Ratcliffe, IPL and Littler: The Morning Wire Sport 2024 year in review December 31, 2024 It was the year that was in sport; when iconic athletes retired, major brands made fascinating choices and one pole vaulter was knocked out of the Olympics because of his hefty package. The 12 months that made up 2024 weaved the retirement of cricketer James Anderson with the iconic breakdancer Raygun, it saw a German [...]
Ahead of the Game: Man United cuts could be copied by other clubs December 30, 2024 Manchester United’s controversial move to slash the funding it provides to its charitable foundation as part of cost-cutting measures introduced by Sir Jim Ratcliffe could be followed by other Premier League clubs. The Manchester United Foundation are set to be the latest victims of Ratcliffe’s drive to cut costs at Old Trafford, with Sky News [...]
Why RFU boss Sweeney is set for no confidence vote December 18, 2024 Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney will face a vote of no confidence after over 180 clubs and bodies rebelled against the governing body’s biggest name. Sweeney, alongside chairman Tom Ilube, will face the music in February following a grassroots-led revolt against the body led by the referees’ union and the Championship clubs at [...]
Championship rugby clubs expecting legal challenges over promotion criteria December 4, 2024 Championship rugby clubs are expecting legal challenges to the criteria that they will be judged against for promotion to the Premiership. Top-of-the-table Coventry announced yesterday that they had applied for an audit that, if passed, would grant them access to a play-off between the team that finishes bottom of the Premiership and the Championship winner. [...]
RFU boss Bill Sweeney paid £1.1m despite heavy losses November 25, 2024 England Rugby chief executive Bill Sweeney was paid £1.1m in the last financial year despite the game struggling to stay on its feet. It comes as the governing body for rugby in England announced record losses nearing £40m and confirmed there would be redundancies within the organisation. The Rugby Football Union insists that their year, [...]
Wasps step closer to new Kent home and Championship spot November 13, 2024 Two-time European champions Wasps moved a step closer to reviving their defunct rugby club after they secured land in Kent for a new stadium. The site in Swanley has been acquired on a 10-year-option and could be used to build a new stadium in the south east of the country after the club were one [...]
Exclusive: Argentina and South Africa in talks to host Rugby Championship match in London November 12, 2024 World champions South Africa and World Cup semi-finalists Argentina are in talks to play a Rugby Championship fixture at London’s Allianz Stadium in 2025, Morning Wire can reveal. Discussions have taken place about Twickenham hosting a match from the southern hemisphere’s equivalent of the Six Nations next autumn. It would be the first time that [...]
Jersey RFC: The club resetting how rugby can be done November 7, 2024 This Saturday, while England take on Australia in the Autumn Nations Series, Jersey RFC will be hosting London Welsh in a top-of-the-table clash in Regional 1 South Central, the fifth tier of English rugby. A decade or so ago this could have been a Premiership fixture, but rugby finances in south London and in the [...]
Appalling, laughable, not fair: Chinnor and Cambridge go it alone after Premiership Rugby Cup exclusion October 29, 2024 Championship sides Chinnor and Cambridge will compete in the Not The Premiership Rugby Cup after being excluded from the original competition. On Friday night at Mennaye Field in Penzance, Cornish Pirates will fancy themselves against a winless Exeter Chiefs in the opening fixture of the Premiership Rugby Cup. The competition has been one of the [...]
RFU and Premiership Rugby sign landmark deal to shape future of game September 4, 2024 Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney hailed a “significant milestone” in the English game on Wednesday as the national governing body, Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Players Association yesterday agreed a new eight-year Professional Game Partnership. The swathes of changes to the English game will see the national coach Steve Borthwick given dominion over [...]