Sunday evening headlines as ex-England star reveals rugby racial abuse horror and South Africa 'to join Six Nations' fresh claim

There are some of the stories making the rugby news on the evening of Sunday June 26.

Former England centre Luther Burrell has opened up on racial abuse he has received throughout his career.

In an unerringly honest interview with the Daily Mail, Burrell discusses his experiences of team-mates using racially-charged words and phrases to disparage him.

After admitting that he wrestled with the idea of going public, Burrell ultimately decided he wanted the truth to emerge in the hope that it instigates change.

He told The Mail: "I’ve heard things that you wouldn’t expect to hear 20 years ago. We had a hot day at training and I told one of the lads to put on their factor 50. Someone came back and said, “You don’t need it, Luth, put your carrot oil on”.

"Then another lad jumps in and says, 'No, no, no, he’ll need it for where his shackles were as a slave'.

"Where does that come from? Some players shake their heads and others laugh along with it.

"People greet you as, “What’s up my n*****?” It’s not meant in a bad way but when is it going to change? It’s a very, very raw subject. Over the past few years, it’s happened a lot. That’s the environment.

"It’s normalised because I allowed it to become normalised. I’d laugh it off. I’ve been a coward by not speaking up."

The Springboks will soon be playing Wales, and the rest of Europe's elite, on an annual basis in an expanded Six Nations, claims one journalist in South Africa.

Speculation about the world champions coming into rugby's biggest and most successful annual tournament has been revived ahead of Wayne Pivac's men playing three Tests against the Springboks in the coming weeks.

Six Nations bosses insisted there were no plans to drop a team, or expand the competition, in