• ‘A big breakdown challenge is coming,’ warns head coach

• Genge calls timing of ‘hip-drop’ tackle law change ‘beserk’

Steve Borthwick is urging his England players to act smarter and recognise the vital importance of keeping 15 players on the field before a pivotal month for the national team. Borthwick’s side have been shown 14 yellow cards and one red in 2026 to date and, partly as a consequence, have lost five of their past seven Tests.

Borthwick is also concerned that different refereeing interpretations in the domestic Prem are not helping England at international level, with the latest complication being a mid‑season law change preventing so-called “hip-drop” tackles. His experienced prop Ellis Genge has called the timing of the alteration “berserk” but also fully accepts England must improve their disciplinary record in their autumn Nations Championship fixtures.

• Borthwick responds by calling up Charlie Atkinson

• Guy Pepper and Benhard van Rensburg also doubts

England are fretting over the fitness of the fly-half Fin Smith in the lead-up to the Nations Championship home opener against Australia on 8 November. The Northampton player ­damaged a calf in the second half against Leicester on Saturday and will be unable to join the national squad who have a three-day training camp in Bagshot this week.

Losing Smith so close to the ­Wallabies game would be a significant blow given the 24-year-old started at 10 in all three of England’s Tests in July and was instrumental in Saints’ domestic title triumph last season.

Opening rounds of inaugural global competition provided compelling moments but the same old frustrations over refereeing consistency remain

There are a few contenders for the most striking image from the first block of fixtures in the inaugural Nations Championship. Was it South Africa splintering the Wales scrum like balsa wood in Durban? Or England’s Manny Feyi-Waboso underlining his potential to be one of the superstars of next year’s Rugby World Cup? Or maybe New Zealand reminding everyone, themselves included, how lethal they can be when they trust the catch-pass game that was once their default setting?

There were some definite coaching winners, too, inevitably led by Rassie Erasmus but also including the All Blacks’ new head man, Dave Rennie, who is three from three so far. Anyone seeking another serious fix of international rugby need look no further than next month’s Greatest Rivalry series between the Springboks and the All Blacks, an even spicier prospect now the visitors are back up and running.

• Played in South Africa, England and Argentina across three weekends

• Squad covered 26,000 miles this month in hectic travel schedule

England’s players have questioned the current Nations Championship format after being required to play Test matches on three different continents on successive weekends.

Steve Borthwick’s squad have covered 26,000 miles this month and at least one senior player believes the tournament should consider reducing the travel demands for all involved.

• Argentina 24-31 England

• Visitors run in five tries; hosts denied late score by TMO

It has been a long season but England’s well-travelled players can finally head to the beach with some degree of satisfaction. Spurred on by a fine performance from the wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, they had to weather a frantic finale to complete an eventful five-try win over Argentina, thus denying their hosts a notable sporting double over their English amigos this week.

Reduced to 13 and briefly 12 men at stages in the second half, with four players sent to the sin-bin along the way, they were ultimately indebted to Marcus Smith and Feyi-Waboso for all-important tries in the final quarter, along with a brace of first-half scores for Ben Earl. England also had to defend stoutly at times, with Ollie Chessum, Ellis Genge and Joe Heyes all fronting up well at the fag end of an energy-sapping campaign.

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• New Zealand 40-21 Ireland

• Hosts unbeaten in 32 years at Auckland venue

Andy Farrell rued an error-strewn display after Ireland suffered a 40-21 defeat to New Zealand in round three of the Nations Championship.

The All Blacks scored four first-half tries through Patrick Tuipulotu, Ardie Savea, Will Jordan and Asafo Aumua en route to stretching their remarkable unbeaten run at Eden Park to 53 Tests. Jack Conan crossed for Ireland in a punishing first half before Joe McCarthy and Hugo Keenan went over in an improved second period, with Sam Prendergast slotting all three conversions.

South Africa overpowered Wales in Durban thrashing

9 mins. A few minutes are taken up with the setting of a Wales scrum that goes to ground once, then brings a penalty for the Boks against Dillon Lewis for losing his feet under pressure. The lineout for the home team is wasted as Moyo encroaches the lineout too early.

