Latest news with #SixNations
Wales Online
18 minutes ago
- Sport
- Wales Online
Tonight's rugby news as chief clear on Franco Smith future and Wales international saved from drop
Tonight's rugby news as chief clear on Franco Smith future and Wales international saved from drop The latest headlines from Wales and around the world Smith's future has been made clear by the Scottish Rugby CEO These are your evening rugby headlines on Friday, June 20. Chief clear on Smith's future Scottish Rugby chief executive Alex Williamson says he wants Franco Smith to stay on as Glasgow Warriors boss beyond his current tenure, after the South African was linked with succeeding Warren Gatland as Wales head coach. Smith - who is also viewed by many in Scotland as a natural successor to national team boss Gregor Townsend - emerged as an early candidate to take over from Gatland following the New Zealander's departure from the role during the Six Nations. While Townsend's assistant Steve Tandy remains the front runner for the top job in Wales, Smith still finds his name being linked to the vacant role, which is being filled in the interim by Cardiff boss Matt Sherratt. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. Smith - whose contract with Glasgow runs until the end of next year - also left the door open to the move earlier this year, as he revealed in a television interview that he would like to coach international rugby again, teasing that "you never know" what he might do next. However, Williamson has made it clear where he sees Smith's future, as he outlined his vision for the immediate future of Scottish rugby in an interview with MailOnline. The former House of Fraser CEO is keen for Townsend - whose contract expires next spring - to stay on as Scotland's head coach despite a disappointing Six Nations campaign, and wants Smith and Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt to also remain in their posts going forward. Article continues below "We absolutely want continuity with the coaches and we really like the three guys we've got and we'd really like to keep them," said Williamson. "I think that those three men's coaches [Townsend, Smith and Everitt], I anticipate them being our coaching team. That's my preference, in the same roles as now. "I'm touring with Scotland and I'm going to have plenty of time with Gregor [to hold discussions]. His manager is in New Zealand as well so that's all helpful. And we're talking to Franco and Sean as well. "Because I haven't had the conversation with [Townsend] I really want to recognize there's a two-way flow here but we really like the idea of the continuity of the three guys here. It comes after Smith expressed frustration over the decision to not retain some of Glasgow's foreign players like Henco Venter in favour of focusing on Scottish-qualified talent. "When we're talking about Franco, we absolutely want him in," Williamson added. "In fact, I fully respect his emotional frustrations. "You kind of want your coaches to be loaded and charged and emotional and frustrated, particularly in moments like those, but I don't actually think there is a huge gap between what Franco wants and what we're talking about. "The challenge is probably that the structures aren't bedded in and as a consequence we've not really had the opportunity to test and stress test the thinking. "We all believe that there is a place for foreign players, they just have to be the right ones in the right moments." Wales international saved from drop French side Biarritz have been successful in their appeal against being relegated from Pro D2. The former Top 14 champions - who count former Wales international Tyler Morgan among their players - were demoted to the Nationale 1 at the end of last month due to financial irregularities. The club have been plagued by financial problems for the last five years, and having failed to provide guarantees of future investment that would help them to overcome those issues, they were automatically relegated to the third tier. However, they have now managed to have that decision overturned and will be back in the Pro D2 next season, albeit with a three-point penalty from the start of the campaign. In a statement, the club said that the decision "represents an important step for an institution that wishes to start anew on a healthier footing and build a more stable future. 'As part of this decision, the Federation also deducted three points from the standings for the 2025-2026 season," the statement continued. "The club accepts this decision and acknowledges the facts with which it is accused. "It is fully aware of the sporting challenge this sanction represents. It accepts, responsibly, to do everything possible to quickly overcome this handicap. The entire institution, from players to staff, including employees and volunteers, is mobilised to meet this challenge with determination and ambition. 