Here are the latest rugby headlines on Wednesday, June 14.
WRU to pursue World Rugby rule change further
The Welsh Rugby Union would be "foolish" not to explore more opportunities around drafting in more Wales-qualified players thanks to World Rugby's adapted eligibility laws, according to interim WRU performance director Huw Bevan.
From January 2022, international players have been able to represent a different country after a stand-down period of three years from the first Test team they played for. The global governing body said at the time that the change would "benefit players and the global competitiveness of rugby". A player can move to a nation of their, their parents' or grandparents' birth, but can only switch allegiance once. To get the latest rugby news sent straight to your inbox, sign up here.
Wales first made use of the new policy when head coach Ioan Cunningham selected wing/centre Carys Williams-Morris for Wales Women last year after she had first played for England, while Warren Gatland has drafted seven-cap England international Henry Thomas into Wales' World Cup training squad. Tighthead prop Thomas, 31, qualifies to represent Wales via his father Nigel, who hails from Swansea, and last played for England in 2014.
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Asked if the WRU would be making more use of this law change, Bevan said: "I don't think we can leave any stone unturned. If there's a player who is eligible to play for Wales and is of the requisite quality, I think we'd be foolish not to explore opportunities to get them involved.
"We've done it previously in terms of residency. That's now becoming more difficult with it going from 36 months to 60 months, but I'm sure there are Welsh players out there who are eligible and would relish the opportunity to come and play for Wales. We need to make sure we investigate those. And in terms of the regions, those are also the sort of players we'd like to attract to play in those environments as well." Read the full interview here.
He also said part of the women's development programme is focusing on identifying such Wales-qualified players. "Part of the women's development programme is identifying those athletes and giving them opportunities to become engaged in the programmes," he said.
Williams-Morris, 29, has now been capped eight times for Wales. Growing up in Derby to parents Bethan and Wyn Williams, who hail from Bala and Llandderfel in north Wales, the centre played five internationals for England with her last cap in 2019, taking the England senior route after turning out for the U20s not knowing at the time that she would be captured.
England's Genge 'felt like he was going to die' before Wales game
England and Bristol Bears prop Ellis Genge has revealed he was seriously ill with chronic tonsillitis before running out to face Wales and help his side to a 20-10 win in the 2023 Six Nations. He played for 54 minutes and was one of England's standout players in Cardiff, but has revealed he was so ill he was left shaking after the fixture.
“I felt like I was going to die,” Genge, 28, told Telegraph Sport from his Leicester gym Syn. “I get chronic tonsillitis anyway but usually around November. This time it came in late February, the month of my birthday - what a present that was! Steve asked ‘can you do it?’ It was too close to the game to pull out. But I had all sorts - enough diclofenac to put an elephant to sleep. All the meds, cracked on. I was so ill after the match that I was shaking."
One of 28 players selected by head coach Steve Borthwick for England's first World Cup training camp, Genge reported for duty on Sunday without his tonsils, having had them removed to avoid further bouts of infection.
“We agreed that when I got an extended period of time off I’d get my tonsils out," he added. "It was a rough 12 days. I wanted to go away after but obviously with the World Cup coming up I felt like I had to train and put on the weight and muscle that I had lost during that 12-day period of not being able to eat. I don’t mind making the sacrifice now; if I get to go to another World Cup then it will all be worth it."
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Exeter boss: 'Chiefs in good position after challenging period in Premiership'
By Duncan Bech, PA England Rugby Correspondent
Exeter chairman and chief executive Tony Rowe insists the Chiefs are in a strong position having emerged from a challenging period for the Gallagher Premiership that has seen three clubs fold. Wasps, Worcester and London Irish went out of business during the 2022-23 campaign, reducing the top flight to a 10-team league for next season.
Rowe revealed in April that he had "put £6million into the club to keep it afloat", adding that the Covid grants issued by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport are subject to "horrendous" terms and conditions. But the Devonian businessman insists the financial storms have now been weathered at Sandy Park.
"For the last three years, ever since Covid hit, every club has been tested like never before," Rowe said. "It's been a real challenge for all of us, not helped by the ongoing situation with the war in Ukraine and sadly not every club has been able to get through the process as we have seen. To lose another club this week underlines just how tough it has been and it's a trend that needs to be bucked sooner rather than later.
"Thankfully, the club had assets within its business structure that we were able to use to help bring much-needed funds back in to help combat the repayment on loans and address other issues around the finances. That effectively helped keep us afloat through some tough trading months, but now as we look to the future, we are very confident that next year we will be back in full recovery mode. We see a bright and exciting future ahead for the club and for our business as a whole."
Rowe insisted that it was also the responsibility of Premiership Rugby, who oversee the running of the league, to grow the funding into the competition.
"It's been a financially challenging time for all of us, but what I guess it has shown is just how underfunded the game of rugby itself truly is," Rowe said. That's something not only clubs have to address moving forward, but it's also for the likes of Premiership Rugby and those who run the game in this country to really look into. We can't afford to standstill in any shape or form. For the game to grow in the manner we all want, we have to be looking at developing every aspect of it, both on and off the field."
Ireland international backs Sexton misconduct case to 'go away quite quickly'
Former Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman believes Johnny Sexton's Rugby World Cup availability will not be affected by the fly-half reportedly being accused of three counts of misconduct following Leinster's loss to La Rochelle last month.
Sexton wasn't playing, but the 37-year-old still clashed with officials afterwards - with the fly-half alleged to have mouthed obscenities towards South African referee Jaco Peyper and his English assistants Karl Dickson and Christophe Ridley.
Jackman, however, said he would be shocked should EPCR come down that hard on Sexton, with the 47-year-old deeming a short ban appropriate for the Ireland playmaker.
“We’re not sure how strong this case is and certainly some of the speculation about a 24-week ban and things like that seems to be quite outlandish,” he told RTE Radio 1. “You’d imagine the EPCR, if they are going to bring discipline into it, they would need to do it quite quickly. It’s dragging on quite a long time.
“I wouldn’t say there’s any risk of him not being able to play in the World Cup. If there is going to be a disciplinary, I would say it’d be a fine or maybe a small suspension, maybe putting him out of warm-up games. But I think this will go away quite quickly.”
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