Australia has been awarded the 2027 men’s Rugby World Cup and the women’s tournament two years later. This has kickstarted talk about whether Rugby Australia will look to a few NRL converts to boost their chances? In the past, NRL converts have had mixed success. For every Sonny Bill Williams, there is a Sam Burgess. […]

World Rugby gets plenty of stick yet deserves praise for its decisions over the last 12 months with the freshly appointed Rugby World Cup hosts being one of them. Other policies and decisions include; the change in eligibility laws will that allow Pacific Island teams to compete and encourage their qualified national representatives to continue […]

England’s women wrapped up their fourth consecutive Six Nations title and are looking like strong favourites for the upcoming Rugby World Cup later this year. While a winning run of 23 matches may sound bad for the health of the sport due to a lack of competition, it does serve to force other unions into […]

With two ankle injuries, Owen Farrell has been making his way back from four months out of the game. In his absence, Saracens have been winning but inconsistent while on the international stage England finished third on the Six Nations table. An improvement on last year but their attack offered little and the team struggled […]

Thomas Booth (@tboothy) of Last Word on Rugby looks at the Best International Captains through the history of the game and presents to you part two of our overview of the World Rugby ranked top ten international men’s sides in 2022. With the listed six sides, from number 10 down to no. five already published, […]

Thomas Booth looks at the Best International Captains through the history of the current top ten internationally ranked men’s sides in world rugby. Part one starts with the side ranked ten (Japan), and counts down to the fifth-ranked international team (England). After ruminating on the why’s and wherefores of this article, why not check out […]

Announced in early April, the 2029 Rugby World Cup preferred host candidate is Australia. And World Rugby reinforces Australia as their preference for who hosts the 2027 tournament for men’s rugby too. The announcement means Australia is now preferred candidate to host the greatest events in men’s and women’s fifteens rugby in 2027 and 2029 […]

With three rounds gone we now have a fallow week before the final two rounds of this year’s tournament. So now is a perfect time to take stock of what we have seen so far. Here are the major talking points of the TikTok Women’s Six Nations. A take on the Women’s Six Nations Professional […]

The Springbok rugby season 2022 started to take shape after SA Rugby announced their alignment camps prior to final squad selection and the start of training sessions. Purpose of alignment sessions The alignment sessions prior to the start of Springbok rugby season 2022 are aimed at exposing experienced internationals as well as uncapped players to […]

With the Six Nations over and England’s performances failing to leave a positive impression on anyone despite a third-place finish, attention, and hope now turn to their summer tour of Australia. Whilst the coaches have to take some of the blame, ultimately it is the players that take to the field. So, they will know […]

England’s tour to Australia in the summer takes on huge significance after another disappointing Six Nations campaign. England’s record away from Twickenham over the last couple of years has been poor and three Test matches in Australia may not improve it. We should add here that the unforgettable 3-0 series win in 2016 was one […]

An entertaining 6 Nations has come to a close, and pundits have published their Team of the Tournament. But what about when opinion is replaced with objective figures? We compiled a team from Fantasy Rugby statistics alone. Only those who played in three games or more were considered, which is the only reason Italian superstar […]

Have you ever woken up after a big party wishing you hadn’t drunk so much? You wander bleary-eyed down the stairs. There’s a stale smell of smoke emanating from the cigarette butts in a discarded tumbler on the coffee table. To compound that, the aroma of smoke is intermingling with that of sweat. You have […]

After 24-years since their last appearance, a Los Leones Rugby World Cup berth was secured as they finish second in Rugby Europe Championship behind winners, Georgia. In celebrations after their 33-28 win against Portugal in Madrid on Sunday, March 13, the Spanish men’s side could safely plan out the next 18-months to be fully prepared […]

It is time to get excited for the women’s TikTok Six Nations 2022. Beginning Simon Middleton has named the 40-woman training squad for the tournament and fresh from an unbeaten Autumn series England will be looking to claim their 18th title. Here are some of the exciting names to look out for in the Red […]

Just to establish from the outset, this is not an attack on Alun Wyn-Jones (click on the link for Robert Rees’ look at AWJ back in 2020) or his achievements. The Neath and Swansea Osprey has been a tremendous and loyal servant to Wales and Welsh rugby for well over a decade. Whilst he has […]

At LWOS, we have previously covered which countries have the most registered players. This got us thinking about other aspects of rugby’s popularity. At the very least, it can indicate how and where rugby flourishes. Using social media statistics, this list ranks the world’s most popular rugby clubs.Of course, social media won’t tell the whole […]

The Toronto Arrows ended the New England Free Jacks’ 10-game-winning streak after the latest round of the Major League Rugby season. It was only the Free Jacks’ second loss of the season. The win at York Lions Stadium also put Toronto back in the MLR playoff race with only two games to go. Toronto Arrows […]

The visual evidence is damming yet, the recent stalling tactics in the recent England v Argentina 7s match at the Toulouse leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series has tarnished each nation’s team’s strategic desires to ‘win at all costs’. Yet for all the social media beat-up, it clearly is an aberration in the […]

Indigo Group Premiership transfer season is now underway as club’s start announcing retained staff before moving on to those who they are bringing in. Robert Rees brings you the destination of either incoming or outgoing Prem players. Jack Maynard The fly half is on the move back to Llandovery despite living nearer Cardiff. A great […]

Last week saw Leicester Tigers announce a host of new contracts for existing squad members, as well as new signings ahead of next season. What was striking was that on both sides of the coin it showed the Tigers’ squad building strategy continues to follow a theme and purpose that started three years ago. This […]

The 2021/22 Indigo Group Premiership and end of season rewards are revealed after another thrilling season of community rugby. Indigo Group Premiership Team of the Season After a season of both an Indigo Group Cup and Premiership, the Team of the Season has been selected by Robert Rees. Rowan Jenkins (Aberavon) Will Griffiths (Newport) Geraint […]

USA Rugby got a huge boost today as they will host the 2031 Rugby World Cup (men’s) and the 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup. They will be hoping to replicate the success Japan had in the 2019 Rugby World Cup (men’s). USA Rugby was given rights to host both Rugby World Cups Embed from Getty […]

TORONTO, ON – Rugby New York won the game, thanks largely to their strong start to the game. They scored the first 17 points of the game, as they found ways to get behind the Toronto Arrows’ defence on the road. Rugby New York really played well offensively in a 41-17 road win in Toronto […]