MELBOURNE, Australia — Joe Schmidt couldn’t gamble on Liam Wright’s fitness for Saturday’s second test after the rookie skipper was injured in Australia’s series-opening win over Wales. Hathaway’s elbow injury didn’t recover in time for the test, although Liam Williams and prop Gareth Thomas overcame injuries to take their starting places as Wales pushes to end an eight-test losing streak. …
SYDNEY — Liam Wright will lead the Wallabies against Wales on Saturday after Joe Schmidt completely overhauled Australia’s squad for his first test in charge. That’s of little concern to Schmidt, who retained in the starting XV just four of the players who started Australia’s last test in a dismal World Cup performance last year. Wales trounced Australia 40-6 in …
Warren Gatland, the coach who picked George North for his first and last Wales games, first and last Lions games, and first and last Rugby World Cups, led tributes to the retiring center on Wednesday. North announced he’s ending a 14-year test career on Saturday after the Six Nations wooden spoon decider against Italy at Principality Stadium, where he made …