These are the rugby stories making headlines on the evening of Friday, July 11
These are your rugby headlines on the evening of Friday, July 11
Flanagan opens up on exit
Dai Flanagan says he would have liked more time at the Dragons after he sealed a move to Saracens.
The Welshman departed the Rodney Parade club at the backend of last year by mutual consent. The season was just five games old at that point, having opened the campaign with a win over the Ospreys. Filo Tiatia took the reins but the Men of Gwent would not win another game that season.
Flanagan has since moved on to join English giants Saracens as attack coach and will be working with some of the biggest names in the sport next season. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack for the exclusive five-week tour diary from Japan and Australia.
However, the former fly-half still keeps very close tabs on what is going on in Welsh rugby and his old club.
“Ideally, I would have liked longer with the Dragons,” Flanagan told the Daily Mail.
“But the next step after that would have been to experience a new environment outside Wales, so this has just come sooner than I thought. Everything happens for a reason. When you’re a head coach, it’s a 24/7 job. You’re not sleeping. We all know what’s happening in Welsh rugby off the field.
“It’s tough. Look at this pub. It’s full. You can tell there are lots of people in Wales who care about rugby. We’ve got to keep giving the Welsh rugby public something to cheer about.
“I’m a passionate Welshman and it does pain me to see what’s going on. I’ve been at the centre of it with the Dragons. They’re my home region. I grew up in Penallta and we trained just down the road. I still speak to people at the Dragons.
“My wife can’t understand it. I should have enjoyed it more. I cared so much. I just wanted it to succeed.”
Lloyd surprised by emotions
New Cardiff signing Ioan Lloyd says he has been surprised by how emotional he has felt since returning to his hometown club.
Lloyd swapped west for east by moving from the Scarlets to the Arms Park this summer.
Seeing the club crest of a club he watched as a boy has ignited feelings within him, after spells with Bristol Bears and the west Walians.
“It’s kind of surprised me this week as it’s been seven, eight years since I left the Cardiff system,” said Lloyd.
“It’s surprised how proud it’s made me putting on the jersey and seeing the Cardiff badge really ignited some sort of feelings that I didn’t really anticipate.
“I’m really looking forward to firstly getting through this pre-season and then hopefully getting the opportunity to wear the actual playing jersey.”
Now back in the Welsh capital, he said the opportunity to come back to his hometown club was too good an opportunity to turn down.
He also added that linking up with Matt Sherratt aligned with the way he sees the game.
“I was lucky enough to get an opportunity in Bristol,” he said. “It was all about life experience going elsewhere.
“I’d been brought up and lived my whole life in Cardiff, but always knew that if I was ever to make it as a professional player, at some point, the opportunity to get to play for my hometown club would be amazing.
“I guess the sort of vision that Jockey’s got and the way that the team is trying to play at the moment suits my game.
“It’s something that is really exciting to get the opportunity to be a part of. It’s a nice surface to play on. I find the game tends to be a little bit quicker, the ball doesn’t tend to get as slippery even when it’s raining so it’s quite nice to play on.”
As the new season approaches, Lloyd is staying focused on the process, with clear goals in mind for both himself and the team.
“The playoffs has got to be an initial goal and anything further than that, and then European ambitions also.
“As an individual, I’m taking it week by week. My first job here is settling in, getting to know the boys properly and really ripping into the training side of things. Then I’m sure as things progress, I’ll start to develop some bigger goals.”
Earl makes bold Lions statement
By Duncan Bech, PA Rugby Union Correspondent, Adelaide
Ben Earl has revealed that Andy Farrell’s British and Irish Lions are aiming for greatness as their tour of Australia approaches the stage that will determine whether it is a success or failure.
A stacked AUNZ Invitational XV containing 17 Wallabies and All Blacks provide dangerous final opponents before the Test series begins in Brisbane on July 19.