'Initial structural changes have already been initiated. These will be followed by other strong measures necessary to ensure the club's long-term future.' As a result of the decision, Stade Nicois are the only team relegated from Pro D2 this season, with promoted Caracassonne replacing them in the next campaign as they move up from the Nationale 1. Shingler joins Scotland set-up Former Scarlets and Cardiff back Steve Shingler has been made an assistant coach of Scotland Women, two months ahead of the Women's Rugby World Cup. He has been appointed to the coaching team alongside Ross Miller following the departure of former England winger Matt Banahan, who has left his role as an attack coach to move on to another coaching opportunity. Shingler - who played for Wales U20s and is the brother of former Wales senior international Aaron - joins the Scottish set-up on secondment from Premiership Women's Rugby side Trailfinders, where he has worked as an assistant coach for the past season. Head coach Bryan Easson admitted he was "disappointed" by Banahan's exit, but said he had been "really impressed" by Shingler, who also worked with Scotland during the recent Women's Six Nations. "This does now present an exciting opportunity to reset and refresh our coaching team," said Easson. "We welcomed Steve into camp during this year's Six Nations and we were really impressed by him then. "We have several players at Trailfinders, including some of our key attacking players, who have a fantastic relationship with him already and know what he's about which will give us a smooth transition. "Ross has bedded back in with us really well, we've had a brilliant few weeks as a group with him so far. We've worked together for a long time, and he did a great job with us at the last Rugby World Cup. "I think he's a brilliant addition to the group, he knows the players and the players know him which helps too." Freeman: Lions will be 'fun and dangerous' By Duncan Bech, PA Rugby Union Correspondent Tommy Freeman insists the British and Irish Lions' heavyweight threequarters are ready to give the Australia tour lift off by leaving a lasting impression on Argentina in Dublin. Andy Farrell is fielding the biggest centres and wings he has available in his squad with England try machine Freeman joined by Duhan van der Merwe, Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu. All four weigh over 100kg and the muscular midfield partnership of Aki and Tuipulotu in particular is generating excitement ahead of Friday's curtain raiser to the expedition Down Under. Freeman is keen for them to make a statement by going for the jugular against a dangerous Pumas side that is ranked fifth in the world. 'Without giving away too much, hopefully there will be a lot of tries and instinctive playing. It's going to be a lot of fun – and dangerous,' Freeman said. 'We're not going to be there to set stuff up and go through phases for the sake of going through phases. We want to score off the back of anything we can. 'There are threats that players have to offer and we have ball players who can put us into space.' The first outing of a 10-fixture itinerary that culminates in a three-Test series against the Wallabies will provide an early indication of the Lions' tactical identity under Farrell. Richard Wigglesworth hinted at the creative prowess of half-backs Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith and full-back Marcus Smith when analysing the potential to trouble Argentina, but even the tourists' attack coach concedes it is the combination of Aki and Tuipulotu that really captures the imagination. 'We've got power, pace and no little skill in between. I'm excited to see the centre partnership as they can play through and around teams. They should create some space for those boys outside,' Wigglesworth said. 'They can definitely test the gain line, but they've also got really high-level skill with a short passing game and balls out the back.' Farrell has lit a fire under those players involved against Argentina by declaring the race for Test places is wide open. The challenge facing Freeman and his team-mates is to capture the eye of the Lions head coach with individual performances that will propel them into his thinking against Australia, while also serving the greater cause. Article continues below 'Andy has been really good talking about us impressing each other rather than anyone else outside the picture,' Freeman said. 'You want to obviously play well for yourself and get yourself selected for these Test matches and doing that on Friday night would help, but at the end of the day you have to play well and do your role for the team. 'This week will there will be pressure in the back of your mind and you can't ignore it, but every time you put that shirt on or training gear you want to put your best foot forward and do the best you can for the team and yourself.'
