Ford injury a blow for Scotland before South Africa

The 29-year-old, who has won 69 caps for Scotland and one with the British and Irish Lions, suffered calf pain during training on Wednesday and scans have revealed a tear, which will require at least six weeks recovery.

The Edinburgh player was hugely disappointed to be told the news, particularly after he missed out on selection for the Lions tour down under, which kicks off in Hong Kong today, but it opens the door for Scott Lawson to bring his 36 caps of experience to the party.

The 31-year-old, who joins Newcastle from London Irish this summer, last played in the fateful loss to Tonga in Aberdeen last November which led to Andy Robinson’s resignation, but with head coach Scott Johnson taking uncapped duo Pat MacArthur and Stevie Lawrie he was keen to have an experienced replacement in Ford’s place.

Lawson joined the squad yesterday morning before they headed to Edinburgh Airport for the start of the flights to Durban, where they will be based in the lead-up to their first quadrangular Castle Tournament Test against Samoa next Saturday.

Johnson revealed: “Ross Ford pulled up in training in Aviemore on Wednesday. He was scanned at Spire Murrayfield Hospital and a calf tear was diagnosed, recovery from which takes, on average, more than six weeks.

“It’s unfortunate for Ross but, looking on the bright side, it will give him the chance to have an off-season, which can do him good. It also gives an opportunity to assess other players, which is one of the key things this tour is about.

“It’s a time then for Scott and the two hookers already named in the tour party, Pat and Stevie, to compete for places.”

It provides a great opportunity for the 29-year-old Lawrie, in particular, who has on form at Edinburgh and is determined to inject fresh competition for the Scotland No2 jersey.

• The Scotsman will be covering the Scotland tour from Durban, Nelspruit and Pretoria, in association with Glengoyne Whisky. Full reports from our chief rugby writer David Ferguson will appear in The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday, starting on Monday, and a unique tour diary will feature on scotsman.com. You can also follow David on twitter – @davidferg – for the latest news and views from the Scotland camp.

Ford injury a blow for Scotland before South Africa

Wales Rugby Under 20 head to France

Welsh Rugby Union: May 31, 2013 - The Wales Under 20 squad will today (Saturday) leave for Nantes where they will begin their Junior World Championship campaign against Samoa on Wednesday.

They then face Scotland next Sunday and Argentina on Thursday 13 June in their final pool match before two knock-out games on June 18 and 23 to determine the world rankings at this level.

Wales go into this tournament as third seed after beating New Zealand in last years competition to reach the semi-finals, and despite losing to the Kiwis in the last four, they beat Argentina in the third place play-off.

A semi-final place is top on the priority list for Wales Under 20 head coach Danny Wilson, but he is not taking anyone for granted.

Our opening fixture is key, he said. Last year we got the ball rolling with a good performance against Fiji and we want to do the same this year to give us confidence to take into the rest of the tournament.

“There is no chance of us being over confident, that is not part of our coaching ethos, but we are confident in our preparation and the work weve done. We will turn up against Samoa fully aware of what were facing, but confident that we can, with our best performance, put them away and build from there. We know that to get wins in our group we will have to earn them, they wont land in our lap.

Two players, Rhys Patchell and Harry Robinson, have been promoted from the original Wales Under 20 squad to the Wales squad to tour Japan, while Cory Allen has been forced out to undergo a shoulder operation, but Wilson says those changes shouldnt have too much of a negative effect.

Its a fantastic opportunity for Rhys and Harry, and also for the three players coming into our squad who will gain the experience of a world championship.

The Wales Under 20 squad have spent the past few weeks getting ready for the France-based tournament with a training schedule that has included sessions against the senior Wales squad.

We have prepared well, added Scarlets forwards coach Wilson. The sessions against the seniors have added intensity to our training and have been very beneficial for our players.

While Wales have avoided the big three southern hemisphere sides in their Pool, the size of the task is undeniable.

Samoa will be a big physical side that will cause plenty of problems if we give them the chance in terms of collisions, Scotland are a strong side and Argentina will be even stronger. They beat Australia, Scotland and France to go through to the semis last year and recently recorded two victories over last years champions South Africa. But we have two big games to see to before that match, we are not looking past Samoa at the moment.

Last years squad made a name for themselves with their impressive performances and Wilson is looking to provide a similar platform for players over the next three weeks.

