Rugby World Cup: England complete backroom team as Leicester Tigers coach one of two brought in

Click:银行卡三要素

Click:metal cnc machining

England have confirmed the appointment of scrum coach Tom Harrison, who will join up with the squad from Leicester Tigers on June 1.

The announcement of Harrison’s deal completes Steve Borthwick’s coaching team for the Rugby World Cup, which kicks off in France later this year.

Harrison is assistant coach at Leicester Tigers, leading on scrum coaching. He started in their academy programme, before joining the first team coaching staff for the 2020/21 season. He was part of the team that won the Premiership in 2021/22.

Tony Roques also handed role

Tony Roques, England men’s sevens head coach, will also work with the team as contact and skills coach during the preparation and training camps.

Roques represented his country at England Sevens, before moving into coaching. He has worked with USA Rugby and Team GB at the 2021 Olympic Games. Roques also worked with the England squad ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

It is also confirmed that Richard Wigglesworth will lead the attack coaching and kicking strategy, while Kevin Sinfield will continue his work as defence coach. Wigglesworth will join up with England at the end of the Premiership season, alongside Aled Walters who will be head of strength and conditioning.

Borthwick said: “I am very pleased to confirm the England coaching team for the Rugby World Cup.

“Tom is an excellent coach and will have a real impact in an area that will be fundamental to us as a team.

“Leicester’s scrum is renowned across Europe and Tom has played a leading role in that success. I have full confidence in him and I am very happy that he will be joining England.”

He added: “Tony has an extensive background in Sevens and is an experienced, specialist contact and skills coach. Individual skill emphasis will be an important part of our work.

“Having worked alongside him in the 2019 campaign, I know what a good coach he is and he will really contribute to the team.

“Richard has a proven track record as a player and a player coach, and you can see what an excellent job he has done as head coach of Leicester Tigers in the past few months.

“He has played at Rugby World Cups and has coaching experience in 2019, and understands the unique demands of the tournament and the support that players need. He knows a lot of the players very well and will bring different insights to the coaching team.

Coaching team now complete

“Along with Kevin and Aled, I am pleased with the balance and wide range of experience that the coaching staff will have.

“As a group, we know each other well and we know the areas we will focus on to continue developing and building this team and be the best prepared team that we can be.

“We know this World Cup will be highly competitive, but we are genuinely excited by what this group of coaches and players can achieve in France.”

Roques will keep oversight of the GB Sevens programme while working with the England men’s team.

England’s first preparation camps will start in mid-June as they begin work ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. They will face Argentina, Japan, Chile and Samoa in Pool D.

As part of their preparation, Borthwick’s side will take part in four Summer Series fixtures. England will first travel to Cardiff to face Wales on Saturday, August 5 in the first of a double-header. Twickenham will host the return fixture on Saturday, August 12.

England will then play Ireland in Dublin on Saturday, August 19 before their final game at Twickenham against Fiji on Saturday, August 26.

Click Here: Real Madrid soccer tracksuit

WATCH: Iosefo Masi’s superb offload in Fijian Drua’s victory over Hurricanes

Fijian Drua outside centre Iosefo Masi caught the eye with an outstanding offload in the build-up to a try in his side’s 27-24 win over the Hurricanes in their Super Rugby Pacific clash in Suva on Saturday.

With the score 10-7 in the Hurricanes’ favour, the Drua launched an attack from a scrum inside their opponents’ 22. After setting up another phase through Kalaveti Ravouvou, Frank Lomani found Masi with a long pass close to the Hurricanes’ try-line.

Masi still had plenty of work to do but did brilliantly to draw in three defenders before freeing his arms to offload to the on-rushing Taniela Rakuro, who cantered in for the try.

Click here for teams and scorers

Lomani slotted the conversion to give the home side a deserved 14-10 lead and set up a tense finish against their more fancied opponents. Earlier, Rakuro opened the scoring for the Drua with a well-taken converted try in the 18th minute before Julian Savea touched down for a five-pointer for the visitors on the half-hour mark, which meant the Drua held a slender 7-5 lead at half-time.

The Hurricanes drew first blood shortly after the restart when the former All Black wing crossed the whitewash again – a momentous score as it drew him level with former Wallabies and Waratahs full-back Israel Folau as Super Rugby’s all-time record of 60 tries.

Rakuro then went over for his second five-pointer before the Hurricanes struck back via converted tries from Xavier Numia and Du’Plessis Kirifi which gave them a 24-14 lead midway through the half.

