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Here are your rugby headlines on the morning of Wednesday, July 8.
Former Wales coach lands job
Shaun Connor has returned to the Dragons as kicking and skills consultant for the 2026/27 season.
The former Wales Under-20s and Wales Women coach returns to Rodney Parade as part of a new-look coaching team. Connor previously worked as an academy coach and skills coach with the Men of Gwent.
Simon Church will return to the club as senior strength and conditioning coach as part of Filo Tiatia’s coaching ticket.
Aled Rees and Shane O’Hanrahan link up with the club as newly appointed senior physiotherapists, while Gwern James returns as performance analyst for the upcoming season.
Connor led hometown club Blaina RFC to a remarkable league and cup double last season.
He left his role with Sean Lynn’s Wales set-up in March, ahead of the current Six Nations campaign.
Wales vs Japan VIP and hospitality tickets
Seat Unique is offering VIP hospitality tickets for Wales’ Nations Championship matches against New Zealand and Japan in November.
Wales to face Aussies
Wales Under-20s will face Australia in the fifth-place semi-finals at the World Rugby Junior World Championship.
Defeat to world champions South Africa on Tuesday meant Richard Whiffin’s charges finished second in their pool behind the Springboks.
France, New Zealand, South Africa and England have progressed to the semi-finals after winning their respective pools.
The Boks booked their place as top seeds following their 52-33 win in Tbilisi – but they were made to work for it, particularly in the first half.
They will now play England in the last four, while New Zealand will face France in the other semi.
World Rugby Junior World Championship semi-finals schedule
Championship semi-finals
France U20 vs New Zealand U20 – Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi, Monday, July 13, 18:00 local time / 15:00 BST
South Africa U20 vs England U20 – Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi, Monday, July 13, 20:30 local time / 17:30 BST
Fifth-place semi-finals
Argentina U20 vs Scotland U20 – Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi, Sunday, July 12, 18:00 local time / 15:00 BST
Australia U20 vs Wales U20 – Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi, Sunday, July 12, 20:30 local time / 17:30 BST
Ninth-place semi-finals
Georgia U20 vs Italy U20 – AIA Arena, Kutaisi, Monday, July 13, 18:00 local time / 15:00 BST
Ireland U20 vs Fiji U20 – AIA Arena, Kutaisi, Monday, July 13, 20:30 local time / 17:30 BST
13th-place semi-finals
Japan U20 vs USA U20 – AIA Arena, Kutaisi, Sunday, July 12, 18:00 local time / 15:00 BST
Spain U20 vs Uruguay U20 – AIA Arena, Kutaisi, Sunday, July 12, 20:30 local time / 17:30 BST
Wales’ Davies on the move
Wales prop Maise Davies has made the move from Bristol Bears to Exeter Chiefs.
The 17-times-capped loosehead makes the move down the M5 after a year at Ashton Gate.
Twenty-year-old Davies was part of Richard Whiffin’s last World Cup squad and came through the ranks at Cardiff Met via Llandovery College.
“Maisie has incredible potential and at 20 she has so much room for growth,” Exeter Chiefs Women’s assistant coach Oli Bishop said.
“She is incredibly talented and also a great person, so I feel certain she will add so much to Chiefs this coming season.
“We now have three international looseheads in our squad which shows the talent and depth we are trying to build, so we can hopefully kick on from a very decent season.”
Davies said: “I’m really excited to be joining Exeter Chiefs. It felt like the right place for me to take the next step. I’m still young and know there’s plenty more for me to learn, so I’m looking forward to challenging myself in a new environment and seeing how much I can develop as a player.”
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Russell expected to return
By Anthony Brown, Press Association
Gregor Townsend expects Finn Russell to return for Scotland in Saturday’s Nations Championship showdown with South Africa in Pretoria.
The talismanic stand-off sat out last weekend’s campaign-opening victory over Argentina after missing the last three games of Bath’s season with a calf injury.
But Townsend reported that Russell is progressing well and on course to face the world champions at Loftus Versfeld.
“Yeah, he should be,” said the head coach, speaking on Tuesday from his team’s base in South Africa. “He trained fine today and he trained well at the end of the week.
“Wednesday’s session he trained fully with the team, he did his own thing on Friday and then the guys who weren’t involved did a session on Saturday after the team run and he’s trained fine today.
“I think he’s definitely over the calf injury. He may have been fit at the weekend. We just felt that he needed more training to really be available for the tough Test matches ahead of us, especially this one this weekend.”
Northampton prop Elliot Millar Mills has left the Scotland camp and will play no part in the remaining games this summer against the Springboks and Fiji after sustaining a calf injury early in Saturday’s 47-38 win over the Pumas.
“It’s obviously a real blow for Elliot, getting to start for Scotland in such a big game and building on the form that he’s been showing with his club and with us over the last season,” said Townsend.
“I think the blow too is that he’s really match fit. He’s been playing games for Northampton all the way to the (Prem Rugby) final.
“The only position that we came with more depth was tighthead prop, so we were lucky in a way that we brought four tightheads out here because D’Arcy Rae was coming back from injury and he’d been out with the Baa-Baas.
“Will Hurd played a semi-final for Leicester, so it means that there’s no changes to our group. Will, Darcy and Zander (Fagerson) are training fully, so while it’s a blow for Elliot, we don’t have to bring anybody else in.”
Scotland have risen to fifth in the world rankings after a run of four victories in their last five matches, but Townsend knows his side face the ultimate test this weekend.
“From our perspective, no-one in our group has played South Africa for Scotland away from home,” he said.
“It’s a unique opportunity for us, obviously the biggest challenge in world rugby. It’ll be a great marker of where we are and where we need to go following this game.”
