Here are the latest rugby headlines on Thursday, November 24.
Navidi and Williams updates
Josh Navidi has undergone neck surgery which will keep him out until mid-January, while fellow Cardiff and Wales star Liam Williams is set to return to action over the festive period.
Back-rower Navidi hasn’t played since being injured while winning his 33rd cap on the summer tour of South Africa in July. It was hoped rest and rehab might resolve the problem, but in the end the decision was taken that the 31-year-old needed to go under the knife.
Cardiff’s director of rugby Dai Young said: “It didn’t progress as quickly as everybody would like, so the operation was deemed necessary to go in and sort it out. Nobody wants to go into those operations unless they have to, certainly with your neck, but it just wasn’t right. He is felling a lot better now, he’s cracking on with his rehab and is a lot better place. He should be back in either the first or second week of January. So he’s not too far away.”
Lions full-back Williams has been sidelined since suffering a collarbone injury on his Cardiff debut against Munster in September. He too underwent surgery, ruling him out of adding to his 81 caps in the autumn internationals, but is now within sight of a return.
“I think he will definitely feature over one of the festive games, either Boxing Day (Dragons away) or New Year’s Day (Ospreys home),” said Young. “He’s coming to the end of his rehab. He’s getting very close now and it’s just a matter of getting some real hard training minutes into him.”
There will be a longer wait for Test centre Willis Halaholo, who badly damaged his hamstring against the Stormers in October.
“Willis had a real nasty injury and is probably not going to be available for at least a couple of months,” said Young. “Towards the end of the Six Nations period is when he will be coming back. He is targeting around that last fallow week when we’ve got Ulster (March 4).”
Cardiff are currently in Durban preparing for Sunday’s United Rugby Championship encounter with the Sharks, which will be followed by a meeting with the Bulls at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld six days later. They have been boosted by international trio Seb Davies, Rey Lee Lo and Lopeti Timani all being passed fit to make the trip as part of a 31-man squad.
Anglo-Welsh league proposal shut down again
English Premiership chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor shut down suggestions of a potential Anglo-British league but did again raise the possibility of reducing the Premiership to 10 teams.
He and his RFU counterpart Bill Sweeney appeared in front of a UK Government Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee on Thursday to face questions about how English rugby was thrown into disarray during the opening months of the current season, when both Wasps and Worcester were hit with relegation from the Gallagher Premiership in October after they entered administration owing to unpaid taxes being pursued by HM Revenue and Customs.
One of the questions asked of was whether they saw any future in the proposal of an Anglo-Welsh league. Mr Massie-Taylor said: "It's not a current serious consideration." He then agreed it was not something fans would see in the next decade or so.
RFU boss Mr Sweeney said of the proposals, which surface from time to time: "I've heard it and I've seen it referenced but there haven't been any real active conversations about an Anglo-Welsh league. There have been conversations around Anglo-Welsh cross-border/Scottish competition. There have [been competitions] in the past, they didn't work previously but it doesn't mean to say they can't work again.
"We've also had conversations around the Championship, the second tier, because one of the challenges we face is how do you make the Championship a more compelling product given the gap that's emerged between the Championship and Premiership. We've had conversations around that.
"I'd also keep this in the context of player welfare. Under the current situation, if you have a 13-team Premiership, that's 26 matches. When you have your semi and your final in the league, you then have a Premiership Cup, that's another seven, so you're up to 33 matches. If you go a full round in Europe, that's eight. That's 41 matches. If you play your international matches of 11 or 12, you're up to more weeks than there are in the year. So whatever the solution is, it needs to bear in mind that player welfare is an ever-increasing concern, which is the need to drive more value from a smaller number of matches but also the very clear story for the fans in terms of 'that's your domestic league, that's your regional competition and that's your international window'."
Australia make seven changes to face Wales
Head coach Dave Rennie has made seven changes to Australia's starting line-up for their Autumn Nations Series match against Wales at Cardiff's Principality Stadium.
A week on from the Wallabies' 13-10 defeat in Ireland - their third loss in as many matches - Ben Donaldson will be handed his first start at fly-half. Donaldson, favoured over Noah Lolesio, partners Waratah team-mate Jake Gordon, who starts at scrum-half, with Reece Hodge to operate at inside centre for a side ravaged by injuries.
Rennie has only 25 fully-fit players at his disposal on Saturday after captain Michael Hooper became the latest player to fall by the wayside with concussion. Prop Taniela Tupou is also set to be sidelined for seven months after rupturing his Achilles.
Australia produced a spirited response to their embarrassing loss against Italy a fortnight ago - and came very close to upsetting the majority of a sold-out Aviva Stadium crowd - but this has been a sobering tour.
Wales, meanwhile, are chasing a fourth successive victory over the Wallabies, but head coach Wayne Pivac has overseen just three wins from 11 starts this year. Pivac also goes into Saturday's clash under the microscope following Georgia's shock 13-12 victory last weekend.
Rennie determined to end tour with win over Wales
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie says they are determined to end their tour on a high note against Wales despite injuries having ravaged their squad leaving them down to just 25 fit players.
Speaking of the importance of Saturday’s game at the Principality Stadium, Rennie said: “Oh, it’s big for us, it’s big from a tour point of view. We want to finish on a high note. We’ve lost three in a row. Even though a couple of those were pretty good performances, you’ve got to find a way to win. We’re without a fair bit of cattle, but we’ve get a good side on the field and we need to perform well. If we do that, we’re in with a show.”
The injury list has contributed to the Wallabies making seven changes in personnel, plus a couple of positional switches, from the side that lost 13-10 to Ireland in Dublin, with fly-half Ben Donaldson and No 8 Langi Gleeson making their first Test starts, while prop Sam Talakai is ready to debut off the bench.
“The injuries are a massive negative. I guess it’s just part of the game,” said Rennie. “It is what it is. Obviously there’s been a few changes and that creates opportunity. We’ve got the best 23 that we can put on the park this week and that’s our focus.”
On taking on a Welsh team that were beaten at home by Georgia last week, he said: “We’re well aware how much they’ll be hurting after that loss. They are probably getting it in the media here and they’ll want a response. So we fully understand the intensity required. We’re hurting as well because we put a lot into last week’s effort and came up short.”
Dewi Lake on his way back
The Ospreys hope Wales forward Dewi Lake will be back for the Christmas derbies. Highly-rated No. 2 Lake has missed the entire autumn series after damaging a shoulder during his region’s 32-25 defeat to the Dragons on October 23.
But the former Wales U20s skipper appears to be making good progress as he works towards a return, with Ospreys head coach Toby Booth saying both Lake and fly-half Stephen Myler could be available for the Christmas derbies which will see the Swansea.com Stadium team host the Scarlets on Boxing Day and visit the Arms Park to face Cardiff on New Year’s Day.
“Steve Myler and Dewi Lake look as if they might make the Christmas derbies, hopefully,” said Booth.
Referring specifically to Lake’s injury, Booth said: “It didn’t require surgery, so that’s the main thing. Once the S-word is used, you normally start at three months. That’s a rule of thumb. There wasn’t any surgery, so hopefully it’s less than that.”
The news will be a lift for the Ospreys and for Wales, who will hope to have the dynamic Lake back in the mix for the Six Nations.
Not so positive are the tidings on Dan Lydiate, who failed to go the distance in the autumn series Test against Argentina. “He’s basically broken an arm,” said Booth. “He’ll be out for some time. Breaks are normally somewhere between eight to 12 weeks, so that gives you an approximate time frame.”
