Here are the latest rugby evening headlines on Thursday, July 21.
English boss ready to draft in Wales U20s duo
Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter is said to be ready and willing to draft Welsh U20s duo Christ Tshiunza and Dafydd Jenkins into his first-team plans for the upcoming Gallagher Premiership season.
The lock stars, aged 20 and 19 respectively, are young in their careers but the director of rugby is reported to be "open to relying on them". Such is their skill and contribution that both players aided a notable change in Wales U20s' fortunes this summer, having previously been unavailable for coach Byron Hayward's junior Six Nations campaign this spring.
Injury had ruled out Tshiunza, while Jenkins was needed for club duties with Exeter Chiefs, but their return was much-welcomed. The duo have been touted as the potential second-row pairing for the Wales senior team at the 2027 World Cup.
But with them on the radar of Wales head coach Wayne Pivac, combined with the departures of four first-team squad locks this summer in England's Jonny Hill, Scotland international Sam Skinner, Wales-qualified Sean Lonsdale to the Dragons and Willy Witty to Perpignan, our sister title DevonLive reports that Baxter is looking to bolster squad cover in the area.
Eddie Jones gets fresh World Cup backing from England boss
Eddie Jones has been backed to lead England at next year's World Cup after the Rugby Football Union insisted "Eddie is the guy to take us there". The Australian has a contract until the end of the 2023 tournament in France and eased mounting pressure on his position by masterminding this month's 2-1 tour victory over his native country.
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney said Jones' impressive record against major southern hemisphere nations - 20 wins from 25 - was central to the national governing body keeping belief. He also conceded that evolving England require improvement in a number of areas in order to be competitive during Test rugby's showpiece competition.
"We'd expect him to go through to '23," Sweeney said of Jones. "It is tough at the highest level of sport. There is so much scrutiny and reasonable scrutiny. I think it is important sometimes not to over-react but it is also equally important not to under-react.
"We don't just have a review after every major tournament, we have an ongoing review process. We will clearly be doing that with Eddie and the coaches when they come back, they are due back at the end of the month.
"We have been looking for signs of 'are we on track?', 'do we still believe in the direction we're going in?' and 'do we have the confidence [in Jones]?' and we've said we do.
"We are not blind to some of the areas that need to be addressed. We've got to improve a lot to be competitive. The challenge for us is to improve at the rate we think is good enough to be fully competitive in 2023. And we do believe Eddie is the guy to take us there."
Cane could be axed as All Blacks captain
New Zealand captain Sam Cane could lose the captaincy to veteran lock Sam Whitelock for the upcoming Rugby Championship double-header against South Africa following the Test series defeat to Ireland, according to reports.
The Otago Daily Times is reporting that bombshell as New Zealand Rugby continue a review into the team's recent poor performances. A Rugby Championship squad was expected this week but has not been named as yet.
Barbarians coaching ticket announced for All Blacks XV
Crusaders boss Scott Robertson and Ireland legend Ronan O'Gara will take charge of the Barbarians when they face an All Blacks XV in London this autumn, it has been announced.
Robertson, who lost out to All Blacks head coach Ian Foster to succeed Steve Hansen after the 2019 World Cup, links up with his former Crusaders assistant again for the clash on November 13 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Robertson guided his Super Rugby side to another league title in June while O'Gara lead La Rochelle to a narrow victory over Leinster in the Champions Cup in May.
O'Driscoll backs Schmidt for All Blacks shift
Ireland legend Brian O'Driscoll is backing Joe Schmidt to fix the mess which has unfolded in New Zealand following the historic 2-1 series defeat to Ireland.
Kiwi rugby bosses are reported to be considering promoting Schmidt from his selector/analyst role to have a greater influence on the coaching set-up headed up by Ian Foster, who has overseen four defeats in his last five matches in charge.
O'Driscoll believes the only quick fix available is handing Schmidt the reins or bringing in Scott Robertson, telling Irish Newstalk radio show Wednesday Night Rugby: "This All Blacks team looks at though it is really struggling, it really does. Knowing someone like Joe Schmidt or hearing what Scott Robertson is like and that attention to detail, would they not be the perfect fit to come in and do something in a short period of time? Particularly Joe, I know him a lot more. He is made for this situation, this circumstance where their passing quality has been really poor, they are having unforced errors, so un-New Zealand like.
"Whereas all of those aspects, sharpen that up, body contact, accuracy at the ruck, he would get all of that side right and then the knock-on effect of playing their free-flowing game happens organically. It’s not really a New Zealand thing to cut people, to go, ‘Right, panic stations, get someone else in’, so I can understand they are trying to work with Ian Foster.
"But who knows, in a year, 15 months’ time will it be to their detriment that they haven’t been more brutal with their decision-making and brought in someone that definitely would fix things in a very short space of time?"
Read next:
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Graham Price pinpoints Wales' biggest problem and how it hinders' world class talent' in team
Rugby's real World XV right now amid seismic shift in the great north-south divide
Wales' new pecking order as stars put their hands up for World Cup spots
Red cards, yellow cards, citings and confusion - rugby on a precipice after summer controversies
