Here are the latest rugby headlines on Monday, May 1.
Gatland to announce Wales World Cup training squad
Warren Gatland will today name his extended Wales World Cup training squad ahead of three summer warm-up matches to prepare for the showpiece global tournament in France this autumn.
The initial squad is expected to involve around 45 players. You can follow the announcement live here.
Wales kick off their warm-up campaign when England visit the Principality Stadium on Saturday, August 5, before the return fixture at Twickenham a week later on Saturday, August 12. Wales' last game on home soil before heading to France will be against defending World Cup champions South Africa on Saturday, August 19.
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Joe Hawkins and Will Rowlandsfates to be sealed
The Wales eligibility situation around Joe Hawkins and Will Rowlands is set to finally become clear when Gatland names his World Cup training squad.
Hawkins, the 20-year-old centre who is leaving the Ospreys for Exeter Chiefs, and Rowlands, the influential lock who is headed for Racing 92 from Dragons, would be expected to be included if their eligibility situation allows.
But, for Hawkins, that seems unlikely. He must prove he signed for the Devon club back in October, before he won his first cap. If he did commit to the Chiefs prior to making his Wales debut, he will be eligible to continue playing for his country. But the grapevine suggests he still has work to do to convince bosses on that front, with WalesOnline told just days ago evidence had yet to be forthcoming to back up any suggestion he committed to the Chiefs ahead of playing for Wales.
Unless there has been a dramatci late development, Hawkins is expected to be banned from representing Wales.
As for Rowlands, his first problem will be to show he is ready for a summer of vigorous training after the injury which has sidelined him since November. His next issue will be that he is two caps shy of the number he needs to keep playing for Wales under their selection criteria for exiles, with Rowlands joining Racing 92 from Dragons. Three warm-up Tests might give him the chance to reach 25, albeit the precise detail of his contract situation is sketchy.
Former Wales star quits Australia
Ex-Wales international centre Andy Marinos has announced his shock resignation as Rugby Australia CEO overnight.
Marinos, who will depart the role next month, made the announcement just days after the governing body reported an AUS$8.2 million surplus, which earned him huge praise after the organisation's previous financial issues.
RA confirmed the news on Monday, saying Marinos wanted out to “pursue new opportunities” and that the recruitment process was already under way.
Marinos said he felt the timing was right for a change, despite the World Cup being just months away. He had helped secure hosting rights for the next World Cup in 2027 during his time and also brought Eddie Jones back to the Wallabies after a disappointing year of results.
“The foundations have been established and the business is now well-prepared to test the market for private equity investment, making it the right time for me to move on,” he said in a statement.
“Importantly, I will leave with the knowledge that RA is in a stronger position than when I joined, and proud of what has been achieved in my tenure as CEO.”
Marinos won eight caps for Wales between 2002 and 2003 during his time playing in Newport. He was actually born in Zimbabwe but qualified through his grandparents, who were from north Wales.
Glasgow overcame nerves in Llanelli
By Andrew Baldock, PA
Franco Smith said Glasgow's first appearance in a European final "means a lot" after they saw off Challenge Cup rivals the Scarlets 35-17 in Llanelli.
The Warriors will tackle Toulon or Benetton in Dublin on May 19, and they are the first Scottish team to reach the Challenge Cup final since Edinburgh did so eight years ago.
And they were good value for their semi-final triumph, scoring tries from centre Stafford McDowall, who claimed a double, scrum-half George Horne, flanker Rory Darge and replacement hooker Johnny Matthews.
Horne also kicked five conversions for a 15-point tally as the Scarlets were overhauled after leading 17-14 early in the second period.
"It means a lot to them. Everyone is very excited around that," Glasgow head coach Smith said.
"But we know there are still a lot of learnings to take from this, a lot of improvement to be made. We have the ability, we have the skillset - we just need to now use the lessons learnt from this week better.
"The talk at half-time was about settling down. Even some of our internationals were just a little bit too nervous, which shows what this means to them.
"They didn't want to lose tonight, and I thought we started off so well, but we got a little bit jittery.
"We calmed it down at half-time. The plan didn't change. The plan was specific for this week and I thought we stuck to that even though Scarlets did extremely well to unsettle us and rattle us.
"Their line-speed from a defence perspective was very good, and we didn't manage to get out of our half for various reasons, but it was important to show some resilience before the end.
"It's about managing the emotional intelligence during the game and going into the next big challenge."
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