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Wales Online
20 hours ago
- Sport
- Wales Online
Tonight's rugby news as young Wales team named and coach says his comments were 'sloppy'
Tonight's rugby news as young Wales team named and coach says his comments were 'sloppy' The latest rugby news from Wales and beyond. Harri Ford of Wales (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd ) Your rugby evening headlines on Friday, June 27. Wales name team for World Rugby Championship Dragons playmaker Harri Ford has been given the nod to wear the Wales number 10 shirt for their World Rugby U20 Championship opener against Argentina in Verona on Sunday. Cardiff outside-half Harri Wilde was preferred for the majority of the U20s Six Nations but head coach Richard Whiffin has opted for Ford this time around. Ford is one of four changes from the side which claimed a memorable victory over world champions England U20s in the Six Nations finale. Bath full-back Jack Woods also comes into the starting XV in place of Tom Bowen, while Cardiff's Elijah Evans starts in the unfamiliar position of wing. There is also a welcome return for powerful Dragons lock Nick Thomas who has returned from an ankle injury which sidelined the 19-year-old for the majority of the Six Nations. Article continues below 'Nick has worked hard to get back from the injury he had in Six Nations,' explained Whiffin. 'He offers a level of experience in the second row against what we know is going to be a formidable Argentina pack. 'Elijah Evans is one of the quickest guys in the squad. His aerial game is really strong and the way we want to play the game will suit him in that wide channel.' Wales have been drawn in a tough pool with Argentina, France and Spain but have every reason to be optimistic. Whiffin has selected a powerful front-row which includes Ioan Emanuel, Harry Thomas and Sam Scott, while Bristol's Kenzie Jenkins partners Thomas in the second-row. Openside Harry Beddall captains the side from openside flanker with Deian Gwynne and Evan Minto also in the back row. Cardiff's Sion Davies is at scrum-half with Steffan Emanuel and Osian Roberts in midfield. The highly rated Aidan Boshoff makes up the back three with Woods and Evans. 'It was a tough job getting the squad down to 30 and even tougher to get it down to 23 for the match against Argentina,' said Whiffin. 'We spoke to the boys and told them everyone is going to play in the first three games, and everyone has got to be ready. 'The seven boys who have missed out still have a crucial role to play – their job is to help prepare the team and be good team men. We're a tight group and they have reacted really well, and I know that those boys when they get the opportunity, they will take it.' Whiffin expects Argentina to pose a major challenge to Wales, with full back Pascal Senillosa the only player to gain 200-plus metres from his carries in this year's TRC U20. 'They did well in their Rugby Championship and have a big physical pack and they have got some electric outside backs," he said. "Their 10 and 15 control the game very well so they will be a couple of guys we need to make sure we apply pressure to, and we have to be smart in how we manage our energy levels in what will be a daunting proposition in the heat of Italy." Wales U20: Jack Woods (Bath); Elijah Evans (Cardiff), Osian Roberts (Sale Sharks), Steffan Emanuel (Cardiff), Aidan Boshoff (Bristol Bears); Harri Ford (Dragons), Sion Davies (Cardiff); Ioan Emanuel (Bath), Harry Thomas (Scarlets), Sam Scott (Bristol Bears), Kenzie Jenkins (Bristol Bears), Nick Thomas (Dragons), Deian Gwynne (Gloucester), Harry Beddall - captain (Dragons), Evan Minto (Dragons) Replacements: Saul Hurley (Aberavon), Louie Trevett (Bristol Bears), Owain James (Dragons), Dan Gemine (Llandovery), Caio James (Gloucester), Ellis Lewis (Neath), Harri Wilde (Cardiff), Tom Bowen (Cardiff). Joe Schmidt addresses foreign-born player swipe Australia head coach Joe Schmidt has admitted his comments were "sloppy" about Sione Tuipulotu and Bundee Aki. The British and Irish Lions centre duo were born in Australia and New Zealand, respectively, and they came under fire from the Wallabies head coach. Schmidt described their centre pairing against Argentina as a "southern hemisphere partnership that will be pretty formidable". His comments were not met with open arms by the British and Irish media, with many condemning his decision to bring it up. However, Schmidt, who previously worked with Aki, has now taken the opportunity to clarify that no ill meaning was intended, while recognising his poor choice of words. "Bundee is one of the players I've so enjoyed coaching, and I'd have so much respect for that fella, that wasn't supposed to be a swipe or a jibe at all," Schmidt told the Sydney Morning Herald. "In fact, it was sloppy from me because someone had just been talking to me and described it as that, and then I used their words, and I should have just stuck to my own words and said, 'hey, there's a lot of respect in Australia for Sione'." "There are coaches who certainly do it, and they even talk to their team through the media sometimes," he said. "But if I've got something to say to a player, I'd rather say it to them than fire a barrel through the media. I know that a lift-out quote or a phrase can be a headline and inevitably, even after 20-plus years of doing this job, I'll get it wrong. "I'm conscious of it and I'm conscious that other coaches do it, but I don't anticipate it happening in this Lions tour. 