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Perth Now
2 days ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
British and Irish Lions suffer injury in Test tune-up
The British and Irish Lions have demolished an Australia and New Zealand invitational outfit 48-0, but the tune-up has come with a cost. The Lions lost England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie to suspected concussion in Saturday night's Adelaide Oval fixture. The 32-year-old was hurt as the tourists put the polish on preparations for the Test series opener against the Wallabies in Brisbane in a week. The Lions enter the first Test unbeaten in five tour games, but with significant concern over Cowan-Dickie. The experienced Englishman was crunched in a tackling collision with AUNZ co-captain Lukhan Salakaia-Loto in the opening half. Cowan-Dickie was stretchered off as the Lions made early inroads against a combined Australia and New Zealand squad featuring 17 players with international experience. Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe was the chief beneficiary of his side's dominance, scoring two of his three tries in an early 13-minute span. Van der Merwe opened scoring in the seventh minute when piercing through the left side after some slick work from Ireland's Hugo Keenan. Just three minutes later, Ben White crossed after a grab-and-go, before van der Merwe added his second try in the 20th minute. The Lions held a commanding 17-0 lead before Cowan-Dickie's injury in the 36th minute took the sting from the opening half before a 43,124-strong crowd. But soon after the restart, the tourists extended their command when Sione Tuipulotu sliced with ease through the disjointed locals. The Lions led 24-0 when coach Andy Farrell summoned his son and ex-England captain Owen from the bench for his first outing of the tour. Farrell was involved in the set-up of the Lions' next try when Scott Cummings tore through a hole in the 62nd minute. Just two minutes later, van der Merwe completed his hat-trick when again gifted time and space from a sagging AUNZ defence, before Ronan Kelleher added another. Henry Pollock then beat AUNZ's Harry McLaughlin-Phillips in a dive for another try in a fifth consecutive tour win - the Lions opened with a 54-7 trouncing of Western Force, before accounting for the Reds (52-12), Waratahs (21-10) and Brumbies (36-24).
Belfast Telegraph
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Donemana complete Irish Senior Cup record chase to defeat Waringstown
Set 359 for victory, Donemana still needed 49 from the last three overs with just three wickets left but David O'Sullivan hit Waringstown professional Daniel van der Merwe for five sixes in an eight-ball over which reduced the target to 15 off 12 balls. O'Sullivan, though, was caught by van der Merwe off the bowling of Ross Allen from the next ball he faced and the drama increased when Dwayne McGerrigle pulled a hamstring and needed a runner for the last over which started with Donemana on 353 for eight. Ricky-Lee Dougherty was on strike and a couple of twos and two wides, the latter a short ball from van der Merwe which went over the head of the batter, won the match - without McGerrigle having to face - with two balls to spare. The victory had been set up by 50s from David Dougherty, Ray Curry, sent in as the last over runner, and Anuj Jotin with Adam Dennison the only Waringstown bowler to go for less than six runs an over. The top two scorers in the match both came in the Waringstown innings, with James McCollum hitting 125 and captain Greg Thompson a whirlwind 74 not out from 33 balls, with nine fours and three sixes. His unbroken sixth wicket partnership of 