New Zealand

Major League Rugby has tapped two of the world’s most experienced referees in recent times to manage their match officials for the 2021 season. South Africa’s Jonathan Kaplan will take over the top spot with New Zealand’s Chris Pollock assisting as technical advisor. Kaplan, 53, retired from top level refereeing …

Rugby United New York have announced the signing of scrumhalf Conor McManus for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. Originally from Timaru, New Zealand, the 21-year-old has represented the USA at u19 level and was selected for the u20s but had to drop out due to injury. McManus moved to …

It’s ‘silly season’ in Major League Rugby and after a barrage of player announcements over the past couple weeks, we thought it might be helpful to have a team-by-team look at what’s happened so far. We’ve also added a few hints of what might be coming down the pipeline. As …

World Rugby has confirmed that no further World Sevens Series events will take place in 2020. Having already cancelled the remainder of the 2019-20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening leg of the 2020-21 season has now suffered the same fate. Dubai and Cape Town were set to …

The New England Free Jacks have named a new Head Coach for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. Ryan Martin has been signed on a three-year contract, taking over from Josh Smith who has held the position since the inception of the team in 2018. Smith will continue to be …

The idea of a Major League Rugby Sevens tournament continues to make the rounds. A short time ago we posted Jonny Craenen’s fantasy kit designs and the most recent edition of the Rugby Wrap-Up featured a detailed discussion of what the concept might look like. We’re taking it one further …

Due to unprecedented circumstances the 2020 Rugby Championship is now mooted for November and December. The annual competition involving Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa is set to be played over a six week period with all matches taking place in a single country. An official announcement of where …

Rugby United New York have announced the signing of Fa’asiu Fuatai for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The hot-stepping winger arrives from Bay of Plenty in New Zealand’s Mitre 10 Cup where he has been a starter for the past two seasons. Fuatai will celebrate his 27th birthday on …

The 2020 Rugby Championship is set to be hosted by New Zealand, writes Wayne Smith for The Australian. He notes that Rugby Australia will almost certainly support the possibility to make New Zealand the ‘hub’ to host all matches in this year’s restricted edition of the annual tournament. Argentina and …

Tyler Ardron will not get a chance to play in Super Rugby Aotearoa. The Chiefs have confirmed that the Canadian star will depart the team this coming week to join up with his new club in France. A hamstring injury kept him out of the first three games of the …