Here are the latest rugby headlines on Saturday, August 19.
Injuries decimate Wales backline
Wales will field a backline containing less than 40 caps against the world champions today after being hammered by late withdrawals.
Injuries to Dan Biggar, Alex Cuthbert and Liam Williams in the past few days have seen 251 caps ripped from the Welsh starting XV to play South Africa, meaning Warren Gatland fields one of the most inexperienced backlines ever.
Cai Evans wins his debut at full-back, Tom Rogers replaces Cuthbert on the wing and Sam Costelow starts at outside-half. Kieran Hardy is the most experienced member of the backline with 17 caps. He starts a week after pulling out of the England match due to a traumatic health scare involving his baby daughter.
Johnny Williams and Mason Grady play for the first time together in the centre in a backline containing 39 caps.
The injury pull-outs are all said to be precautionary measures.
“They are not serious at all,” said Gatland. “If this was a World Cup semi-final, Dan Biggar would have been fine for the weekend.
“We are just taking a precautionary measure. There is no need for us to take a risk with him.
“Both of them [Williams and Biggar], if we pushed them hard, could play on Saturday, but the decision was made that there is no point taking a risk at this stage.
“It’s dealing with things that are going to be thrown at you. It’s using a bit of adversity as a positive.”
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Rob Evans to head overseas
Wales prop Rob Evans says he is not retiring from professional rugby and will take up an opportunity overseas later this year.
The 39-cap Wales front-rower left the Dragons at the end of last season and plans to turn out for his hometown club Haverfordwest RFC in Division Three West A before heading abroad later this year.
The 31-year-old ex-Scarlet told RugbyPass: “I think someone may have jumped the gun a little. I said, to keep myself fit, I’d have a couple of games for Haverfordwest and I am hoping to do that. I have been training with them and also doing a little bit of coaching with Milford Haven.
“But I haven’t retired professionally and there is something in the pipeline coming soon. When you have a bit of time after the season, you refind your love for the game pretty quickly. I am looking forward to experiencing something new really.”
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Faletau close to return
Taulupe Faletau is close to returning to fitness on the eve of the Rugby World Cup, according to his Wales No. 8 rival Aaron Wainwright.
The Dragons back-rower was in superb form in Wales’ opening warm-up against England two weeks ago and gets another outing at the back of the scrum against South Africa in Cardiff on Saturday afternoon.
Asked in the build-up to the game whether Faletau’s calf injury had given him a chance, he said: “Definitely. You can see the depth we are developing across the back row. Taulupe is out for now but he is pretty close to returning which is great for the team and for him. For me it is another chance to put my hand up on the weekend and show what I can do.”
Wales have spoken about implementing physicality against the Springboks.
Wainwright added: “We have spoken about what we can bring to them in the physical test, let’s not wait for them to bring the challenge to us. Let’s get off the line and meet them and show what we can do physically. I think the past two games we have played against England we have set our mark physicality-wise and it’s about building on that now, taking into Saturday and further into competition and World Cup. They are big men, that’s what they are known for, especially the forward pack.
“It’s going to be a big test for us but we have spoken about that and we know that is coming. It is about getting the mindset right ready for the weekend which it has been for the previous two games.”
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Lawes wary England might ‘peak too early’ following Owen Farrell saga
By Duncan Bech, PA England Rugby Correspondent
Courtney Lawes insists England must avoid drawing too heavily on their fury at the treatment of Owen Farrell when they face Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
Steve Borthwick railed against the “personal attacks” on Farrell following a disciplinary panel’s decision to downgrade his red card against Wales to a yellow, thereby sparing him a suspension. England have nonetheless withdrawn their captain from the spotlight ahead of his appeal hearing early next week by revising their plans to pick him in midfield for the Aviva Stadium showdown.
Instead, Lawes leads the underdogs into their penultimate match before the World Cup begins mindful that, while the squad are angry at the attacks on Farrell, the main event has yet to begin.
“This is an interesting adversity because it’s an individual player and we’re not in the World Cup yet, so we can’t peak too early,” Lawes said. “You’ve got to be careful of that – checks and balances and all that kind of stuff. But we can certainly tap into it a bit because it’s a big game and is important to us.
“We’re looking to win but the main thing for us is that we actually put our talent, effort and hard work on to the pitch. The last 10 weeks of pre-season have been pretty gruelling and we want to show what we’ve been working on.
“That’s been the frustrating thing for us in the last two games – we just haven’t performed as well as we know we can. We lost a game and went close to losing another. At some point it will click for us and that’s when people will see the amount of hard work we’ve put in.”
An area of England’s game that needs urgent addressing is the collapse in discipline that almost cost them victory against Wales last Saturday. Henry Arundell, Freddie Steward, Ellis Genge and Farrell were sin-binned for a variety of offences, with the Saracens fly-half’s yellow card then upgraded to a red by the bunker review system. At one point England were reduced to 12 men and, while they managed to guts out a 19-17 victory the hard way, Lawes does not want to see a repeat.
“We had a few silly cards that you really don’t want to get in Test-match rugby,” Lawes said. “We’ve really been on the discipline from day one in camp, talking about how important it is at the World Cup. It was disappointing to get so many cards and give away so many penalties last week. It’s something we’re constantly working on and hammering down.
“We can’t afford those kinds of mistakes against Ireland. You’re not going to go a season without a card, but to the best of your ability you’ve got to be smart and streetwise with your actions. Even in those split seconds you’ve got to have a cool head and hopefully make the right decisions at the right time.”