89 with van der Merwe came from just 34 balls but it proved in vain. Van der Merwe, ironically, hit five sixes in his 36 from 13 balls. Before the drama at the Lawn, the best game of the day was in Cork, although it looked to be a comfortable win for Civil Service North when they reduced their hosts to 111 for seven. But a remarkable 105 by Munster Reds player Zubair Khan, from No 9, hoisted Cork County to 271. After the dismissal of professional Sean Davey for 46, CSN still needed 92 from the last 13 overs but captain Stuart Thompson's 94 not out saw them home with 10 balls to spare. In all, it was a bad day for Ulster clubs with Coleraine the only other North West winners – they bowled out Muckamore for 99 – and there will be only four NCU teams in the second round. A second wicket partnership of 195 between Chris Dougherty (105) and Jake Egan (128) was the basis of CIYMS' crushing 127 runs victory at Bready. Carson McCullough took five wickets as the home side were dismissed for 185. Lisburn captain Neil Whitworth also took five wickets as his side made it seven wins out of seven this season with a seven wickets win over Brigade at Wallace Park, James Hunter hitting 89 not out from 71 balls to seal victory at the start of the 28th over. Instonians reached their target of 179 in exactly the same time, for the loss of four wickets, to ease past Strabane at Shaw's Bridge. Captain Nikolai Smith, opening in place of Ireland call-up Cade Carmichael, top scored with 54. Elsewhere, there were heavy defeats for Woodvale, North Down and Cliftonville Academy by Malahide, Pembroke and Balbriggan respectively but Templepatrick put up a good fight in their first ever Irish Cup game, before going down to Clontarf by five wickets. Captain Ross Bryans hit 77 in the NCU side's 236. Irish Senior Cup Round One Bready v CIYMS Maghermason CIYMS 312/4 (50 overs; J Egan 128, C Dougherty 105, C McCullough 46*; T Faulkner 2-39) Bready 185 (38.1 overs: D Rankin 45, J van Heerdon 41, G Roulston 38, K Magee 21; C McCullough 5-38, A Armstrong 2-35) CIYMS Won by 127 runs Ardmore v Rush The Bleachgreen Rush 364/9 (50 overs; N McGuire 107, J McGee 89, E Ahmed 78, J Barnes 34*; H Zimmermann 4-61, Edrees Kharatoi 3-83) Ardmore 163 (32.2 overs: H Zimmermann 89*; A Taniwal 3-17, J Barnes 3-40, A Eastwood 2-26) Rush won by 201 runs Newbuildings v Leinster Foyleview Arena Newbuildings 127 (29.5 overs; P Salmon 33, J Dunn 23; Bilal Azhar 3-20, Jai Moondra 3-54, B Mitchell 2-20) Leinster 132/4 (20.1 overs; B Mitchell 60, M Patel 30, Y Ahmadzai 27*, S Lazars 2-29) Leinster won by 6 wickets Lisburn v Brigade Wallace Park Brigade 196 (49.2 overs; I Hussain 44, D Barr 37, R Barr 34, J Smallwoods 25; N Whitworth 5-28, C Atkinson 3-33, F Fazal 2-36) Lisburn 197/3 ( 27.1 overs; R Adair 34, J Hunter 89*, F Fazal 35*) Lisburn won by 7 wickets Waringstown v Donemana The Lawn 358/5 (50 overs; J McCollum 113*, G Thompson 74*, A Dennison 55, D van der Merwe 36*, S Topping 31, M Topping 20; S Huey 2-89) Donemana 359/8 (49.4 overs: D O'Sullivan 66, A Jotin 67, R Curry 56, B Dougherty 52, J Huey 41, G McClintock 25; R Allen 2-62, G Thompson 2-65, J Mitchell 2-65) Donemana won by 2 wickets Instonians v Strabane Shaw's Bridge Strabane 178 (44.5 overs; R Liyanarachchi 66, M McNulty 29; S Dadswell 3-20, A White 2-29, C Robertson 3-43) Instonians 180/4 (27 overs; N Smith 54, A Ly 24, N Rock 23; A Mullen 3-33) Instonians won by 6 wickets Templepatrick v Clontarf The Cloughan Templepatrick 236 (48.3 overs; R Bryans 77, S Weerakkody 46, B Cave 28, C Swart 25; D Delany 4-41, J McNally 2-33) Clontarf 237/5 (38 overs; E Delany 68*, D Delany 54*, S Lynch 33, P Xie 31; S Weerakkody 2-49) Clontarf won by 5 wickets