That would be the last time they would score points, however, as the Drua upped the ante on attack and were rewarded with a Meli Derenalagi try which Kemu Valetini converted.

Click Here: Borussia Dortmund soccer tracksuit

That narrowed the gap to three points but the Drua finished stronger and sealed their victory courtesy of two well-taken penalties from Valetini in the game’s closing stages.

Video credit: Super Rugby Pacific

Official | Lille complete the signing of Nicolas Pépé

Lille have signed Ivory Coast international Nicolas Pépé from SCO Angers in a deal believed to be worth €8.5million. The 22-year-old joins the club on a five-year-contract which keeps him in Lille until 2022. 

Pépé had a breakthrough season with Angers, making 33 Ligue 1 appearances in which he managed to notch up three goals and one assist. He was also a crucial part of the team’s impressive Coupe de France run, playing in all but one game including the crushing final defeat to Paris St-Germain.

Pépé said: “I feel a lot of joy at having signed to LOSC. And today, I’m sure I made the right choice. The coming of Marcelo Bielsa was an important element when making my decision. I am now very excited to work with such a coach.”

S.H.

Click Here: Mexico National Team soccer tracksuit

Challenge Cup: Franco Smith says reaching first final ‘means a lot’ for Glasgow Warriors

Glasgow Warriors boss Franco Smith was proud after the club reached their first European final courtesy of a 35-17 triumph over the Scarlets in Saturday’s Challenge Cup semi-final in Llanelli.

The Warriors are set to face the winner of the other semi-final between Toulon and Benetton in Dublin on May 19.

Deserved winners

As the scoreline suggests, Smith‘s charges were deserved winners as a brace of tries from Stafford McDowall and further five-pointers from George Horne, Rory Darge and Johnny Matthews helped them to seal their spot in the showpiece event.

Horne finished with a 15-point haul after slotting five conversions as the Warriors came back from a 14-7 half-time deficit.

“It means a lot to them. Everyone is very excited around that,” Glasgow head coach Smith said.

“But we know there are still a lot of learnings to take from this, a lot of improvement to be made. We have the ability, we have the skillset – we just need to now use the lessons learnt from this week better.

“The talk at half-time was about settling down. Even some of our internationals were just a little bit too nervous, which shows what this means to them.

“They didn’t want to lose tonight, and I thought we started off so well, but we got a little bit jittery.

“We calmed it down at half-time. The plan didn’t change. The plan was specific for this week and I thought we stuck to that even though Scarlets did extremely well to unsettle us and rattle us.

“Their line-speed from a defence perspective was very good, and we didn’t manage to get out of our half for various reasons, but it was important to show some resilience before the end.

“It’s about managing the emotional intelligence during the game and going into the next big challenge.”

Glasgow will now turn their focus to a United Rugby Championship quarter-final at Scotstoun against Munster on Saturday, while the Scarlets’ season has come to an end.

Click Here: Portugal football tracksuit

Steff Evans scored the Welsh region’s only try against Glasgow with their other points coming via the boot of Sam Costelow, who succeeded with four penalties.

Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel said: “I thought at half-time it was an even contest and we were right in it.

“We just didn’t manage to get over the line in their 22. They held us out, and we shifted the ball to the edge but got bundled into touch twice, which is disappointing.

“I can’t fault the effort of our boys. I thought we were right in the game.

Injuries proved costly

“We had three head injury assessments in the first 20 minutes, which is unheard of really. To lose all three, and then to lose Vaea Fifita as well is difficult.

“I think that definitely hurt us later on in the game, because they were bringing on fresh bodies and we didn’t manage to get the fresh legs on.

“But in saying that, I thought they did a job in the areas we thought. They were strong in set-piece and they managed to grind that one out in that respect.”

Challenge Cup: Vaea Fifita at number eight for Scarlets against Glasgow Warriors while Cheslin Kolbe set to shine at full-back for Toulon

The Challenge Cup semi-finals take place this weekend as Scarlets take on Glasgow Warriors on Saturday before Toulon face Benetton on Sunday.

Take a check over the team news and our predictions for two fascinating contests, which take place at Parc y Scarlets and Stade Felix Mayol respectively.

Saturday

Scarlets v Glasgow Warriors

Scarlets have recalled four internationals to their starting line-up for the Challenge Cup semi-final with Glasgow Warriors at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday.

