The DHL Stormers are still unbeaten in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, while the Vodacom Bulls bounced back in Ireland and the Lions recorded their first victory of the season in Johannesburg but the Hollywoodbets Sharks are still searching for that elusive maiden win. The Bulls had to dig deep to beat a spirited Connacht side in Galway on Friday night but they managed to hold on for a 28-27 victory despite being outscored by four tries to three. On Saturday afternoon,

The United Rugby Championship has advanced its player-welfare collaboration with med-tech company PolarCool into a fully ratified academic research project led by Leeds Beckett University. The new COOLHEAD study, published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, will independently examine whether the PolarCap® - a head-and-neck cooling device - can improve recovery outcomes for players following a diagnosed concussion. Following an initial feasibility phase across five URC tea

Lions head coach Ivan van Rooyen’s charges are back at Ellis Park this Saturday for Round 4 of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship where they will lock on horns with the Scarlets from Wales. Returning from a challenging three-week tour where they faced Cardiff Rugby, Zebre and Benetton in the opening three rounds, the men from Johannesburg are backing themselves to register their first win of the international season against their opponents from Llanelli. Lions assistant co

Springbok fullback Warrick Gelant will make his first appearance of the season for the DHL Stormers in their United Rugby Championship encounter with Zebre Parma on Saturday. There are four changes to the starting line-up for the clash with the Italian outfit, which kicks off at 8.45pm on Saturday at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma. With Gelant at fullback, Damian Willemse shifts to inside centre to join captain Ruhan Nel in midfield. In the forward pack, Adré Smith joi

Ross Moriarty. www.inpho.ie It’s taken some 15 years but Ross Moriarty has finally made it back to his home region as his career comes full circle. He grew up in Swansea and was part of the Ospreys Academy age-grade set up as a teenager. However, a move across the border to Hartpury College saw him link up with Gloucester, where he made his name, ahead of spells with the Dragons and French club Brive. But now, at 31, the 54-cap Welsh international back rower has returned home

Four will become two on Saturday when the semi-finals of Pick n Pay Gold Cup – the ‘FA Cup of South African rugby’ – will be contested at two iconic club grounds situated more than 1 500 km apart in the Western Cape and Limpopo. This year’s tournament, which signals a bold new era for community rugby on the back of significant post-pandemic and RWC 2023-inspired growth in the club game, is also supported by Northam Platinum, whose commitment to community aligns with the grass

Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, an alternating quadrennial tour between South Africa and New Zealand, was confirmed on Thursday, marking a defining new chapter for the intense rivalry between the sport’s most successful and storied nations. In the tour’s maiden year, South Africa will host New Zealand in August and September 2026. The All Blacks kick off the tour against the DHL Stormers in Cape Town on Friday, 7 August and take on the Hollywoodbets Sharks, Vodacom Bulls and Lions,

Ruhan Nel. www.inpho.ie For Ruhan Nel, captaining the DHL Stormers is not only an honour and a privilege but also a big boost to his game. The 34-year-old centre has been at the helm of the Cape Town-based team as they have won their first three United Rugby Championship matches to sit on top of the table. He’s now looking to lead them to further victories as they take on the Italian job with back-to-back games away to Zebre Parma and Benetton Rugby. The Port Elizabeth-born N

The inaugural Under-16 Elite Player Development (EPD) camp for girls, which ran concurrently with the traditional U16 boys’ camp in Paarl last week, marked a significant milestone in SA Rugby’s national pathway for young talent. While the boys’ squad delivered their customary top-class camp activities, it was the new girls’ contingent that proved particularly impressive, demonstrating high levels of commitment and skill throughout the week-long programme, during the school ho

Mark Alexander, the President of SA Rugby, extended his heartfelt congratulations to SA Wheelchair Rugby (SAWCR) on their recent performance at a tournament in Norway. SAWCR, an associate member of SA Rugby, were crowned European Division C champions at a tournament in Skien, Norway, held from 9-12 October, where they beat Ireland by 62-29 in the final to claim the gold media. As a result, SAWCR – who was rezoned from the Asia-Oceania Conference to Europe Division C earlier t

