Italy

Following international matches this weekend the Final World Rankings have been posted before the Rugby World Cup. Confirmed as the world’s top four are New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England in that order. This means that only Pool D lacks a side ranked among the best heading into the …

The 2015-2016 Guinness Pro 12 season starts today with three league matches involving Irish, Scottish and Welsh teams. The remaining three opening round matches are to be played tomorrow. In previous years the Celtic-Italian League has been an important part of preparing players from the Americas for international duty. The …

Italian winger Angelo Esposito has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup and has been replaced by a back-rower with the surprisingly excluded Simone Favaro now set to play in the tournament. Favaro had initially been excluded because of ‘injury’, but competed in Canada with Glasgow Warriors on Saturday …

Paul O’Connell will captain Ireland at the upcoming Rugby World Cup it was confirmed today. The former Munster and now Toulon second-rower is to play in his fourth Rugby World Cup but this will be his first without the retired Brian O’Driscoll. O’Connell will lead a 31-man squad featuring 17 …

Rugby World Cup 2015, like previous tournaments will bring together teams who otherwise never play against one another. World Champions New Zealand will face both Georgia and Namibia for the first time, South Africa vs Japan will be another first as will Wales vs Uruguay. There are a variety of …

Italian Head Coach Jacques Brunel has named his 31-man roster for the Rugby World Cup which starts next month. Italy has played in every Rugby World Cup to date but is yet to leave a lasting impression due to never having advanced beyond the pool stage. Italy will play in …

The Up and Under is a weekly feature on Americas Rugby News which reviews the best and worst from games involving the Americas teams over the previous week.   UP   USA The Eagles made history in Ottawa. Never before have the Eagles won three test matches in a row …

Thierry Dusautoir will captain France in a second consecutive Rugby World Cup it was confirmed this morning by French Head Coach Philippe Saint-André. The back-rower is one of five Toulouse players involved, a low number compared to the ten at Rugby World Cup 2007 and the eight in 2011. A …

Italian Head Coach Jacques Brunel has named his team to face Scotland this Saturday in Torino. The fixture is to be the first between the teams since the Six Nations when Italy won away from home at Murrayfield. Argentine Sergio Parisse will not play this Saturday which has seen Zebre …

The global governing body of the sport of rugby, World Rugby has come out and admitted the error of determining the Pools for Rugby World Cups three years before the tournaments are played. The groups for the upcoming tournament to be played in England and Wales were known as long …