This post was originally published on this site.
The latest rugby news from Wales and around the world
These are your latest rugby headlines on Thursday, July 23.
Wales international lands coaching role abroad
Former Wales prop Rob Evans has been appointed to a new coaching role in Dubai.
The 34-year-old won 32 international caps for Wales and played a pivotal role in helping his country win the Grand Slam during the 2019 Six Nations.
At club level, he was a key member of the Scarlets squad who won the PRO12 under Wayne Pivac in 2017, while he also had a spell with the Dragons before leaving for the United States to join the Miami Sharks in Major League Rugby in 2023.
JOIN OUR WALES RUGBY FACEBOOK PAGE Latest news, analysis and much more
Evans now works in real estate in Dubai, but has kept himself in the game by landing a coaching role with new club Dubai Broncos.
The former loosehead has joined the club as a forwards coach for their U11 to U16 age groups, working under newly-appointed head of rugby and former Italy international Aaron Persico.
Announcing Evans’ appointment, a post on the Broncos’ social media accounts read: “The Dubai Broncos are proud to welcome Rob Evans to our coaching team.
“A hugely experienced international front-row player, Rob joins us as our Forwards Specialist Coach for our U11–U16 age groups, bringing world-class knowledge and experience to help develop the next generation of Broncos.
“This is another exciting step in building one of the strongest junior coaching teams in the UAE. Please join us in giving Rob Evans a huge Dubai Broncos welcome.”
England star has surgery
England starlet Noah Caluori has made a surprise announcement, revealing that he has undergone surgery after playing most of last season with a wrist injury.
The 19-year-old took to Instagram on Wednesday to post a photo of himself lying in a hospital bed with his right arm in a cast, while pointing a thumbs-up at the camera.
“Surgery done,” Caluori wrote alongside the photo. “Been playing with this injury for 8 months now. Gonna be working hard to get back stronger then (sic) before.”
It is understood that the Saracens wing went under the knife to fix an issue with his wrist, and he will now miss the start of the new PREM Rugby season.
Despite playing with an injury for months, Caluori finished the 2025/26 campaign as the league’s joint-top try scorer, with only England team-mate Tommy Freeman matching his 18 tries.
After featuring for England U20s and England A earlier in the year, he made his senior international debut for Steve Borthwick’s side against Fiji earlier this month.
As England romped to a 73-8 win, Caluori set up a score for Henry Slade before scoring a try himself with a flamboyant swan dive.
Brain injury claims should be thrown out, High Court told
By Callum Parke and Tom Jeffreys, Press Association
Hundreds of legal claims against rugby’s governing bodies from players who allege they suffered brain injuries during their careers should be thrown out, the High Court has been told.
A mix of professional and amateur players claim that World Rugby, Welsh Rugby, the Rugby Football Union, the Rugby Football League and the British Amateur Rugby League Association breached a duty of care to protect them from injury.
Lawyers for the players say they have suffered neurological injuries such as early onset dementia, Parkinson’s, epilepsy and motor neurone disease because of repeated blows suffered throughout their sporting lives. They argue that the governing bodies had the knowledge and resources to understand the likelihood of brain damage, but did not take steps against this or inform the players.
Each of the governing bodies denies wrongdoing and is defending the legal claims.
In 2024, lawyers for the players were told to disclose medical reports and documents, including neuropsychological assessments and brain scans for each of the players, to the governing bodies. In July last year, the High Court issued further orders related to the disclosure of documents, which meant the claims could be thrown out if not followed.
The players then lost an appeal against the July 2025 order, with a High Court judge stating that it was issued following a “serious erosion of the confidence the court could safely place in the way the disclosure process had been conducted”.
At a hearing on Wednesday, lawyers for the governing bodies said that the 2024 orders had still not been complied with in several cases, meaning that 132 of the claims against the rugby league bodies, and 378 of the claims against the rugby union bodies, should be dismissed before a trial.
Michael Kent KC, for World Rugby, Welsh Rugby and the Rugby Football Union, said in written submissions that having the claims thrown out was “clearly a measure of last resort”, but that “compliance has still not been achieved”.
Mr Kent continued: “There are no further procedural levers available to the defendants or to the court.” He added: “There is no other remedy that is reasonable or proportionate. The court is presented with widespread and repetitive failures to comply with court orders, and the claimants’ legal representatives have been given huge latitude to date.”
William Audland KC, for the rugby league bodies, said in written submissions that non-compliance with court orders was “systemic and without good reason”, and that the claims should be dismissed.
Susan Rodway KC, for the players, said in written submissions that the breaches were “neither serious nor significant” given the “context of this complex and documentarily voluminous litigation”, and that throwing out the claims would be an “extreme response”.
She continued that the claims could be dealt with by a new law firm going forward, meaning there would be a “completely different regime going forward in which both the court and the defendants can have full confidence”.
Ms Rodway said: “None of the breaches have been due to the individual actions of the claimants.” She continued: “This litigation is of significant public interest and societal importance for the continuance of contact/collision sports in the UK. It would be highly undesirable for a significant number of the former players to lose their claims on procedural grounds.”
The hearing before Judge David Cook is due to conclude on Thursday.
Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our free daily newsletter here and our WhatsApp channel here for all the breaking news.
