Patricio Fernández starred as Clermont Auvergne thrashed the Dragons 49-7 in Challenge Cup action on Friday evening. The Argentine flyhalf scored the first try himself, picking up a loose pass and running it in from halfway. Fernández used his strength to open holes in the defense and landed all seven …

Gonzalo Quesada has named a squad of 38 Jaguares to prepare for Thursday’s friendly against Uruguay. The match will serve as a tune-up for the two sides ahead of the Super Rugby and Americas Rugby Championship campaigns. The Jaguares open their season against the Lions on February 16 while Los …

Racing 92 clinched a home Quarter Final in the Champions Cup as they defeated Scarlets 46-33 in Paris on Saturday. The win put them level with Ulster on five wins in Pool 4 but four extra bonus points made them top seeds in the pool. Only Saracens in Pool 3 …

Chile will play a friendly against the Argentina XV on Wednesday, January 23, at the home of CASI in Buenos Aires. The match will serve as a warm-up for the two sides ahead of the Americas Rugby Championship. They will meet again formally in the final round on March 9 …

It’s a little quiet for Americas fans in the RFU Championship but there are still seven players to keep an eye on. The first is on Friday’s lone game as Nottingham host league-leaders London Irish at Lady Bay. Canada’s Shane O’Leary will be looking to spoil the Irish luck. Five …

And over to the big cheese – the Champions Cup. European campaigns will be defined based on some of this weekend’s results. A compelling match between Edinburgh and Montpellier at Murrayfield starts this off on Friday. Juan Pablo Socino is on the bench for the Scottish side hoping to claim …

It’s the final round of the European Challenge Cup which means one last opportunity for a handful of sides to push their way into the knockout stage. Four games will start the weekend off on Friday with two featuring Argentine exports. Benetton Treviso need a win at Grenoble to stay …

The Pro D2 weekend got started on Thursday with Conor Trainor and Nevers pulling out a 23-17 win over Bayonne at home to jump into first overall. With only one team guaranteed promotion and a second forced to play-off with a Top 14 side, the race to the first division …

Gary Gold has selected his strongest available USA squad to contest the 2019 Americas Rugby Championship. The Eagles have their sights on a third consecutive title after completing a first-ever Grand Slam in 2018. Included in the 35-strong group are 15 overseas professionals with collegiate standouts Chance Wenglewski and Duncan …

The Utah Warriors have added some international experience to their backline. New US Eagles cap Gannon Moore will join the side for the 2019 Major League Rugby season. The 28-year-old made his test debut against Samoa on the wing but has previously played largely as a center. It’s in the …

Paul Mullen will be wearing a Houston SaberCats jersey once again in 2019. The US Eagles prop returns having spent three months in the UK on contract with Newcastle Falcons. After just one Premiership appearance and two games with Doncaster Knights on loan, he played all three tests in November …

The Seattle Seawolves have added considerable strength to their forward pack with the signing of Fiji international Apisai Naikatini. At 6’5″ (1.96m) and 255lbs (115kg) the 33-year-old provides ballast as well as lineout athleticism to the Seattle second row, which now boasts five players of starting quality. Naikatini played 18 …

The Tucumán Rugby Union (URT) has released a statement declaring their interest in becoming one of two Argentine franchises in the new South American professional competition set to launch in 2020. To date they are the only Argentine provincial union to make a formal public announcement though Córdoba have also …

Similar to our Rookie award, the Breakthrough Player of the Year is given to an individual who rises from relative obscurity to prominence over the calendar year. Where it differs from the Rookie award is that these nominees might have been capped before, jumping from fringe player to test starter, …

International competition in 2018 got underway with Canada vs Uruguay. Vancouver was the setting on January 27 for the first of two fixtures with Montevideo hosting the return match the following weekend. The matches were two excellent tests. They were competitive with both teams have the opportunity to win. Ultimately …

Our first weekly selection of the new year had contributions from the Challenge and Champions Cups, Spain’s Liga Heineken, the RFU Championship, the Pro D2, and a few mentions for the Major League Rugby preseason match between Glendale and San Diego. Unfortunately we were unable to watch Austin and Houston …

Warren Gatland has named both Leigh Halfpenny and Ross Moriarty in his Wales squad for the Six Nations despite the duo still struggling with concussion. Of the two, Moriarty stands the best chance of playing in the tournament opener against France with a targeted return against Munster next weekend. Halfpenny, …

With just under two weeks to go until the second season of Major League Rugby begins eight teams were looking to get precious on-field time together. In the end seven teams did – another was left on the bus – and it might be fair to say that they could …

Canada coach Kingsley Jones has named four uncapped players in his 28-man squad for the South American leg of the Americas Rugby Championship. Justin Blanchet, Nakai Penny, Will Percillier, and Will Kelly are set to make their senior international debuts. Blanchet is one of five who play their domestic rugby …

Chile completed an historic sevens double over the weekend as they won the Viña del Mar Sevens in style to claim their first ever Sudamérica title. After going unbeaten at Punta del Este a week ago, the Cóndores met defeat for the first time in the pool stage but recovered …