Rugby: the main stories of 23.09.2026

Three Prem clubs could soon have part-owners from overseas. Harlequins, Northampton and Gloucester are in talks with foreign investors, with the league about to start its 30th season. Northampton begin that season as defending champions and favourites, so the most successful side in England is among those looking for outside money. According to the report, the league has a growth plan behind the talks and is not simply bailing out clubs in trouble. If any of the three deals is signed, it will set the price for the rest of the Prem.

Steve Borthwick has a year until the World Cup, and the league has now done something for him. The Prem has agreed new refereeing interpretations that target the scrum and the breakdown, which it named as the areas where decisions have been least consistent. The change comes 2 years after the RFU and the Prem signed their £264m deal. In a column for the Guardian, Gerard Meagher writes that England are still waiting for the benefits the deal promised, though he says the league itself has become "a vibrant spectacle".

• Wakefield Trinity play Wigan for a Grand Final place. Daryl Powell says the club is "building towards a historic moment", as quoted in a single report. Wigan went into the play-offs chasing a treble.
• Toulouse were promoted this season and finished mid-table in Super League, level with Catalans. Their games are still not widely shown on television in France.
• Yenisei-STM face Dynamo in the Russian Cup final in Moscow on 27 September. Evgeny Elgin said last season was "not easy" and that the side want to take the trophy home, according to a single outlet.