South Africa scrum-half Ivan van Zyl has signed a new two-year contract with Premiership club Saracens.The 27-year-old joined from Super Rugby side Bulls ahead of the 2021-22 campaign and has helped Sarries to back-to-back Premiership finals.He has scored four tries in 39 league outings for the north London outfit."He has become an integral part of our squad and is highly…

Northampton lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto has left the Premiership club to return to Australia for family reasons.The 26-year-old Australia international made 24 appearances in his solitary season at Franklin's Gardens after arriving form Super Rugby side Queensland Reds.He has been linked with a move to Melbourne Rebels.external-link"Family always has to come first, so we understand Lukhan's decision," said Northampton boss Phil…

Steve Hansen has praised the Rugby Football Union's decision to raise the Pride flag above Twickenham on Sunday.World XV coach Hansen says the stance is a "positive consequence" of his controversial selection of Israel Folau against the Barbarians.Folau, 34, was sacked by Rugby Australia (RA) in 2019 for making anti-gay social media posts."They [the RFU] wouldn't be flying the flag…

Exeter winger Jack Nowell says he will not make himself available for England's World Cup squad."No World Cup, I'm not doing the World Cup. I am just going to chill," Nowell told the RugbyPass Offload podcast."I need to get my knee sorted. Obviously, it was a bit of a hard decision not to put myself in for selection for the…