Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2026 i Rugby World

THE NATIONS Championship will see North take on South in a new biennial competition that will launch in 2026. The competition will see 12 teams play six rounds of games through the summer and autumn Test windows. There will then be a Finals series to establish rankings – including an overall champion – over three days at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium in November. The Six Nations teams will represent the northern hemisphere while Fiji and Japan join the Rugby Championship quartet in the South. The first round of matches will take place on 4 July with match-ups including England away in South Africa, France in New Zealand and Ireland in Australia. Fiji will play their home games against Wales and Scotland in the UK while hosting England in South Africa for…

What’s the club called? Worcester RFC. And where is their home? Offerton Lane, Worcester. Across the roundabout from Sixways where Worcester Warriors play. Are they connected to the pro club? Yes, Worcester RFC is the amateur arm of Worcester Warriors, who returned this season and play in Champ Rugby. The club started in 1871 thanks to the Rev Francis John Eld. They always had a strong regional side but shone brightly in the late 1990s before earning their first tilt at Premiership rugby in 2004. All the while, the amateur club has operated for locals of all ages. What teams are there in the club? There are two senior men’s XVs, mixed ability, walking rugby, women’s mixed ability, with a senior women’s side starting next year, plus minis & juniors…

NO TIM PERCIVAL ENGLAND RUGBY COMMUNICATIONS LEAD IN TOP-LEVEL sport, the smallest edge can mean the difference between victory and defeat. It’s why coaches obsess over the extra 1%. And it’s why confidentiality around team selection matters. When a line-up is leaked before it’s officially announced, it gives the opposition a head start – whether that’s adjusting tactics, tweaking selection or preparing for key match-ups. That advantage can prove decisive. We understand the media’s position. Journalists are under constant pressure to deliver exclusives for their readers and break tomorrow’s news today. And in many ways it’s a sign of the media’s engagement with the sport, which is something we welcome. No one expects the press to act as cheerleaders. But we do hope they won’t inadvertently work against the team…

WHY DO the authorities in England, Wales and Ireland insist that they will only pick players for their national squads who play their club rugby at home, inside those countries? This is a measure which has made Wales even weaker than they were previously, just for one example. We have waved goodbye to Jack and Tom Willis, two magnificent forwards, just because they have taken major offers and because they are brothers and like to be together. England have lost a large number of fine players over the years. And Wales? Everyone knows that the Welsh regional scene is a disaster area created chiefly by the WRU, those fools who want to axe at least one of the regional teams and therefore provide even fewer jerseys to which the young…

THE BRIGHT, young hope of Galway’s Gaelic Footballers is a Salthill‑Knocknacarra midfielder called Matthew Thompson. Plugged into a team earlier this year that reached the 2024 All-Ireland final, Thompson was immediately at home in the playmaker role. In another world, Thompson’s midfield partner with ‘The Tribesmen’ could have easily been Hugh Gavin. “I’m from Salthill,” Gavin explains, “and I would have also played a small bit of hurling growing up. Before Covid, rugby would have been my number one thing. “Around 2021, I got a bit bigger and grew out. I was playing a lot of GAA then and our Salthill team was quite good. We won a couple of county titles. I got called into the Galway minors team, the year of my 18th birthday. Connacht were very fair…

WATCHING A Stade Rochelais game is pretty tough if you’re not a local. Not just because its nearby airport of La Rochelle only operates seasonal flights to and from the UK, making the journey from London one of planes, trains and automobiles. But also because for the past 109 consecutive games, the Stade Marcel Deflandre has been a sellout. It’s an unfathomable record that goes back a decade to 2016 when they were a club of nothing more than Top 14 newcomers, dreaming of mid-table mediocrity rather than being one of European rugby’s elite. Yet during that time, this small coastal club has been crowned champions of Europe twice under the stewardship of local hero and head coach Ronan O’Gara, and created one of the most electrifying atmospheres in world…

AST-MINUTE DRAWS. A cascade of yellow cards. More twists and turns than a Christopher Nolan movie. Tries that came from nowhere. Props making line breaks as if it were your average rugby afternoon. And, in the end, one team qualified for the 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup. The 2025 Final Qualification Tournament was drenched in the best kind of drama, and while Samoa picked up the last remaining World Cup ticket, they had to dig deep to overcome an ambitious Belgium. Brazil, Namibia, Belgium and Samoa headed to Dubai to face each other in a round robin over the course of 15 days. With the World Cup train already gearing up its engines, there was no time left for self-doubts or second-guessing. ‘Winner takes all’ was the prize on offer.…

