Check out the teams ahead of the fifth round of Super Rugby Pacific, where Pepesana Patafilo gets his starting debut for the Crusaders against the Brumbies and Noah Lolesio starts for the Brumbies, facing up to Richie Mo’unga. Friday Crusaders v Brumbies Orangetheory Stadium Crusaders: 15 Fergus Burke,14 Pepesana Patafilo, 13 Braydon Ennor, 12 Dallas McLeod, 11 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Mitch Drummond, 8 Sione Havili Talitui, 7 Tom Christie, 6 Ethan Blackadder, 5 Zack Gallagher, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tamaiti Williams, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody Replacements: 16 Brodie McAlister, 17 Kershawl Sykes-Martin, 18 George Bower, 19 Dominic Gardiner, 20 Christian Lio-Willie, 21 Willi Heinz,…

Le Parisien report that Borussia Dortmund have come to PSG in recent hours over the possibility of signing Julian Draxler. Click Here: France football tracksuit The newspaper claims that Les Parisiens are willing to sell the player, but that Draxler has very little interest in returning to Germany, especially not to go to Dortmund, rivals of his former club Schalke 04. Kicker claim that Andrey Yarmolenko of Dynamo Kiev is in fact the player that Dortmund have settled on in this position to replace Ousmane Dembélé, which would suggest that Dortmund’s pursuit of the PSG man might already be over.

Ireland won the Six Nations for the first time in 2009, ending a 24-year wait for a Championship. In his Six Nations Championship in charge, Declan Kidney led Ireland to their first title in the professional era and first Grand Slam since 1948. Progression through the Championship Kidney came into the role after Eddie O’Sullivan’s resignation the year before. Ireland kicked off their campaign with a 30-21 victory over France before defeating Italy 38-9 in Rome a week later. A late penalty was needed to down England 14-13 at Croke Park in Round Three of the Championship as the charge towards the Grand Slam started to gain momentum. Next up,…

Sunderland attacking midfielder Wahbi Khazri has passed a medical with Rennes ahead of a one-year loan move, according to Le Télégramme. Despite reliable, local reports suggesting that Khazri is just using Rennes interest to get himself a better offer from Toulouse, the former Bordeaux man now looks imminently set to sign for SRFC. If this one goes south though, both figuratively and literally, do not be surprised. Click Here: Hurricanes rugby store

Scarlets star Johnny McNicholl is adamant that he still has plenty to offer to the Wales team despite missing out on the Six Nations squad. McNicholl has been one of the form outside backs in the United Rugby Championship (URC) this season but has yet to earn a recall to the Test set-up since featuring in the Six Nations defeat to Italy. In-form fullback Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel described him as a “devastating attacker”, and his stats highlight that point; he leads the URC in metres gained (805) and offloads (21). He has also beaten 26 defenders, claimed 13 clean breaks and has 12 try involvements, five assists and…

Speaking to Canal Football Club, OGC Nice President Jean Pierre Rivère discussed his failed pursuit of Hatem Ben Arfa this summer. Click Here: kilkenny gaa jerseys “We have been working with PSG for several weeks to sign Hatem Ben Arfa. It was deal we wanted to complete, so too did the coach. Generally speaking, we nearly pulled off bringing Hatem back, and then there were a series of events that I understand and respect, and then there was Hatem’s decision. I understand his decision, he explained it to me, which was to stay in Paris. If Hatem, one day, can come to Nice, we will be very happy to welcome him.…

Nathan Staples is joined by Rich Allen and Peter Rutzler, alongside the returning Eric Devin, as they look at France’s embarrassing 0-0 draw with Luxembourg as well as at a record-breaking Ligue 1 transfer window. Click Here: Kids football kit sets

Ireland avoided a shock result at the hands of a confident Italy as they came out on top in Rome, winning the Six Nations clash 34-20 in Rome. Crossings from James Ryan, Hugo Keenan, Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen (2) were added to by nine points from the boot of Ross Byrne on Saturday. Stephen Varney and Pierre Bruno went over for Italy while Paolo Garbisi kicked 10 points in an impressive performance from the improving Azzurri. Click here for teams and scorers In-form Ireland arrived in the Italian capital seeking a third consecutive tournament success but without a host of star names due to injury. Swathes of green jerseys…

Aged just 14 years old, Elye Wahi is following in the footsteps of the French international and Chelsea midfielder Ngolo Kanté, Le Parisien report. The striker began at Suresnes and is currently playing with SM Caen, where he scored 89 goals last season. Elye Wahi’s introduction during a U17 friendly between PSG and Caen at the Camp des Loges did not go unnoticed, as he put away a powerful header into the top corner of the net, and pulled off a skilful run pas the defence followed by a successful one-on-one against the Parisian goalkeeper. PSG’s new youth academy coach, Luis Fernandez, observed the powerful Norman striker (1m78, 72 kg), playing in this…

The Stormers have announced that head coach, John Dobson, has signed a new contract which will keep him at the Cape Town-based outfit until at least 2027. Dobson has been part of the coaching structures at Western Province Rugby (WP) since 2010 and after winning a South African national U21 championship he was appointed as the union’s senior head coach in 2015. He continued his growth with the WP team and guided them to a Currie Cup title in 2017. In 2020, Dobson was appointed as the Stormers‘ head coach and led them to victory during the inaugural United Rugby Championship campaign, winning the 2022 final against the Bulls in…