South Africa Rugby News

Since returning to his home city of Cardiff from Bristol Bears in the summer of 2024, Callum Sheedy has had a more than eventful time of it.

South Africa 's Jan-Hendrik Wessels will be out for nine weeks after grabbing the genitals of Josh Murphy during Bulls' clash with Connacht in Galway, Ireland on Friday.

With ongoing uncertainty about how the country's national game will look in the future, Rugby Confidential understands leading Welsh players are keen to look elsewhere as a result.

EXCLUSIVE BY ALEX BYWATER; Rassie Erasmus' Springboks have lifted the last two William Webb Ellis Cups in 2019 and 2023 and are firm favourites for the 2027 tournament.

Danny Wilson, the former coach, was nose-to-nose with one of the locks. Results were disappointing and there was a lack of harmony around the club's direction of travel.

Most families indulge at Christmas, but the annual feast enjoyed by Ben Loader at his childhood home on the outskirts of Reading was one even Henry VIII would have been envious of.

Here, we list the next 10 great talents, across the globe and across sports - it's time to get to know them now, because they'll be household names before you know it.

Here, writing ahead of Saturday morning's fixture, Mail Sport's ALEX BYWATER ranks the top 10 most successful Lions tours of all time.

Liverpool and Manchester United's owners are ready to go head-to-head by buying teams in the new rugby rebel league threatening to rip up the sport with in millions in investment.

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: So many incredible players have represented the Lions, and as a result, ranking my top 50 of all time has been an incredibly stressful and onerous task.

Up close, England's superstar No 10 shows no marks of the stresses and strains that came from losing his starting shirt, shunted into a new position and then to the bench.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY ALEX BYWATER: At the entrance to Sale Sharks' Carrington training centre, a slogan is painted on the wall to remind those who visit of the club's ethos and values.

The regular domestic season is over, and on Tuesday night the Premiership handed out their seasonal awards. But here we looking at the lesser-spotted action that deserves its own gongs.

At last, here it is, a global guide to help oval-ball enthusiasts plan the best places to take in a fixture - close to home or thousands of miles away.

Tributes have poured in to honour the former South Africa international, who tragically passed away at the age of 37 from a suspected heart attack on Wednesday evening.

The former wing's progress since retiring as a player has been as swift as it has been impressive. England boss Borthwick and Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson are both big fans.

RUGBY CONFIDENTIAL: When Marcus Smith turned up at Miami's rugby club during designated time off, it quickly became clear there was more to his holiday than initially met the eye.

Kitshoff, a World Cup winner in 2019 and 2023, underwent surgery after sustaining the injury on Curry Cup duty for Western Province in September.

ALEX BYWATER: The New Year brings new possibilities and 2025 has the potential to be a truly brilliant 12 months for the game of rugby union.

Last weekend, along with my Toulon team-mates, I spent 32 hours on flights just to get myself to South Africa for our first game of this season's Champions Cup.

A 45-12 defeat by back-to-back world champions South Africa means Wales have now lost 12 Tests in a row and every international in 2024.

WALES 12-45 SOUTH AFRICA - ALEX BYWATER AT PRINCIPALITY STADIUM: But the atmosphere was similarly grim, despite the onlookers putting on a brave face.

ALEX BYWATER: With the prospect of a 12th successive Welsh Test defeat close to inevitable, Gatland's position as head coach is hanging by a thread.

ALEX BYWATER: The New Zealander and Howley have been good friends since the latter played under Gatland at Wasps. To that end, Howley's support is unsurprising.

Gatland has presided over the worst losing run in Welsh history - one which currently stands at 11 Tests - so his position as head coach has come under serious scrutiny.

RUGBY CONFIDENTIAL: The rough idea is to sign up 10 to 20 box-office stars - one or two players per club - on privately-funded contracts and assign them through an NFL-style selection draft.

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: But this was the worst result of the lot this November. England were naïve. This was a game they should have won.

