The latest rugby news and headlines from Wales and beyond
Here are your rugby evening headlines for Wednesday, June 11.
Farrell fights back tears over first Lions change
British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell says the injury withdrawal of Scotland prop Zander Fagerson is “heartbreaking”, but admitted the emotion during his phone call to replacement Finlay Bealham “welled me up.” Tighthead Fagerson was forced to pull out of the squad for the Lions’ tour of Australia this summer earlier this week due to a calf injury, with Farrell admitting he experienced the highs and lows of sport as the Lions lost their first squad member to injury.
“It’s heartbreaking, but at the same time, he’s [Fagerson] a realist,” Farrell told Sky Sports.
“All rugby players know that’s the game. He’ll work unbelievably hard to get himself fit and who knows what’s going to happen down the track. Finlay [Bealham] has been called up in his place.”
Speaking from the Lions’ training camp in Portugal, Farrell offered further explanation on Bealham’s call-up as he spoke about the emotion of calling up the Ireland and Connacht prop.
“Because he’s in good form,” he added. “He’s very good at what he does. He was certainly right up there in the conversation from the very start as well. He would have been disappointed not to make the group.
“So we just know he’ll be a great fit for the group going forward. He’s the only conversation that I was able to have because of the way we did the squad announcement.
“By giving him a phone call and telling him he was selected within the squad, unfortunately for Zander, but it was one of the best phone conversations I’ve ever had. The emotion that went through the phone actually welled me up.
“It was great to be able to do that.”
Welsh star opens up on ‘s**t’ situation
Former Dragons wing Ashton Hewitt has opened up on his departure from Rodney Parade as he explained how the uncertainty facing Welsh rugby is affecting players.
The wing, who previously came close to winning a Wales cap, has left the Men of Gwent after more than a decade with the Gwent side.
“Filo didn’t see me as part of what he’s building and that’s the nature of the game. Ideally, it would have been nice to know sooner, but I understand there may well have been reasons for that,” Hewitt told Mail Online about his exit.
“It’s tough. I’ve got a young family. I’m not quite at panic stations, but it is worrying. It’s the same for anyone who loses their job when they’ve got commitments.
“There is a lot of pressure. You do feel responsibility and the need to keep going and provide for your family. This is a situation I hoped I’d never be in. It’s just s***, to be honest.” Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
As for the uncertainty that has affected Welsh rugby in recent years, Hewitt – who is chair of the Welsh Rugby Players Association – admitted it has been difficult.
“For the last five years or maybe longer, there has been something every single year in Wales that has impacted the players and put lots of us in difficult positions,” he added.
“To be honest, it’s been difficult to enjoy rugby because of that. It feels like a long time since as players, we’ve just been able to focus on the game and there’s been no noise about anything else. It’s been a s*** position to be in. I know I speak for myself when I say uncertainty and off-field stuff impacts performance. It’s hard for it not to.”
Basham targets Wales return
Taine Basham is eyeing a return to the Wales squad after revealing why he decided to leave the Dragons.
Basham, who had previously impressed at international level in 2021, hopes to rekindle his best form in the capital. The powerful and explosive backrower from Talywain had become a centurion for Dragons, racking up a grand total of 109 appearances and scoring 21 tries for the Gwent side.
He won his first cap against Canada back in the summer of 2021, scoring two tries before impressing in the autumn of that year against New Zealand, South Africa, Fiji, and Australia.
He went on to score a try against Ireland in the following Six Nations, but that was the last time he has started a Test for the national side after falling behind the likes of Jac Morgan and Tommy Reffell in the pecking order.
Playing in a consistently poor Dragons side has also not helped his cause and he hopes a change of scenery will take him to a new level.
He told the South Wales Argus: “My rise to international rugby was fairly quick and I haven’t been in recent squads.
“A new environment and set of peers will hopefully be good for me because I don’t have the number of caps that I thought I would have by now.
“I’ve seen a lot of people who have stayed at the Dragons for all of their career but I felt that I needed something different and a change of scene.
“I’m going to focus on getting back to the form of 2021 when I played well against the southern hemisphere teams because I am desperate to get back in that Welsh set-up.”
Young star reflects on Cardiff ‘pain’
England U20s will use their Six Nations defeat to Wales in Cardiff earlier this year to fuel their World U20s Championship title bid, according to fly-half Ben Coen.
The reigning world champions were not only denied a Grand Slam following their 23-13 defeat to Wales at the Arms Park in March, but also the title as France managed to sneak ahead of them.
Last week saw England defeat Wales in a warm-up match in Pontypool, but the ghosts of Cardiff are still fuelling England’s title bid this summer.
“There’s definitely hurt,” Coen told PlanetRugby. “There are a lot of boys who are hurting still, but that’s going to be fuel for the World Cup campaign. There’s no hiding away from it, we were outstanding all tournament, but then didn’t show up in that last game (against Wales). That’s the way sport is sometimes. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
“I feel it’s a massive learning curve and will be fuel for the fire. A lot of lads are hurting, including me; it took me a good few weeks to properly get over it, and I’m probably still not over it, but it’s probably not regret, it’s more learning.
“We’ve definitely addressed it, but we haven’t really lingered on it. We’ve gone ‘right, this is what we did and this is a few tweaks we can make in our game’. We’ve reflected on it, but we haven’t lingered on it, we’re just looking at how we can get better for it.”