A number of players from our last JWC squad have gone on to play regular regional rugby this season and have become far more familiar to the rugby public. Likewise, it will be beneficial to Welsh rugby if we can be successful again in this tournament. The boys will be exposed to big pressure games which they can learn a huge amount from and bring back to regional rugby in Wales, especially if we make it to a semi.

Wales Junior World Championship Squad 2013:
Forwards: Ellis Jenkins (capt, Blues / Cardiff), Nicky Smith (Ospreys / Swansea), Gareth Thomas (Scarlets/ Carmarthen), Tom Davies (Blues /Cardiff), Dan Suter (Ospreys / Bridgend), Nicky Thomas (Ospreys / Swansea), Ethan Lewis (Blues / Cardiff), Elliot Dee (Dragons / Bedwas), Carwyn Jones (Scarlets / Carmarthen), Jack Jones (Ospreys / Rovigo), Rhodri Hughes (Ospreys / Swansea), Ieuan Jones (Dragons / Newport), Daniel Thomas (Scarlets / Llanelli), Sion Bennett (Scarlets / Carmarthen), James Benjamin (Dragons/ Bedwas)

Backs: Rhodri Williams (Scarlets / Llandovery), Joshua Davies (Dragons / Bedwas), Harri Evans (North Wales / RGC), Sam Davies (Ospreys / Swansea), Steffan Hughes (Scarlets / Llanelli), Jack Dixon (Dragons / Bedwas), Thomas Pascoe (Blues / Pontypridd), Aaron Warren (Llandovery), Ashley Evans (Ospreys / Bridgend), Jordan Williams (Scarlets / Llanelli), Hallam Amos (Dragons / Bedwas), Dion Jones (Scarlets Academy /Llanelli), Owen Jenkins (Blues / Pontypridd)

Wales JWC fixtures:
Wednesday 5 June, Nantes (6pm): Wales v Samoa
Sunday 9 June, Nantes (5pm): Wales v Scotland
Thursday 13 June, La Roche sur Yon: Wales v Argentina (4.45pm)
Play-Off rounds: Tuesday 18 June, Sunday 23 June

Wales Rugby Under 20 head to France

Freddie Burns hopes to raise tempo of England Rugby squad

SPEED demon Freddie Burns hopes to put the pedal to the metal and raise the tempo of England’s long-term attacking game this summer.

Fly-half Burns believes England’s new-look South America tour backline could boast even more pace to burn than Gloucester.

1. 
   

   ​

   
   
   


2. 
   

   ​

   
   

   
   Freddie Burns

   
   

Cherry and Whites flier Jonny May revealed that he edged out England pace rivals Christian Wade and Marland Yarde in a ten-metre sprint this week.

So for the summer at least, the former Wootton Bassett man holds both the England and Gloucester speed crowns.

Our heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery VAT included. Choose from 1000′s of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.

Terms:

Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk

Contact: 01858 468192

Valid until: Sunday, June 30 2013

But powerful London Irish wing Yarde and Wasps’ arch-finisher Wade are no slouches.

And with Jonathan Joseph and Kyle Eastmond just as quick off the mark in midfield, Burns reckons Stuart Lancaster’s touring squad must exploit that raw speed out wide.

England did exactly that in dispatching the lacklustre Barbarians 40-12 at Twickenham last weekend.

Now they face a South American select XV in Montevideo tomorrow (kick-off 7.30pm BST), with Burns urging the young England side to seize their moment.

The British Lions boast eight English tourists in Australia, affording Lancaster a rare opportunity to experiment with selection.

Chris Robshaw, Toby Flood and Brad Barritt have been rested too, as England seek to expand the limited gameplan that took them through the Six Nations but is unlikely to carry them to sustained success.

Attack-minded Burns is keen to push for his own long-term England future this summer and he believes Lancaster’s full-strength side must take advantage of all the wide talent available.

England face two Tests against Argentina after tomorrow’s opening tour contest, and Burns hopes the side pick up where they left off against the Baa Baas.

The 23-year-old explained: “I’m very fortunate at Gloucester to play with young, quick backs, and here it’s almost even quicker.

“So you’ve just got to give the ball to JJ, Marland Yarde, Christian Wade and Jonny, and just let them do what they do.

“For me it was pleasing that they all want the ball, they all seek it out, and that makes us such a dangerous side.

“That’s how I want the game to be played, and that’s how I think it can suit England best in the long-term too.

