Here are the latest rugby headlines on Sunday, September 4.
Liam Williams lifts lid on Scarlets exit
Liam Williams has opened up on his exit from a second spell with the Scarlets over the summer, revealing he wasn't enjoying his rugby towards the end of last season.
The Wales full-back, who featured for Wayne Pivac's men in the 2-1 series loss to South Africa over the summer, has joined Cardiff and has been in pre-season training with Dai Young's men for two weeks alongside fellow new signing Taulupe Faletau.
Williams' first stint with the Scarlets yielded a PRO12 trophy win in 2017, before a successful move to Saracens where he played a major part in their European and English double triumph. He then returned to the Scarlets in 2020 but was restricted in minutes due to international duty and injuries.
"Personally I think it was time for a change," Williams told the BBC. "I wasn't enjoying my rugby towards the end of the season down there and picked up a couple of injuries in the middle of the season also.
"So a change of place and scenery was needed and I am living up in Cardiff as well. It was a lot easier than travelling an hour up and down there from home every day.
"I was speaking to Dai Young towards the back end of last season and I fancied a different challenge. I know a good group of the lads here at Cardiff and I spoke to them during the Six Nations. I had an in-depth conversation with them and that's probably the reason why I left the Scarlets for here."
Williams' debut date is yet to be finalised, with Cardiff facing Munster in their opening United Rugby Championship match on September 16, but Williams is settled in his new environment.
"It feels good and I am happy to be here," said Williams. "There are a great group of lads here who have made feel very welcome and I have settled in well. Cardiff did not go too well at the back end of last season, but we are into a brand new season now. The mood here is good and the boys have been working hard in pre-season."
Winger's confidence in Cardiff
Aled Summerhill is confident Cardiff can build on a positive second-half performance against Gloucester on Friday. The Cherry and Whites ran away with victory at Kingsholm, after a dominant first half display, but Dai Young’s side showed character to bounce back after the interval with an improved performance.
Having seen an earlier effort chalked off, Summerhill joined Kristian Dacey and Harri Millard on the scoresheet after the break, providing a trademark finish in the corner. He insists Cardiff can be pleased with how they adapted their game in the second 40.
“In the first half they scored some good maul tries but we can take some positives out of the game as well," he said. “We played good rugby and the things we practiced in pre-season came out tonight.
“There’s obviously still a lot to work on but in two weeks time, against Munster, hopefully we’ll be up and running. We spoke about some things at half time and coming out for the second half we put them into fruition.
“The second half was probably better than the first. We were looking to the short sides a bit more and playing our game. Discipline-wise in the first half, that killed us, but it was good in the second half.
“Any wing will tell you that it’s nice to get on the scoreboard. That’s your job at the end of the day. I’d had one disallowed in the first half, which I was disappointed with. It was nice to score but the main thing is the team and we can take positives.”
Next up for the Blue and Blacks is a clash with Zebre, with the Parma outfit visiting the capital on Friday for the final pre-season encounter ahead of the United Rugby Championship against Munster the following week.
Jess Breach shines as England hammer US in World Cup warm-up
England Women continued their build-up to next month's Rugby World Cup in New Zealand with an eight-try victory over the United States at Exeter, sending a warning to Wales ahead of their clash with the Red Roses on September 14 at Bristol's Ashton Gate.
Two long-distance efforts from Jess Breach capped a 52-14 rout and a record 24th successive international win for Simon Middleton's team. Scrum-half Natasha Hunt got the first score on the board after five minutes, and two minutes later Breach raced 60 metres to cross after an interception.
Amy Cokayne powered over following a line-out then Claudia MacDonald eased over on the wing to mark her first appearance in almost a year following a neck injury. Breach repeated her lung-bursting heroics as she raced over from inside her own half after being fed by Emily Scarratt to make it 33-0 at half-time.
MacDonald jinked over for England's first score of the second half and Cokayne also added her second before Hope Rogers finally got the visitors on the board.
Shaunagh Brown and Helena Rowland were both sin-binned and the US were awarded a penalty try for a deliberate knock-on by the latter, but the 13 players still managed an eighth and final try through Ellie Kildunne.
England will complete their preparations against Wales at Ashton Gate later this month before embarking on their trip to New Zealand. Wales lost out 31-3 Canada in their first warm-up in August.
