Here are your rugby headlines for Monday, May 22.
Llandovery crowned Welsh Prem winners
Lee Rees was the two-try hero as Llandovery celebrated the greatest achievement in their 145-year history as they won their first Indigo Premiership title, writes Rob Cole.
The scrum-half has made a living out of tracking faithfully on the inside off his outside backs and twice he popped up in the right place at the right time to take a try-scoring pass from wing Aaron Warren. His first try in the opening half put his side in control and his second hammered the final nail into Cardiff’s coffin.
Cardiff head coach Steve Law had described the Drovers as a bit of a bogey team for his side and came into the game knowing it would take maximum effort for his players to hold onto their title.
The reigning champions started well enough, were more accurate than they had been in their semi-final win over Newport the previous weekend, but couldn’t find a way through the well organised Llandovery defence. The home side kept the ball in hand and kept running hard at the Drovers defence, but the first real dent of the game came after 12 minutes when Ioan Hughes hoisted the ball and Harri Doel chased hard to regather in the air.
Cardiff came over the top at the ruck and Jack Maynard opened the scoring with a 35 metre penalty against the club with who he won the title the pervious season. The full back doubled the lead three minutes later and then added the extras to a beautifully constructed try from scrum half Lee Rees.
Cardiff lost their third line-out of the opening half and Llandovery latched onto the over throw. They spread the ball wide to the right and Aaron Warren found a hole in the stretched home defence. The wing sped into the 22 and found Rees inside him. A simple pass let the scrum half scamper to the posts for the try that Maynard improved before adding a third penalty.
Having started confidently, Cardiff were now all at sea and an injury to Wales U20 Harrison James didn’t help. He stayed on, and was able to finally get is side on the board a minute before half-time with a penalty conceded by Adam Warren close to his posts. That made it 16-3 to Llandovery at the break and they were full value for their lead. They came with a plan that seemed to be built on the performance they had put in against their hosts in their league meeting at Church Bank when they won 37-20 in March.
There was greater urgency in the Cardiff effort at the start of the second half, but the Drovers refused to be intimidated. They met fire with fire up front and Jack Jones’ pack ruled the roost at the line-out. They also produced some venom at scrum time 13 minutes into the second half. Cardiff had worked their way down to within five metres and lost yet another line-out.
They stayed in the red zone and won a penalty at scrum time. They went for another and found themselves being shunted off their own ball to lose their best chance of the game. Llandovery then picked up a couple of penalties to get themselves down into the home 22 and it took everything the Blue & Blacks had to keep them out from a succession of driving line outs.
As it became a greater and greater uphill struggle for the champions, things got even worse when they lost centre Aaran Pinches to a yellow card at the start of the third quarter for a tip tackle. The space Pinches should have patrolled was exploited by Aaron Warren as he went on a lengthy run from his own 10 metre line deep into Cardiff territory. Rees appeared on his inside and his second try sealed the deal.
Ryan Wilkins conjured up a kick and chase try for Cardiff, but a fourth Maynard penalty warded off any late danger.
Scorers: Cardiff: Try: R Wilkins; Pen: H James. Llandovery: Tries: L Rees 2; Con: J Maynard; Pens: J Maynard 4
Cardiff: Cam Winnett; Joe Goodchild, Ioan Evans, Arron Pinches, Dewi Cross; Harrison James, Tom Habberfield; Marc Thomas, Alun Rees, Scott Andrews, Sean Moore, Ethan Phillips, Ellis Thomas, Nathan Hudd, Morgan Allen (captain)
Reps: Evan Lloyd, Rhys Barratt, Freddie Barnes, Mackenzie Martin, Lucas De La Rua, Ethan Lloyd, Ryan Wilkins, Jacob Lloyd
Llandovery: Jack Maynard; Harri Doel, Adam Warren, Rhodri Jones, Aaron Warren; Ioan Hughes, Lee Rees; Jamie Hughes, Dafydd Hughes, Berian Watkins, Jack Jones (captain), Griff Evans, Osian Davies, Stuart Worrall, Iestyn Rees
Reps: Ricky Guest, Dino Dallavalle, Geraint James, Joseff Powell, Lloyd Pike, Rhodri Wall, Kristian Jones, Dafydd Land
Former All Black dies
Former All Blacks lock John Loveday has died at the age of 74.
He was a member of the All Blacks squad that travelled to Great Britain and Ireland in 1978, playing in seven games.
Loveday made his All Blacks debut against Cambridge University in a 32-12 win.
The New Zealand Rugby website, AllBlacks.com, reports that Loveday fractured two vertebrae after he was allegedly kicked in the back by a British and Irish Lions player during the match against Manawatū-Horowhenua in 1977. Loveday retired to prevent permanent injury but returned to the field within several months.
South African sides set for budget raise
South Africa’s top four rugby franchises have seen their annual salary caps increased by 26% for the 2023/24 season.
According to Rapport, the salary cap for the Stormers, Sharks, Bulls and Lions has reportedly been increased from R67.2 million to R85 million for next season. That new figure equates roughly to £3.5m.
It is also reported that an additional R10 million increase has been agreed upon for the 2024/25 season.
O'Gara names the job he wants
Ronan O'Gara has admitted he wants to coach Ireland after guiding French side La Rochelle to back-to-back Heineken Champions Cup triumphs.
Former Ireland fly-half O'Gara's La Rochelle defeated Leinster in the final for the second successive season, fighting back from 17-0 down for a thrilling 27-26 win at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
O'Gara told the BBC's Rugby Union Weekly podcast: "Yes, of course, I want to coach Ireland as well but you have got to earn that right."
The 46-year-old, appointed by La Rochelle in June 2019 after coaching spells at Racing 92 and New Zealand side Crusaders, said the victory was one of the highlights of his career as both player and coach.
"Because it is the freshest it is always the best, isn't it?" said O'Gara, who as a player won the Champions Cup twice with Munster, helped Ireland win the Six Nations Grand Slam and went on three British and Irish Lions tours.
"I'm just proud of the character of the team, 17-0 down and away from home, they could have easily found a way to find an excuse but these boys have character and character is important in sport.
"We love it. We care a lot for each other. We don't talk about that but we act and there is no bigger proof in the pudding than back-to-back (Champions Cup wins).
"We are probably beginning to be seen as a special team and I think the boys deserve to be there."
World Cup winner lays down marker with big claim
South Africa star Lukhanyo Am has thrown down the gauntlet by saying the Springboks team which won the 2019 Rugby World Cup is not "even close" to this year's side.
South Africa are ramping up their preparation for the World Cup in France this year, having just completed the first of two training camps, with the next set to take place next week in Durban.
Am has been a key figure for the Springboks for a number of years now and he is as confident as anyone that South Africa can launch a robust defence of their world title.
“I think in 2019 where we were as a team, we were still almost in a building phase,” Am told The South African. “There were a lot of new individuals in the squad [in 2019]. We weren’t even close to where we are now.
“In 2023, we’re the defending world champions, we’ve managed to keep most of the playing group that we had in 2019 together, which means we’ve got a hell of a lot of experience in the squad and that’s one of the things that’ll work in our favour.”
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