The latest rugby news stories from Wales and beyond
Your evening headlines on Tuesday, June 10.
Dragons club doctor dies
The Dragons have paid tribute to their club doctor Graeme Yule after his sudden passing.
The well-known GP, who was a senior partner at St Julian’s Medical Centre in Newport, died unexpectedly over the weekend.
He also worked with the Rodney Parade side and they have now paid their respects. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
In a statement, the club said: “Dragons RFC are deeply saddened to hear of the sudden passing of club doctor Graeme Yule.
“All at the club want to thank Graeme for his diligent hard work and care throughout the Gwent region.
“We pass on our deepest condolences to Graeme’s family and friends at this sad time.”
Dr Yule had dedicated more than 30 years of his working life to the care of patients in the city.
“This is a profound loss for our practice and we know many of you will also feel his absence deeply,” a statement from St Julian’s Medical Centre read. “Our thoughts are with his family.”
Rugby legend’s knighthood ‘a little bit late’
By Ellie Crabbe, PA
“Trailblazing” rugby league star Sir Billy Boston’s honour came “a little bit late”, his son said, as his father became a knight in a first for the sport.
Sir Billy, who scored 478 tries in 488 matches for Wigan after making the switch from rugby union in 1953, was knighted by the King in a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday.
The 90-year-old, who was born in Cardiff, revealed in 2016 that he was living with vascular dementia.
Speaking after his father was knighted, Sir Billy’s son Stephen said: “It’s a really great honour. I think it has come a little bit late. It could have come a little bit earlier.”
Sir Billy’s knighthood was awarded before the latest round of honours has been publicly announced amid concerns for his health.
It comes after a campaign by local councillors, MPs and leading figures in the sport to get him honoured – and Sir Billy’s family were supported by Josh Simons, the MP for Wakerfield, near Wigan, at the event.
“It should have been a lot, a lot sooner,” Sir Billy’s son told the PA news agency.
“130 years before a rugby league player got knighted.
“We’re all really appreciative and very appreciative of all the support we’ve got from Wigan the rugby league club, the local MP and all the fans.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it was a “historic wrong” that no rugby league player had been knighted before.
He said: “Billy Boston is a true trailblazer whose contributed hugely to rugby league. It is a historic wrong that a sport which is the backbone of so many communities has waited so long to receive this honour.
“Boston is a legend of the game who overcame prejudice to represent Great Britain and opened the door to a more diverse game.
“He’s left a truly enduring legacy and the first knighthood in rugby league could not go to a more deserving player.”
It is understood the Prime Minister has written to Sir Billy to congratulate him on the honour.
In 1954, he made history as the first non-white player to be selected for a Great Britain rugby league Lions tour, scoring 36 tries in 18 appearances around Australia and New Zealand, including a then-record four in one match against the Kiwis.
He made two more Lions tours in 1958 and 1962 and ended with 24 tries in 31 Test appearances for Great Britain.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons and former president of the Rugby Football League, said: “Billy is a rugby league legend and his name is synonymous with the sport, having played for Wigan, as well as representing Great Britain.
“Billy was one of the ‘codebreakers’ from the Cardiff Bay area, who took the brave decision to switch from rugby union to rugby league – and faced hostility and prejudice as a result. However, his courage not only inspired future rugby greats to switch codes but it also encouraged generations of youngsters to take up the sport.
“Billy’s strong running style, pace and agility were feared and admired by supporters and opponents alike and he remains Wigan’s top try scorer to this day.
“He was a pioneer in the 1950s when he switched codes and is a pioneer to this day by ensuring rugby league gets the recognition it deserves. His story shows there should be no barriers to achieving your potential and that is what makes the knighthood so fitting.”
Rebel league ‘delusional’
Mike Tindall’s rebel breakaway league has been branded “delusional” by top broadcasting company TNT Sports.
Tindall, who won the World Cup with England in 2003, has been revealed as one of the driving forces behind the league which has been charged with “driving generational change in rugby” in the guise of a tournament called R360.
It is targeting the best talent on the planet to be involved, which would run in two windows – one from April to June and the other from August to September – in order to make players available for internationals.
The initial proposal is for 12 franchises, with eight male teams and four women’s teams.
But Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, which owns TNT, has been scathing in his assessment of the concept.
“I’m going to take my TNT Sports hat off just for the moment,” said Georgiou in the Telegraph.
“I’ve been involved in sport for 25 years. I can’t tell you how many of these PowerPoint presentations have come across my desk with people who were absolutely certain that what they had on that page was going to be the new thing. It was going to be absolutely the new thing.
“I don’t know the details of what’s happening, no one’s come to us and made a presentation, no one’s told us what the new format is, no one told us what the new schedule is. I mean, I actually don’t know much about it. But the one question that I think you guys should be asking is, ‘how are they going to grow the revenue by putting this event on?’ Where’s the money coming from? The media industry is going through a massive generational change. There’s been more change in the media industry in the last five years than there has been since the invention of cable television in the late 70s and early 80s.
“So, if these folks believe that they are going to grow the revenue by putting this thing on, I think they’re delusional. I really do. What it will do is further complicate what is already a well-functioning rugby ecosystem.
“And so I would just ask some pretty fundamental questions around whether this is a commercially sustainable model. The fact that it’s being likened to LIV Golf, I think is a perfect analogy. It’s a perfect comparator to what this is really going to be. Commercially unsustainable.”
England call up World Cup winner’s son
By PA Sport Staff
England head coach Steve Borthwick has named 16 uncapped players in a 36-man training squad to prepare for the upcoming match against France and summer Tests against the United States and Argentina.
The group does not include players selected for the British and Irish Lions, or players from Bath and Leicester, who will contest the Gallagher Premiership final on Saturday.
Among the list of debutants is 21-year-old Saracens scrum-half Charlie Bracken, son of Kyran Bracken, who made 51 appearances for England and was part of the squad that won the 2003 World Cup.
The squad will converge on the England Rugby Performance Centre at Pennyhill Park for a four-day training camp, prior to the final summer touring squad being announced on June 23.
Regulars named in the group include the likes of George Ford and Henry Slade, while George Furbank continues his rehabilitation from injury and Joe Batley and George Martin are among a number of players who remain sidelined.
