Welsh Rugby Union round up – News Wales
Reigning champions Cardiff were rocked in the opening match of their defence of the Principality Premiership title as they were beaten 35-29 by Swansea. Wing, Nicky Thomas, grabbed a brace as Cardiff director of coaching Paul Moriarty watch his side

‘Henson may never play again’ – The Independent
The strange case of Gavin Henson, which is growing more peculiar with each contradictory bulletin from the high-profile patch of Welsh rugby territory known as Ospreylia, took another twist yesterday when his former coach, Lyn Jones, suggested the

Beacons for a brighter future as firm unveils new £3m contracts – yorkshirepost
ONE of Yorkshire’s biggest facilities support firms yesterday revealed that it had secured contracts worth £3m in the last six weeks, providing a further sign that Britain’s economy could be over the worst of the recession. Beacons Business

Former Wallabies star Lote Tuqiri heads for France – News.com.au
LOTE Tuqiri arrives in Paris today to begin talks with French rugby clubs, but his chances of a new contract could rest on whether he rates as a global superstar. Just four days after settling an unfair dismissal claim with the Australian Rugby Union

FRANCE: Splitting Empire – Time
With the defeat of France the world’s second largest empire returned to the international crucible. With the British Navy controlling the sea, the French could no longer defend it, the German conquerors could not reach it. Slapping down a blockade

Rugby-French Top 14 games postponed because of H1N1 flu – Reuters UK
PARIS, Aug 28 (Reuters) – Two France Top 14 championship matches have been postponed after six players and a physiotherapist of the Castres club were diagnosed with H1NI flu, the French rugby league (LNR) said on Friday. “The board of the LNR decided

Rugby match postponed – Straits Times
PARIS – A FRENCH rugby union championship match has been postponed after six players with Castres were diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, the National Rugby League (LNR) said on Friday. The LNR added that Castres’ midweek match against Albi on Wednesday

Stade Francais players contract H1N1 virus – club – Bangkok Post
Three Stade Francais players have been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, the French rugby union club announced Monday. Three Stade Francais players have been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, the French rugby union club

Lote Tuqiri links with French rugby union club Bayonne – The Australian
Although there had been speculation Tuqiri might return to the NRL, The Australian revealed three weeks ago that he was negotiating with Bayonne and reported earlier this week that a deal was close to being finalised. Tuqiri, who reached an out of

Roosters consider Lote – Sportal.com.au
The Sydney Roosters have officially joined the race to sign Lote Tuqiri, with the club meeting with the dual international shortly before he flew out on Thursday for talks with French rugby clubs. Tuqiri caught up with Roosters chairman Nick Politis

US, Israel and four other governments are urgently discussing the release of intelligence that Iran is running covert military nuclear projects parallel to its civilian program after Mohammed ElBarade…

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“Burgeoning participation, the introduction of Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens and ever increasing standards of competition mean that the Women’s Game has never enjoyed such a strong global profile and the launching of this tender …

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The hard hitting, sweat and blood, bone breaking look behind the scenes at the reality of playing for Great Britain rugby league against Australia and New Zealand.

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Elite director speaks out in wake of Bloodgate crisis• Modern pressures must not hijack game’s values, he warnsRob Andrew, the Rugby Football Union’s.

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Vumani Mkhize speaks to The Times’ Sports Editor Archie Henderson about the best of the weekend’s rugby action.

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Most of today’s opinion will be on the post-mortem of Saturday’s Wallabies Vs Springboks Test, but I was at a funeral on Friday and a conversation made me think of the health of rugby in Australia and New Zealand.

