Your rugby evening headlines for Wednesday, June 1.
Wales rookie shortlisted for award
Tommy Reffell, the uncapped flanker named in Wales' squad for this summer, has been shortlisted for the Land Rover Discovery of the Season. The award recognises the best young player in the Gallagher Premiership and the 23-year-old is among the five nominees.
Reffell has had an outstanding year for league high-fliers Leicester and caught the attention of Wayne Pivac. He'll travel with Wales on a three-Test trip to South Africa this summer, where he'll be looking to make his senior national debut.
The Tigers openside is on the shortlist with Henry Arundell (London Irish), Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints) and Hugh Tizard (Harlequins).
Bristol's mercurial Welshman Ioan Lloyd has won the award previously. Other past winners include Sam Simmonds, Ellis Genge, Maro Itoje, Henry Slade, Billy Vunipola, Joe Launchbury, Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi, Ben Youngs, Jordan Turner-Hall, Danny Cipriani, Tom Rees, Tom Varndell and Ollie Smith.
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Faf to link up with Hill in Japan
South African World Cup-winner Faf de Klerk has joined Yokohama Canon Eagles, the same club what Wales international Cory Hill plays for.
De Klerk was confirmed as leaving Sale Sharks some time ago but his future has been up in the air until now. He will play his last game for Sale this weekend before linking up with the Springboks for summer Tests against Wales. He will then head onwards to Japan.
I’m very excited and grateful for the opportunity to be part of a great team like Yokohama Canon Eagles,” said de Klerk. “Since the Rugby World Cup in 2019, I knew I wanted to play in Japan at some stage in my career.
“Now it is a reality and I can’t wait to get stuck in with my teammates and coaches and hopefully make a big impact. The Japanese culture is amazing and I look forward to enjoying every moment with my partner, teammates and all the rugby fans of Japan.”
Dragons 'financially protected' in Allen deal
Dragons boss Dean Ryan has shed some more light on the Cory Allen deal in an interview with the South Wales Argus.
The Wales centre signed for the region last year but has not been seen on the field since suffering a serious knee injury in 2019. He was not involved at all last term but was not released by the Dragons either as long-term servant Adam Warren was shown the door.
Allen will battle it out with Jack Dixon, Aneurin Owen, Max Clark and Sio Tomkinson next term if fit.
In light of Allen's injury record, and the fact he was injured when the Dragons signed him, Ryan told the Argus that they are 'financially protected' in the deal but would not elaborate.
"We want to support him through the recovery while at the same time not exposing the business," said Ryan. "We have done that in conversations with Cory and want to support him to get playing.
"We obviously can't do that forever, but if we get it right then we get a player at the Dragons that we probably wouldn't have got in another situation.
"There is some risk attached but we are protected financially along the way. That's always been the situation and we are still in the position of supporting him to get back playing.
"There is always a point [where you have to stop] but at the moment I am not getting messages that a return not going to happen."
Glasgow don't fear Leinster
Glasgow stand-off Ross Thompson is relishing the pressure of their United Rugby Championship quarter-final against Leinster in Dublin.
Warriors face the toughest of assignments in the last eight as they take on the team who topped the league on their own patch at the RDS Arena.
But the 23-year-old Scotland international is not fazed by the prospect.
"I like pressure," he said. "I enjoy it. Sometimes it can be tough but it's what I look forward to.
"As a young kid you want to be playing in those big games. If you want to play in those big games you have got to handle the pressure.
"You have got to challenge yourself and really stretch yourself to get some growth as a player. Playing in these big games is what you really need to do to take your game to the next level.
"It's good to try and treat every game the same. There is definitely more pressure, you can feel there is a bit more of a buzz around some of these big games.
"We have tried to focus on ourselves a lot. Obviously Leinster are a very good team and have been for a number of years. So we are looking forward to this test.
"If you want to go to the latter stages you are going to have to play against these top teams."
