Here are the latest rugby headlines on Saturday, October 22.
Rees-Zammit's call to Pivac
Wayne Pivac revealed he’s had a phone call from Louis Rees-Zammit during which the 21-year-old reminded Wales’ head coach that he could play at full-back.
Wales will head into the November Tests with Leigh Halfpenny the only specialist No. 15 in their squad. Concerningly, the 96-cap stalwart pulled out of the Scarlets’ United Rugby Championship match against Connacht in Galway on Friday with a tight hamstring.
The move to withdraw him is thought to have been a precautionary measure.
Even before the scare over Halfpenny, Pivac had already received a nudge from Rees-Zammit appraising him of his back-three versatility.
The lightning-quick Gloucester player has played most of his senior rugby out wide. But he did feature at the back a couple of times earlier in his career.
Pivac stressed that there could be chances to run the full-back rule over the likes of Josh Adams and Rees-Zammit.
“We have…opportunities to look at the likes of Josh Adams, who’s played full-back for the Lions, while Louis Rees-Zammit has played there for his club. He’s picked the phone up and said: ‘You do know I can play 15?’ he told the BBC’s Scrum V podcast.
“So we have guys here who are keen to give it a go if called upon.”
But Pivac will be hoping Halfpenny shakes off the issue that caused problems ahead of his region’s game with Connacht. With Liam Williams sidelined by injury, the 33-year-old’s reassuring know-how at the back makes him an especially important figure in Wales’ plans, highlighted to the coach’s response to a question about whether he’d look to the likes of Adams or Rees-Zammit to give his side more attacking pace from the back.
“You have to look at the modern game now and how it’s played,” said Pivac.
“A lot of teams are going to the air and the aerial game is a big part of it. Repeatability. Positional play has to be there. A big part of it is when you want to move ball you have to retain ball.
“Leigh Halfpenny’s one of the best in the game in the wide channels, the dark arts of securing possession, looking after the ball. He does the simple things really, really well."
Sharks boss' anger over cancelled URC matches
Sharks boss Marco Masotti has reacted angrily after the postponement of his team’s BKT United Rugby Championship game against Ulster amid illness in the Irish province’s camp.
The controlling partner of the Durban-based Sharks has called for them to be awarded the points.
Ulster informed their South African hosts on Friday they were unable to play because of an outbreak of gastroenteritis in their squad.
But no tea and sympathy came their way from Masotti as he took to Twitter, apparently from the US, to say: “Is this a joke? Must be. Is this a professional sports league? Has this happened in other professional sports leagues? Maybe darts, curling or pickleball? Just give us the points.”
Nor could he resist a final flourish: “#mickymouse [sic] #donaldduck #urclosers”.
The tweet has since been deleted.
The Sharks had been hoping to knock over the second-placed team in the league after last week’s 40-12 beating of Glasgow Warriors. Also, they had been looking to field their dream team, the side they have been building for two years, containing Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi and other Springboks, but those plans took a direct hit when Ulster declared they couldn’t play.
The word from the Northern Irish team’s camp was that the bug had spread too quickly in their squad, leaving them unable to field a team.
Glasgow Warriors suffered similar problems ahead of their game with the Lions in Johannesburg, again forcing the match to be called off.
Jantjies backs decision to axe him
Exiled Springboks star Elton Jantjies has backed the decision to leave him out of the squad for the autumn internationals.
The fly-half hasn't played since September, when he was sent home from the South Africa squad ahead of a match in Argentina amid reports he had an affair with the team's dietician.
He has now been left out of the latest squad to tour the northern hemisphere next month.
Jantjies said in a statement: "Given the wide reporting regarding my omission from the Springbok squad and clarification from the coaching staff that I was not up for selection for the November tour, I would like to place it on record that I fully understand support the decision.
"The fact of the matter is that I have not played rugby since the Castle Lager Rugby Championship and that in the last few weeks I have kept to my public and personal promise to seek professional help and focus on my mental health to ensure that I get my personal life and career back on track. It was the best decision I’ve ever made."
Edinburgh beat Zebre
Edinburgh picked up a 38-19 victory over Zebre Parma in Italy but will perhaps head home frustrated that they could not inflict more damage.
Mike Blair's men ran in three tries before the hosts had MJ Pelser red-carded just 22 minutes into the match and led 31-0 early in the second half.
However, Zebre rallied despite their numerical disadvantage, with Alessandro Fusco, Luca Rizzoli and Jacopo Trulla all going over after the break.
Adam McBurney had touched down twice and Jamie Hodgson and Wes Goosen also crossed as Edinburgh bagged a bonus point before half-time, with Henry Immelman and Matt Currie going over in the second half.
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