The Rugby Sevens World Series is to expand as it builds up to the sport's inclusion at the Olympic Games in 2016, organizers said on Tuesday.

Leigh Halfpenny's last-minute penalty gave Wales a 23-21 win over Ireland in an enthralling Six Nations seesaw battle on Sunday as the hosts failed to avenge last year's World Cup quarterfinal defeat.

France justified its status as Six Nations favorite with a 30-12 win over Italy, while England's rebuilt side showed it has spirit as well as talent to open its title defense with a 13-6 win at Scotland on Saturday.

Old hurts and new hopes will all be in the air when Scotland and England start their Six Nations campaign with the latest edition of international rugby union's oldest match here on Saturday.

Rugby World Cup (RWC) finalists France will bid to get their Six Nations campaign off with a resounding bang when they host Italy at the Stade de France on Saturday.

New England captain Chris Robshaw will be winning just his second Test cap when he leads the side against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday having never before played at the Edinburgh ground.

Former Australia coach Eddie Jones was expected to be named head coach of Japan's national rugby team Monday to replace All Blacks legend John Kirwan.

After 24 years of stumbles, disappointments and plain old chokes, New Zealand finally lived up to its billing as world rugby's premier side in 2011.

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced a new points-scoring system for this season's World Sevens circuit on the eve of the opening tournament on Australia's Gold Coast.

Samoa's manager at the recent Rugby World Cup in New Zealand has been symbolically fined 100 pigs by his home village over allegations he misbehaved at the tournament.