The Sun
an hour ago
- Sport
- The Sun
British & Irish Lions 2025: Schedule, full squad, tickets, TV channel and live stream as side for tour in Australia
THE British & Irish Lions return for the first time since 2021. Ireland head coach Andy Farrell will take charge of the tour, after guiding the Men in Green to consecutive Six Nations titles. 4 4 4 His 38-man squad is reflected as such, with Ireland represented the most, having 15 players in the squad. England have 12, Scotland have eight, while Wales have just TWO Lions, Tomos Williams at scrum-half and Jac Morgan in the back row. The side kick-off the summer at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, as they take on Argentina on June 20, and round off the tour against Australia on August 2. Andy Farrell's side will play 10 matches in totals, including a three game test against Joseph Sua'ali'i and Australia, who got the better of England last autumn. British & Irish Lions full schedule The Lions will play 10 matches in total in 2025, with the first on June 20, and the final game on August 2. All the fixtures will be at 11am BST, apart from the clash against Argentina in Dublin. The fixtures are as follows: vs Argentina, June 20 (8pm BST) vs Western Force, June 28 vs Queensland Reds, July 2 vs NSW Waratahs, July 5 vs ACT Brumbies, July 9 vs Invitational Australia & New Zealand, July 12 vs First Nations & Pasifika XV, July 22 The three tests vs Australia will be at 11am BST on these dates: First test: July 19 Second test: July 26 Third test: August 2 4 British & Irish Lions squad Andy Farrell picked a squad of 38 players, consisting of 21 forwards and 17 backs. Leinster are the most represented club, with 12, while Northampton Saints and Glasgow Warriors have four each, and are joint second as the most represented. Forwards: Finlay Bealham * - prop - Ireland Tadhg Beirne - lock - Ireland Ollie Chessum - lock - England Jack Conan - back row - Ireland Luke Cowan-Dickie - hooker - England Scott Cummings - lock - Scotland Tom Curry - back row - England Ben Earl - back row - England Tadhg Furlong - prop - Ireland Ellis Genge - prop - England Maro Itoje - captain - lock - England Ronan Kelleher - hooker - Ireland Joe McCarthy - lock - Ireland Jac Morgan - back row - Wales Henry Pollock - back row - England Andrew Porter - prop - Ireland James Ryan - lock - Ireland Dan Sheehan - hooker - Ireland Pierre Schoeman - prop - Scotland Will Stuart - prop - England Josh van der Flier - back row - Ireland *Bealham was added to the squad late after Scotland's Zander Fagerson pulled out through injury. Backs: Bundee Aki - centre - Ireland Elliot Daly - centre/back 3- England Tommy Freeman - wing - England Jamison Gibson-Park - scrum-half - Ireland Mack Hansen - winger - Ireland Huw Jones - centre - Scotland Hugo Keenan - full-back - Ireland Blair Kinghorn - full-back - Scotland James Lowe - wing - Ireland Alex Mitchell - scrum-half - England Garry Ringrose - centre - Ireland Finn Russell - fly-half - Scotland Fin Smith - fly-half - England Marcus Smith - fly-half - England Sione Tuipulotu - centre - Scotland Duhan van der Merwe - wing - Scotland Tomos Williams - scrum-half - Wales How to watch the British & Irish Lions tour and is there a live stream? Sky Sports retains the rights for the British & Irish Lions, and will remain the home of the tour. The matches will be shown on Sky Sports, and will be available for stream on NOW TV, the Sky Sports app and Sky Go. Also, there are reports that English channels are trying to find a free-to-air solution, with the tour also being shown on S4C, with Welsh commentary. As a result, fans will be able to stream the games on the BBC iPlayer.
Irish Daily Mirror
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Ireland's darts teams take aim for Six Nations glory
As we know from others sports, Ireland's close ties and proximity to the UK can be a help as well as a hindrance. It's certainly the case in darts, where our top players have easy access to the big tournaments in the UK, but are pretty much now swallowed up by that system. It's why Irish players looking to gain a tour card on the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC ) circuit - and a chance to rub shoulders with the big boys - must do so through the UK qualifiers. Yet the rest of our EU counterparts get to play their own PDC Q School qualifiers in Germany. As Cork's former World Masters champion John O'Shea recently pointed out, Ireland's darts players are much a part of the EU as those from Germany, Holland or Poland. O'Shea also reckons this is why Ireland gets overlooked by the PDC when they put together their increasingly popular World Series of Darts fixtures each year. The World Series sees the top eight players in the PDC, including the likes of Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen, take on the top eight players in Asia and Europe in front of huge crowds in places like Bahrain, Vegas and Copenhagen. O'Shea believes there is no doubt it would be an automatic sell-out here if the PDC brought their best eight players to take on Ireland's best eight in front of an Irish crowd. Five players who would certainly be in contention for that Irish eight would be WDF World Champion Shane McGuirk of Monaghan, Stephen Rosney of Offaly, Waterford's Dean Finn and Paddy Quinn and Donegal's Gerard McGlynn. Add in the serial winners Robyn Byrne and Katie Sheldon of Dublin and Donegal's Denise Cassidy and you would have an eight there that would give the PDC boys a good run for their money! All eight will get the chance to prove their worth this weekend when they compete for the Republic of Ireland men's and ladies teams at the Six Nations in Wales, against teams from the host country, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands. Success is never far off for Irish players at these tournaments, with McGlynn the reigning Six Nations singles champion, while Robyn Byrne is the current Europe Cup singles champion. It's been a great week for darts on this island as it is, with the Northern Ireland pair of Daryl Gurney and Josh Rock winning the PDC World Cup of Darts last Sunday night. The outpouring of emotion from the two was a sight to behold and just shows how much it means to them. Derry man Gurney is a class player and PDC major winner in his own right, but young Antrim man Rock really is something special. It surely won't be long before we see him in the PDC Premier League. And while PDC supremo, Barry Hearn, is at it, he really should think about Ireland for a future World Series of Darts event.
