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Here are your rugby morning headlines for Sunday, January 25.
Here are your rugby morning headlines for Sunday, January 25.
Wales legend hasn’t been approached by WRU over pathways
Former Wales wing Shane Williams says he hasn’t spoken to any of the Welsh Rugby Union’s top bosses about the development of young players, despite his role as head of rugby academy at a Welsh school.
It seems inconceivable that Wales’ record try-scorer and the 2008 World Player of the Year would struggle to get his point across on the matter, given his status in the game and his current role. But Williams confirmed that he had not spoken to any of the top bosses – CEO Abi Tierney, chair Richard Collier-Keywood or director of rugby and elite performance Dave Reddin – about the matter, despite it being something Welsh rugby desperately needs to fix.
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The last week has seen Welsh rugby seemingly move closer to the reality of a professional team being culled, with the WRU entering into a period of exclusivity with Ospreys owners Y11 to buy Cardiff.
However, former Ospreys wing Williams believes not enough is being done to fix the pathways in Welsh rugby.
“It’s very personal for me,” he said about the Ospreys’ future on Premier Sports. “I was there in 2003 when the Ospreys became the Ospreys.
“It was hard enough getting it through then. We were part of something special with what we won and the players we brought through.
“It’s very difficult and personal for me. A lot of my friends are involved in that legacy that might not be around in 18 months.
“The WRU really haven’t mentioned pathways. It’s all about the number of regions. Where do they think these players come from?
“It’s through the pathways. Not just the academies, but the schools and colleges. So where’s the emphasis on getting rugby right from the start? That’s the priority for me.
“We’re trying our best to get communication with the top of the WRU. I’m part of the schools and college league, along with a lot of ex-international players.
“We’re a bit disappointed that the priority isn’t young players coming through and training in a professional environment, but keeping them in school.
“I work at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman and my priority is keeping these individuals in school, but at the same time training them as professional athletes so they may get the opportunity to play rugby for the regions. But I don’t know where the WRU think these players come from.”
Former Wales centre Tom Shanklin called the decision to cut from four to three a “short-term fix”, adding there seemed to be few backing it.
“The circles I’m hanging around in, I don’t know anyone who thinks three is a good idea,” said Shanklin. “Regardless of what’s invested in these teams, you need four.
“For the WRU to think they are connected with the fans, it’s delusional. We don’t have the player pool for one team. That’s shown over there, with the national team having won two wooden spoons.”
‘Outstanding’ overlooked Wales star praised as club overcome sickness bug
By Press Association Sport Staff
Leicester coach Geoff Parling played down fears Jack van Poortvliet’s latest injury concern could harm his chances of wearing the England number nine jersey in the coming weeks.
Scrum-half van Poortvliet – named in Steve Borthwick’s training squad for this week’s build-up to the Six Nations – hobbled out of the action against Harlequins 10 minutes from time.
Van Poortvliet – who missed the Autumn internationals with a shoulder injury and has had a history of heartbreaking set-backs in his career at crucial times – had played a starring role including scoring one of his side’s tries in a 34-7 bonus-point win over Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop.
However, Tigers boss Parling insisted: “Jack’s gone off for some X-rays. We’re hoping it’s just a dead leg and nothing serious.
“He was excellent today. He’s had some injuries which have not helped him at certain times. His speed of delivery is good and he’s a top-notch number nine. He showed what he can do with that try too.
“Two other guys in Cameron Henderson and Tommy Reffell, who haven’t been picked for the Six Nations training squads, were also outstanding.
“I was really proud of that performance. We had a slightly disrupted build-up to the game in midweek when four of our staff came back from South Africa last weekend with E. coli, so we had to be careful in training to avoid others catching it. But the group has proved to be very adaptable and this was a fine win.”
Tigers lock Henderson added: “We came down here to put in one of our best performances of the season, and we are very happy with the way things went.
“Our mentality was right on it from the start. Quins can be dangerous so we needed to win the early phases and get on top of them and not let go.
“The evolution of our game has really come on nicely under Geoff. We are playing some strong rugby, laying the foundations and then attacking decisively. We now have a break from the Premiership, so this is a good way to go off and prepare for the next game.”
Tigers moved up to fourth in the table while Quins, who enjoyed recent success in Europe, suffered their fifth successive Premiership loss.
Some of the home crowd left before the end of a one-sided game out of frustration but head coach Jason Gilmore said: “Our fans have been brilliant. We had a sold-out Stoop today but I can understand their feelings.
“They are loyal to the team and club. We need to give them something to enjoy on the field.
“It’s not skillset, it’s mindset. We went on the back foot pretty quickly and couldn’t turn things around.
“We must see to what steps we need to put in place to regain that mindset. We need to build a squad which can hold out under fire.”
Adams happy as Cardiff win ugly to keep up play-off bid
Wales wing Josh Adams was pleased to win ugly as Cardiff fought their way to a 17-8 victory over Benetton Rugby at the Arms Park.
The Blue and Blacks now have just three home games left in the season, so the victory to move up to fourth in the URC was crucial – regardless of how it came.
“It was wet, scrappy, I bet it wasn’t pretty to watch at home at times,” said Adams. “But we just said in the circle at the end, wins like this, on nights like this, they become vitally important at the back end of the season when you look back, so I’m delighted with the fight tonight.
“You could tell way the game was going to go with the conditions coming in and especially that aerial contest now, it’s such a huge part of the game. It was nice to get one back there to sort of swing momentum back for us.
“I think we’re much better in tight games this season. Something we spoke about at the start of the season was bringing our fight and how we stick at it for 80 minutes.
“On nights like tonight that fight shines through, and I’m delighted with the effort of the lads tonight. A couple of disruptions in the back three early doors with Jakey (Beetham) and Iwan (Stephens) going off, but we managed it really well.”