The Lions have so far dispatched all four Super Rugby franchises, each of them missing the bulk of their Australia stars, with the defeat to Argentina in Dublin that launched the tour the only blemish.
The hectic schedule of four matches in 11 days across four different cities has prevented any serious training from taking place, but Earl insists there can be no excuses in the pursuit of a lofty goal.
“There’s a big thing that we’ve been speaking about – being one of the best Lions teams ever,” the England number eight said.
“You can’t be the best Lions team ever and lose 3-0 in the Test series or not win many games. But also it’s how we go about things.
“Games like this one you have short preparation, sore bodies and are at the end of a tough two-week block, so you’ve got some excuses there if you wanted to roll over and not put your best stuff forward.
“But then you’d be doing yourself, the jersey, the brand itself a complete disservice.”
While head coach Farrell has repeatedly highlighted the challenges posed by preparation being limited to training walk-throughs and meetings, his players are relishing the regular action.
“It’s been great. It’s been unbelievable,” Earl added. “At this time of the year – what are we, 54 weeks into a season now almost? – just playing is so fun, so enjoyable, so exciting.
“It’s the meetings, the analysis, the review stuff that can get tiresome. It’s the coolest thing to be able to play with players that previously you were previewing on how to stop them.
“I can wholeheartedly say that it’s the best thing I’ve ever done by a mile. I’ve learnt more in the last five weeks than I probably have in the last four years in terms of seeing the game differently, playing with different people and competing on the training pitch.
“But it’s also been learning that, actually, going into a rugby performance you don’t need to do seven days of going into a monastery and coming out on a Saturday and being able to play.
“You just have to work out what you’re good at, what you’re going to do as a team and try and do it and see where you’re at after 80 minutes. That’s pretty cool.”
The Lions depart Adelaide for Brisbane on Sunday to begin preparations for the first Test, with Farrell scheduled to name his team on Thursday.
Lions hold Kinghorn hope
By Duncan Bech, PA Rugby Union Correspondent, Adelaide
Blair Kinghorn faces a race against time to be fit for the British and Irish Lions’ first Test against Australia because of the sprained knee sustained on Wednesday.
Fears that the Lions would see another full-back ruled out of the tour following Elliot Daly’s return home with a fractured forearm were eased following a positive scan on the injury incurred against the ACT Brumbies.
Ireland’s Jamie Osborne has been called up as cover given that Kinghorn is not due to resume training until next week.
Lions defence coach Simon Easterby insists the Scotland star, regarded as first choice to fill the number 15 jersey against the Wallabies on July 19, will be given every chance to show he is ready.
“Blair didn’t look great against the Brumbies and it was the right thing to do to pull him off. But the scan has showed up way more positive than we’d hoped originally,” Easterby said.
“We’re hopeful that he’ll take some part in training next week and then it will be a little bit of a waiting game in terms of whether he’s available for the first Test.
“It will be one of those things that we’ll just have to take day by day. Like a lot of these injuries throughout a tour, we’ll give guys an opportunity to try and prove their fitness.
“And who knows? If it works out, great. If not, we’ve got good guys who are able to step up.”
Chief among those “good guys” is Ireland’s Hugo Keenan, who has Saturday’s clash with an AUNZ Invitational XV to impress head coach Andy Farrell ahead of the series opener.
A calf injury prevented Keenan from making his debut for the tourists until their fourth match on tour, against the New South Wales Waratahs, and to add misery to misfortune he picked up a bug that Farrell said explained his underwhelming performance in Sydney.
“Hugo has had a bit of illness and has not been able to take part fully in preparation for each game so this is a perfect opportunity for him after having a good few days without any sickness,” Easterby said.
“He is feeling a lot better and stronger and it’s a great opportunity for him to stake a claim for next week.
“Whatever system he’s in he’s a bit of a goalkeeper at the back, he talks brilliantly, his comms are good and his actions are better. All the things you want a 15 to be in defence, he’s all of that. He’s got everything.”