Woodvale v Malahide Ballygomartin Road Malahide 340 (49.4 overs; R Foulkes 143, C McLoughlin-Gavin 116, A Doyle 21; K Walsh 3-49, F Restieaux 2-60) Woodvale 117 (23.5 overs; P Maduwnatha 47*, R Pretorius 36; M Frost 3-31, A Sheridan 2-27) Malahaide won by 223 runs Cork County v CSNI The Mardyke Cork County 271 (47.2 overs; Z Khan 105, Mark Andrianatos 34, B Upman 31, B Nabi 30; J West 4-68, F Lutton 2-61) CSNI 273/5 (48.2 overs; S Thompson 94*, S Davey 46, A Leckey 35, J West 22; Mark Andrianatos 2-32, D Carey 2-56) CSNI won by 5 wickets North County v Eglinton Balrothery Eglinton 115 (27 overs; L Doherty 37; S Safi 4-27, Jake Devane 2-18, U Azhar 2-23) North County 119/2 (13 overs; J Grassi 65*, S Safi 26) North County won by 8 wickets Pembroke v North Down Sydney Parade North Down 172 (46.3 overs; M Copeland 60, S Saul 28; L Murray 3-35, B McDonough 2-23, P Lawson 2-32, A Bouton 2-49) Pembroke 175/3 (28.5 overs: JJ Garth 74, T Tector 33, B MacDonald 30, J Tector 22*; J Corbett 2-38) Pembroke won by 7 wickets Balbriggan v Cliftonville Academy Jack Harper Ground Cliftonville Academy 162 (39.2 overs; H Melly 38, V Chopra 35, D Khan 21; D Lues 3-27, Z Ali 2-7, C De Freitas 2-12, K Ali 2-14) Balbriggan 167/3 (30.1 overs: C Fletcher 53, G Dara 30, C Rowe 24*, C de Freitas 22; J Wilson 2-36) Balbriggan won by 7 wickets Coleraine v Muckamore Sandel Lodge Coleraine 213/8 (50 overs; S Campbell 69, P Carson 42, M Hutchinson 22; Randeera Ranasinge 2-40, S Henderson 2-48, Suresh 2-50) Muckamore 99 (33.4 overs; J vd Merwe 24; S Campbell 3-11, G Burns 3-26, S Hutchinson 2-23) Coleraine won by 114 Runs Irish National Cup round One County Galway v Bunrndennett Co Galway County Galway 318/3 (40 overs; S Nasim 143*, S Burra 83*, D Gomes 49) Burndennett 110 (23 overs; M Mehaffey 24, R Rahmantullah 24; S Singh 4-20, Jayesh Juneja 4-41, D Ali 2-25) County Galway won by 208 runs UCC V Sion Mills UCC Sion Mills 73 (S Galloway 22) UCC 74/0 UCC won by 10 wickets Bonds Glen v Civil Service Bonds Glen Bonds Glen 272/5 (40 overs: S Haslett 70*, H Roberts 50, L Ngoepe 43, S McGowan 40, A Thompson 30*; S Dey 2-37, S Khanna 2-43) Civil Service 237/9 (40 overs; K Narang 77, D Jeyachandran 58, D Shetty 21; D Singh 5-20, L Ngoepe 2-22, S Kincaid 2-62) Bonds Glen won by 35 runs Glendermott v North Kildare The Rectory North Kildare 165 (29.1 overs; J Uddin 48, A Elahi 29, H Maroof 22, N Boda 20; B Mills 5-40, R Nolan 2-21) Glendermott 166/2 (21.3 overs; B Mills 105*, J Lynch 32) Glendermott won by 8 wickets Ballyspallen v Drumaness Superkings Ballyspallen Drumaness Superkings 77 (22 overs; K Rapulana 4-9, I Bird 4-25) Ballyspallen 80/0 (5 overs; I Bird 73*) Ballyspallen won by 10 wickets Ballymena v University Galway Eaton Park University of Galway 227/8 (40 overs: Srajesh Mishra 66, Mohammad Danish 41, M Assad 20; M Ahmed 2-37, O Dick 2-43, C Deelman 2-58) Ballymena 222/9 (40 overs; S Willoughby 52, C Deelman 31, W Montgomery 27, S Glass 24, O Dick 20; M Asad 3-33, N Bharadwaj 2-24) Galway won by 5 runs Bangor v Limerick Upritchard Park Limerick 228/5 (40 overs; Anvesh Bogavelly 111, S Taj 58*, S Ramsay 33; M Chhabra 2-42) Bangor 229/3 (39.2 overs; S McMillan 80, M Hutchinson 67, Gareth McCullough 31*, A Kirkpatrick 20*) Bangor won by 7 wickets Cregagh v Fox Lodge Cregagh Memorial Ground Fox Lodge 265/8 (40 overs; G Maneeshan 155, B Allen 25, J Robinson 24; A watt 3-47, A McCormick 3-49) Cregagh 188 (34.4 overs; Jonny Moore 50, D Henry 27*; A Walker 4-25, J Milligan 2-18, G Maneeshan 2-31) Fox Lodge won by 77 runs Carrickfergus v Sandyford Middle Road Sandyford 217/8 (40 overs; A Pandey 111*, J Khan 33, S Jawalageri 21; CJ van der Walt 3-44, A Haggan 2-49) Carrickfergus 219/3 (36.5 overs; A Varape 100*, I Parkhill 41, CJ van der Walt 21; A Gupta 2-44) Carrickfergus won by 7 wickets The Hills v Donacloney Mill The Vineyard Donacloney Mill 148 (35.3 overs; J Markham 42, A Kennedy 40*; O Horlock 3-14, F Manoj 3-16) The Hills 149/4 (28.4 overs; O Horlock 51*, A Kavanagh 31, H Shahid 21; T McClure 2-8) The Hills won by 6 wickets Adamstown v Laurelvale Corkagh Park Adamstown 285/4 (40 overs; A Gupta 122, P Kamal 65, D David 51*) Laurelvale 153 (30.2 overs; Jack Burns 22, A Speers 22, B Khan 22, A Malik 21; P Kamal 3-16, Nithin Padmaprabhu 2-21, K Shetty 2-39 Adamstown won by 132 runs
Belfast Telegraph
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Donemana complete Irish Senior Cup record chase
Set 359 for victory, Donemana still needed 49 from the last three overs with just three wickets left but David O'Sullivan hit Waringstown professional Daniel van der Merwe for five sixes in an eight-ball over which reduced the target to 15 off 12 balls. O'Sullivan, though, was caught by van der Merwe off the bowling of Ross Allen from the next ball he faced and the drama increased when Dwayne McGerrigle pulled a hamstring and needed a runner for the last over which started with Donemana on 353 for eight. Ricky-Lee Dougherty was on strike and a couple of twos and two wides, the latter a short ball from van der Merwe which went over the head of the batter, won the match - without McGerrigle having to face - with two balls to spare. The victory had been set up by 50s from David Dougherty, Ray Curry, sent in as the last over runner, and Anuj Jotin with Adam Dennison the only Waringstown bowler to go for less than six runs an over. The top two scorers in the match both came in the Waringstown innings, with James McCollum hitting 125 and captain Greg Thompson a whirlwind 74 not out from 33 balls, with nine fours and three sixes. His unbroken sixth wicket partnership of 89 with van der Merwe came from just 34 balls but it proved in vain. Van der Merwe, ironically, hit five sixes in his 36 from 13 balls. Before the drama at the Lawn, the best game of the day was in Cork, although it looked to be a comfortable win for Civil Service North when they reduced their hosts to 111 for seven. But a remarkable 105 by Munster Reds player Zubair Khan, from No 9, hoisted Cork County to 271. After the dismissal of professional Sean Davey for 46, CSN still needed 92 from the last 13 overs but captain Stuart Thompson's 94 not out saw them home with 10 balls to spare. In all, it was a bad day for Ulster clubs with Coleraine the only other North West winners – they bowled out Muckamore for 99 – and there will be only four NCU teams in the second round. A second wicket partnership of 195 between Chris Dougherty (105) and Jake Egan (128) was the basis of CIYMS' crushing 127 runs victory at Bready. Carson McCullough took five wickets as the home side were dismissed for 185. Lisburn captain Neil Whitworth also took five wickets as his side made it seven wins out of seven this season with a seven wickets win over Brigade at Wallace Park, James Hunter hitting 89 not out from 71 balls to seal victory at the start of the 28th over. Instonians reached their target of 179 in exactly the same time, for the loss of four wickets, to ease past Strabane at Shaw's Bridge. Captain Nikolai Smith, opening in place of Ireland call-up Cade Carmichael, top scored with 54. Elsewhere, there were heavy defeats for Woodvale, North Down and Cliftonville Academy by Malahide, Pembroke and Balbriggan respectively but Templepatrick put up a good fight in their first ever Irish Cup game, before going down to Clontarf by five wickets. Captain Ross Bryans hit 77 in the NCU side's 236.
