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The latest rugby stories making morning headlines on Thursday, June 25.
Here are your rugby morning headlines for Thursday, June 25.
Rassie heaps praise on Pollock
Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus has praised England star Henry Pollock ahead of next month’s Nations Championship meeting between the two sides.
Pollock, who claimed man-of-the-match honours in Northampton’s triumph over Exeter in the Prem final on Saturday, has sparked controversy in South Africa with his previous conduct.
Duane Vermeulen, who is now part of the Springboks’ coaching team, stated earlier this year that he would like to re-emerge from retirement for 10 minutes to face him.
However, Erasmus was full of praise for the 21-year-old.
“He’s like Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu],” Erasmus said.
“People make a big deal about certain players, but I don’t always think the players themselves want that attention. What counts is what they do on the field and recently he’s been doing that. If I were coaching him, I’d only look at his output, and that has been exceptional.”
England assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth maintained Pollock thrives when performing on the biggest stages.
“He’s obviously an elite-level player in terms of talent and what he brings,” said Wigglesworth.
“The experience that he’s exposed to at the minute means that hopefully he’s learning rapidly, which it looks like he’s doing. He’s going to be around [a long time] if he wants to be.
“Everything I’ve seen in him shows that that’s the sort of character he is, that he wants to, for everything that everyone says, wants to be coached, wants to get better and wants to perform on the biggest stages.”
Welsh coach lands new job
Gowerton RFC have confirmed Jason Hyatt has joined the club as their new director of rugby.
Hyatt, a well-respected figure in the Welsh game, stepped down from his role at Aberavon RFC earlier this year due to health issues.
He did so with the full support of the Wizards, having been in charge there for 13 years.
In April, the club confirmed he would not be returning to his post.
After a short while out of the game, he has now been appointed director of the Swansea club.
“Gowerton RFC coaching team update. We are excited to welcome new Director of Rugby Jason Hyatt,” said a statement on social media.
“Jason brings a huge amount of experience, to support the coaches and players. Welcome to the Starch family, Jason.”
He joins a team that includes Rhodri Jones as head coach, Will Griffiths as forwards coach and Stuart Allen as backs coach.
Departing Ospreys star moves closer to Test call-up
Former Ospreys full-back Jack Walsh would appear to be on the United States’ radar after being named on a longlist by the country.
USA’s head coach Scott Lawrence named a 31-man squad earlier this week ahead of their upcoming Nations Cup campaign as the Eagles begin preparations for next year’s World Cup.
Ahead of matches with Portugal, Zimbabwe and Spain, Lawrence said: “July is about bringing our core playing group and new coaching staff together for the first time in seven months.
“With limited preparation time before facing a Portugal side that has already spent significant time together this year and is coming off a successful European campaign, our focus will be on establishing the foundations of our identity and developing to perform in the key moments that decide Test matches.
“Our leadership group understands that July is the first step in a 13-match journey through 2026. This squad reflects the players we believe are best positioned for this window, while others will continue their preparation through injury management, targeted development opportunities, and competitive match exposure before joining the Eagles later in the year.”
Florida-born Walsh, who has left the Ospreys for French club Montauban, is named on a extended list of players not considered for this camp due to injury or availability – with the likes of Toulouse prop David Ainu’u and Bristol Bears flyhalf AJ MacGinty also on the list.
However, the mere fact he has been named suggests Walsh is on the brink of a first Test call-up.
Having been raised in Manly by his Australian parents, pulling on a Wallabies jersey had been an option for the former Australia 7s star.
However, had he stayed in Wales, he would have qualified to wear the red jersey too next year.
World Cup winner refuses to rule himself out of major job
Former South Africa head coach Jake White has not ruled out throwing his hat into the ring to become the next Leinster head coach, describing the URC champions as the “Barcelona of rugby”.
Leinster are on the lookout for a replacement for Leo Cullen, after he confirmed earlier this week that he would leave at the end of next season. With a year to find a suitable replacement, the likes of Ronan O’Gara, Felipe Contepomi and Stuart Lancaster are the early high-profile candidates already being linked.
However, White – who tends to be linked to most vacancies in rugby – has already been asked about whether he would take the role.
“Stranger things have happened in rugby, haven’t they?” the 2007 World Cup winning coach told the RTÉ Rugby podcast. “If you’d asked me a year ago if I was coaching the Bulls next year, I would have said yes.”
While White was fairly tight-lipped on whether he would actually replace Cullen, he did sing the praises of the Leinster coach.
“It’s the Barcelona of rugby – Leinster – and it’s like coaching an international job,” said White. “If you think about it, people say they want to coach an international team, that’s as close to getting an international gig by coaching a club team.
“I’ve had lots of dealings with Leo. I’ve seen Leo play for the Irish U21 team in Argentina when I was coaching South Africa’s U21. So that’s how long I’ve known Leo for.
“And I was at a coaching conference in Italy when he told me that he had been tapped on the shoulder to take over Leinster as an interim coach [in 2015] and asked me what I thought. And I said, ‘Grab it, my mate, it’s a wonderful opportunity’.
“I know he’s a real Leinster man, but he’s a rugby man too, and he’s a wonderful guy. People talk about being a real, true rugby man, and you’re not going to get deeper roots than Leo Cullen, what he’s done as a player, as a coach, his interactions with other coaches, his ability to share knowledge.
“I’m sure that people in Leinster would be very appreciative, as are a lot of coaches and players who’ve played and coached with him, to know how valuable he is as a rugby man.”
Steve Borthwick backed to blend hairdryer treatment with ambitious approach
By Duncan Bech, Press Association Rugby Union Correspondent
Jack van Poortvliet has revealed that Steve Borthwick is encouraging England to play with ambition – but the head coach is happy to give the hairdryer treatment when needed.
England face South Africa at Ellis Park on Saturday week in their opening fixture of the newly-created Nations Championship, with Fiji in Liverpool and Argentina in Santiago del Estero completing the 25,000-mile July itinerary.
A four-Test losing run that resulted in a worst-ever Six Nations performance has raised the stakes against the back-to-back world champions, but Van Poortvliet insists they are determined to play without fear.
“You always know that playing for England brings added pressure and can create that feeling of ‘I don’t want to make a mistake’,” Van Poortvliet said.
“That’s the big thing we’re trying to push at the moment and Steve has been brilliant at it.
“We’re trying to push ourselves to play big and make good decisions and whatever you’ve done before, back yourself to do it on this stage.
“Steve’s good at reading the room at half-time and seeing what boys need and he’ll do whatever he thinks is best to get a response.
“Even if it looks good on the scoreboard, he might have seen something that isn’t up to standard and he will give you the hairdryer for that.
“We might be losing and it will be a calmer message. His through process will be around whatever gets the best response from the team.”
Van Poortvliet is competing with Alex Mitchell and Ben Spencer for the two available scrum-half slots against South Africa and has been looking across the Channel for pointers on how to enhance his game.
“I’ve taken steps forward with my defence this season,” the Leicester star said. “It’s a big area now for scrum-halves because you’re defending in the line and filling in gaps a lot more now.
“I took a lot of inspiration from what I’ve seen Maxime Lucu do for Bordeaux this season. The difference he makes for his team in defence is ridiculous.
“I’ve been trying to make a difference in defence and my mindset this season has also been to get my running game going as much as I can.
“Last season I was stuck in a mindset of trying to be consistent. I’ve learned this year that I can only be consistent with a mindset of ‘go out to stand out’.”
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