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These are your rugby headlines on Tuesday, June 30.
Rugby international suffers burns
Belgian international Bruno Vliegen has suffered burns to 37 per cent of his body after a serious accident.
He is believed to be in stable position in hospital and an appeal has already been launched to help him with the cost of treatment.
Little is known about how he suffered the injuries, other than he is currently in hospital at the Grand Hôpital de Charleroi and receiving treatment for severe burns.
His friend, Nicolas Gigot, shared information on the fundraising site Leetchi.
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“The coming weeks and months will be extremely trying: surgical interventions, transplants, intensive care, daily treatments, rehabilitation, not to mention the numerous consequences for his family and professional life,” the fundraiser said.
“For the past year, Bruno has also been the father of a little girl, Lio. More than ever, his family will need to be surrounded by support.
“The aim of this fundraising campaign is to provide them with concrete support in order to alleviate, as much as possible, the financial difficulties caused by this ordeal.”
Vliegen, 24, plays his rugby for Olympique Marcquois Rugby and has previously represented ASM Clermont Auvergne and US Carcassonne.
Wales players told news
Steve Tandy is today expected cut around 11 players from his squad ahead of their Nations Championship campaign.
Wales’ Test schedule gets under way this Saturday, with Fiji hosting the men in red at Cardiff City Stadium. Wales then travel to South America to take on Argentina a week later, before finishing up against the world champions South Africa.
Tandy was always due to reduce his squad ahead of the competition, with English and French-based players now available for selection, with the later arrivals due to link up with their team-mates at the Vale.
With Dafydd Jenkins, Rhys Carré, Nicky Smith, Louis Rees-Zammit, Tommy Reffell and Max Llewellyn et al coming into camp this week, the likes of Rhys Barratt, Freddie Thomas and Ryan Woodman possibly missing out.
You can read more about that here.
Earl: Focus on us, not Boks
By Duncan Bech, Press Association Rugby Union Correspondent, Johannesburg
Ben Earl insists England are focused on winning with style rather than on South Africa’s reputations when the rivals clash at Ellis Park on Saturday.
England are looking to end a run of four Test defeats that registered their worst ever Six Nations performance when they take on Siya Kolisi’s back-to-back world champions.
A courageous performance against France in the climax to the tournament has provided a blueprint for how next month’s Nations Championship matches should be approached, but Earl has vowed they will not lose sight of the only objective that really matters.
The Saracens number eight said: “We want to play a game of rugby that not only entertains, but wins. Test match rugby is almost a different sport. The currency of Test match rugby is wins.
“I feel like we’re well equipped to play whatever the game presents itself. We don’t know what tactics South Africa are going to bring, but we know the kind of game we would like to play.
“We’ve been focusing on ourselves a fair bit in terms of how we want to play and the clarity around how we want our rugby to look.
“South Africa are unique because they’re number one in the world, they’re the best team, they’re double World Cup winners.
“They’re littered with world-leading talent. From one to 23, you could argue that a fair chunk of them would be in the conversation around the world’s best.
“But the moment you think too much about that stuff, you get bogged down and you can’t focus on your own game, so we’ve been thinking a lot about ourselves.
“These opportunities don’t come around very often so I for one can’t wait to play and to challenge ourselves against the best team in the world.”
Head coach Steve Borthwick names his team on Thursday, with Jamie George set to lead England after Maro Itoje was rested for the July tour.
Erasmus wary of ‘massive threat’ Pollock
By Duncan Bech, Press Association Rugby Union Correspondent, Johannesburg
South Africa boss Rassie Erasmus views Henry Pollock as England’s dangerman heading into Saturday’s Ellis Park collision.
The back-to-back world champions have named a formidable team for the Nations Championship opener that is led by Siya Kolisi and features a host of stars, including Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Damian de Allende.
England showman Pollock impressed in the climax to Northampton’s Gallagher Prem title march by making hard yards at number eight and he looks set to continue with his high-impact bench role in the first of three Tests next month.
Erasmus refuses to be drawn on why the 21-year-old is cast as the pantomime villain in South Africa – former Springboks flanker Schalk Burger described him as a “TikTok dancer who plays a bit of rugby” and he is often targeted by their fans on social media – but admires his qualities as a player.
“For us to comment on a guy like him not knowing his contribution as a character in their team would be stupid,” Erasmus said.
“None of us can say we know him as a person. How can we judge him? His team mates probably love him so what does it matter what the world says? His team mates love him and he does well there.
“All we can do is analyse how he plays rugby and he is a massive threat. He is a flipping good rugby player.
“He’s a very good rugby player, not just on the defensive side or the attacking side, but also on the physical side.”
South Africa team: D Willemse (DHL Stormers); C Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath), J Kriel (Canon Eagles), D de Allende (Wild Knights), K-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls); M Libbok (Kintetsu Liners), G Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks); O Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), M Marx (Kubota Spears), T du Toit (Bath),E Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), R Nortje (Vodacom Bulls), S Kolisi (Hollywoodbets Sharks, capt), P-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), J Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks).
Replacements: J-H Wessels (Vodacom Bulls), G Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls), Z Porthen (DHL Stormers), M van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), C Hanekom (Vodacom Bulls), C Reinach (DHL Stormers), A Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks), C Moodie (Vodacom Bulls).
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