Scotsman
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Duhan van der Merwe fitness status ahead of Edinburgh play-off and Lions tour revealed
Winger has not featured since March 28 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... Edinburgh Rugby are hoping that Duhan van der Merwe will be fit for the United Rugby Championship play-offs after they booked their place in the last eight with a 47-17 win over Ulster on Friday evening. The powerful winger has not played since March 28 when he injured his ankle against the Dragons and had to come off after 11 minutes. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Van der Merwe, 29, has since been named in the British & Irish Lions squad for the summer tour of Australia but Edinburgh would love to have him available for their play-off quarter-final on May 31. Duhan van der Merwe during an Edinburgh Rugby training session at the Hive Stadium last week. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group) | SNS Group 'We're hoping so,' said Sean Everitt, the Edinburgh head coach. 'He's running and he's doing really well. So we're definitely hoping that we have Duhan for the quarter-final.' In van der Merwe's absence, it was another talismanic winger who played a large part in Edinburgh's victory at Hive Stadium. Darcy Graham, who trails van der Merwe by one in the Scotland all-time try-scorers list, helped himself to a hat-trick against Ulster as Edinburgh secured the bonus-point win to guarantee their place in the play-offs for the first time in three years. Graham was a surprise omission from Andy Farrell's Lions squad when it was named last week but Everitt said the Hawick man had been dealing with the disappointment and also overcame a heel issue to play on Friday. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'He's been struggling with a heel over the last couple of weeks, but this week he was feeling much better, and you could see it in his performance,' said Everitt. 'He's just got to keep on performing and make it really difficult for the Lions to leave him out should injuries occur. 'He's obviously disappointed - it's everyone's dream to play for the Lions. It's always going to be difficult when you've got four countries to choose from, and selection sometimes can be subjective. It's not always going to be factual, so we can't criticise the selection. Andy Farrell's an amazing coach and a really good selector, and he's done wonders with Ireland, so Darcy must just keep on going.' Darcy Graham stretches over the line. | SNS Group Edinburgh's squad will now have a few days off before, in the words of stand-in skipper Magnus Bradbury, it's time to 'tape the body up and go again'. Bradbury was immense on Friday, scoring two tries in an all-action display which encapsulated the improvement in Edinburgh's game in the second half of the campaign. The No 8 reckoned it was the team's most complete performance of the season. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We talked about a fast start - last game at home, great night for it. But contrary to what we've done before, we kept the foot on the throat,' said Bradbury. 'We delivered on it. The boys did their jobs, we all did our jobs, and that's what happens when you get it right. 'We've had great games here before and great games away, but there's always been that 10-minute lapse. We didn't have that on Friday. We've challenged each other on that and we've been challenged by our coaches and we've delivered.' Bradbury has spoken before about a turning point in mid-season when the players stood up and took more responsibility but he refuted the suggestion that Edinburgh had been under-performing in the last couple of years. Magnus Bradbury scored two tries for Edinburgh in the win over Ulster on Friday. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group) | SNS Group 'I think any club when you get a new coach, you have to go through that transition period. So under-performance is the wrong word for me,' said Bradbury. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We've had a huge mentality shift over the Six Nations. It's about putting that onto the pitch next game and then not to look too far ahead, but it's exciting to see what we can do with a decent pre-season as well. Build on the strengths we've built through mid-season and see where that takes us.' It's been a roller coaster campaign for Edinburgh who lost their opening three games but finished strongly, with bonus-point victories over Connacht and Ulster. The 10 points gathered in their final two league matches catapulted them into the top eight as Cardiff lost to the Stormers in South Africa on Friday night. Combined with a run to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup, Bradbury said recent weeks had taken their toll both physically and mentally on the squad. It was time now to 'rest up, saunas, keep off the beers' and focus on the quarter-final.