5 mins. The crowd springs to life for the first time as Fassi steps off his left foot, leaving Edwards standing, to run 15 metres into the Wales half. Two phases later, after a strong run from De Allende, Wiese crashes through some poor tackling in the 22 on a short angle to rumble over.

• Updates from Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt’s last match in charge

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Despite Australian rugby’s struggles, tonight’s match is a sell out, the sixth in a row for the Wallabies.

Referee: Paris-born Englishman Christophe Ridley.

• Jamie George promises ‘the strongest of reactions’

• England players were racially abused by fans last year

England’s rugby players are threatening to walk off the pitch in protest against Argentina on Saturday if there is any repeat of the racial abuse aimed at black squad members on their last visit a year ago. Further incidents will not be tolerated and, according to England’s captain, Jamie George, will prompt “the strongest of reactions”.

George was also present in San Juan last July when his replacement prop forward Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Chandler Cunningham-South were the target of racist slurs from a group of home supporters during the warm-up and the first half of the second Test. World Rugby later confirmed England had made a complaint, but, despite an investigation, the individual perpetrators could not be identified.

Northampton Saint is embracing a friendly rivalry with his headline-grabbing teammate when they take on the Pumas

It has been a long road for several of the players who went on the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia last year. They are putting on a professionally brave face, but for some the final weekend of the season cannot come soon enough. Factor in the travel, the training and associated other stresses and strains and the 2025-26 campaign has been relentless from a physical and a mental perspective.

Crunch the numbers before the last hurrah against Argentina on Saturday and it is a wonder many are still standing. Of the English Lions, Henry Pollock is about to participate in his 32nd competitive game while his Northampton teammate Tommy Freeman is poised to play his 29th. Ben Earl and Ellis Genge, assuming their involvement against the Pumas, will be in the same situation with Ollie Chessum one behind.

Emerging stars need a leg up from media and marketing teams to ensure they get the recognition they deserve

By any measure it is a remarkable achievement. While many have fantasised about how it might feel to score a try for the All Blacks, no one in history has now lived that dream more frequently than Will Jordan. At the weekend the New Zealand wing took his tally to 50 tries in only 56 appearances, overhauling Doug Howlett’s all-time national men’s record of 49 in 62 Tests.

Perhaps the biggest compliment to pay Jordan is how relatively easy he makes it all look. Where others blow hot and cold, the 28-year-old glides around like a smooth, top-of-the-range sports car. A devastating little surge of electric acceleration here, exquisite running lines, world-class anticipation, deceptive pace … by the time defenders finally work out what he is doing it is usually too late.

If Steve Borthwick is to emulate Thomas Tuchel he must fully embrace the attacking talent which tore Fiji apart

Next year Steve Borthwick would love to be where Thomas Tuchel is now. A World Cup semi‑final in prospect, an entire nation transfixed and a team with another gear in it. Swap Atlanta for Sydney and Jude Bellingham for Henry Pollock and the same essentials will be required: big-match players, smart man management and the absolute belief that decades of disappointment can be overcome.

Tuchel and his staff even paid a visit to their rugby counterparts in March, albeit in the week the latter lost against Italy in the Six Nations for the first time. Borthwick has long been interested in how England‑based coaches deal with the sheer weight of expectation and has spoken to a number of Premier League managers on the subject.

Plucky defeats decorated with patches of excellence will not cut it for Australia with a home World Cup now looming large

The camera found Joe Schmidt shortly after France had completed a 22-point swing. Australia’s coach had seen a 21-12 half-time lead obliterated in 16 brutal minutes. Schmidt, one of rugby’s sharpest minds, looked short of answers. The trouble was that the questions confronting him had obvious answers but almost impossible solutions.

Why had Australia’s discipline deteriorated? Because they were under pressure. Why had their tackle intensity and ruck speed fallen away? Because France had introduced fresh power from the bench. Why had the Wallabies gone from a nine-point half-time lead to a 13-point deficit in barely a quarter of an hour? Because one team had more large, skilful, Test-quality rugby players than the other.