FROM THE minute the French crowd sung God Save the Queen to their adopted son Jonny Wilkinson, the arms of the Top 14 were wide open for British players looking to make a living across the Channel. The prodigal one’s five-year stint on the French Riviera not only transformed Toulon into a European powerhouse but proved that those from the home nations could be valuable commodities for the cash-rich clubs across France. After Jonny, every French club wanted to snag themselves a Brit. Fast-forward a decade and only one Top 14 team operates without one on the books, while plenty also ply their trade in Pro D2. We spoke to 14 current players for this special issue to find out what it’s really like in France. And let us warn…

“FOR ALL the seasons I played professionally, I only had one where I just played rugby. I did two degrees. I started businesses that worked, I started businesses that failed. I was very conscious about what was coming next. “I set up a business development consultancy which was very good during that Covid period when everyone wanted a consultant rather than someone on their books. That saw various sliding door moments that saw me offered a role at Catapult, which is where I am now. I’m Global Head of Rugby there and work on other sports projects too. “We provide a range of products around data and insights for sport: GPS units that sit on the backs of England players, Top 14 clubs and Premiership clubs; video software; velocity-based training…

MALCOLM MARX finally did it for the hookers! The Springbok became the first No 2 to become the World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year since 2001 and the second successive South African to win the gong after Pieter-Steph du Toit took home the 2024 title last year. The hard-hitting flanker was nominated again this time and a win would have drawn him level with All Blacks Dan Carter and Richie McCaw on three. However, it was time for the front row to get the plaudits. Not only was 31-year-old Marx the winner but his loosehead Ox Nche became the first prop to receive a nomination. It’s nice to have that recognition for the front-rowers. We are finally getting some well-deserved kudos for the hard work the boys do…

WHEN I signed for Bayonne last year, the Stade Jean-Dauger was voted the best place to watch rugby in France. I saw videos of the atmosphere and thought it was amazing. Some of the boys told me that the video wouldn’t do it justice and they were right. Especially for the 9pm Sunday games, it is one of the best stadiums to play in around the world. The people here in the Basque country adore rugby, it’s a way of life for them. The atmosphere is one of the best and it helps me on the pitch. They are genuinely our 16th man and we hear them from minute one to minute 80. I love it. The French work to live rather than live to work. That’s the thing I…

THOMAS WALDROMstorms across the Exeter Northcott Theatre stage and into the heart of the Saracens defence, munching on a slice of pizza. It is the dying stages of the 2015-16 Premiership and Slytherin – as Saracens are repeatedly referred to – are about to break the hearts of Exeter and their hungry No 8. The Chiefs are not to be denied, however, as they return to Twickenham the following season to be crowned English champions and then complete their fairytale rise from the Devon leagues in becoming champions of Europe. This is Exe Men, the play, and the man behind it is Ashley Pharoah, who has adapted Rob Kitson’s award-winning book of the same name with a compelling pace and energy. Pharoah, whose past work for TV has included the…

YOU HAVE to wonder what some of those gnarled Tigers of old would have made of Ollie Hassell-Collins. When he lined up against the All Blacks’ second string for England A last month, the Leicester wing did so with pink and black painted nails. He had the blond hair dye out long before Henry Pollock discovered it, loves his jewellery and has a tattoo collection which includes one of a Golden Snitch – the match ball in Quidditch. The Harry Potter fixation extends to two of his four cats: Albus, Severus, Betsy and Marmalade, whom he has been known to take for a walk on a lead. Although it doesn’t happen so much these days as he leaves them to use their cat flap, he isn’t ruling out more moggie…

MILITARY MATCH-UP I think the British Armed Forces women’s side should play the Scottish women’s club sides (Edinburgh and Glasgow) and the Welsh women’s club sides (Brython Thunder and Gwalia Lightning) in a five-team trophy. This would provide extra games for Scottish and Welsh women’s sides against players who are naturally athletic. Joey Vimsante, North Wales RUGBY IS NOT F1 In your recent Think Piece (January 2026 issue), the appeal of R360 is likened to F1 or the SVNS series, claiming that by travelling the world, it could bring “a level of global attraction and attention that club rugby has never seen before”. There are huge differences between rugby and either F1 or the SVNS. F1 fans tend to follow individual drivers rather than their ‘clubs’ (the manufacturers); both F1…

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1 USA Utah Warriors (below) have pulled out of the MLR, leaving it with just six teams ahead of the 2026 season. The Salt Lake City-based franchise joins NOLA Gold, Miami Sharks and Houston SaberCats in suspending operations, while LA and San Diego merged in July. The decision follows the failure of an investment deal and means just one of MLR’s founding clubs, Seattle Seawolves, remains. The league will implement a shorter season and reduce salaries. 2 FRANCE Jimmy Gopperth (above) has retired after a 23-year career spanning 526 pro games and over 4,500 points. The Kiwi played for Hurricanes, Leinster, Newcastle, Wasps, Leicester and, most recently, Provence in France’s Pro D2. He has taken up a job offer from Gallagher Insurance. Asked to account for his longevity in the…