Scotsman
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Duhan van der Merwe fitness status ahead of Edinburgh play-off and Lions tour revealed
Winger has not featured since March 28 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... Edinburgh Rugby are hoping that Duhan van der Merwe will be fit for the United Rugby Championship play-offs after they booked their place in the last eight with a 47-17 win over Ulster on Friday evening. The powerful winger has not played since March 28 when he injured his ankle against the Dragons and had to come off after 11 minutes. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Van der Merwe, 29, has since been named in the British & Irish Lions squad for the summer tour of Australia but Edinburgh would love to have him available for their play-off quarter-final on May 31. Duhan van der Merwe during an Edinburgh Rugby training session at the Hive Stadium last week. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group) | SNS Group 'We're hoping so,' said Sean Everitt, the Edinburgh head coach. 'He's running and he's doing really well. So we're definitely hoping that we have Duhan for the quarter-final.' In van der Merwe's absence, it was another talismanic winger who played a large part in Edinburgh's victory at Hive Stadium. Darcy Graham, who trails van der Merwe by one in the Scotland all-time try-scorers list, helped himself to a hat-trick against Ulster as Edinburgh secured the bonus-point win to guarantee their place in the play-offs for the first time in three years. Graham was a surprise omission from Andy Farrell's Lions squad when it was named last week but Everitt said the Hawick man had been dealing with the disappointment and also overcame a heel issue to play on Friday. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'He's been struggling with a heel over the last couple of weeks, but this week he was feeling much better, and you could see it in his performance,' said Everitt. 'He's just got to keep on performing and make it really difficult for the Lions to leave him out should injuries occur. 'He's obviously disappointed - it's everyone's dream to play for the Lions. It's always going to be difficult when you've got four countries to choose from, and selection sometimes can be subjective. It's not always going to be factual, so we can't criticise the selection. Andy Farrell's an amazing coach and a really good selector, and he's done wonders with Ireland, so Darcy must just keep on going.' Darcy Graham stretches over the line. | SNS Group Edinburgh's squad will now have a few days off before, in the words of stand-in skipper Magnus Bradbury, it's time to 'tape the body up and go again'. Bradbury was immense on Friday, scoring two tries in an all-action display which encapsulated the improvement in Edinburgh's game in the second half of the campaign. The No 8 reckoned it was the team's most complete performance of the season. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We talked about a fast start - last game at home, great night for it. But contrary to what we've done before, we kept the foot on the throat,' said Bradbury. 'We delivered on it. The boys did their jobs, we all did our jobs, and that's what happens when you get it right. 'We've had great games here before and great games away, but there's always been that 10-minute lapse. We didn't have that on Friday. We've challenged each other on that and we've been challenged by our coaches and we've delivered.' Bradbury has spoken before about a turning point in mid-season when the players stood up and took more responsibility but he refuted the suggestion that Edinburgh had been under-performing in the last couple of years. Magnus Bradbury scored two tries for Edinburgh in the win over Ulster on Friday. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group) | SNS Group 'I think any club when you get a new coach, you have to go through that transition period. So under-performance is the wrong word for me,' said Bradbury. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We've had a huge mentality shift over the Six Nations. It's about putting that onto the pitch next game and then not to look too far ahead, but it's exciting to see what we can do with a decent pre-season as well. Build on the strengths we've built through mid-season and see where that takes us.' It's been a roller coaster campaign for Edinburgh who lost their opening three games but finished strongly, with bonus-point victories over Connacht and Ulster. The 10 points gathered in their final two league matches catapulted them into the top eight as Cardiff lost to the Stormers in South Africa on Friday night. Combined with a run to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup, Bradbury said recent weeks had taken their toll both physically and mentally on the squad. It was time now to 'rest up, saunas, keep off the beers' and focus on the quarter-final.
