England number eight Nick Easter failed a fitness test on his tight calf shortly before Saturday's World Cup warm-up clash with Ireland.
Australia ended a 10-year Tri-Nations drought with their 25-20 win over New Zealand in Brisbane on Saturday.
Australia won their first Tri-Nations title in 10 years, when they beat New Zealand 25-20 in a nailbiting affair in Brisbane on Saturday.
Efforts to get Sonny Bill Williams to renew his New Zealand Rugby Union contract have taken a new twist with Williams' ally, boxer Anthony Mundine, taking a swipe at the All Black coaches.
Canterbury will meet Waikato in the NPC Final, after the two teams scored impressive victories in their final round of league action on Saturday.
Paul O'Connell fears England will be fired up by their Grand Slam failure when they meet Ireland at Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Minus many top players, France's Top 14 kicks off this weekend.
Defending champions Toulouse were brought down to earth when they were beaten 18-13 at Bayonne in the first round of the new Top 14 French championship season on Friday.
Western Province took control early and never looked back as they picked up their fourth win of the Currie Cup season with a 24-13 victory over the Pumas in Witbank on Friday night.
The Blue Bulls managed to register a 28-20 victory over the Leopards in Rustenburg on Friday night, but fell short in their efforts to secure a bonus point in a scrappy affair.
Hendre Fourie is on standby to start for England against Ireland - just five days after being omitted from Martin Johnson's World Cup squad.
rugby365.com columnist Tom Dawson-Squibb takes a look at what makes a good team-talk and whether a motivational speech really does have an impact on how players perform on the pitch.
Making the final group of 30 Springbok players for next month's World Cup in New Zealand has left Gio Aplon on cloud nine, the Springbok speedster said this week.
Lions captain Joshua Strauss has been ruled out of Saturday's Currie Cup match against the Sharks as a precaution, the team's coach John Mitchell confirmed on Friday.
When Manu Samoa swept aside Australia less than two months from the start of the World Cup they sent a clear message - to Wales in particular - they will be serious contenders come tournament time.