“It’s important to balance that with the need to play the percentages, manage the game and control the grittier side of things.

“But you’ve got to be able to attack, open teams up and create and finish chances.

“That’s what we’ll be looking to do out here, and hopefully that’s the big challenge for England overall moving forward into next season and beyond.

“Stuart’s given us the confidence to get out there and show what we can do.

“And now it’s over to us.”

Burns takes a seat on bench tomorrow, with Northampton’s fly-half Stephen Myler handed a chance to impress.

Bath-born Burns and Gloucester team-mate Billy Twelvetrees are in pole position to start the two Argentina Test matches.

Burns claimed a try inside a minute in last weekend’s Twickenham Barbarians romp.

New Gloucester recruit Matt Kvesic snaffled a turnover, Burns threw a wide pass to set England away – and then capped the rapid strike with a smart finish.

Relishing his 20-point Barbarians haul, Burns continued: “I was happy to see Marland chuck it inside to me and to cross the line, but there’s a far bigger picture there and we did well last week.

“We got the performance right last week and that was important.

“Matt’s another great young player, I thought he was outstanding last week, and there’s a huge amount of confidence going into the tour.

“Hopefully I can keep growing in confidence and guide the side through this tour.

“Again, it’s all about balancing things out, but hopefully we can keep that threatening wide play in our game.”

ENGLAND: B Foden, J May, L Burrell, K Eastmond, D Strettle, S Myler, R Wigglesworth, J Marler, D Paice, H Thomas, C Lawes, K Myall, T Wood, T Johnson, B Vunipola. Replacements: R Buchanan, A Corbisiero, P Doran-Jones, D Attwood, M Kvesic, L Dickson, F Burns, J Joseph.

Freddie Burns hopes to raise tempo of England Rugby squad

Lions Tour: Testing conditions leave players feeling heat

“It was the same for both teams so I’m not using this as an excuse, but it was so difficult to run, to catch, to throw spin passes, to manage the ball in contact,” said Parisse, the Baa-Baas’ captain. “It was just so hard to recover your breath,” O’Connell confessed. “It seemed your heart rate never went down.”

Yesterday’s contest, controversial from the outset, was arranged for commercial reasons rather than rugby ones: most union aficionados assumed the first Lions tour of Australia in a dozen years would begin in… Australia. When the nature of the weather conditions in this part of Asia dawned on the participants, there was enough concern in both the Lions and Barbarians camps to press for regular water breaks – a first at this level of the game.

David Young, a three-time Lions tourist who coached the Baa-Baas, said after the game that conditions should be taken into account in future. “No matter how fit the players are they’re going to feel it in those temperatures and in that humidity,” he said. “It’s certainly not good for us fat blokes.”

Young’s opposite number in the Lions think-tank, Warren Gatland, was as diplomatic as he could be.

“In every professional sport there are commercial responsibilities to be met and we’ve all known that for a long time,” he said. “The benefit of this from our point of view is that training and playing here is the equivalent of working at altitude. I think it could work in our favour once we reach Australia. It should be good for us.”

No related posts.

Lions Tour: Testing conditions leave players feeling heat

Rugby Union: Lions ponder "mind games" in Cooper omission

Updated


June 01, 2013 11:24:41

Photo:

Left out … Quade Cooper (Getty Images: Phil Walter, File Photo)

British and Irish Lions defence coach Andy Farrell says he is puzzled at Quade Cooper’s omission from Australia’s preliminary squad and wondered if the Wallabies were playing “mind games’ with their star fly half.

Farrell says the Wallabies may be trying to motivate Cooper to fight for his place after he was left off the initial squad of 25 players for the three-Test series against the Lions.

“Who knows what’s going on?” Farrell told reporters in Hong Kong, ahead of Saturday’s tour opener against the Barbarians.

“We don’t know whether it’s mind games that they’re playing with Cooper, but he seems to be playing pretty well to me.”

The Wallabies’ decision to overlook Cooper was the major talking point of their squad announcement and left the tourists guessing about whether they would be facing the Reds pivot or James O’Connor.

The move follows internal ructions after Cooper was fined and suspended last year for criticising coach Robbie Deans and complaining of a “toxic” atmosphere within the Wallabies set-up. Their full squad will be announced on June 11.

Cooper and O’Connor will go head-to-head on Saturday night when the Reds host the Rebels at Lang Park.

