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These are your morning rugby headlines on Thursday, August 6.
Top ref pulls out of Springboks clash
Test referee Pierre Brousset has been forced to pull out of officiating this weekend’s clash between Argentina and South Africa through injury.
The Frenchman was due to be the man in the middle for the match in Buenos Airies on Saturday, but World Rugby has confirmed that he will now miss the showdown after picking up an injury in training.
Christophe Ridley has now been appointed to referee the match, with Luc Ramos and Welsh official Craig Evans his assistants. Another Welshman, Ben Whitehouse, is the TMO and will work alongside Foul Play Review Officer, Ian Tempest.
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A brief statement issued by World Rugby on Wednesday read: “Christophe Ridley (England) will now referee Argentina v South Africa in Buenos Aires on Saturday, 8 August after Pierre Brousset (France) was ruled out with an injury suffered in training.”
The news comes as Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus says he is not expecting an ill-tempered clash with Argentina, despite the Pumas sparking controversy with their lack of discipline against England in the recent Nations Championship.
“We know Argentina well,” said the South Africa boss. “We play them twice every year apart from this year, so we know their players, and they know us. Some of our players play with them at French clubs, others play with them in Japan, so we’ve come a long way with their guys.
“What happened in their previous game in terms of the refereeing is not for us to comment,” he added. “We’ve got Christophe Ridley as the referee for this weekend.
“Obviously the new protocols make it quite tough to communicate with the referee before a game, but we’ve never experienced Argentina to be a team that’s negative or too feisty. Obviously they’re hard men and physical guys, but we’ve never found them to be unsportsmanlike.”
Lawrence Dallaglio announcement made
Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio’s financial plight looks set to continue, with his bankruptcy extended again by up to a year.
The 53-year-old was declared bankrupt last year, owing hundreds of thousands of pounds in tax. While the restrictions imposed by bankruptcy typically end after 12 months in England and Wales, they were extended by three months in his case earlier this year.
Now, as Telegraph Sport reports, his discharge from bankruptcy has been suspended again until August 31 next year, after the Insolvency Register was updated on Wednesday.
The development comes months after the publication revealed that Dallaglio had been accused of spending thousands of pounds a month on a lavish lifestyle, with his alleged “excessive spending” on items like clothing, alcohol and travel leaving “nothing” with which to pay his debts.
Those claims were reportedly made in High Court documents filed in May, with the 2003 Rugby World Cup winner also accused of being “largely uncooperative” with trustees of his bankruptcy.
Documents filed to Companies House last year showed that Dallaglio owed £423,570 in overdrawn director’s loans for his now-bust firm Lawrence Dallaglio Limited, as well as more than £60,000 to liquidators.
Claims totalling around £350,000 and £61,000 had also been made, respectively, by HM Revenue & Customs and two other creditors.
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