Here are your rugby evening headlines for Thursday 12 September.
Wallabies will be ready for Lions
Australia will offer serious competition to the British and Irish Lions next summer, says Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh.
The Wallabies were humiliated last weekend when they were hammered 67-27 by Argentina in the Rugby Championship. They have lost three of their four games in the competition so far, having crashed out of the World Cup in the pool stages last year.
After the premature exit in France last year under Eddie Jones, few down under were too quick to get ahead of themselves after Joe Schmidt started his reign with back-to-back wins over Wales this summer, as well as a victory over Georgia.
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But barely any would have expected the Wallabies to implode from a 20-3 lead in Santa Fe, having beaten Argentina the week before. Naturally, with the Lions visiting next year, questions have been asked about whether the Wallabies will be a competitive force.
“You can see the progress is there,” Waugh told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“It is not nearly where we need it to be, but if we keep progressing at the speed with which we have moved things in the last six months, then there is plenty of time.”
He added: “It is a team that is, and I hate using the word ‘re-building’, but it is a team that is re-setting, and it takes experiences in big moments to get better,” Waugh added.
“Obviously the enormity of the scoreline in that second half was disappointing. But there is context that is important… we are not the most experienced team in world rugby, and we are building that experience.”
Recovery session that led to rugby player’s disappearance was ‘poorly organised’
An investigation by France’s rugby federation has concluded that the disappearance of Medhi Narjissi was partly caused by a poorly organised recovery session.
The 17-year-old was swept away while taking part in a session organised by the France U18s management in the sea off Cape Town in South Africa in August. The FFR said that warning signs on the beach were either ignored or missed, with the supervision of the session being called “poorly controlled”.
“The decision to organise a recovery session in the water on Dias Beach was taken without considering the dangerousness of the site, in particular rip currents, waves and rocks,” the FFR said.
The FFR says it is exploring the possibility of taking action against the officials in charge of the U18s team at the time. All staff present, as well as some of the players involved, were interviewed by the governing body.
Medhi’s father, Jalil Narjissi, has criticised the staff who organised the session.
“It’s not an accident, it was caused,” he said. “A bus accident, a plane crash, or if Medhi gets hurt and becomes paraplegic, we are all sorry, dejected. But not this, not something like that.
“They played with the lives of our children.”
The FFR says it has made all the information it has gathered available to Narjissi’s parents and sent its report to the French Ministry of Sport.
Wales prop to make Scarlets debut
Wales international Henry Thomas will make his Scarlets debut in Friday’s final pre-season outing against Saracens at the StoneX Stadium.
The tighthead starts for Dwayne Peel’s side after joining from French club Castres Olympique. The Wales World Cup squad member is one of many changes from last week’s clash with Leicester.
He starts alongside fellow Wales internationals Kemsley Mathias and Ryan Elias in the front-row, with the latter captaining the side. Scotland international Alex Craig is also back in action, packing down alongside new signing Max Douglas in the second-row.
Wales flanker Taine Plumtree is another to get a first run-out in pre-season, starting in the back-row alongside Jarrod Taylor and Vaea Fifita.
In the backline, Wales half-back pairing Gareth Davies and Sam Costelow start, while Eddie James once again partners Macs Page in midfield. In the back-three, Ioan Lloyd switches to full-back as Tom Rogers moves to the wing, with new signing Blair Murray getting another game out wide.
Peel has named an extended squad with a 13-man bench, with Ed Scragg set for his first appearance of this pre-season.
“It is another important game to continue our build-up to round one of the URC against Benetton,” said Peel. “It is good to welcome back some of our internationals and hopefully we’ll have a few more boys back for next week’s game.”
The Scarlets have also confirmed that scrum-half Archie Hughes is to see a specialist following the ankle injury he suffered against Leicester last weekend, while a few players carrying niggles will be assessed next week ahead of the opening match of the season.
Scarlets team to face Saracens: Ioan Lloyd; Tom Rogers, Macs Page, Eddie James, Blair Murray; Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies; Kemsley Mathias, Ryan Elias (capt), Henry Thomas, Alex Craig, Max Douglas, Taine Plumtree, Jarrod Taylor, Vaea Fifita.
Replacements: Marnus van der Merwe, Sam O’Connor, Harri O’Connor, Jac Price, Ed Scragg, Dan Davis, Ben Williams, Carwyn Tuipulotu, Efan Jones, Charlie Titcombe, Gabe McDonald, Jac Davies, Ellis Mee.
New captain to lead Dragons for first time
Shane Lewis-Hughes will make his first appearance for Dragons on Friday as Dai Flanagan welcomes back a host of Wales internationals for their pre-season friendly against Bath at the Rec.
Back-row Lewis-Hughes, who has won three caps for Wales, starts for the first time since joining from Cardiff this summer, while Test stars Rio Dyer, Matthew Screech and new club captain Ben Carter all return to the starting side after touring Australia in July.
Full-back Cai Evans and tighthead prop Leon Brown are also notable returnees for Flanagan’s side.
“We’re looking forward to our final pre-season test, and it should be a great challenge against a full-strength Bath side in front of a big crowd at The Rec,” said the Dragons head coach.
“We’ve looked to get all the squad game time throughout pre-season and it’s fantastic that we welcome back several of our Welsh internationals for this fixture.
“It’s another big 80 minutes as we look to build momentum ahead of the league opener against Ospreys next weekend.”
Dragons RFC: Cai Evans; Rio Dyer, Jared Rosser, Aneurin Owen, Ewan Rosser; Lloyd Evans Rhodri Williams; Rodrigo Martinez, Brodie Coghlan, Leon Brown, Matthew Screech, Ben Carter (c), Ryan Woodman, Harri Keddie, Shane Lewis-Hughes.
Replacements: Rhodri Jones, James Benjamin, Oli Burrows, Luke Yendle, Owain James, Nick Thomas, George Nott, Evan Minto, George Young, Dane Blacker, Will Reed, Steff Hughes, Huw Anderson, Harry Rees-Weldon.
