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These are your evening rugby headlines on Sunday, July 5.
Whiffin eyes Springbok upset as U20s team named
Wales U20s head coach Richard Whiffin has named his side to take on reigning champions South Africa in a crucial showdown at the World Rugby Junior World Championship on Tuesday.
After victories against hosts Georgia and Uruguay, Wales head into the crunch Pool A encounter off the back of their first consecutive pool stage wins at the tournament in 13 years. There is now a top four spot on the line, but to get it they must first defeat the defending champions, who are also unbeaten in this year’s competition so far.
Whiffin has named a strong side to face the Junior Springboks, with Tom Bowen and captain Deian Gwynne playing their third game on the bounce.
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While he knows that the South Africans pose a daunting challenge, the Wales head coach was pleased with what he saw in his side’s 47-0 win over Uruguay last time out and has warned that they can be “a match for anyone” at their best.
“It was a pretty special performance. We challenged the boys in the week to be accurate and to keep a team to zero is very pleasing,” said Whiffin as he reflected on the win over Uruguay.
“A lot of guys have put their hands up for selection after the opening two games but we felt we wanted to keep some of the team from Georgia in terms of starting crew as they probably deserve to have a go again.
“We’ve changed some options on the bench to give us more coverage up front which will allow us to be a bit more flexible later in the game around how we might want to get after South Africa.”
On the threat posed by the Junior Springboks, he added: “They obviously have had two good first games themselves, they are big and physical, and they want it to be a collision dominant based game – we know we have to front up.
“We spoke around what it needs to look like from us but we are excited for the challenge. There is opportunity against them and we know if we execute our best game we are a match for anyone.”
Wales U20s: 15. Lewis Edwards, 14. Rhys Cummings, 13. Osian Darwin-Lewis, 12. Steffan Emanuel, 11. Tom Bowen, 10. Carwyn Leggatt-Jones, 9. Sion Davies; 1. George Tuckley, 2. Tom Howe, 3. Jac Pritchard, 4. Will Evans, 5. Tom Cottle, 6. Deian Gwynne (capt), 7. Caio James, 8. Evan Minto
Replacements: 16. Oscar Thomas, 17. Dylan James, 18. Yestyn Cook, 19. Luke Evans, 20. Osian Williams, 21. Alex Ridgway, 22. Cai Gealy, 23. Lloyd Lucas
Hospitalised Furbank gets crushing news
Luckless England full-back George Furbank has been ruled out of the rest of his side’s summer internationals after being taken to hospital with appendicitis ahead of their clash with South Africa.
The 29-year-old was taken to hospital on Friday evening, having been named in Steve Borthwick’s starting XV to face the Springboks at Ellis Park in what would have been his first Test appearance in close to two years.
After Furbank was replaced in the starting side by Marcus Smith as Borthwick’s team were thumped 45-21 in Johannesburg, the England boss has confirmed that the Northampton Saints star will now miss their clashes with Fiji and Argentina later this month.
Instead, he will stay in South Africa for the time being before flying back to England at a later date.
“He went into hospital on Friday evening with abdominal pain, he had surgery on Saturday morning on his appendix and he is still in hospital recovering,” said Borthwick.
“I spoke with him earlier, he is gutted and he will miss the next couple of weeks. He will be delayed in South Africa to fly back at a later date.”
The news comes as a crushing blow to Furbank, who has endured wretched luck with injuries since his last outing for England in November 2024. Since that start against Japan, the back has been hit with a broken arm, recurring calf and knee injuries and a concussion that affected his involvement in this year’s Six Nations.
He had spoken about his challenging time with injuries just a day before being taken to hospital, as he said: “It was pretty tough to be honest. Just playing again felt a long way off at times to be honest.
“I was just incredibly grateful to get back playing, firstly for Saints and once I got a run there it was about trying to get back into the senior squad and trying to get a start for this team again.
“So now I have got that opportunity I guess it is about taking it and I just want to go out and enjoy being back in an England shirt.”
Wainwright savours CCS win
By Phil Blanche, Press Association
Aaron Wainwright savoured Wales winning at a stadium where he never managed to play as a Cardiff footballer.
Wainwright helped Wales open their Nations Championship campaign with a 39-24 victory over Fiji at Cardiff City Stadium – the third straight success for Steve Tandy’s improving team.
It was the first time Wales had played a Test match at the Sky Bet Championship ground close to their Principality Stadium home, with Fiji being the official hosts after switching their Nations Championship fixtures to the northern hemisphere.
But Leicester new boy Wainwright was in familiar surroundings having spent several years at the Cardiff academy before being released by the club at the age of 16.
“I never got the chance to play here,” said Wainwright, 28, who has transformed from his formative years as a defensive midfielder into a powerful rugby back-row ball carrier. “We had training sessions on here as kids and I did many a team photo shoot through the age groups before the coaches decided to drop me.
“Villa Park was probably the biggest stadium I played in football-wise. Under 14s or Under-15s against Aston Villa, but never here. It was a great occasion. The fans made loads of noise and I really enjoyed it.”
Wales withstood an early bombardment from Fiji’s physical forwards and dazzling runners to eventually get on top and pull away on the scoreboard. After wins over Italy in the Six Nations and last week’s uncapped fixture against the Barbarians, Wales scored six tries in a Test match for the first time since November 2021.
Wainwright said: “I remember speaking when we were going through that poor run of form and the losses were adding up. We had guys coming into the team with not much international experience.
“I think we’ve ridden that wave or come out the other end of that losing streak. You can start to see the combinations forming and the boys are more confident out on the pitch and know what to expect from one another.”
Wales now travel to Argentina for their second Nations Championship fixture in San Juan on Saturday. Wainwright made his Test debut at Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario on Wales’ 2018 summer tour, coming off the bench in a 23-10 victory over the Pumas.
“My dad made the journey out for my first cap and I spoke to him about potentially coming out again,” said Wainwright. “I don’t think he fancies that this time around with how far the travel is, but I’m excited to go back and revisit.
“It was a very hostile crowd last time with all the fencing stopping the fans getting on the pitch. That’s what I remember and the guys who haven’t been before can look forward to that.”
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