NIK SIMON AT ALLIANZ STADIUM: Public confidence is slipping after England blew another winning position but the RFU have no immediate plans to change their coaching team.

CHRIS FOY: There was a perfect snapshot of the contrast between the head coaches when Rassie Erasmus strolled on to the pitch with his hands in tracksuit pockets, while his team warmed up. 

ALEX BYWATER AT THE ALLIANZ STADIUM: England's accuracy in the final quarter let them down as they failed to make the most of the Springboks being reduced to 14 men.

NIK SIMON AT ALLIANZ STADIUM: England were outsmarted, outmuscled and outplayed. Borthwick has the board's backing to turn things around but his popularity points in these quarters are tumbling.

England skipper Jamie George has told his players be ready for 'brutal' physicality against the world champion Springboks at Twickenham.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY CHRIS FOY: He has an evocative nickname to go with a striking look, but the 29-year-old's actual name is a mystery to most people, certainly outside his own country.

JOE MARLER: You try not to feel fear, as an international rugby player. Definitely not as a front-row forward. And then you play South Africa , and a scrum gets called.

NIK SIMON: The fun and games began hours before Steve Borthwick announced his team to face the Springboks. 'Freddie Steward will play at full-back… definitely,' said Erasmus.

Borthwick has made four changes to the team edged out by Australia. He has made significant calls in dropping scrum-half and Bath captain Ben Spencer from his matchday squad entirely.

NEIL SQUIRES: England's finish-line phobia has grown so acute that you are left wondering in what ingenious way might they manage to throw away their next game late on in the day.

CHRIS FOY: Andy Edwards is South Africa's 'head of athletic performance' after a decade of honing Saracens into a dominant force in English and European rugby

CHRIS FOY: Here was as an ominous warning to England from north of the border, as South Africa came through a scare and a thunderous tune-up at Murrayfield, ahead of their arrival in London.

Gregor Townsend believes Scotland will face the toughest test in world rugby when they face South Africa on Sunday - insisting the Springboks have raised the bar to a new level.

Given that South Africa will arrive at Murrayfield on Sunday as the back-to-back world champions, few would question the scale of the challenge facing Gregor Townsend and his Scotland players.

NIK SIMON: TNT Sports are planning to 'lift the shutters' throughout the autumn series as it steps into broadcasting international rugby for the first time.

Gatland saw the world champions overcome his fresh-faced outfit with five tries in a 'home' Test for the Springboks at Twickenham.

South African's deadly Bomb Squad detonated English dreams again last night as Gloucester's quest for a cup Double was wrecked by the Sharks' scrum blitz in Tottenham .

The 30-year-old was earlier this week one of the contestants of the competition where celebrities perform while disguised in costumes while judges attempt to guess their identities.

TNT - previously known as BT Sport - are the main British broadcast partner of the European game's premier competition. This season they have shown every Champions Cup match live.

ALEX BYWATER: His new deal will see him stay in charge until at least the end of the 2029-30 campaign. The South African's commitment is a huge boost to Bath's long-term planning.

South Africa's double World Cup winner Eben Etzebeth has described Ireland's players as 'arrogant' after revealing they told him they would meet his team in last year's World Cup final.

AFL great Matthew Lloyd has scrambled to correct the record after being ambushed on the Sunday Footy Show as his co-host used a photo to ask some very curly questions about his lion encounter.

EXCLUSIVE BY MATT HUGHES: Qatar have made a surprise bid to host the finals of the new Nations Championship from 2026 in a three-day festival they are billing as a "Superbowl of rugby."

Fabio Capello's side were hammered 4-1 by Germany in the round of 16 in South Africa but Terry revealed the squad's pre-match ordeal might have been a contributing factor to their lacklustre display.

INTERVIEW BY CHRIS FOY: The South African posed for pictures with a group of fans who had turned up to Ashton Gate wearing fake versions of his trademark haircut

But it appears one ground, the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, which is being purposefully built for the tournament, is still under construction.