RTÉ News
6 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Maro Itoje
NAME: Maro Itoje DOB: 28/10/1994 POSITION: Second row CLUB: Saracens SCOTLAND CAPS: 93 LIONS CAPS: 6 Itoje is on his third Lions tour, having played in all six Tests in New Zealand 2017 and South Africa 2021. The Saracens lock was made captain of England for the 2025 Six Nations, replacing his club team-mate Jamie George. He is also the first English captain of a Lions tour since Martin Johnson in 2001. Itoje has won five Premiership titles and three Champions Cups in his time at Saracens.
Daily Mirror
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Young England star Fin Baxter backs old-school approach to land him bigger role
The prop burst onto the scene with Harlequins last season, a standout performance in place of the absent Joe Marler in a win away to Bordeaux-Bègles serving as a warning shot of just how good he could be Fin Baxter is still only 23 but his approach to rugby remains very much in the old school. The prop burst onto the scene with Harlequins last season, a standout performance in place of the absent Joe Marler in a win away to Bordeaux-Bègles serving as a warning shot of just how good he could be. That led to a first England call-up for last summer's tour of New Zealand, and he has been a firm fixture in Steve Borthwick's plans ever since. With first choice loosehead Ellis Genge away with the Lions in Australia this summer, Baxter now has the chance to take on an even bigger role for England. And while the modern game might be asking more of props with ball in hand, Baxter believes that is the nuts and bolts that will determine how far he goes in the game. He said: 'I want to keep showing that I'm a key part (of the England team). I've got a real point of difference, my set-piece is hopefully that difference, and the stuff I bring around the park in my carrying and tackling, is going to hopefully overshadow that aggressive stereotype that Argentina brings. 'Props nowadays, I think, are too quick to want to be the modern prop. That label has been thrown around so much whereas for me, you have to scrum, you have to maul, you have to be very good at that first, to then be able to do the rest of it. At the end of the day, you are picked on your scrummaging and the rest of it makes you a brilliant player. That is something I wanted not to miss. 'Coming through at Harlequins, I would think 'what's stopping me? What's not getting me picked?' and it was scrummaging. It's an easy answer. If you've got that ticked, you can bring the rest of your skills.' Baxter's emergence with England coincided with a string of narrow defeats, finding himself on the losing side in his first five caps. None of that was Baxter's responsibility, but he made a match-winning cameo against eventual Six Nations champions France in February at the Allianz Stadium, scoring a try in a dramatic 26-25 victory. He describes that game as 'mega' and has relished the upturn in results since as England finished their campaign with four straight victories on their way to second – their best result in the tournament for five years. He added: 'With England, it was a tough start results-wise. Come the Six Nations, to get the results like that and perform was brilliant. We beat Japan but before that, I'd not won a game for England, so to go from that to finishing off with four games not losing, it was nice to be on both sides of that. 'Being new into a team, you are not quite sure what is off, what's changed, what is different, because it's your first experience. I did say to myself 'don't let this taint the start of my career', I had good times in those games, it's not just the result, I was enjoying myself, camp was fun, and the boys were playing well. It was nice to get the balance.' The challenge now is to kick on against the Pumas, renowned for their powerful pack, particularly on home soil. But for a player who has seized every opportunity that has come this way, Baxter is desperate to do it again and show that old-school skills still have their place in the modern game. Make sure to cheer on the England Men's XV against a France XV on Saturday 21st June at Allianz Stadium so together, we raise the roof. Tickets from £25, please visit
