After an agonising wait, London Welsh finally know their fate. The news was broken on Twitter with some confusion as to whether reports were true because neither the RFU or the clubs involved had been informed of the official result.

The decision means that London Welsh will play top flight rugby next season with Dean Richards' Newcastle Falcons being relegated having finished bottom of the Aviva Premiership.

By David Hendy

Ireland followed their narrow 22-19 loss against last week by suffering their heaviest defeat against the All Blacks with a shocking scoreline of 60-0 to the home side.


New Zealand scored nine tries in total, four in the first half and five after the interval. Flanker Sam Cane, centre Sonny Bill Williams with two, and wing Ben Smith scored tries for the All Blacks inside the first 23 minutes.

Crane added another try along with Hosea Gear, Liam Messam, Israel Dagg and Adam Thomsons to finish the rout of the Irish.

By Jake Harvey - Welsh Correspondent

Wales travelled to Australia three weeks ago with incredibly high expectations; now that it’s time for them to make their way home it seems as if those expectations seemed rather unrealistic.

Wales yesterday played their third and final test of their Australian tour. They had lost the two previous games to the world’s second strongest side but went into the match looking for Welsh Rugby’s first win against the Wallabies in Australia since 1969.

By Harry Hawkins

The success of England’s tour of South Africa must be measured against the goals it set out to achieve. These were twofold: to achieve a series win over the Springboks and to continue the long-term growth of the team with a view to winning the 2015 World Cup.

On the first count, the tour can be seen as nothing other than a failure. England will fly home from South Africa without even a Test win to their name and although an away draw against the Springboks is nothing to be scoffed at - and indeed the other Tests were reasonably close-run affairs - the ambition of Lancaster and his side is rightly such that even draws and narrow defeats should not be celebrated with too much vigour.

By Harry Hawkins

Stuart Lancaster showed once again on Thursday morning that he has no qualms about making bold selection choices. Almost half of the side is different to the one he fielded last weekend – partly through injury, partly through tactical reasoning. The side overall offers a more experienced pack and possibly a slightly more dangerous backline, but new players in key positions must play outstanding games for England if the side is to stand a chance to overturn the Springboks.

The bad news for Lancaster’s team is that arguably their two top performers of the second Test have been ruled out of the rest of the tour. Ben Youngs was sublime at scrum half last weekend, but finds himself facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines, while England’s inspirational captain Chris Robshaw also misses this weekend’s game. Both players are clearly part of Lancaster’s long term plans and will return to the side but in the meantime it falls to Lancaster to fill the gaps left by these key players.

David Hendy's review of the second round of Test matches in which all of the Home Nations lost again.

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer believes England are real contenders at the next Rugby World Cup.

England will be the tournament hosts in 2015 and the Boks boss is sure that Stuart Lancaster's men will be a major force during the next World Cup tournament.

"The one thing that has impressed me about this England team is their resilience," said Meyer. "In the Six Nations there were a lot of times when they were put to the sword but they always came back.” Meyer also admitted that England were “going to be tough on Saturday.”

Toby Flood talks to RFU.com's Steve Jones after a second Test defeat to the Springboks in Johannesburg.

By Harry Hawkins 

Three tries inside the first quarter proved too much for England to recover from at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon, as South Africa completed a series victory over their English opposition. A spirited counter-attack by Chris Robshaw and his team in the second half lifted the team to within touching distance of victory over their hosts, but a late JP Pietersen try underlined South Africa’s victory.

It was a frenetic opening by South Africa, reminiscent of their brutal third quarter performance last weekend. First Willem Alberts crossed following a Habana break on the left wing and just a few minutes later Bismarck du Plessis scored South Africa’s second.

All of the Home Nations suffered defeats today but what did you think of New Zealand v Ireland, Australia v Wales, Fiji v Scotland and South Africa v England? Comment your thoughts now!

By Jake Harvey - Welsh Correspondent

Bradley Davies (Getty)

Wales were again denied their first Test win against Australia down under for 43 years as the last kick of the game clinched a lucky 25-23 win for the Wallabies.

Wales got off to the best possible start when 20 year old winger George North went over the line after picking the ball from the base of the ruck a few metres out to score a try in the 4th minute. The Welsh held on to the lead until the 39th minute when Ozzie Fly-Half Berrick Barnes broke through to set up a try for Rob Horne so the Wallabies could go in at half time as the leading side.

By Jake Harvey - Welsh Correspondent

After a whole season of acting head coaches it is rumoured that Justin Burnell and Gareth Baber are set to leave the Cardiff Blues.

Jonathan Joseph talks to RFU.com ahead of England's second Test with the Springboks on Saturday.

By David Hendy

Disappointment for the three of the Home Nations as they all bowed down to the superiority of their hosts. Ireland suffered a heavy 42-10 defeat to current Web Ellis champions New Zealand.

