Rugby

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Moana Pasifika pulled off a stunning upset by beating the playoff-bound Brumbies 32-22 in the last match of their inaugural ...

“In a few years, this is going to be a seriously tough place to play, especially for New Zealand teams,” Weber said. Man, hats off to the Drua.” The Highlanders can clinch the last playoff berth ahead of the Force if, on Sunday, they beat the Melbourne Rebels or even earn a losing bonus point. The Brumbies scored almost immediately after Kepu’s dismissal, through hooker Connal McInerney from a rolling maul. “We just feel a sense of relief more than anything. It just shows that when we express ourselves, we’re physical, we’re elusive and we’ve got X-factor.”

Ebbw Vale RFC youth scrum-half Ryan Jones was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma just a few weeks ago. It is a type of cancer which ...

"They scored a try and then you could hear Ryan saying through the DJ's microphone, 'I'm coming on to take the conversion'," Damien explained. He's going to nail this and we're going to nail it with him, simple as that." "A couple of Wales U18s boys were playing, like Harri Ackerman. It was just unbelievable, for our boys to be playing with them, to see them all interacting together, the camaraderie on the field was outstanding. At the end of the game, Ryan came on to take the last conversion. "The boys started doing the old Icelandic clap. Damien explained that the quality of rugby at Ebbw Vale's Eugene Cross Park that night was unbelievable. Just a few months ago Damien Jenkins, who is a volunteer and first aider at Ebbw Vale, first noticed that Ryan was a bit off the pace with his rugby. He is captain of Ebbw Vale's youth team, and has grown up with Ryan through school and played with him in various rugby teams through the age grades. The Welsh region also supplied the players with a home and away kit for the game. Within days, the call that nobody wants to hear, and they found something, they were getting down within the next 24-48 hours to the Teenage Cancer Trust in Cardiff to start his treatment." I had two barbers there, one from Ebbw Vale called Connor Walker, one from Tredegar called Jordan Davies. To give up two hours of their time to shave all these boys' heads, that bit was touching." In truly inspiring fashion, 28 team-mates went down to the club to shave their heads so Ryan wouldn't be the odd one out.

Members of the U12 Barbarians celebrate after winning the state championship in the U12 Peanut Division at the Rugby Virginia Spring 15s championships, held on ...

"Culpeper County Parks & Recreation would like to thank the Board of Supervisors and Chairman Gary Deal for their continued support aimed at improving our community’s access to recreational services," Hardy said. "Now, with the combination of elite fields and new state-of-the-art Musco LED Athletic Field Lighting, our department will be able to consistently recruit state and higher-level tournaments, making the Culpeper Sports Complex a premier destination." We had a great turnout supporting the kids, and the Culpeper staff was great to work with." Culpeper Parks & Recreation director Andrew Hardy said he was pleased with the numbers. More than 25 teams came to Culpeper to play for seven different championships, with the event attracting over 2,000 people. Our athletes made the commitment to work hard this season, and it paid off.

The final quarter of Lyon's European Challenge Cup final win against Toulon saw Eben Etzebeth's hit on Davit Niniashvili come in for heavy criticism.

"Niniashvili is in no position to make a decision on his health at the moment", Mullins said. Getting this right is crucial to the future of this great game.” Mullins added: "I cannot believe that Niniashvili is still on the pitch. The bloke needs to be taken off." He's had a brilliant game apart from that foot, but come on, the guy doesn't know where he is." I'm not seeing anything illegal here at the moment", to which referee Luke Pearce agreed.

The main talking point on social media after Lyon beat Toulon was the 72nd-minute ruck clearout by Eben Etzebeth on Davit Niniashvili.

He also completely neutralised Cheslin Kolbe. In that play, Kolbe tried to beat the full back but Niniashvili tackled him. I was quantifying that etzebeth does more than most. There also should have been a red last night in the Challenge cup final. The narrative has played a role.” He revisited the issue on Saturday with a follow-up tweet. Some comments from EK Rugby Analysis were typical of the debate.

RC Toulon head coach Franck Azéma admitted his side were soundly beaten in Friday's EPCR Challenge Cup final against Lyon. The three-time European.

But we would have liked to have another end.” “That’s why we didn’t manage to regain the upper hand even though we reacted after the first try. We were jostled in attack, in defense.

Everybody needs a backup plan, and these Welsh rugby players have already put things in place for after their careers.

“Brad and me sit next to each other in the changing room and we were coming in with these different ideas every morning for like two months,” Lewis told WalesOnline in a previous interview. “I had to make a decision, my back was against the wall," he told WalesOnline in 2018. Moving onto food, former Ospreys prop Ryan Bevington has been the owner of Porthcawl Butchers since 2015. James Davies, another forced to retire this season, created his own business venture a couple of years ago. His company offers a range of services including repairing, maintaining, preparing and testing classic rally cars ahead of and during events. Facing life after rugby, he set up the gym with his wife Jolene, working 18 hour days to get it up and running. Wales hooker Ken Owens is someone who has already gained some experience on the latter, doing his fair share of television punditry while injured. But, in this post-pandemic world, it's not just knocks and bruises that can leave a career in the balance. Dominic Day's cannabis oil company, FourFive CBD, while not strictly down the fitness route, did come from knowing and understanding the rigours that professional rugby inflicts on your body. It also allows the user to seek out mental health services. Before going into rugby I was thinking of becoming a PE teacher. “I would have wanted to carry on playing professional rugby, preferably in Wales, but all teams seem sorted,” Warren told WalesOnline this week.

Moana Pasifika ended their Super Rugby Pacific campaign in style when they sealed a shock 32-22 victory over the Brumbies in Auckland on Saturday.

Kepu was sent off in the 10th minute for a dangerous tackle on Andy Muirhead before McInerney crossed for the opening try shortly afterwards. Inisi sealed the win for the hosts with his five-pointer in the 76th minute, however, before Samu scored a consolation try for the Brumbies in the game’s dying moments. The Brumbies struck back with Lealiifano’s penalty and Lonergan’s try which meant the match was evenly poised on the hour mark with the score 22-17 in Moana Pasifika’s favour.