Here are the latest rugby headlines on Friday, October 7.
Alun Wyn Jones impresses
Ospreys coach Toby Booth continues to be impressed by the talents, work-rate and influence of Alun Wyn Jones, who recently turned 37.
Jones has started this campaign with trademark zest and has been playing each game as if it could be his last. Lineouts have been stolen, opponents have been clattered, experience brought to bear. Last week, he led from the front with a thundering tackle on Sione Tuipulotu, the Glasgow Warriors player the Ospreys had identified as the big threat ahead of the match in Swansea.
The enthusiasm is still obvious and none of it has taken aback Ospreys head coach Toby Booth.
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“It doesn’t surprise me,” said Booth at the region’s midweek press call. “It was fairly evident from the first day I met him, to be fair.
“I actually asked the assistant coaches at the time, whether that was a new-coach routine [a player lifting his performance to try to impress his new boss].
“They said: ‘No, that’s just Al. That’s what he does.’
“To be fair, he’s been absolutely true to that.
“He’s a person who, with all the experience and accolades he’s achieved, still leads from the front in terms of energy and enthusiasm.
“That’s a good lesson for our young players.”
Wayne Pivac watched Jones last week and would not have been shaken from his conviction that the lock can not only play through to the World Cup next year, but also play a key role for Wales in France.
At the Ospreys, Booth says the former captain continues to be a huge role model.
“Yeah, one hundred percent,” said Booth. “He spoke a few words at the end of training on Thursday which resonated. Those levels of experience and little pearls of wisdom are brilliant. If he can influence performance, that’s added value to the team.”
Lions star comes out of playing retirement
Former Lions star Sean O'Brien has come out of playing retirement and signed to play play grassroots rugby for Naas RFC, according to reports in Ireland.
The AIL Division 1B side have got themselves a coup, with O'Brien having only retired from playing professional rugby at the end of last season with London Irish in the English Premiership.
O'Brien, now a contact skills coach at his former club Leinster, had hoped to play with his childhood club Tullow RFC, but was denied the opportunity due to regulations barring recent professionals from playing at that even lower level.
O'Brien was a two-time British Lion in 2013 and 2017 and won 56 caps for Ireland.
Wales name team for World Cup opener
Wales centre Hannah Jones will captain her side in their Women's Rugby World Cup opener against Scotland this Sunday, with squad captain Siwan Lillicrap only making the bench as Sioned Harries claims the starting No. 8 jersey.
Ioan Cunningham's Wales side must beat Scotland on Sunday, October 9 (5.45am UK time kick-off) if they are to have any hope of making the quarter-finals, as they also face reigning champions New Zealand and big-hitters Australia in Pool A.
There had been much talk over whether Lillicrap's squad captaincy would translate to her starting given the pressure Harries has provided since breaking back into the Wales squad after a three-year absence, but Cunningham is keen to stress it is about the matchday 23 as a whole. Lillicrap offers cover across the back row and at lock, too.
Jones, who captained the side in both pre-tournament friendlies, will be joined in the midfield by Megan Webb, cousin of Wales internationals Rhys Webb and Tommy Reffell, who makes her first start in more than two years. She missed the 2022 Six Nations due to having had glandular fever, and her last start came against France in 2020. Read the full Wales team news here.
Sioned's joy
Wales back-rower Sioned Harries admits her three-year absence from the national set-up makes it all the sweeter to have reached a fourth World Cup.
Harries, 32, was brought back into the fold by Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham and has forced herself back into the starting line-up, such is her impact.
"It means a lot to get to New Zealand," she said. "It tastes sweeter after being out of the squad for three years."
Training full-time since July thanks to support from her employers Ysgol Gymraeg Ystalyfera Bro Dur, where the 65-cap No. 8 is a PE teacher, Harries is relishing her new professional arrangement.
"I’m able to train full-time so it’s a World Cup where I have high expectations for myself and I want to make myself, my family, my team-mates and my friends proud.
"It felt a bit surreal to start off with. Previously when I was training with Wales I was so used to going back to work afterwards, I always had to balance work and rugby. So to be able to train full-time has been a bit surreal at times but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a different mental challenge."
Although her personal expectations have always been high, Harries admits there are no excuses now.
"I’d say my personal expectations are the same as they have always been, the standards I expect of myself are the same as when I balanced work and rugby but now I’m able to give more to rugby. I’m able to invest more into training so I’d say I’m probably in the best shape of my career but even more important than that is the accountability that is now required of us. There are no excuses which is exactly what we want as players."
At the same time, Harries believes expectations must be managed.
"The time and money invested into us will allow us to improve and grow but we are still behind other nations who started ahead of us, we have to understand that but keep striving to move forward. We are on the right track and it’s about time."
Worcester relegated from Premiership after partial liquidation
Worcester have been relegated from the Gallagher Premiership and suspended from the Premiership Rugby Cup for the remainder of the 2022-23 season, the Rugby Football Union has confirmed.
The Warriors' Premiership future had been left in doubt after the club was partially liquidated on Wednesday, with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) pursuing unpaid tax in the region of £6million.
Wednesday's ruling instructed that WRFC Players Ltd, a subsidiary of WRFC Trading Ltd through which players and some staff are paid, be wound up. A winding-up petition against WRFC Trading Ltd, which remains in administration, has been suspended.
Men's captain Ted Hill, Ollie Lawrence, Fergus Lee-Warner and Valeriy Morozov had already joined Bath on loan. Following Wednesday's ruling, other players had their contracts terminated, along with members of staff, which saw British and Irish Lions winger Duhan van der Merwe return to former club Edinburgh while Joe Batley's move back to Bristol was confirmed on Thursday evening.
Wales internationals Ashley Beck and Owen Williams have lost their jobs, while many of Wales Women's World Cup squad players, too, are affected by the news, with a number of them having turned out for Worcester in the Premier 15s.
Administrators Begbies Traynor are seeking a buyer for WRFC Trading Ltd and are talking to two consortiums.
The RFU said the decision to suspend the team would allow "space and time" to prioritise the work to secure a deal for the long-term future of the club and was encouraged by the progress made by the administrators, including relating to the land around Sixways Stadium.
If investors can be secured, Worcester will restart in the Championship for the 2023-24 season, the RFU confirmed, but the club can appeal the decision if it can show there was 'no fault insolvency'.
Read more:
Cardiff Rugby issue statement amid rumours of player sackings
Justin Tipuric and Gareth Anscombe add to Wayne Pivac's injury worries as New Zealand showdown looms
