Following the 8 May deadline to submit bids for the Rugby World Cup 2015 or 2019, the International Rugby Board has confirmed that receiving four Unions officially submitting applications – England, Italy, Japan, and South Africa – resulted in a record for tournament bid response. read more
Japan has officially submitted a bid to host the 2015 or 2019 Rugby World Cup just in time for the deadline, joining England, South Africa and Italy as nations vying for the winning spot to be announced in July. read more
The respective rugby union governing bodies of the home nations have unveiled a new 24-team semi-professional club rugby tournament to be launched next season. read more
The RFU has officially confirmed that England will bid to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup despite the £80m guarantee demanded of a host nation by tournament organisers the International Rugby Board. read more
England’s bid to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup is in the balance with the RFU hesitating at the £80m financial guarantee demanded by the International Rugby Board to host the tournament. read more
Scotland has withdrawn from the race to co-host the 2015 Rugby World Cup - meaning there will be no joint bid from the home nations. read more
Premier Rugby has announced that regular season crowd attendances in the Guinness Premiership rugby union top-flight for the 2008/9 season have risen by 10% year-on-year. read more
Guinness Premiership rugby club Bath has signed a new main sponsor for next season after agreeing an initial one-year deal with IT services company IPL. read more
Australia has withdrawn its bid to host the Rugby World Cup in 2015 with the Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O’Neill citing Europe as the logical destination for the tournament. read more
Wasps and England fly-half Danny Cipriani has signed a deal to become the face of Eden Park, the rugby inspired fashion label set up by five former French international players. read more
EDF, the global energy supplier, has extended its sponsorship of European club rugby's two leading tournaments, the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup. read more
English rugby stars looking for lucrative transfers to the French league are to have their options reduced after the latter implemented a limit on the number of overseas players plying their trade domestically in their top-flight clubs. read more
Oil, metals and minerals commodities trader Trafigura has filled the fourth and final sponsorship slot for the British & Irish Lions rugby union tour of South Africa this summer. read more
Puma has signed a sponsorship deal with the Irish Rugby Football Union to become the official kit and replica merchandise licensee of Irish rugby. read more
The Celtic Rugby Board has announced that it is considering moving two Italian teams into the Magners league, and has advised the Italian Rugby Federation that it could be done in time for the start of the 2010-11 season. read more
Magners Irish Cider has extended its sponsorship of the Magners League for a further two years, which will see the brand continue as title sponsor of the competition until at least May 2011. read more
Representative body the Professional Rugby Players’ Association has reacted angrily to a letter sent out by the Rugby Football Union to England players warning them against moving abroad to play for non-English clubs. read more
For the fourth time, Heineken will be the worldwide partner and the official beer of Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand. read more
The Rugby Football Union has struck a deal for bmi to become the official airline of the England rugby team, taking the contract over from long-standing sponsor British Airways. read more
Premier Rugby, the representative body for the top-flight English clubs, is turning to a wholesale revamp of the Anglo-Welsh Cup next season as a means of combating the economic downturn following the RFU's refusal to sanction the proposal for an extra six league matches. read more
European club rugby tournament organiser ERC has appointed Essentially Group Limited to market and sell partnerships for Europe’s biggest club rugby competitions: the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup. read more
In the wake of a growing player exodus over the Channel, the RFU Management Board has announced that England players’ club contracts in France must include the provisions detailed in the Elite Players’ Squad deal brokered with Guinness Premiership clubs. read more
The Rugby Football Union has admitted its growing concern of the effect on the Guinness Premiership and the England team in the wake of the exodus of leading players transferring to French club rugby. read more
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has confirmed that it will be bidding to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup alone, ruling out any joint proposals with any of the other home nation unions although the bid may include plans for some matches to be staged in those countries. read more
Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) has confirmed that the Rugby Union of Russia has dropped out of battle to host the Rugby World Cup in 2019 switching its attention to bidding for the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013 tournament. read more
The British & Irish Lions rugby union team have struck sponsorship deals with British Airways and Marks & Spencer for the upcoming tour of South Africa, further adding to their portfolio of commercial partners. read more
MasterCard has signed a major multi-million pound sponsorship deal to become a worldwide partner of the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 2011, replacing previous credit card sponsor VISA. read more
Despite the lure of added revenues, rugby union club Harlequins have confirmed that they will not moving their Heineken Cup quarter-final clash against Leinster to Twickenham. read more
The Rugby Football Union has announced that it is to veer away from tradition by taking an England international match against Argentina to Manchester's Old Trafford Stadium later this year. read more
The Welsh Rugby Union is bidding to bring next season’s Heineken Cup Final to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. read more
After four years, cider brand Magners is reportedly ending its partnership with Rugby Union club London Wasps. read more
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has announced its strong opposition to proposals put forward by Premier Rugby to extend the Guinness Premiership by a further six rounds of matches. read more
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