Wales were defeated by a resurgent Australian side 27-19 and England were edged out of a tight contest against South Africa, losing 22-17.

By Harry Hawkins

England will field yet another new centre partnership of Manu Tuilagi and Jonathan Joseph this Saturday, in one of the boldest selections of Lancaster’s tenure. Many column inches will be devoted to the youth (both are 21) and inexperience of the centre pairing, but it is the change at fly half-which will more profoundly affect Saturday’s match.

The centres are certainly interesting selections and the decision to drop Owen Farrell – to whom Lancaster owes much from earlier in the year – would surely not have been taken lightly. The choice to select Tuilagi and Joseph reflects a desire to play the game in certain way; Farrell is a competent distributor and defender but offers little running threat in comparison to the power of Tuilagi and the elusive running of Joseph.

England's late try-scorer against South Africa, Ben Foden, talks to Steve Jones from the RFU.com podcast following England's opening test defeat to the Springboks.

By Harry Hawkins

Dan Cole in action (Getty)

A relentless second half attack proved the difference between South Africa and England at Kings Park on Saturday afternoon. A try apiece from Morne Steyn and Jean de Villiers in the third quarter gave Chris Robshaw’s England side too much to do and a promising final period was not enough to deny the Springboks victory.

It was England who started the brighter team, a strong carry from Dan Cole in the 6th minute ultimately winning a penalty which Owen Farrell coolly converted. Minutes later Robshaw won a promising turnover in South African territory, but Farrell’s grubber kick came to nothing.

Chris Ashton talks to RFU.com about facing the world's best finisher Bryan Habana and not 'getting beaten up' by the Boks. Chris Ashton starts on the wing for England in Durban on Saturday with Mike Brown at full-back and Ben Foden on the opposite wing.

By Jake Harvey - Welsh Correspondent

Wales and Australia have now named their sides to play each other on Saturday. Sam Warburton returns to the starting line-up to captain the Welsh team.

Wales: Leigh Halfpenny, Alex Cuthbert, Jonathan Davies, Scott Williams, George North, Rhys Priestland, Mike Phillips, Toby Faletau, Sam Warburton, Dan Lydiate, Luke Charteris, Bradley Davies, Adam Jones, Ken Owens, Gethin Jenkins Replacements: Matthew Rees, Paul James, Alun Wyn Jones, Ryan Jones, Lloyd Williams, James Hook, Ashley Beck

Click 'more' to view Australia team

Tom Johnson

Joe Marler of Harlequins and Exeter's Tom Johnson have been handed Test debuts, playing in the front row and back row respectively for England against South Africa in Durban on Saturday.

Mike Brown has been given a start at full-back, nudging Ben Foden onto the wing. Lancaster has chosen to stick with Brad Barritt and Manu Tuilagi in the centre with Ashton on the opposite wing to Foden. Owen Farrell and Ben Youngs will be England's starting halfback duo for Saturday.

Eben Etzebeth

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer has announced the Springbok starting line-up to face England on Saturday. Meyer has given Test debut starts to Eben Etzebeth, Marcell Coetzee and Juandre Kruger.

South Africa: Z Kirchner (Bulls); JP Pietersen (Sharks), F Steyn (Sharks), J de Villiers (Stormers, capt), B Habana (Stormers); M Steyn (Bulls), F Hougaard (Bulls); T Mtawarira (Sharks), B du Plessis (Sharks), J du Plessis (Sharks), E Etzebeth (Stormers), J Kruger (Bulls), W Alberts (Sharks), M Coetzee (Sharks), P Spies (Bulls)

Replacements: A Strauss (Cheetahs), C Oosthuizen (Cheetahs), F Van Der Merwe (Bulls), K Daniel (Sharks), R Pienaar (Ulster), P Lambie (Sharks), W Olivier (Bulls)

Saracens' John Smit thinks England have the upper-hand over the Springboks ahead of their opening Test match in Durban this Saturday.

The England squad arrived in South Africa last week for the three-Test series, but South Africa's new coach Heyneke Meyer has had less preparation for the opening match of the series and has included nine uncapped players in his squad.

The Springboks remain favourites to win the entire series, but former captain Smit, who helped South Africa to Rugby World Cup glory in 2007, still believes England have the best chance of victory this weekend.

By Rowan Birch

On Saturday 26th May, Harlequins defied the odds in their first ever Premiership final to beat firm favourites Leicester, in what was their eighth successive final.

So how did David beat Goliath? Firstly, Quins were the outright underdogs from the off. They had no experience of Premiership finals and the general consensus was a heavy victory for the Tigers.

But the underdog tag wasn't all bad. It put significant pressure on Leicester and allowed Quins to play how they wanted. It also allowed the Quins to play exciting, quick rugby - just the way they like it, as the London based club had nothing to lose.