Rugby News, Analysis, History, Schedule, Rumours
South African rugby has received significant sponsorship boosts during the last week. The Springboks winning the Rugby World Cup in 2019 had a lot to do with this and shows that success breeds success. It has been a busy few weeks for South African rugby. Ryan Jordan considers the impact of the announcements made recently. […] READ MORE
Paddy Ryan (pictured above) will join the second half of the 2021 MLR season. This will be his second stint with the San Diego Legion, with Ryan’s first stint in San Diego came in 2019, where he scored 15 points in 18 games. Paddy Ryan and his professional career It is official, Paddy Ryan is […] READ MORE
With a week’s worth of 2020 Super Rugby announcements, it seems that NZR and Rugby Australia for fully aligned for all planned competitions. Beginning with New Zealand Rugby (NZR) announcing the return of Super Rugby Aotearoa, and followed immediately by Rugby Australia reaffirming their own 2021 Super Rugby Australia version would be played in a […] READ MORE
With the Toronto adventure seemingly on life support, rugby league is looking another failed attempt at expansion. The 13 man code could learn a lot from rugby union. Unlike their league cohorts, rugby union has had little trouble expanding with Major League Rugby growing rapidly in the United States. The Top League in Japan doing […] READ MORE
South African professional rugby returned to action on Super Fan Saturday. The event was held at Loftus Versveld in Pretoria on Saturday, with the four Super Rugby franchises on display. A return to rugby action It is too easy to make assumptions about teams and players, but the context of the matches does need to […] READ MORE
The struggling Southern Kings rugby franchise was on Saturday placed into liquidation by SA Super Rugby (Pty) Ltd to preserve the future of rugby in the area. Southern Kings insolvent Before SA Rugby took over the franchise the original franchise owner, the Greatest Rugby Company in the Whole Wide World (GRC), were unable to service […] READ MORE
Immediately upon becoming professional, Rugby Union went global. The first Professional Rugby competition was Super Rugby, now all but dead in the water. This is the story of how that came about and how the peace deal made then influences rugby’s development now. Rugby, of either code, is a story both of tribalism and exclusivity. […] READ MORE
Firstly, it is rumour, not confirmed reports that Guinness PRO Rugby will likely engage with the four South Africa teams recently ‘separated’ from Super Rugby. Not that that will stop the prospective stories and scenarios being posted on social media and by rugby observers. Last Word on Rugby believes that the truth lies between, with the […] READ MORE
Rugby union players can be well paid, and despite the pandemic, there are still plenty of lucrative contracts out there. Looking at various media sources, Last Word has identified the highest-paid rugby union players in the world. 14th. Faf de Klerk – £500,000 The Sale Sharks and World Cup-winning scrum-half is pocketing half a million […] READ MORE
The Super Rugby divorce between the Australasian teams, South Africa and Argentina sounds like a done deal. There are lingering questions if this is indeed the case. Super Rugby divorce NZ Rugby CEO Mark Robinson announced that New Zealand had committed itself to a new direction at Super Rugby level. In summary, they are considering […] READ MORE
Ryan is the Managing Editor at Last Word on Rugby and resides in Johannesburg, South Africa. He specializes in opinion pieces relating to International rugby, Super Rugby and domestic rugby in South Africa.
His career highlights include being granted media accreditation for the Rugby World Cup tournament.