
World Rugby upholds England's racism claim after Argentina clash
The organisation conducted an "immediate and thorough investigation" into the incident but was unable to identify the individuals responsible for the hate speech.
Following the investigation, World Rugby and the Argentine Rugby Union have developed an action plan to educate fans and prevent similar incidents in the future.
Both World Rugby chair Brett Robinson and England Rugby CEO Bill Sweeney condemned the discriminatory behaviour, saying that racism has no place in the sport or society.
The match saw England secure a 22-17 victory, completing a 2-0 series win over Argentina.
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BBC News
9 minutes ago
- BBC News
Catalans to face Wigan in Paris during 2026 season
Catalans Dragons will meet Wigan Warriors in Paris in 2026 to mark the 20th anniversary of the French club's debut in Super two teams will play at the Stade Jean-Bouin, home of rugby union outfit Stade Francais, on 6 June next match will also mark the 30th anniversary of Super League, which kicked off on March 29, 1996, when Paris St Germain met Sheffield Eagles at the Charlety Dragons president Bernard Guasch said: "It is a great honour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Super League in Paris, where it all began in 1996. "It will mark the return of professional rugby league to our capital and I have no doubt it will be an emotional occasion, both for French and English fans."Warriors chief executive Kris Radlinski added: "It's a great honour to take our wonderful sport back to Paris. "This June will mark 30 years since I had the privilege of playing in the Wigan side that narrowly defeated Paris Saint-Germain in what was a historic occasion. Now, to return with our club to this iconic city to face Catalans Dragons is another landmark moment."The match will also be Catalans' first match relocation since they faced Wigan at Barcelona's Camp Nou in 2019, a game which broke the Super League attendance record with a gate of 31,555.


The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Johnson offers stark warning: Lions should expect fierce Wallabies backlash
This week the Rugby Club of Victoria hosted a fundraising dinner in the Olympic Room at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Among the evening's highlights was a fascinating Q&A session featuring Martin Johnson and Alun Wyn Jones, both of whom have led Lions teams into series-defining games and know from personal experience just how swiftly a sure thing can disintegrate. Johnson may have hoisted the Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2003 but the merest mention of the 2001 Lions tour, even two decades later, still prompts him to put his head in his hands. The Lions, as now, had won the opening Test with relative ease and were in front at half-time in Melbourne the following week. They felt firmly in control of the game and on the verge of sporting immortality. And then, in a flash, all their dreams were summarily dashed. Jonny Wilkinson had an attempted long pass intercepted, Richard Hill was taken out by an off‑the‑ball elbow and the Wallabies, 11-6 down at the interval, surged clear to win 35-14. A week later, with the Lions by now feeling the effects of a long, hard season, Justin Harrison's stolen late lineout duly completed a famous Australian triumph in Sydney. It may not be entirely coincidental, then, that the battle-hardened Johnson was invited into camp to present the 2025 squad with their jerseys before what, for many, is the biggest game of their lives. He fully expects the underdog Wallabies to bite back after their Brisbane bashing, when the Lions won most of the key collisions and might have scored two or three more tries in the first half alone. With rain also around to complicate things, his gut feel is that those blithely expecting a Lions clean sweep are getting ahead of themselves. Jones, similarly, was part of the 2013 Lions squad which took the first Test in Australia only to go down narrowly in the second. They went on to win the decider in Sydney but, once again, nothing was guaranteed until the closing night of the series. The present Wallaby squad may not be the strongest in history but there is no more potent sporting cocktail than a mixture of damaged pride and do-or-die necessity. It is also hard to believe their head coach, Joe Schmidt, has not been sifting the ashes of the first‑half Suncorp surrender with the finest-toothed comb. Now Rob Valetini and Will Skelton are back, supported by a 6-2 forward‑heavy bench, the Wallabies should be much harder to skittle this time, particularly with Joe McCarthy injured and Ellis Genge benched. And if some front-foot ball is forthcoming, the hosts' attacking potential will potentially be transformed. At which point one of two hairline cracks in the Lions edifice might just be exposed. Talking to several former Lions out here there is near-unanimous concern that the touring side have not yet fully clicked as a forward unit. Their work around the breakdown can be frustratingly bitty and has lacked a cold-eyed ruthlessness that, say, the All Blacks would regard as non-negotiable. No one could also accuse James Lowe of being in the form of his life on the left wing. It is a not dissimilar story with James Ryan, who is nevertheless now involved on the Test bench. Hugo Keenan has been an Irish linchpin for several years but, again, has yet to soar to any great heights in Australia since returning from illness. Farrell must be hoping his green-tinged Lions are saving their best until last. Then there is the midfield duo of Bundee Aki and Huw Jones, which would have morphed into an all-Irish duo had the originally selected Garry Ringrose not stepped aside because of concussion symptoms. How exactly will Jones react, having dovetailed nicely with his mate Sione Tuipulotu in the first Test only for both players to be initially jettisoned for the second? And can he and Aki – 'Hundee'? 'Jaki'? – now write themselves into Lions folklore regardless? The most obvious conclusion is that Farrell is braced for an awkward contest which will require his side to dig deep defensively at times. There is also the minor matter of the refereeing. Andrea Piardi was the man in the middle in April, when Munster were mistakenly forced to play with 14 men for almost a quarter of an hour in a United Rugby Championship match against the Bulls after confusion over the laws surrounding uncontested scrums. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion On the flip side, Piardi – who will become the first Italian to take charge of a Lions Test – has plenty of experience when it comes to refereeing Leinster, who supply no fewer than nine members of the Lions' matchday 23. Australia would be foolish to pin hope on anything out of their control, anyway. A more proactive plan, surely, is to start more strongly, get ahead on the scoreboard for the first time in the series and then see how the Lions respond when they are required to chase a game. And if the contest is still tight after an hour, the Wallaby bench is by no means the worst, with Angus Bell, Carlo Tizzano, Langi Gleeson and Tate McDermott all equipped to raise the tempo a notch. It is not a stretch to suggest the Wallabies will be a dozen points stronger this week which, if so, will require the Lions to up their game as well. Either way, it is necessary to rewind to 1950 and 1989 to find postwar instances of the Lions winning both the last two Tests of a series. Which backs up Johnson's warning to today's players that it is less a case of picking up where they left off at the final whistle in Brisbane as in effect starting again from scratch. 'We had Martin Johnson in last night,' said the Lions scrum coach, John Fogarty. 'He talked about the small margins in the biggest games and doing the fundamentals. For him as a player the issue was compounding errors. Those are the things you need to make sure you're on top of during the match. We are not going to get everything our own way.' Ironically enough, Johnson could yet be left clutching an unwanted record if the Lions take an unassailable lead. Should that happen, as he self-deprecatingly observed this week, it will leave him as the only postwar Lions captain to have lost a series in Australia. In isolation this contest could be nip and tuck but a dead rubber in Sydney still feels the likeliest outcome.