“I think you’ve got two fantastic players,” Farrell said.

“O’Connor? Coming back from injury but he’s a threat who can run the game. Quade Cooper? I think he’s playing some fantastic rugby at this moment in time.

“Whoever starts at 10 (for the Wallabies) will be a threat, there’s no doubt about that.”

Family support

The Lions’ New Zealand-born winger Sean Maitland, who is Cooper’s cousin, says the two were frequently in touch.

He admits Cooper was upset to be left out.

“He (Cooper) was a little disappointed, but he can do his talking on the field, which is what he has been doing,” Maitland said.

“He’s been playing awesome and I’m sure that for one of those six spots still to be filled for the Wallabies he’ll be right in the mix.”

The rugby-mad cousins grew up together and played for the same junior team in the New Zealand town of Tokoroa from the age of six.

Cooper left for Australia in his teens, whereas Maitland made his move only last year but soon won a first Scotland cap after qualifying on heritage grounds.

Maitland says he is amazed to have become a Lion so soon after.

“It’s been a crazy six or seven months,” Maitland said.

“Who’d have thought when I left New Zealand I’d be representing the British and Irish Lions?”

AFP

Topics:

rugby-union,

super-rugby,

sport,

hong-kong,

brisbane-4000

First posted


June 01, 2013 11:23:33

No related posts.

Rugby Union: Lions ponder "mind games" in Cooper omission

Lions ponder "mind games" in Cooper omission

Updated


June 01, 2013 11:24:41

Photo:

Left out … Quade Cooper (Getty Images: Phil Walter, File Photo)

British and Irish Lions defence coach Andy Farrell says he is puzzled at Quade Cooper’s omission from Australia’s preliminary squad and wondered if the Wallabies were playing “mind games’ with their star fly half.

Farrell says the Wallabies may be trying to motivate Cooper to fight for his place after he was left off the initial squad of 25 players for the three-Test series against the Lions.

“Who knows what’s going on?” Farrell told reporters in Hong Kong, ahead of Saturday’s tour opener against the Barbarians.

“We don’t know whether it’s mind games that they’re playing with Cooper, but he seems to be playing pretty well to me.”

The Wallabies’ decision to overlook Cooper was the major talking point of their squad announcement and left the tourists guessing about whether they would be facing the Reds pivot or James O’Connor.

The move follows internal ructions after Cooper was fined and suspended last year for criticising coach Robbie Deans and complaining of a “toxic” atmosphere within the Wallabies set-up. Their full squad will be announced on June 11.

Cooper and O’Connor will go head-to-head on Saturday night when the Reds host the Rebels at Lang Park.

“I think you’ve got two fantastic players,” Farrell said.

“O’Connor? Coming back from injury but he’s a threat who can run the game. Quade Cooper? I think he’s playing some fantastic rugby at this moment in time.

“Whoever starts at 10 (for the Wallabies) will be a threat, there’s no doubt about that.”

Family support

The Lions’ New Zealand-born winger Sean Maitland, who is Cooper’s cousin, says the two were frequently in touch.

He admits Cooper was upset to be left out.

“He (Cooper) was a little disappointed, but he can do his talking on the field, which is what he has been doing,” Maitland said.

“He’s been playing awesome and I’m sure that for one of those six spots still to be filled for the Wallabies he’ll be right in the mix.”

The rugby-mad cousins grew up together and played for the same junior team in the New Zealand town of Tokoroa from the age of six.

Cooper left for Australia in his teens, whereas Maitland made his move only last year but soon won a first Scotland cap after qualifying on heritage grounds.

Maitland says he is amazed to have become a Lion so soon after.

“It’s been a crazy six or seven months,” Maitland said.

“Who’d have thought when I left New Zealand I’d be representing the British and Irish Lions?”

AFP

Topics:

rugby-union,

super-rugby,

sport,

hong-kong,

brisbane-4000

First posted


June 01, 2013 11:23:33

No related posts.

Lions ponder "mind games" in Cooper omission

Vern Cotter on Scotland squad"s attractive qualities

So congratulations to former Melrose man Carl Hogg who is Worcester Warriors’ boss. That news broke one day after the New Zealander Vern Cotter was unveiled to the media at Murrayfield and immediately blindsided by the news that his Clermont club president had announced his (Cotter’s) resignation. The new Scotland head coach insisted otherwise. However, when he was quizzed on whether his club knew that he was being introduced to Scottish rugby on Wednesday afternoon complete with the obligatory photoshoot in the blue tracksuit, the Kiwi replied: “No they don’t, no they don’t.”