The wait is over for eager rugby fans in Cape Town and surrounds, following the opening of a second Springboks retail store at the popular Canal Walk shopping centre, featuring the new range of off-field team branded clothing. National team stars Babalwa Latsha, Cobus Reinach, Cheslin Kolbe, Frans Malherbe, Lood de Jager, and Selvyn Davids, as well as the Premier of the Western Cape, Alan Winde, were on hand for the official opening on Wednesday evening, performed by SA Rugby

The fifth annual Toyota Challenge kicks off on Friday at Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein, when the Toyota Cheetahs face Black Lion. The Black Lion from Georgia is the other invitee in the ECPR Challenge Cup, which takes place in December 2025 and January 2026. This encounter will provide good preparation for both teams, as the competition kicks off on the weekend of 6 December in Europe. Gates open at 12pm with a pub lunch at the Castle Deck in Toyota Stadium, with the main game

The big guns have been brought out for the first home game of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship as the Hollywoodbets Sharks look to unleash powerfully and emphatically against Ulster at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Saturday. Back from their heroics in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship and a break to revitalise energy levels are forwards Ox Nche, Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi who join fellow Boks Bongi Mbonambi and Vincent Koch after the pair played off the bench last wee

The 2025 season was hailed as a watershed year for women’s rugby in South Africa by Mark Alexander, President of SA Rugby, on Thursday. The performance of the Springbok Women’s team at the Rugby World Cup – at which they reached the quarter-finals for the first time – was a major highlight but Alexander was especially proud of the broadening and deepening of the female playing base. Other notable firsts achieved during the year were: The first U16 Elite Player Development (EP

Aaron Wainwright. www.inpho.ie Having just ended one long losing run, Aaron Wainwright is now looking to do the double. Back in July, he starred at No 8 as Wales beat Japan 31-22 in Kobe to halt a barren 18-match streak. Now he’s aiming to break an even longer hoodoo when he takes the field for Dragons RFC against Cardiff Rugby at Rodney Parade on Friday evening. The Dragons have lost their last 20 league matches against their east Wales rivals - a sequence stretching back to

The DHL Stormers will not only try to retain their spot at the top of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship log this weekend but also continue winning streak against Zebre Parma, the Vodacom Bulls will be looking to bounce back in tough Galway, while the Hollywoodbets Sharks and Lions will aim for their first victories of season as they are back on home soil. Last weekend, the Stormers were the only South African side to win and the other three teams will be keen to change th

SANZAAR has confirmed an exciting new era of southern hemisphere rugby through the release of its international rugby calendar for the next five years. The action-packed calendar reflects the evolving requirements of its Member Unions (Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) as well as broadcasters and fans. This latest iteration of international matches follows three decades of the SANZAAR joint venture delivering some of the best rugby action in the world and a

The noise generated by the HSBC SVNS Cape Town crowd last year, where the Springbok Sevens secured a first home tournament victory since 2015, was the loudest Donavan Don has ever encountered and the Blitzbok speedster said on Wednesday he cannot wait for an opportunity to experience that again. Don and his teammates are hard at work with only a couple of weeks remaining before the new HSBC SVNS kicks off, with the DHL Stadium showpiece on 6 and 7 December the second tourname

Five members of the victorious Junior Springbok team who won the World Rugby Under-20 Championship earlier this year in Italy were included in the SA Rugby U19 Academy training squad, that will go leave a three-game tour of Europe at the end of October. The triumphant Junior Boks who are part of the training squad are SA U20 captain Riley Norton (lock), Oliver Reid and Phiwayinkosi “Rambo” Kubheka (props), Siphosethu Mnebelele (hooker) and Vusi Moyo (flyhalf), The 36-man squa

Vodacom Bulls coach Johan Ackermann has shaken things up ahead of Friday evening’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship fixture against Connacht in Galway. This follows last weekend’s defeat to Ulster, the first of the season. In all, there are 11 changes in the starting line-up, including captaincy and key positions like front row, locks and backs. There are also six new inclusions on the bench, reflecting a strong rotation. Leadership changes, too, with Reinhardt Ludwig now ca