19 h. ago Joe Schmidt hits back at British and Irish Lions over demands to release Australia stars for tour games

Wallabies coach standing his ground after Lions CEO Ben Calveley warning as war of words escalates before first tour match

Events

19 h. ago The Breakdown | Next Gen Wallabies sense Farrell’s Lions are there for the taking

Australia coach Joe Schmidt has lifted team from lowest ebb and made a country feel it can win againAustralian rugby liked what it saw – and didn’t see – last week, as the British & Irish Lions got their 2025 tour off to a losing start against Argentina. Sure, it was the opening game of a 10-match odyssey and Andy Farrell’s men were lacking cohesion after only two weeks in camp. But for a young Wallabies side rising fast under their head coach, Joe Schmidt, it put blood in the water and proved the tourists are very beatable.Schmidt’s 6-7 record in his first season in charge of the Wallabies might not cost Lions fans much sleep but Farrell, his former second‑in‑command at Ireland, will sniff the seeds of ambush. In their last start in November, the Wallabies led Ireland 13-5 only to lose 22-19. Schmidt won’t let that happen again. The 2025 Wallabies these Lions face are light years from the lambs Eddie Jones led to slaughter at the 2023 World Cup in France. Continue reading...

Politics

20 h. ago Joe Schmidt rejects Lions demands to release Australia stars for tour games

Wallabies coach says agreement is not to release all playersSchmidt highlights clash between Waratahs and Fiji gamesThe Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has hit back at the British and Irish Lions management, insisting Australia are adhering to the tour agreement regarding the release of international players for pre-Test games and that his front-line home players were only unavailable because they were preparing to face Fiji on Sunday week.The issue has flared up again this week after the Lions chief executive, Ben Calveley, said he expected Schmidt to release Wallaby players back to their Super Rugby franchises for their respective games against the touring team. Some fringe Wallabies are due to feature for Western Force this Saturday but it is set to be a different story for the subsequent games against the Reds, the Waratahs and the Brumbies. Continue reading...

Politics

21 h. ago Wallabies coach hits back at Lions as breach of contract row ramps up

The first week in Australia has already seen some strong words between the Wallabies and the British and Irish Lions

Events

39 h. ago Lions warn Joe Schmidt over Wallabies player release for tour matches

Ben Calveley expects competitive Force side to face LionsTour could open up to other countries such as FranceEvery big tour is a hectic learning curve as the 2025 British & Irish Lions are already finding. The squad had to call off their post-arrival recovery dip in the Pacific Ocean – a letdown both for local news crews and the lurking sharks off Cottesloe beach – because of inclement weather and the first media squall of the trip has also blown in.The Lions chief executive, Ben Calveley, has made clear the touring side expect the Wallabies head coach, Joe Schmidt, to make his national players available for their Super Rugby teams before the Test series commencing next month and the host nation has been gently reminded of that contractual detail following the Lions’ arrival in Australia. Continue reading...

Events

43 h. ago British and Irish Lions warn Wallabies over breach of contract on arrival in Australia

The British and Irish Lions have warned Australia that they will be in breach of contract if they do not release their Test stars for all tour games against Super Rugby teams

Events

66 h. ago Inside the Lions' critical plan to avoid issues that hit so hard eight years ago

The Lions have done thorough research and have a detailed plan in place to help players acclimatise

Events

3 d. ago Angry couple sues wedding photog who allegedly had to ask guests ‘how to take proper pictures’

Exclusive: Patrick Brown, 46, and wife Cheryl Carley, 54, say in their complaint that Michael Ivory’s shots were ‘blurry, poorly composed’ and ‘failed to capture important aspects of the wedding’

Culture

3 d. ago Angry couple sues wedding photographer who allegedly had to ask guests ‘how to take proper pictures’

Exclusive: Patrick Brown, 46, and wife Cheryl Carley, 54, say in their complaint that Michael Ivory’s shots were ‘blurry, poorly composed’ and ‘failed to capture important aspects of the wedding’

Culture

3 d. ago Furious newlyweds sue wedding photographer who allegedly ‘had to ask guests how to take proper pictures’

Exclusive: Patrick Brown and wife Cheryl Carley say in their lawsuit that Michael Ivory’s shots were ‘blurry, poorly composed’ and ‘failed to capture important aspects of the wedding’

Culture

1 week ago Today's rugby news as departing Wales coach finds new job and England star hits out at Lions foreign players

The latest rugby news and headlines from Wales and beyond

Sport

1 week ago Company linked to Tory Peer Baroness Mone should pay back £121m for ‘faulty’ PPE, High Court hears

PPE Medpro is being sued for an alleged breach of contract over the supply of PPE during the Covid pandemic, with the Government claiming the gowns were unusable

Economics

2 w. ago 'I saw a lioness trying to EAT my husband, with his head in its jaws': Heroic wife relives moment she HIT lion in the face in doomed bid to save partner

Conny Kebbel, 57, was on a wildlife expedition camp in northern Namibia with her businessman husband Bernd, 59, last month when a starved lion pounced on him and killed him.

Events

3 w. ago England vs Portugal LIVE: Rampant Lionesses hit six in Women’s Nations League thrashing

England 6-0 Portugal: Aggie Beever-Jones scored a hat-trick with the Lionesses dominant at Wembley

Events

3 w. ago England vs Portugal LIVE: Lionesses hit five after flying start to Women’s Nations League clash

The Lionesses play Portugal and then Spain in the finale to their Women’s Nations League campaign

Events

4 w. ago Kevin Costner and Horizon producers sued by stunt performer over ‘violent unscripted’ rape scene

Devyn LaBella is suing the actor-director and the producers of his film Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2 alleging breach of contract, with Costner denying all allegationsA stunt performer is suing Kevin Costner and the producers of his film Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2, alleging that she was made to perform in a “violent” unscripted rape scene without the required notice, consent or a mandatory intimacy coordinator present.Devyn LaBella was the lead stunt double for Ella Hunt, who plays Juliette in the Horizon films, a four-part western anthology written, directed by and starring Costner. LaBella’s lawsuit, filed in California on Tuesday, alleges that on 2 May 2023 Costner improvised a scene in which Juliette would be raped, one day after Hunt and LaBella filmed a scripted scene in which Juliette was raped by a different character. Continue reading...

Events