'Faz' and I have had a few conversations about how we'd like the narrative of the tour to be a celebration of rugby. I think for Australian rugby, we need that." Mack Hansen urges caution when the Lions take on Western Force By Duncan Bech, PA Rugby Union Correspondent, Perth Mack Hansen knows what is awaiting the British and Irish Lions' in Perth on Saturday after being present as a spectator for the Brumbies' famous upset of the tourists on their last visit to Australia. Hansen starts on the right wing against Western Force at Optus Stadium where he will face some of his old Brumbies team-mates, including a former housemate in Bayley Kuenzle. The 27-year-old was born and raised in Canberra and began his career playing for the most successful of Australia's Super Rugby franchises before joining Connacht in 2021. Selection for Ireland the following year was made possible through his Irish mother and 28 caps later he is on tour with the elite of British and Irish rugby, recalling a cautionary tale from 2013. 'I was at that Brumbies game with my dad and brother and the Brumbies beat the Lions, so these things do happen,' he said. 'We were sitting behind the goalposts watching it. It was mad. You don't expect anyone to actually do it, but I talked to guys after that and they'd been pumped up for the game for weeks, working towards it. 'They saw it as the be-all and end-all. Also, guys are playing to try to get into the Wallabies as well, so there's still a lot on the line for a lot of these teams. 'None of the games are going to be easy. Everyone wants to win – it's not just us that want to win. 'We want to win every game but the Force aren't saying 'all right boys, let's go out and lose by 40'. They'll be coming out thinking 'we can cause an upset'. They've only got one game, then they're on holiday. 'There will be this, then they'll have 10 toes up for the next five weeks, so I'm sure they're going to give it their all. 'When you get that time after time after time after time for however long we're here, it will take its toll on us, but that's a good thing. It makes us better and it makes the game more exciting.' British and Irish Lions urged to 'create moments' ahead of Australia tour opener By Duncan Bech, PA Rugby Union Correspondent, Perth The British and Irish Lions have been urged to create memories when they play their first fixture on Australian soil against Western Force on Saturday. The Lions are eager to kickstart their tour after falling 28-24 to Argentina in the Dublin opener as they build towards the Test series against the Wallabies, which begins in Brisbane on July 19. Although they may be the worst performing of Australia's Super Rugby sides this season, the Force have been reinforced by the presence of six Wallabies who have been released for the Optus Stadium showdown. Scrum coach John Fogarty highlights the importance of the Lions rewarding their supporters – more than 30,000 are expected to head Down Under – after seeing the Aviva Stadium turn red last Friday. 'The lads need to create moments for people to get behind,' said Fogarty, who oversaw a dominant scrum performance against the Pumas. 'Whether it's in a scrum or off a line-out or attacking play or defensive play, we need to make sure we're creating moments that capture the minds of the people that matter most. That's the plan. 'It's an amazing thing, the Lions. You get behind it instantly. It was disappointing against Argentina because you feel like you're letting people down a little bit due to the performance and the result.' Fogarty believes the Lions will be better for another week together, enabling them to build familiarity with each other. Article continues below 'There were little things around mentality. Sometimes you come into a game, it's a big occasion and you're in your head a bit and not playing the game on instinct,' he said. 'That's why this week has been so important, we've been getting more cohesive and a bit more in synch so that come game day we can play off instincts. It should all become more natural to us.'
RTÉ News
a day ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Neil Doak named Ireland team for for U20 Championship opener
Ireland Under-20 head coach Neil Doak has named his squad, for Sunday's opening game in the 2025 World Rugby U20 Championship. Ireland face Georgia's U20 side on Sunday 29 June 2 at 5pm (Irish time) in Calvisano, Italy. Connacht's Éanna McCarthy captains the side after leading the team all through the recent U20 Six Nations. Charlie Molony, Paidi Farrell and Derry Moloney start in Ireland's back three, with Eoghan Smyth and Ciarán Mangan making up the midfield pairing. Tom Wood is at out-half and is joined in the half-backs by Clark Logan. In the pack, Billy Bohan, Henry Walker and Alex Mullan are in the front row, Mahon Ronan and Billy Corrigan in the engine room and Luke Murphy joins Michael Foy and McCarthy in the back row. Mikey Yarr, Alex Usanov, Tom McAllister, Conor Kennelly and Bobby Power are the forwards available to Doak and his Coaching Team on the bench, with backs Will Wootton, Sam Wisniewski and Daniel Green completing Ireland's 23.