CHRIS FOY: England scrum-half Raffi Quirke and his evolving brand of 'Hollywood brilliance' helped Sale fend off a dangerous Harlequins fightback on Sunday afternoon.

WORLD OF RUGBY - CHRIS FOY: 'I'll learn so many different things,' said the supreme All Blacks utility back. 'It will make me see the game differently and I'll bring the best bits back.'

I've always supported Arsenal, but developed a strong affinity for Coventry in the late 1980s, when I played Midlands club cricket alongside former City keeper Steve Ogrizovic.

Parling, 40, had previously worked with England as a set-piece expert and has been based in Australia since joining the Melbourne Rebels in 2018.

Northampton Saints and Harlequins won't receive any additional financial revenue from European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) despite them making the Champions Cup's semi-finals.

Leinster have sealed a stunning transfer coup after announcing that All Black centre Jordie Barrett will join them in December, until the end of next season.

European rugby organisers will urge clubs to accept an urgent change to the tournaments format, to avoid a repeat of the selection controversy last weekend.

ALEX BYWATER: New plans for a World Club Cup to begin in 2028 should be welcomed by rugby fans on the proviso it does not place further demands on the players in terms of game time and welfare.

ALEX BYWATER: With no official play-off for promotion and relegation between the Six Nations and Rugby Europe as things stand, last month Georgia called on Wales to play them in November.

The 27-year-old this week completed a run that saw him start in the continent's most southern point in South Africa on April 22 last year before crossing the finish line in the most northern point in Tunisia.

TNT Sports has confirmed its exclusive deal to broadcast rugby's Autumn Nations Series, as initially reported last month by Mail Sport.

European knock-out rugby returns this weekend as six English clubs compete in the last-16 of the Investec Champions Cup looking for a place in the quarter-finals. 

The RFU will charge the highest price ever for a standalone England Test when the All Blacks visit Twickenham, with top tickets costing £229.

LAWRENCE BOOTH: Each year, cricket's central question grows more urgent, and it strikes at the heart of the four-day game: if you're not raking in the cash, what exactly are you doing?

ALEX BYWATER: England have been warned they will face a revitalised and even better Ardie Savea this summer when they take on New Zealand in a mouthwatering two-Test series.

CHRIS FOY: Days after the Danny Care announced his retirement from Test rugby it was revealed that he will finally play for the famous multi-national side against Fiji in June.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY LAWRENCE BOOTH: When Taylor describes Grace Road as 'a place that's close to my heart', it is hard not to be taken back to the moment that changed his life forever.

CHRIS FOY IN LYON: How often in recent memory have an England team made those watching them gasp in awe at their audacity and skilful execution? Perhaps a handful of times.

CHRIS FOY AT TWICKENHAM: This means all the stirring words are no longer hollow. This means they truly are on to something after beating Ireland in the Six Nations.

England captain Jamie George has urged his team to 'defend their home' after being written off for Saturday's Six Nations clash with Ireland.

NIK SIMON: It all started over lunch at the Beyerskloof wine estate in Stellenbosch. It was 2009 and Andy Farrell was on tour with Saracens for a friendly against the Stormers in Cape Town.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp crossed paths on Monday as they both visited Adidas' headquarters in Germany.

EXCLUSIVE BY MATT HUGHES: Negotiations are understood to be at an advanced stage over a deal that would give TNT some mouthwatering fixtures later this year.

DAVID LLOYD: The occasion of his 100th Test in Dharamshala might be a dead rubber against India but it will be viewed by Jonny as a fabulous milestone, not so much for himself but for his family.

EXCLUSIVE: No 8 Mercer returned to the Gallagher Premiership for the start of the 2023/24 campaign, signing for Gloucester after an impressive stint in French rugby with Montpellier.

CHRIS FOY - WORLD OF RUGBY: France are in major troubl, with Matthieu Jalibert set to miss out, Jonathan Danty banned, Romain Ntamack absent and Antoine Dupont in Tinseltown.