Here are the latest rugby headlines on Monday, June 26.
Wales World Cup build-up intensifies
Warren Gatland will have the chance to run the rule over his entire Wales World Cup training squad for the first time over the coming days.
Players have trained in small groups so far but all 49 are set to assemble at Wales' Vale training base this coming week.
It means players have one more week to impress Gatland, with the squad possibly being cut down to round 45 ahead of the first full training camp abroad in Switzerland, which begins next Monday (July 3). Wales will be there for two weeks before later heading to Turkey at the end of July for another training camp.
There are three months to go until Wales begin their World Cup campaign, and Gatland will name his 33-player World Cup squad after two warm-ups against England and one against reigning world champions South Africa in August.
"The Welsh boys love nothing better than being written off with their backs to the wall," Gatland said. "Fiji are going to be really dangerous first up but we're on a good side of the draw if we can get to the quarter-finals. We've got to play well to get out of our group but we've made the Welsh public proud of the performances they have put in that jersey in the past, so hopefully we can again."
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Eddie Jones wants to convert flanker to winger for World Cup
Australia head coach Eddie Jones wants to convert uncapped flanker Josh Kemeny into a winger for the World Cup, where the Wallabies will face Wales, Fiji, Georgia and Portugal.
The 24-year-old Melbourne Rebels back-rower has been earmarked for the positional switch, with Jones having previously experimented with shifting Jack Nowell and Ben Earl between the pack and backline while in charge of England.
Jones has named a 34-player Aussie squad to face South Africa on July 8, with players split into three groups: forwards, back and utility. Flanker Kemeny fell under the latter banner, along with Waratahs pair Ben Donaldson and Dylan Pietsch. Donaldson, the only capped member of this trio, is a fly-half/full-back and Pietsch is a wing.
“We want Kemeny to play seven, six and on the wing,” Jones said. “He’s quick enough to play on the wing, that’s why he’s listed down as a utility player. He’s a tall, rangy guy, good in the air.
“We need to develop a team that is multi-dimensional because of the fact with HIA, yellow or red cards, you need to be able to adapt on the field. Nothing’s not possible and we need to develop that adaptability in the team.
“It’s very important [to have adaptability] and that’s why we’ve named them as utility players. We need a back-rower that can play wing and I’m serious about this. Hoops [Michael Hooper] could probably do it in his younger age, he was faster than most wingers.”
Former Wales captain retires
Former Wales captain Siwan Lillicrap has retired from playing rugby aged 35.
The lock/back-rower stepped back from international rugby after the Rugby World Cup last autumn, and has spent this season playing for English Premier 15s title winners Gloucester-Hartpury after joining from Bristol Bears. While she did not feature in their 34-19 final win over Exeter Chiefs on Saturday in front of more than 9,000 people, Lillicrap takes home a winner's medal.
Swansea native Lillicrap was among the 12 players to be offered historic WRU full-time professional contracts in January 2022, and played a key role in negotiating with rugby bosses on behalf of players to professionalise the programme. She now works with Wales Women's under-20s and under-18s teams.
"I've had amazing times throughout rugby," Lillicrap told BBC Sport Wales. "To finish off with Gloucester Hartpury winning the Prem is like the dream ending. I'll miss the girls and I'll miss everything that goes with rugby but the time is right to step away from playing. Hopefully I can get back in another way in the future."
Lillicrap made her debut against Ireland in 2016, becoming captain in 2019, and made 51 international appearances before retiring after last year's World Cup in New Zealand.
South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus says the Springboks will step up to the plate at the Rugby World Cup but is under no illusions over how tough the task is in front of them.
South Africa are the defending champions, having won the tournament out in Japan in 2019 but namechecked a number of teams who will cause problems in France.
“The nice thing about this group is we have been together for a long time. We are very realistic and we don’t often get dragged into what people are saying or thinking,” Erasmus said.
“We know realistically that in 2019 we were sort of the underdogs going into the World Cup. But now we are world champions and we have to go and try and defend that.
“We feel we have as good a chance (as anyone else) … but we are under no illusions … Australia under Eddie (Jones), New Zealand, Ireland, who are number one (in the world), France are number two, you can go right through to Scotland.”
He added: “It would be stupid to think we are favourites. We know that and aren’t even going to argue that because there is no sense in doing that.
“But we definitely feel the expectations on our shoulders because people expect us to go and defend our title. So we are certainly going to try.”