What occupies your time away from rugby? Probably all the sports psychology stuff. I’m just finishing my masters in sports psychology. It’s something I’m passionate about and it helps me prepare for the future. I’m currently injured, so I do rehab in the morning and then work on psychology until the evening. My dream is to be a sports psychologist and be on both sides – high performance and mental health. I think my niche is that I’ve lived a lot of these experiences: playing different levels, losing people while playing, goalkicking, all the pressures. Is there a French phrase you love? J’ai le seum. It basically means ‘I’m annoyed’. French people use it for everything – cold weather, dropping a ball. It’s the most stereotypical French complaint and it’s hilarious.…

“I SPEND more time speaking French than I do speaking English, but it’s mainly putting out fires. Wives not happy, coaches not happy, players not happy. It’s not always rose-tinted.” Jono Stuart is long in the tooth when it comes to operating as a player agent in France, but it has never got any easier. Now co-founder of Newstar International, he retired as a professional rugby player in 2008 while at La Rochelle. Within the year, he had qualified to operate as an agent in France and was negotiating deals for British players to join clubs in the Top 14 and Pro D2. Except there was a bit of an issue. “From 2009, I started trying to put British players into French teams but there was not a big appetite…

IF YOU weren’t already aware, rugby in Toulon is quite a big deal. “In particular, being down in the South, it’s very emotional,” explains David Ribbans, who has served as co-captain alongside former France skipper Charles Ollivon. “Every win is like winning the World Cup and every loss is like getting relegated from the Top 14. “The emotion is quite up and down here because the fans are incredible – when you win, should we say… The supporters are super passionate down here. “Rugby is huge in the South; this region is rugby-mad. For them, Toulon is everything. It’s a town that doesn’t have a lot of money, but everyone gives everything to buy tickets and come to support us. “The passion is something that, if you’re not aware of…

There’s a perception of Brits abroad. And in case you’ve been living under a rock, it’s not particularly positive. But forget the loud, brash lager louts or inconsiderate tourists who daren’t speak a word in a foreign language as everyone speaks English… Across the Channel, there is now a whole host of British and Irish rugby players not only enjoying themselves in France but excelling for clubs on and off the field. For some it is an end-of-career swansong in the sun, for others a much-needed professional lifeline. But whatever the circumstances that brought them and their boots to the Top 14 or Pro D2, there’s a general consensus that when it comes to rugby, France is a superb place to be. And you can see why. Before we start…

FROM MAX Guazzini decking out his Stade Français players in neon pink to Mourad Boudjellal’s Galácticos era in Toulon, the French just do things a little differently. The stereotype might be of languid outside backs smoking 40 Gauloises a day, along with terrifying front-rows patiently waiting whenever a rugby game interrupts their Bagarre Générale. But France is also where the biggest crowds can be found, drawn by stellar overseas talent from across the world. Here are our top dozen Top 14 imports from over the past 25 years… LEVANI BOTIA La Rochelle Long before Eddie Jones and Rassie Erasmus talked about employing hybrid players, there was Levani Botia. A centre with the skills of a jackler, the Fijian switched to the back row in the 2016-17 season, having arrived at…

“I’M GLAD we can have a good news story about prisons for once.” That’s the first thing I hear when walking into HMP Isis, a Category C men’s prison and young offenders’ institution (YOI) in South-East London. The narrative, particularly recently, around the prison system in England and Wales is often one of violence and overcrowding. Long periods of austerity in the UK led to sweeping budget freezes and cuts to most public services. Prisons were hit hard as, unlike education and health, spending on the custodial system is not a natural vote winner. The UK Government spent less on prisons each year between 2011 and 2020 than it did in 2010, despite the average cost per prisoner rising during this time. It also coincided with a steep increase in…

I’VE BEEN really impressed with Munster under their their new coach, Clayton McMillan. Partly because of how they’ve been tactically smarter, led by their half-backs, but also because of their togetherness. McMillan has really leant into the traditional Munster way of forward dominance, physicality and team grit. Not only are they difficult to play against, they’re using their strengths to swarm teams in attack. I’ve picked three areas in which they’re excelling… 1 DEFENSIVE PHYSICALITY McMillan was quick to identify what makes Munster so good at their best and that is resilience and grit. He puts emphasis on breakdown pressure; in wider channels and exposed rucks, Munster might put as many as four men into a breakdown to slow, disrupt or steal the ball. They also favour aggressive defence and…

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