The latest rugby news from Wales and around the world
Here are your rugby morning headlines for Friday, June 6.
Hook: Players are worried amid WRU uncertainty
James Hook says Welsh rugby players are fearing for their jobs amid ongoing uncertainty surrounding the game in Wales.
The Ospreys and Scarlets have refused to sign the new Professional Rugby Agreement, with the WRU activating its two-year notice period on the old PRA. Next season, Cardiff and the Dragons, who have signed the agreement, will receive more funding than the other two sides, while a future that still includes four professional sides in Wales looks bleak.
The WRU have confirmed it will not return to the previous model of four equally funded sides, with various independent reports concluding Wales should cut a team. It’s understood the Union is now seriously considering reducing to three, or even just two pro teams.
And former Wales and Ospreys fly-half Hook, who is part of the coaching set-up at the region, has urged the Union to offer some clarity as soon as possible, not only to the players, but the fans who support both clubs. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
“There needs to be a roadmap and some reassurance,” Hook said on Scrum V.
“People go on about the fans are worried – the players are worried. Especially with the Scarlets and the Ospreys not signing (the PRA), they have got their own reasons, which is fair enough, but the players will rightly be worried for their jobs.
“Because no one has come out and given a roadmap about how it’s going to look.”
It’s believed the WRU hope to have the future thrashed out within the next few months, but the prospect of legal action from the Scarlets and Ospreys is likely to complicate things. The Union has withdrawn the offer of the new PRA to the the two regions and it is unclear how any decision on the number of sides will play out.
Wales play England today
Wales Under 20s play England today in a match that will go a long way to deciding who makes the squad for the World Championship later this month.
Wales’ promising age-grade side will be looking to repeat the shock win over the English that proved to be Welsh rugby’s result of the season during the Six Nations. Richard Whiffin’s side won 23-13 at the Arms Park in March – a statement victory that destroyed their rivals’ Grand Slam hopes.
Today’s match at Pontypool Park (KO 3pm) is the first of two warm-up matches before the Under-20s World Cup begins in Italy against Argentina on June 29. Number eight Evan Minto captains the side.
“We’ve had guys in camp for three weeks working super hard and they deserve an opportunity,” said coach Whiffin.
“We said to the group at the start of the campaign we were going to use it as a selection game in terms of whittling the squad down from 45 down to 30 so there will be guys playing on Friday night putting their hands up for the plane ticket to Italy.
“So pressure goes onto those guys but ultimately if they can perform on Friday in a big game against England then it sets them up well for the World Cup.”
Wales U20s: Lewis Edwards (Ospreys); Ioan Duggan (Dragons), Elijah Evans (Cardiff), Elis Price (Scarlets), Aidan Boshoff (Bristol Bears); Harri Ford (Dragons), Sion Davies (Cardiff); Cam Tyler-Grocott (Cardiff), Saul Hurley (Aberavon), Owain James (Dragons), Dan Gemine (Ospreys), Kenzie Jenkins (Bristol Bears), Ryan Jones (Dragons), Caio James (Gloucester), Evan Minto (Captain – Dragons).
Replacements: Evan Wood (Pontypool), Louie Trevett (Bristol Bears), Jac Pritchard (Scarlets), Tom Cottle (Cardiff), Luke Evans (Exeter Chiefs), Deian Gwynne (Gloucester), Harry Beddall (Dragons), Logan Franklin (Dragons), Lloyd Lucas (Cardiff), Dylan Scott (Cardiff Met), Steffan Emanuel (Cardiff), Osian Darwin-Lewis (Cardiff), Jack Woods (Bath), Dylan Alford (Scarlets).
Halfpenny thanks ‘special club’ Harlequins
Leigh Halfpenny has penned a heartfelt thank-you letter to Harlequins after his season-long stint at The Stoop came to an end.
The 36-year-old is still hoping to continue playing, however yesterday he was announced as part of Matt Sherratt’s coaching staff for the summer tour of Japan.
While the role is only a temporary one, it is likely that his future will travel down that route once he hangs up his boots for good.
For now, though, it’s on to pastures new, with the full-back linked with a move to French outfit Beziers. But the Wales and Lions legend signed off from his Quins stint in typically classy fashion.
“Thank you Harlequins for an unforgettable season,” he wrote on Instagram.
“Have loved every minute of my time at the club and will treasure the memories and relationships we’ve made both on and off the field with this special group.
“A big thank you to the players, coaches, staff and especially the fans for making me and my family feel so welcome.
“I’m grateful to have worn the Quarters and proud to have represented such a special club.”
Glasgow confident Leinster can be beaten
By Anthony Brown, PA
Assistant coach Nigel Carolan stressed that defending champions Glasgow are not heading to Dublin as URC semi-final no-hopers this weekend as he pointed out that hosts Leinster are not infallible.
Warriors were thrashed 52-0 by the Irish side in the Champions Cup quarter-final in April and then lost 13-5 when they faced them in the last match of the regular league campaign three weeks ago.
However, Carolan is taking heart from the fact Leinster lost a semi-final at Aviva Stadium just a month ago when they were eliminated from the Champions Cup by Northampton.
“They’re not superhuman,” said the coach. “They’re humans after all. They’re only players. They’re not a team that are going to get it right all the time. Anything can happen in a knockout game.”
Asked if Glasgow would have any scar tissue from their heavy defeat against Leinster two months ago, Carolan said: “I think it’s in the back of your mind, of course, but you look at Leinster as well, they’re probably more scarred from their defeat in the semi-final against Northampton, and that’s something that continues to be alluded to.
“But as a sportsperson, you can only be next-game focused. You try and right the wrongs, you try and learn from what you can and try and do a better job the next time. I think that’s what we’ve done. I think we’re in a good space, definitely travelling over to Leinster this time, even more so than we were three weeks ago.
“Maybe it was a dead-rubber game, but I definitely think physically we were in a good position, our mindset was right to play and we certainly asked some good questions of Leinster. There’s enough of a template there to know that if that’s the way we can travel again, we’ll ask good questions this time as well.”
Leinster have not won a major trophy since their URC triumph in 2021 and Carolan believes there will be pressure on the Irish side.
“Albeit we have the champions tag, they’re at home, they’ve got a serious quality team, a world-class team,” he said.
“Obviously their expectations were to be a lot higher in the Champions Cup and they’ve missed out on that.
“There’s a lot of pressure on them to get silverware this year and it’s up to us to try and get that trophy back to Scotland.
“All we can do is focus on ourselves and put as much pressure on Leinster as we can, try and play the best version of our game. If we do that, we know we’ll put pressure on them and who knows what will happen?”
