Rugby Union

Six Nations

Ireland deny England grand slam and record

Shocked: England players come to terms with their loss against Ireland.

England were denied successive grand slams and a world record for successive Test match victories after going down 13-9 to Ireland in the final match of this year's Six Nations.

England urged to seize moment as greatness awaits

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 11: Dylan Hartley of England celebrates winning the The Calcutta cup with his England team mates ...

From the rain-lashed streets of Dublin to the hills of Dunedin in New Zealand, all eyes in the rugby world will be trained on the Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon (Sunday ADT) to bear witness to triumph on a grand scale or to what England captain Dylan Hartley describes as the "dirty feeling" of losing a match yet still winning a title.

Eddie Jones exhorts England to climb their Everest

Aiming for the heights: Eddie Jones as England focused on the Grand Slam.

Eddie Jones has urged England to embrace their inner Sir Edmund Hillary as they contemplate scaling a significant peak in Dublin on Saturday, back-to-back Grand Slams that would be the Everest of their expectations.

North double seals win for Wales against Ireland

Double trouble: George North bounced back from a poor performance against Scotland to score twice for Wales.

George North responded to criticism from his own coaches by scoring two tries for Wales in a 22-9 win over Ireland in rugby's Six Nations on Friday (Saturday AEDT), handing England the chance to clinch the title with a game to spare.

Te'o handed England start as Jones bulks up midfield

Settling in to the side: England centre Ben Te'o.

Ben Te'o will make his first international start after being named at outside-centre for England in Sunday's Six Nations clash against Italy at Twickenham, one of four changes to the team that beat Wales two weeks ago.

Italy deserves spot, says coach after nine-try rout

Conor Murray unleashes a box kick against Italy.

Italy coach Conor O'Shea fended off suggestions on Saturday that his team were out of their depth in the Six Nations and said the tournament's experiment with attacking bonus-points encouraged opponents to "go for the jugular" this year.