Johnny McNicholl, Gareth Davies, Wyn Jones and Sam Lousi are straight into the XV for the Welsh region’s first European last-four tie on home soil.

With a crowd close to 13,000 expected in Llanelli it promises to be a massive occasion for Dwayne Peel and his side.

McNicholl starts at full-back, with Steff Evans and Ryan Conbeer making up the rest of the back three. Johnny Williams and Joe Roberts continue in midfield, while Gareth Davies returns to the number nine jersey to partner Sam Costelow.

Up front, Wales and British & Irish Lions prop Wyn Jones gets the nod at loosehead and packs down alongside fellow Lion Ken Owens and Scotland international Javan Sebastian.

After sitting out the last two games, Sam Lousi is named in the second-row, as is Morgan Jones.

There is a reshuffle in the back-row. Josh Macleod leads the side from blindside, Vaea Fifita is handed the number eight jersey for the first time this season, while Dan Davis makes his return from injury at openside.

Aaron Shingler hasn’t recovered from a back issue so Iestyn Rees is named among the replacements.

Meanwhile, Sebastian Cancelliere will make his return from injury as the Warriors take to the field for the club’s first-ever European semi-final.

The Argentinian winger returns to take his place in a starting XV that will also see Richie Gray make his 100th appearance in Glasgow colours, the second-rower reaching the milestone 14 years on from his professional debut for his hometown club.

Having come off the bench in last weekend’s victory over Connacht, Jamie Bhatti and Zander Fagerson are promoted to the starting line-up to pack down either side of George Turner, who returns from injury to start at hooker.

Scott Cummings is selected to partner Gray on the latter’s landmark appearance, having reached his own century in the Challenge Cup round-of-16 victory over the Dragons at Scotstoun.

An unchanged back-row sees Jack Dempsey continue at number eight, the Scotland international flanked by Rory Darge and Sione Vailanu.

George Horne starts at scrum-half having scored more points than any other Warrior in the Challenge Cup to date, with Tom Jordan partnering the former Howe of Fife man in the half-backs.

Sione Tuipulotu comes back into the matchday 23 after missing the last two matches, Stafford McDowall shifting to inside centre to accommodate the Scotland star.

Kyle Steyn captains the side from the wing after being rested last time out, as Ollie Smith and the returning Cancelliere complete the back-three.

The tournament’s joint-top try-scorer takes his place amongst the replacements for Franco Smith’s men, as Johnny Matthews joins Nathan McBeth and Simon Berghan as the front-row cover.

JP du Preez continues his run of being involved in every one of the club’s Challenge Cup matches to date in the 2022/23 season, whilst Lewis Bean wears the number 20 jersey in a six-two split of forwards and backs.

Matt Fagerson is included in the matchday 23 for the fourth match in succession, as Ali Price rotates to the bench after starting against Connacht last weekend.

The matchday 23 is completed by Duncan Weir, the fly-half having slotted the match-winning penalty in the round one win away to Bath at The Rec back in December.

Prediction: Glasgow by 3

The teams:

Scarlets: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Steff Evans, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ryan Conbeer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Vaea Fifita, 7 Dan Davis, 6 Josh Macleod (c), 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Morgan Jones, 3 Javan Sebastian, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Shaun Evans, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Carwyn Tuipulotu, 20 Iestyn Rees, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Ioan Nicholas

Glasgow Warriors: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Sebastian Cancelliere, 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Kyle Steyn (c), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Sione Vailanu, 6 Rory Darge, 5 Richie Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Lewis Bean, 21 Matt Fagerson, 22 Ali Price, 23 Duncan Weir

Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 17:30 BST (16:30 GMT)
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees: Pierre Brousset (France), Tual Trainini (France)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)

Sunday

Toulon v Benetton

Toulon have named a fully-loaded team for their Challenge Cup semi-final with Benetton, with Springbok Cheslin Kolbe starting at full-back on Sunday.

Kolbe is joined in the back three by Jiuta Naqoli Wainiqolo and France international Gabin Villière, with Benetton set to have their hands full defensively.

Duncan Paia’aua and Waisea Vuidravuwalu start in midfield with Baptiste Serin at scrum-half alongside Wales fly-half Dan Biggar in a solid combination.

The pack is just as impressive as Italy great Sergio Parisse is at number eight alongside France star Charles Ollivon and the powerful Cornell du Preez.

