Samoa

Building on the platform of this year's Rugby World Cup, Japan is lobbying to be included in the Southern Hemisphere's Super 12 series from 2006.

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has scheduled a crisis meeting in November following the postponement of an inter-hemisphere team clash.

The 2002 Pacific Rim rugby tournament has been scrapped to make way for regional qualifiers for the 2003 World Cup, Japanese officials of the game have confirmed.

Australian rugby union chief John O'Neill is to push for a Super 15 series in 2003 with the addition of a combined Pacific team from Tonga, Samoa and Fiji.

A South Pacific rugby union team seems likely to become a reality with England proposed as its first opposition.

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has defended its plan to stage an annual match between the northern and southern hemispheres after criticism from the Australian and New Zealand unions.

Sir Rodney Walker, the UK’s Rugby Football League (RFL) chairman, has rejected calls for his resignation after making losses at last year’s World Cup.

Organisers of the Rugby League World Cup are hoping for an upturn in the event?s fortunes after dire weather and disruptions to UK train services caused chaos over the first weekend of matches.

Preparations for the Rugby League World Cup have been rocked by the threat of a players? boycott based on a labour dispute in New Zealand.

The Oceania Football Confederation's extraordinary congress called to elect a new president ended in disarray on Thursday without the vote being taken.

The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRFU) has announced that the All Blacks will play a Pacific rim Barbarians side in Tokyo in November.

Safety chiefs are checking the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff before this weekend?s World Cup game between Wales and Japan to ensure there is no repeat of last week's incident when a woman was injured by debris falling from the roof.

Australian rugby's most powerful administrator has warned British teams that they risk being snubbed by Australia if they persist in picking weakened squads to tour Down Under.

A bruising three-month battle for the FIFA presidency reaches a climax on Monday when Sepp Blatter and Lennart Johansson contest the biggest job in soccer.

A Dutch proposal to limit the number of countries allowed to bid to host the World Cup was rejected by FIFA's 51st Congress on Monday.

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has recommended adding Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa to the four-nation Pacific Rim championship.