headlines for all the wrong reasons after the weekend. World Rugby award winners: Saturday was a special day for some of the game's brightest stars as their excellent form this year was celebrated during an exciting day of Test rugby. The big winner was experienced Springboks hooker Malcolm Marx, who was crowned as the Men's 15s Player of the Year " a fitting reward after he was also among the nominees in 2018. Marx joins fellow 2025 nominee Pieter-Steph du Toit, as well as Schalk Burger and…...

20+ hour, 2+ min ago (844+ words) Pieter-Steph du Toit is one of six Springboks named. With chaotic scenes in both Dublin and Twickenham, a hat-trick hero for Wales and Japan taking a big scalp in Georgia, we pick our Team of the Week after an action filled couple of days. 15 Damian Willemse (South Africa): A rock of solidity in the mayhem of the Aviva, Willemse scored one try and dominated the airways in a superb display at the back. France's Thomas Ramos excelled in the Parisian snow, whilst Freddie Steward had a solid day for England at Twickenham, as did the promising Ruben Love for New Zealand and Max Jorgensen for the Wallabies. 14 Tom Rogers (Wales): We've had to put him on the other wing " and yes, Wales lost, but anyone who grabs a hat-trick against the All Blacks deserves selection. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso looked sharp as…...

20+ hour, 17+ min ago (356+ words) Quilter Nations Team of Series: No space for George Ford as Springboks dominate across the board The Autumn Nations Series is complete, and the statistics have been tallied. In a thrilling month, we've seen the Springboks and England go unbeaten, Argentina shone against all they faced, Wales grabbed a win, Italy showed improvement, and France is rebuilding. It's been a tough selection process, but without further ado, here's our Team of the Quilter Nations Series. 15 Thomas Ramos (France): Tournament points leader and top goal-kicker, plus a try against Australia and 100 Test points for the year, a brilliant achievement. The most reliable back three executor of the tournament, and just sneaks in ahead of South Africa's brilliant Damian Willemse and Ireland's hat-trick hero, Mack Hansen, who shone in his new position. 14 Will Jordan (New Zealand): Not as prolific on the scoreboard…...

20+ hour, 41+ min ago (941+ words) Max Ojomoh was among the big winners from England's victory over Argentina at Twickenham Following England's 27-23 win over Argentina in the Autumn Nations Series Test, here are our winners and losers from the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham." A late call-up into the starting XV, replacing the injured Fraser Dingwall on Friday, but boy oh boy did he take his chance in the side. He started positively with a few threatening carries, efforts which gave him the confidence to bring what the Bath faithful see week-in-week-out to the Test stage. While it was a potentially fortunate score, his game-reading skills to judge where to be in case of a spill were crucial to his try " in keeping with rugby's newest trend of "crumbs' " and backed that up with a cross-field kick worthy of an 18+ website. He added another assist for good measure…...