Mathieu Tanguy and Brian Alainu’uese are the locks while props Dany Priso and Beka Gigashvili will pack down either side of hooker Teddy Baubigny.

Benetton aren’t to be written off, however, as their recent form has shown they can prove a match for any team, with Dewaldt Duvenage the skipper.

The South African is joined at half-back by Tomas Albornoz with Italy internationals Tommaso Menoncello and Nacho Brex the midfield at Stade Mayol.

An Englishman and South African combine on the wings as Marcus Watson and Rhyno Smith start, with lethal Azzurri star Matteo Minozzi at full-back.

Up front, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro and Simone Ferrari join hooker Siua Maile in the front-row while Niccolò Cannone and Federico Ruzza are the locks.

An all-international back-row trio of Seb Negri, Michele Lamaro and Lorenzo Cannone complete the starting line-up, with Henry Stowers on the bench.

Prediction: Toulon by 10

The teams:

Toulon: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Jiuta Naqoli Wainiqolo, 13 Waisea Vuidravuwalu, 12 Duncan Paia’aua, 11 Gabin Villière, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Charles Ollivon (c), 6 Cornell du Preez, 5 Brian Alainu’uese, 4 Mathieu Tanguy, 3 Beka Gigashvili, 2 Teddy Baubigny, 1 Dany Priso
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Bruce Devaux, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Adrien Warion, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Benoit Paillaugue, 22 Ihaia West, 23 Jérémy Sinzelle

Benetton: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Rhyno Smith, 13 Nacho Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage (c), 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro, 6 Seb Negri Da Oleggio, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Siua Maile, 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements: 16 Giacomo Nicotera, 17 Thomas Augustin Gallo, 18 Filippo Alongi, 19 Marco Lazzaroni, 20 Henry Stowers, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Jacob Umaga

Venue: Stade Felix-Mayol
Kick-off: 13:30 local (12:30 BST, 11:30 GMT)
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant Referees: Matthew Carley (England), Christophe Ridley (England)
TMO: Tom Foley (England)

Nantes begin talks with Aston Villa for Jordan Veretout

FC Nantes are in active discussions with Championship side Aston Villa over the possible signing of central midfielder Jordan Veretout.

Click Here: Williams Racing Suit

As reported by Gianluca di Marzio, Nantes have been in discussions with Aston Villa for some time now over a possible return for their initial youth academy product, but the Championship outfit are playing hardball in fee negotiations.

Veretout has been on President Kita’s watchlist for some time and the French side remain confident of reaching an agreement.

Official | Caen complete deal for Stef Peeters from Saint-Triond

Stef Peeters has officially joined Ligue 1 side Caen from Belgian side Saint-Trond on a deal until 2020.

The 25-year-old was on top form in the Jupiler league last season for Saint-Trond, assisting his teammates 12 times in all. The attacking midfielder caught the attention of other Belgian clubs, but Caen won his signature to bring him to Ligue 1, much like they did with Ivan Santini last season.

“This is part of our new recruitment policy. We look at what is happening in neighbouring countries,” says Xavier Gravelaine, the General Director for the club.

“Stef has a very good left foot, he has superb positional play, can work in a number of positions and is a really good passer of the ball,” said Gravelaine who was glowing in his praise for the new Caen number eight.

T.S.

Click Here: cheap football tracksuits

United Rugby Championship: Glasgow Warriors sign Sharks flanker Venter while lock Snyman to join Benetton

Glasgow Warriors have announced the signing of South African back-row Henco Venter, who will arrive from the Sharks at the end of the season.

Subject to visa clearance, the 31-year-old forward will line up in a Glasgow jersey from the next campaign and is set to be a handy addition to the Scottish outfit.

He has played 48 matches thus far for the Sharks, representing them in Super Rugby and Currie Cup action in addition to the United Rugby Championship.

Venter is capable of playing across the back-row and has turned out for the Cheetahs and Toshiba Brave Lupus before making the switch to the Dubanites.

Admires the Warriors playing style

“Glasgow has always been a club I have enjoyed watching and admired the way they approach their rugby,” the back-row told the Warriors’ official website.

“The way the team has played this season, in particular under Franco, has been so great to see, and seeing the results and how much everyone is enjoying their rugby makes Glasgow a place you want to come and play.

“Franco plays a winning brand of rugby, but he also understands that it’s a brand of rugby that people in the stands need to enjoy coming to see. You can see how he’s blended that this season with the coaches at Glasgow, and I can’t wait to get involved.