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Opposites attract in renewed trans-Tasman friendship – The Australian
REELING from the China fiasco, Kevin Rudd has turned closer to home, across the Tasman, to the Anzac spirit, to revive a sense of optimism and opportunity in the international realm. The array of initiatives being deployed to bring the countries

Digicel Launches in the Republic of Nauru Nauruans Make Mobile Calls – PR Inside
NAURU — (Marketwire) — 08/31/09 — Digicel, the fastest growing telecommunications operator in the Pacific, today announced its launch in the Republic of Nauru. The President of Nauru, Hon. Marcus Stephen, M.P., made the first call on the new

FNPF takes top spot – Fiji Times
FIJI National Provident Fund (FNPF) nailed top spot in Pool 2 of the Fiji Touch Association businesshouse competition on Tuesday with an impressive 7-0 drubbing of South Pacific Commission (SPC). FNPF led by prominent touch rugby players Marika

Defending champs reach semifinals – Caymen Net News
Defending champions, Jamaica and St. Lucia, went through to the Digicel Caribbean Cup semi-finals on Sunday, when they beat Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados, respectively. As Digicel banners fluttered in the stands of the Jefferson High School ground

Balderas and Fudena win Senior Olympic gold – Monterey County Herald
Ricardo Balderas and Frank Fudena both captured gold medals in racquetball at the Senior Olympics at Stanford University. Balderas was a double-event winner, winning the 55 singles title and teaming with Fudena to claim the 55-doubles championship

Gold and golfing story – Fiji Times
Vijay Singh reacts after he chipped in for an eagle on the seventh hole during the 2009 PGA Championship golf tournament in Minnesota The proposal by the IOC executive committee to forward sevens rugby and golf for the 2016 Olympics for official

Currency union a bad idea: BNZ – Stuff
The BNZ has hit out against ’self appointed experts in the media’ who advocate a joint currency with our trans-Tasman neighbours. Writing in BNZ’s weekly Market Outlook report, senior economist Craig Ebert said commentators played up the benefits of

NFL targets Dave Taylor – Sydney Morning Herald
Broncos battle tank Dave Taylor is at the top of a secret hitlist drawn up by American NFL scouts as hunger grows in the States for the services of Australian-bred rugby league stars. The explosive 21-year-old prop, who has been terrorising NRL

League’s stars Taylor made for NFL – Brisbane Times
Broncos battle tank Dave Taylor is at the top of a secret hitlist drawn up by American NFL scouts as hunger grows in the States for the services of Australian-bred rugby league stars. Have your say The explosive 21-year-old prop, who has been

Digicel Launches in the Republic of Nauru – TMCnet
(Market Wire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) NAURU — (MARKET WIRE) — 08/31/09 — Digicel, the fastest growing telecommunications operator in the Pacific, today announced its launch in the Republic of Nauru. The President of Nauru, Hon. Marcus Stephen

Bok rugby not based on ‘kick everything’ – Star
Fourie du Preez, the silent but steely general of the Springbok rugby team, cut clean through the flab of the Australian and New Zealand argument that the kick-happy Boks were flushing world rugby down the toilet when he conjured up the wisdom of his

‘Bloodgate’ leaves UK rugby in tatters – Australian Broadcasting Corp.
British rugby union has been rocked by a scandal that has claimed the scalps of a top coach, an aspiring player, and now a club chairman. The affair has been dubbed ‘Bloodgate’. In the dying moments of a crucial match, a Harlequins player faked a

South African Rugby Union, Players Fined Over Botha Protest – Bloomberg
Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) — The South African Rugby Union, squad members and team officials were found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute after the Springboks wore protest armbands in the final Test against the British and Irish Lions in July

Jerry Collins happy with All Blacks snub – Stuff
HAPPY AS: Former All Black Jerry Collins is happy plying his trade in Europe and has backed New Zealand’s ongoing stance of not picking overseas-based players for the All Blacks. Jerry Collins has backed New Zealand’s ongoing stance to ignore

Bloodgate: why are we shocked that rugby players cheat? – Daily Telegraph
Cheating in all its forms is absolutely integral to elite rugby. A great but hideously complicated game played under way too many stifling laws by largely intelligent and increasingly ruthless athletes. The manifest but often unspoken truth is that

The bloody mess rugby’s in – The Guardian
What on earth has happened to rugby union ? The nation’s preferred outdoor pastime for burly, personable men of vaguely military bearing kicked off its new season this weekend, if not exactly in crisis, then in a state of some distress. Usually rugby