• Fiji 8-73 England

• Scrum-half Simione Kuruvoli sent off before break

To say England needed to shine in sub-tropical Liverpool is the understatement of this protracted season. Had they slipped to a sixth straight Test defeat it would probably have been the end of Steve Borthwick’s tenure as head coach. Instead a one-sided romp, their first win since February, has given the management a little respite as they prepare to head to Argentina for the last leg of their continent-hopping summer itinerary.

In all honesty, though, Fiji were so disjointed and ill-disciplined for lengthy periods that the game resembled something close to a training run. A litany of botched offloads, silly penalties and back-pedalling mauls had long since allowed England to cruise away over the horizon even before Simione Kuruvoli was sent off just before half-time with his side already 35-3 behind.

• South Africa 42-28 Scotland

• Scots run in four tries to earn bonus point

A breathless match, all the more so given the thin air of Pretoria, but the upshot is, for all Scotland’s wit and energy, South Africa march on with another full house of points. The visitors were brilliant in scoring their four tries, their pace and skill regularly making mugs of their hosts, but power remains the thing the Springboks do better than anyone. At this altitude, it is very hard to stop.

They were unanswerable in the middle of each half, scoring five of their six tries around then, but Scotland scored two apiece in the second and fourth quarters. They were within sight of a losing bonus point with 10 minutes to go. They even looked as if they might score again. But Jesse Kriel’s late score meant they had to settle for one.

• Australia soundly beaten after leading at half-time in Brisbane

• Second-half blitz sees Les Bleus run out 42-26 winners

The Wallabies crashed to defeat to France in Brisbane to extend their losing streak to six – their worst losing run in a decade – and continue their winless start to the Nations Championship. As they had last week against Ireland, Australia squandered a half-time lead to be blown away by a scintillating France, leaving Joe Schmidt facing a terrible fade to black for his final Test next week as national coach.

Both teams were stinging from narrow losses last week and their desperation told in a frantic early tempo. Despite an early jackal and what appeared to be a 50-22 kick from Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, the referee scrubbed it all for a high tackle. France took the gift, kicking deep and rolling into Australia’s red zone before unleashing the 145kg Brisbane-born wrecking ball Emmanuel Meafou from point blank. France 7-0.

• Wallabies unable to defend 21-12 half-time lead

• France run in four tries in dominate second half

Australia in gold, France in blue, round two of the Nations Championship is under way…

Anthem time in Brisbane, which means an always welcome rendition of La Marseillaise. Advance Australia Fair pales by comparison, but the duration of the song allows plenty of close-ups of the Wallabies’ excellent First Nations jersey, worn to coincide with NAIDOC Week here in Australia.

• South Africa 45-21 England

• Springboks run in seven tries in one-sided contest

What a fabulous occasion this was, a thunderous way to kick off the new-look Nations Championship. Anyone stumbling across the sport for the first time would have been truly staggered by the commitment of both teams, not to mention the spine-tingling pre-match rendition of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. This was top-drawer sporting theatre in the spiritual home of South African rugby.

But when the smoke finally cleared on a cool, still Highveld evening there was a clear winner. Even though the world champion Springboks were missing a clutch of influential forwards they were still way too strong for gallant but outgunned opponents. From 17-0 down after just 12 minutes England showed huge resolve to battle their way back to 17-14 at half-time but, having been reduced to 13 men late on, the upstart visitors had been put firmly back in their place.

• Australia 31-33 Ireland in rugby international in Sydney

• Ireland hang on as Ben Donaldson misses last-gasp kick

After the Socceroos’ deflating loss to Egypt earlier in the day, Australian sport needed a shot in the arm. And the underdog Wallabies, who had lost seven of their past eight Tests, almost delivered it in style at Allianz Stadium in Sydney, going within a few centimetres of upsetting the world’s third-ranked side. Instead, despite scoring five tries with exhilarating attack, the Wallabies fell to a cruel 33-31 defeat to Ireland right at the death.

Ireland had not played a Test since March and Australia November, but both teams shucked off the rust quickly, trading a flurry of tries in the opening quarter. Australia drew first blood, snaffling a loose lineout and hammering the Ireland line before Carter Gordon speared a long ball to Jock Campbell who caught it on his boot laces and passed to flying Wiradjuri winger Dylan Pietsch who dived into the corner.