The Citizen
a day ago
- Sport
- The Citizen
Foote makes changes to Junior Boks team for U20 Championship opener
The Junior Boks were last in action on home soil at the 2025 U20 Rugby Championship, held in Gqeberha. The Junior Boks take on Australia in Calvisano on Sunday. Here, from left to right, are: Simphiwe Moyo, captain Riley Norton, coach Kevin Foote, Wandile Mlaba and Hassiem Pead. Picture: Misha Jordaan/Gallo Images The Junior Springboks kick off their World Rugby U20 Championship with a clash against old rivals, Australia, in Calvisano, Italy on Sunday, with kick-off at 3.30pm. While the team is a settled one, it does show four changes from the side that ran New Zealand close in the teams' final match of the U20 Rugby Championship, played in Gqeberha, last month. Coach Kevin Foote has made one change in the backline and three in the pack from the side that were pipped by New Zealand. Siya Ndlozi replaces Gino Cupido on the left wing, while the rest of the backline remain the same. In the starting pack, two changes are made at the side of the scrum, with flankers Batho Hlekani and Xola Nyali forming the loose trio combination with No 8 Wandile Mlaba, while in the front row Herman Lubbe gets the nod at tighthead ahead of Jean Erasmus, who is now set to play off the bench. Jaco Grobbelaar (lock), who joined up with the squad shortly before they flew out from Cape Town, is also set to join the action off the bench. Amongst the backline replacements, Ian van der Merwe (flyhalf) and Jaco Williams (outside back) are in line to make their Junior Bok debuts should they come off the bench. 'Selection is always tough' 'We are extremely excited about starting the World Championship in Italy,' said Foote. 'It's a great country and you can feel the energy within the group. The players have prepared well, they've got clarity, and they are just such a great group together.' Talking about his team for the match, Foote said: 'Selection is always tough and leaving some guys out is hard, but we've gone with a team that has played a lot together now, has a lot of synergy and understanding of our game, and knows how to connect on the field. 'We are very excited about the team that we have selected, with Riley Norton captaining the side, and he will be assisted by Haashim Pead, JJ Theron and Siphosethu Mnebelele.' The tournament consists of three pools, each with four teams. After the three pool matches, the three pool winners and the best runner-up out of the three pools will progress to the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals will contest the final, while the losers of those semi-finals will play for third place, with the others vying for positional places. Junior Springbok team to face Australia: Gilermo Mentoe, Cheswill Jooste, Demitre Erasmus, Albie Bester, Siyabonga Ndlozi, Vusi Moyo, Haashim Pead, Wandile Mlaba, Bathobele Hlekani, Xola Nyali, JJ Theron, Riley Norton (capt), Herman Lubbe, Siphosethu Mnebelele, Simphiwe Ngobese. Bench: Jaundre Schoeman, Oliver Reid, Jean Erasmus, Jaco Grobbelaar, Matt Romao, Erich Visser, Ian van der Merwe, Jaco Williams
Scotsman
a day ago
- Sport
- Scotsman
Good and bad news for Scotland U20 ahead of World Championships amid Freddy Douglas blow
Murray challenges team to give a better account of themselves in England opener Sign up to our Rugby Union newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... There was good and bad news for Scotland Under-20s ahead of their World Rugby U20 Championship opener against England in Italy. On the plus side, the spectre of relegation has been removed because the tournament is expanding from 12 to 16 teams next year. The young Scots have worked hard to return to the top-tier tournament so knowing they are going to remain there comes as a relief. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad On the debit side, they will go into the England match without Freddy Douglas, their talismanic co-captain who has suffered a concussion. Scotland U20s' Oliver Duncan (L) and Jack Brown. | SNS Group / SRU Douglas, 20, is already a full Scotland international and made a big impact on Kenny Murray's under-20 side when he returned from injury midway through the U20 Six Nations, scoring three tries in the Scots' final three matches. The hope is that the openside flanker will be available for Scotland's second game at the World Championship, against Australia next Friday. In the meantime, Edinburgh's Oliver Duncan moves over from six to seven to cover Douglas' absence and Montpellier's Charlie Moss comes in to the side at six. Coping without Freddy Douglas 'Freddy took a wee bit of a bang in a maul in training,' explained Murray. 'Following the return-to-play protocols and all things going well, he'll be available for game two. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We were probably going to start Freddy at seven but it doesn't really weaken us too much. Charlie and Oliver Duncan are both good sixes. It gives us a bit more size as well which, against England, is obviously something you want to have.' Scotland U20 head coach Kenny Murray. | SNS Group / SRU As well as England and Australia, Scotland will also face South Africa in Pool A. It is a daunting draw and there will be two play-off classification games which follow the group stage to decide the final positions. In previous tournaments, the 12th team were demoted to the second-tier World Rugby U20 Trophy competition, a fate which befell Scotland in 2019. A combination of Covid and failure to win promotion in 2023 meant they have remained out of the elite for six years but victory in the Trophy last summer secured their return and the absence of relegation this time has been welcomed by Murray. 