The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Most memorable football moments from Maradona's ‘Hand of God' to Beckham's '98 red card, survey shows
DIEGO Maradona's infamous 'Hand of God' has been crowned the most notorious football moment, according to a poll of fans. The diminutive Argentinian broke English hearts in 1986 when he rose above Peter Shilton and punched the ball into the net. 6 6 6 This was followed by Luis Suarez inexplicably biting I talian Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup, according to the 2,000 football fans. Also making the top five were David Beckham's red card for kicking Diego Simeone and Frank Lampard's shockingly disallowed goal against Germany in the 2010 World Cup. The study also revealed many amateur players had experienced their own horrors on the football pitch, with 23 per cent enduring a Ronnie Rosenthal-style open goal blunder. The research was commissioned by Specsavers as part of its Best Worst Team series - inspired by such football faux pas, from missed goals to not hearing the refs whistle. The list of infamous moments on the pitch also highlighted Thierry Henry's blatant handball against Ireland in World Cup qualifying in 2009, often cited as a key reason for the introduction of VAR. Club football was also represented, including the time Carlos Tevez didn't come off the bench as a substitute for Manchester City in a Champions League match against Bayern Munich 2011. As was Darren Bent's famous 'Beach Ball Goal' – when the Sunderland striker's shot took a huge deflection off a beach ball on the pitch against Liverpool, wrong footing Pepe Reina in goal. But for those playing in parks and pitches up and down the country, 22 per cent have been left red faced when they wildly celebrated a goal, only to realise it had actually been ruled out. Whereas 12 per cent of goalies have let in an absolute howler and were left lying on the ground wishing it would open to swallow them. The research, conducted via went on to find 78 per cent believe these unbelievably memorable moments are part of what makes football iconic, even if they can feel unfair. Over a third (35 per cent) prefer football when it is 'unpredictable and chaotic', as opposed to a quarter (25 per cent) who'd rather a 'fair and structured' contest. Tunley Athletic – which previously lost all 26 games, shipping 137 more goals than they scored in the process – took part in the Best Worst Team series. Maradona scores infamous 'Hand of God' goal in the 1986 World Cup quarter final against England It went on to have its fortunes turned around by Specsavers with the help of Ella Toone, Gary Neville and Luke Littler. Charman Craig Doughty said: 'Sometimes being rubbish at football really pays off. 'While it sounds funny to say it, being crowned the Best Worst Team is honestly the best thing that ever happened to us. 'We were struggling to get a team together last season and we were on a 17-0 losing run. "Team morale was at an all-time low, and we were close to folding the club. 'But this money-can't buy experience surpassed all our expectations – it was on another level. "It's given everyone such a boost, and we actually started seeing better performances on the pitch. 'The whole community is still buzzing, and we've got loads of new players joined for the new season." TOP 20 MOST MEMORABLE FOOTBALL MOMENTS EVER Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal vs England (1986) Luis Suárez biting Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup (2014) David Beckham's red card for kicking Diego Simeone (1998) Frank Lampard's disallowed goal vs Germany – despite the ball clearly crossing the line (2010) Brazil's 7–1 World Cup semi-final defeat at home to Germany (2014) Thierry Henry's handball vs Ireland in World Cup qualifying (2009) Rivaldo's fake injury theatrics against Turkey – getting a player sent off by feigning a face injury (2002) Carlos Tevez refusing to come on as a substitute for Manchester City (2011) The Battle of Nuremberg – Portugal vs Netherlands World Cup clash featuring 4 red cards and 16 yellows (2006) The beach ball goal – Darren Bent's strike for Sunderland deflecting off an inflatable (2009) Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer sent off for fighting each other as Newcastle teammates (2005) Gazza's dentist chair celebration (1996) The phantom goal scored by Reading against Watford that went through the side netting (2008) Jimmy Glass, a goalkeeper, saves Carlisle from relegation with a 94th minute goal (1999) Rene Higuita's scorpion kick (1995) Ronnie Rosenthal's open goal miss for Liverpool (1992) Graham Poll issuing three yellow cards to Josip Šimunić before sending him off (2006) Loris Karius' double howler in the Champions League final (2018) 19. Robert Green's goalkeeping howler gifting the USA a goal in the World Cup (2010) 20. Graeme Souness plants a Galatasaray flag on Fenerbahçe's pitch (1996) 6 6 6