Here’s your round-up of all the latest rugby headlines for Wednesday, April 12.
Flanagan to target signings following Moriarty departure
Dragons RFC head coach Dai Flanagan has been left with room in his budget to recruit new players following Ross Moriarty’s sudden departure to French side Brive.
The Dragons reportedly offered the back-rower £280,000 a year, the highest offer possible, in an attempt keep Moriarty at Rodney Parade, so his shock exit after a last-minute offer from the French club means the Dragons now have space in their budget for new signings. Flanagan admits they may not be like-for-like replacements for Moriarty, but could bolster other areas of the squad.
“We are quite settled in the back row if I am perfectly honest,” said Flanagan. “We have got locks who can play six very well and that allows us to move others to eight to cover that. We have to look at the profile of the group. This give us the opportunity to go out, take our time and find the right people.”
England name formidable team to face Wales
England head coach Simon Middleton has named a formidable-looking team to face Wales at a sold-out Cardiff Arms Park in the Women's Six Nations this Saturday (2.15pm kick-off).
The Red Roses had 19 players unavailable for their round-two demolition of Italy, but are slowly returning to full strength before their tournament finale and likely tournament decider against France at Twickenham on April 29, with four coming back from injury for the Wales clash.
England have dominated the Six Nations since turning professional in 2019 and are hunting down their fifth successive title, while Wales are 15 months into their pro era and are second behind the Red Roses in the Six Nations table with two wins from two, having faced Ireland and then Scotland.
Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham will name his team on Thursday ahead of his side's final home game of the tournament, which will be watched on by more than 8,000 fans.
For England, Marlie Packer captains the side at openside flanker while Alex Matthews makes her first appearance of the tournament at No. 8 and Sadia Kabeya starts at blindside flanker.
Emma Sing makes her first international start at full-back, with Jess Breach and Abby Dow completing the back-three.
Lucy Packer is preferred at scrum-half alongside fly-half Holly Aitchison, with Tatyana Heard combining with Lagi Tuima at centre.
Bristol Bears’ Lark Davies is the starting hooker as Amy Cokayne is playing for the Royal Air Force team on Saturday. Davies forms the front row alongside loosehead Mackenzie Carson and tighthead Sarah Bern. World player of the year Zoe Aldcroft, who played No. 8 last time out, and Cath O’Donnell are the second-rows.
Hooker May Campbell is set to make her debut off the bench, while props Hannah Botterman and Maud Muir and back Ellie Kildunne are among the replacements.
England boss Middleton said: "Wales have had a strong start to the tournament and will present a tough challenge. Ioan (Cunningham) has assembled a strong group who are continually adapting to professionalism. The growth in the physical profile and synergy of the team has been really evident in the Six Nations so far and it promises to be a great contest.
“England against Wales is always a massive occasion. It’s great to see Cardiff Arms Park is a sell-out and it will generate a fantastic atmosphere. It’s a challenge I know the players and staff are looking forward to and will relish.”
England: 15. Emma Sing, 14. Jess Breach, 13. Lagi Tuima, 12. Tatyana Heard, 11. Abby Dow, 10. Holly Aitchison, 9. Lucy Packer, 1. Mackenzie Carson, 2. Lark Davies, 3. Sarah Bern, 4. Zoe Aldcroft, 5. Cath O’Donnell, 6. Sadia Kabeya, 7. Marlie Packer, 8. Alex Matthews.
Replacements: 16. May Campbell, 17. Hannah Botterman, 18. Maud Muir, 19. Delaney Burns, 20. Sarah Beckett, 21. Ella Wyrwas, 22. Sarah McKenna, 23. Ellie Kildunne.
Players currently injured or rehabbing and unavailable for selection include Bryony Cleall, Poppy Cleall, Detysha Harper, Claudia MacDonald, Amber Reed, Helena Rowland and Hannah Sims.
Ex-England winger announces retirement
Former England star Chris Ashton has announced he will retire at the end of the Gallagher Premiership season.
Ashton began his career in rugby league before switching codes and has played for Northampton Saints, Saracens, Toulon, Sale Sharks, Harlequins, Worcester Warriors and most recently Leicester Tigers.
The back-three player made 44 appearances for England, scoring 20 tries, from his debut in 2010 to his last appearance in 2019.
The Wigan-born man is the Gallagher Premiership’s record try scorer with 98 tries, and also tops the Heineken Champions Cup try-scoring charts with 41 tries to his name.
Ashton said: “I have just felt, this season, that my body is not able to do what I want it to do anymore. I am still enjoying the game, enjoying being in and around the team and the game every day, but if I am not able to keep the standards that I expect of myself, then it is the right time for me to retire.
"I am content with the decision and, honestly, I definitely wouldn't have been had I not been able to come to Leicester Tigers, get back into the game and finish my career on my terms. It is the right time for me, I know that, and I am happy in making this decision at this time.”
Wales boss embraces talking to players about periods
Wales boss Ioan Cunningham readily admits discussing the finer points of periods with his Wales Women squad did not always come this naturally to him - or the athletes.
While Cunningham says he was never uncomfortable with the idea of period-related conversations, they were few and far between until the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) joined a growing number of clubs and teams hoping to gain a competitive advantage and improve player welfare by embracing menstrual health and period-tracking technology.
“I knew about [the menstrual cycle], but it wasn't something that was discussed amongst your mates or as you're growing up," Cunningham said.
“To be honest, when I first started coaching this team, it wasn't spoken about much, but over the last 12 months or maybe two years, there's definitely more normalising of that conversation, I'll have conversations with players about their periods, how they're feeling.
"I had one last week where I went up to one of the players because I noticed she was a little bit slower getting off the floor, and she just said 'oh, I've got bad cramps.' So [I was] like, 'no problem, no worries, we'll work with you'.”
Wales captain Hannah Jones believes Cunningham has "adapted quite well to the chats”, while her head coach agreed that the sort of hard data gleaned from the Vodafone player connect technology makes facilitating dialogue easier, allowing the boss and his predominately male backroom staff to address athletes' periods in team meetings the same way they would any other health-related matters.
Cunningham added: "It's something that first and foremost that the players have to be comfortable in opening up and speaking about it, and if they're not, that's fine as well. It was a period of adjustment. If I'm honest, I'm comfortable to speak about it, but I just wanted to make sure the players were comfortable. It's growing that relationship with the players so that they know I'm coming from a care point of view, to be the best athlete that they can be in our environment."
Vunipola out for the rest of the season
Saracens No. 8 Billy Vunipola is out for the rest of the season after sustaining a knee injury in Saracens’ Champions Cup loss to La Rochelle. Vunipola will miss the Gallagher Premiership leaders' last three games of the regular season and home semi-final, as well as the Twickenham final if they reach that stage.
It is also a blow to his hopes to mounting an England comeback in time for this autumn's World Cup. He will not be given a time-frame for his recovery until surgery has been completed on Thursday.
Vunipola suffered the injury while carrying the ball in the first half of the quarter-final showdown at Stade Marcel-Deflandre and had to be carried from the pitch on a stretcher.
A Saracens statement read: "Billy suffered a knee injury during Sunday's Champions Cup quarter-final against La Rochelle. He will therefore miss the remainder of the 2022/23 season. We're all behind you, Billy!”
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