Rugby Union

European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), the organisers of the European Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup tournaments, has appointed Vincent Gaillard and Simon Halliday to fill senior management positions designed to drive the organisation forward.

The Pan American Rugby Association (PARA) has revealed that it plans to launch a new national team competition next year based on the European Six Nations model.

English Premiership team Wasps has today (Monday) launched a retail bond on the London Stock Exchange as it continues its bid to become the biggest revenue-generating club in rugby union.

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has launched a consultation process with rugby fans and stakeholders for a new five-year strategic plan, while the organisation has announced a A$6.3m (€4.5m/$4.9m) loss for 2014.

The French Rugby Federation (FFR) is poised to join the contenders to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup, according to Midi Olympique.

Clubs in France’s Top 14, regarded as the world’s richest rugby union competition, suffered a record total deficit of €24.2m ($25.5m) last season as player wages soared, according to a new report.

Lincoln Financial Field, home of NFL American football team the Philadelphia Eagles, has been revealed as the host venue for a one-off match between English Premiership club Leicester Tigers and an all-star National Rugby Football League team ahead of the proposed launch of the new NRFL rugby union competition in the US.

New Zealand Rugby, rugby union’s governing body in the country, has posted a financial surplus for the third year in a row after turnover in 2014 increased by NZ$4m (€2.8m/$3m) to NZ$120.8m.

Yoshiro Mori, the head of the organising committee for the Tokyo 2020 summer Olympic Games, has hinted that he will step down as president of the Japan Rugby Football Union after undergoing treatment for lung cancer.

Singapore has been confirmed as a host city on the schedule for the 2015-16 World Rugby Sevens Series.

Ian Ritchie, CEO of the English RFU (Rugby Football Union), on stamping out ticket touts and succeeding where the 2012 London Olympics failed

Debbie Jevans has stepped down as chief executive of the organising body for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England, citing personal reasons.

South Africa’s round in the World Rugby Sevens Series will move from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town for the four-year cycle beginning in 2015-16.

World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper has said the World Cup could expand to 24 nations by the 2023 edition of the national team tournament.

English rugby union’s top tier club competition the Premiership will hold talks over plans to expand to 14 teams through temporarily suspending promotion and relegation.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has agreed a five-year deal, from the 2015-16 season until 2019-20, to increase the amount of money it pays to teams in the Championship second-tier domestic club competition.