'It took a wee while, but we always knew there was a possibility that it might happen this year,' said the coach. 'They were looking to extend it to 16 teams, so it takes a bit of pressure off in terms of not having to worry about relegation and going into game four and five. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Atoning for heavy Six Nations defeat 'Not a lot of changes, we still want to perform well and win our games and give a good account of ourselves but we can now try to do that without the added pressure of relegation.' England defeated Scotland 57-13 in the U20 Six Nations and are the defending world champions at this level and Murray has urged his team to give a better account of themselves in Verona on Sunday than they did in Newcastle in February. 'The England game in the Six Nations was probably our worst performance of the tournament,' he said. 'I don't think we gave a good account of ourselves in that game and nothing really went for us. We want to go out there on Sunday and have a much better performance and have a real crack at them.' Conditions will be tough, with temperatures in northern Italy above 30 degrees. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Scotland U20 (v England U20, Payanini Center, Verona, Sunday, 2.30pm BST, live on RugbyPassTV 15. Jack Brown (Edinburgh); 14. Nairn Moncrieff (Edinburgh); 13. Johnny Ventisei (Glasgow; capt), 12. Kerr Yule (Glasgow), 11. Fergus Watson (Glasgow); 10. Matthew Urwin (Glasgow), 9. Noah Cowan (Brunel University/Ealing Trailfinders); 1. Jake Shearer (Glasgow), 2. Joe Roberts (Glasgow), 3. Ollie Blyth-Lafferty (Edinburgh). 4. Bart Godsell (Loughborough Univ), 5. Dan Halkon (Glasgow), 6. Charlie Moss (Montpellier), 7. Oliver Duncan (Edinburgh), 8. Reuben Logan (Northampton).
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
McCarthy: Ireland U20s went back to the drawing board
Ireland captain Éanna McCarthy said they went back to the drawing board after finishing bottom of this year's Six Nations and he's confident they have re-aligned themselves to do well at the World Rugby U20 Championship which kicks off on Sunday when they take on Georgia in Calvisano (5pm Irish time). The Connacht flanker said the squad have settled in well at their base near Lake Garda and have been acclimatising to the 30 degree heat in the past few days and are ready to hit the ground running in a group which will also include ties with hosts Italy and New Zealand. McCarthy said they obviously were not happy with their results from the Six Nations where their only win came against Scotland. 'We went kind of back to the drawing board after it and I suppose we kind of saw where we were falling down in areas and we've worked on them big time so, yeah, we're feeling happy enough going into now. 'I think we had a lot of green entries during the Six Nations that we couldn't convert so when we did go back to the drawing board after it we kind of put our finger on that and we've been practising a good bit around breakdown habits and kind of banker balls with our pack,' said the Cork native who is heading into his second year in the Connacht academy. McCarthy has not played against Georgia in any other grade but is in no doubt about the task they face against a country participating in this competition for the seventh year in succession. 'Georgia definitely is going to be a massive battle up front,' added McCarthy. 'I think the forward pack will have to step up big time because they have big men coming against us so that's our first hope to beat them and get a good start to the work.' Ireland, with Keith Wood's son Tom starting at out-half where he will be partnered by Ulster's Clark Logan, have appeared in all 14 U20 tournaments so far, twice reaching the final. They finished seventh and eighth when the tournament was previously held in Italy and were beaten semi-finalists last year in South Africa, having been runners-up to France the previous year. Head coach Neil Doak is boosted by the return of prop Alex Usanov who missed the Six Nations through injury and the Clontarf RFC player is named on a strong bench as Ireland bid for a winning start against a Georgia side they have beaten in three of their four previous meetings at the tournament. Ireland will play Italy in Viadana next Wednesday and conconclude the group phase with a clash against New Zealand back in Calvisano. IRELAND U20: C Molony (Leinster), P Farrell (Leinster), C Mangan (Leinster), E Smyth (Munster), D Moloney (Leinster), T Wood (Munster), C Logan (Ulster); B Bohan (Connacht), H Walker (Ulster), A Mullan (Leinster), M Ronan (Leinster), B Corrigan (Leinster), M Foy (Munster), É McCarthy (Connacht, captain), L Murphy (Munster) Replacements: M Yarr (Leinster), A Usanov (Leinster), T McAllister (Ulster), C Kennelly (Munster), B Power (Connacht), W Wootton (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby), S Wisniewski (Leinster), D Green (Ulster)