If Cotter wanted out of Clermont one year before his contract ends then unexpectedly showing up at Murrayfield with a white thistle on his chest after writing an article criticising Clermont’s recruitment (or lack of it) would be a handy way to go about it. Against that, he made the following mea culpa to the press upon his return to France which appears to be an exercise in bridge building. “Things are not exactly what I’d like them to be. The season finished in frustration. I wanted to communicate, I think it’s important that everyone is kept up to date. There are many key players at risk of leaving [Clermont] next year. Have I been clumsy? Certainly. Have I made mistakes? It would seem so and not for the first time this season.”

Cotter had a meeting with club president Rene Fontes yesterday, the result of which is not yet known but the fact that another foreign coach is in at Murrayfield, or will be when the dust finally settles, should surprise no one because there were no genuine homegrown candidates.

Sitting alongside the Kiwi coach, Scottish rugby now has an Australian director of rugby in Scott Johnson who has been in the country for just one year and a Welsh forwards coach, Jonathan Humphreys, whose main qualification for the job appears to be that he worked alongside Johnson at the Ospreys.

Johnson’s original remit was to nurture and promote Scottish coaches, which makes Humphreys appointment all the more bewildering, although there is no such confusion when it comes to Johnson’s own promotion to director of rugby which was apparently made on the hearty recommendation of… Scott Johnson.

At least the garrulous Aussie seems to have found a good ’un in Cotter who, in turn, seems to know and value Scottish rugby’s history and heritage. Asked what had attracted him to Murrayfield in the first place the Kiwi pointed to two Scots at Clermont as a handy starting point. He said: “I was really impressed with Jason [White] in the three years he was there with me, magnificent warrior. I liked him because he was a soldier, a great leader as well, he typified what was great about traditional Scottish rugby. And Nathan [Hines], he’s my right-hand man at Clermont. He’s a bit long in the tooth but crikey he can still play a good game of rugby. He really enjoyed his time with the Scottish team and spoke very highly of the experience. Both those guys really helped me make my decision.”

Cotter spoke at some length about his admiration in the past for the passion that the Scots brought to the game, especially breakaways such as John Jeffrey and Fin Calder, whom he remembered vividly from his youth. He sees something of the same in the current group of Scotland players, although it’s a pretty safe bet that he didn’t witness last year’s débâcles in Rome or Aberdeen. Cotter added: “You are looking at a team that shows character and that’s really important. They defended really well, they are pragmatic, they are really working hard on the basics of the game, scrum, ruck, contact. So it was exciting to see the team perform as well as they did and there is obvious potential to make them perform better otherwise Scotty [Johnson] and I probably wouldn’t be in this room.

“I like teams with guts, a bit of heart, character who get up and have a go. It’s always appealed to me Scotland, for that reason. There are some very good players in the Scottish team, there are some good thinkers,” Cotter continued. “[Greig] Laidlaw is a good thinker, you have a really good front row, you have the basics of a team, and they are working at what makes them perform and perform better as well. When the collective starts working then the individuals will come out and bring things perhaps we hadn’t seen or offer something to the team, give it another dimension. Those are things that we will be looking at.”

As things stand Cotter will have just one year to make his mark on this squad of players before the 2015 Rugby World Cup is upon us (the one that SRU chief executive Mark Dodson has targeted winning, in case you had forgotten). It’s a punishingly short time to explore the squad’s potential, never mind unlock it. If everything goes swimmingly, and almost everyone expects Cotter to start sooner rather than later, how far can Scotland go in the next World Cup?

“You go into every game to win,” is the Kiwi’s first answer. “I’m not trying to move away from the responsibility to win but the most importing thing is to get the best performance you can every time you are on the paddock and, if you do that, then you are going to win games and, if you start winning, you start moving up so the most important thing is to really, really look at the team’s performance and how to get the best performance out of the group every time.

“We don’t enter a competition without being ambitious, we don’t enter a competition without wanting to win it so I’d like to use the get-up-and-go as best we can. You don’t know; we could surprise ourselves.”

No related posts.

Vern Cotter on Scotland squad"s attractive qualities