“I’ve also played with both JP [Du Preez] and Sintu [Manjezi], so I spoke to them before signing, and they just said how great a place Glasgow is to both live and play. The enthusiasm they spoke about the club and the city just makes me can’t wait to get started.

“I’m happy to do whatever it takes to help the team win – I enjoy being physical in attack and defence, and I love to have the ball in hand. An attacking mindset is always more fun.

Click Here: Warriors Rugby Jersey

“The result against Connacht last weekend showed the character of this team, and that character just makes you really want to fight for your team and be a part of everything.

“I honestly can’t wait to join this club. I want to give back to the club and the supporters in the stand, and I believe this club is capable of doing something special.”

Glasgow head coach Franco Smith added: “Henco is not only a top-class rugby player, but also a first-rate person.

“He’s an incredibly hard-working athlete, and his ability to cover all three back-row positions will make him an invaluable asset to our squad next season.

“He leads from the front, and we believe he will contribute a great deal to our squad as we move forward. We look forward to welcoming him to Scotstoun this summer.”

Eli Snyman returns to Benetton

Elsewhere, Benetton have signed South African second-row Eli Snyman, who will rejoin the club from Premiership side Leicester Tigers ahead of 2023/24.

Snyman, 27, has made 34 appearances to date since arriving in the East Midlands before the 2021/22 campaign.

Born in Zimbabwe, Snyman represented South African U20s in 2016 before making his Currie Cup debut for the Bulls in the same season.

His Super Rugby debut came in 2019, for the Bulls, before signing with Treviso ahead of the 2019/20 European season.

Speaking about Snyman, Leicester Tigers interim head coach Richard Wigglesworth said: “Eli has been a big part of the Leicester pack during these past two seasons, playing a key role both on the pitch and as a leader for the young players in his position.

“I enjoyed the opportunity to play alongside Eli last season and for the first part of this season and equally so the chance to have coached him during that time.

“He’s been a great contributor to Leicester Tigers and we thank him for that, as well as wishing him all the best for the next stage of his career back in Italy with Benetton.”

Challenge Cup: Franco Smith urges Glasgow Warriors to silence Scarlets crowd in bid to reach final

Glasgow Warriors boss Franco Smith has challenged his players to conquer the Scarlets’ home support when they face off in their Challenge Cup semi-final on Saturday.

The Warriors are in a rich vein of form as they have lost only once in 17 matches in all competitions and will be slight favourites to advance to their first-ever European final, at the expense of their United Rugby Championship (URC) rivals.

Smith‘s troops finished in fourth position during the league phase of the URC, which was 10 places above the Scarlets and they beat the Welsh region 12-9 in a tough encounter at Scotstoun two weeks ago.

Wary of Scarlets

Despite that result, Smith is wary of his opponents especially the galvanising effect home ground advantage will have on the Dwayne Peel’s charges.

“The Scarlets will be favouring their chances to go all the way in front of their home supporters,” he told the Warriors website.

“We as a team know this, and therefore it presents an opportunity to take on this challenge that will ask the very best of us.

“We have prepared well this week for what we know will be a hard battle in front of a big Welsh crowd.”

One in one out for Edinburgh

Elsewhere in Scotland, Edinburgh have announced the departure of attack coach Gareth Baber and the signing of back-row forward Tom Dodd.

Baber’s exit at the end of his contract could potentially pave the way for Mike Blair to remain at the club when he steps down as head coach to pursue a career as a specialist attack coach.

Former Fiji Sevens coach Baber joined Edinburgh in December 2021 as skills and assistant attack coach and will return to Wales to be with his family.

He said: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time in Edinburgh and I’ve built connections with coaches, management and players that will last a lifetime. It’s a brilliant club and I’m certain this group will bounce back next season.

Right time to end time at club

“I have, however, spent the last 18 months away from my family who are living in Wales, so it felt like the right time to relocate home and bring an end to my time in Edinburgh. It’s been a truly brilliant experience and I can’t talk up the club enough.”

Former Scotland U20 international Dodd will sign on a two-year deal following a spell with English Championship side Coventry.

The 25-year-old scored four tries for Scotland U20s and helped them to a fifth-placed finish at the 2017 World Rugby U20 Championship.

The flanker – who qualifies for Scotland through his Glenrothes-born mother – made 31 appearances for Worcester before the club went into administration in September last year.

Click Here: Stone Island Caps