Springbok head coach Jacques Nienaber said the door is still open for players hoping to stake a claim for the Rugby World Cup in France later this year.

Nienaber revealed that he and his backroom staff are keeping tabs on a group of about 60 players ahead of their upcoming international campaign.

Training camp in full swing

A group of 14 players are currently at the Springboks‘ first training camp of the year in Cape Town after a break from the United Rugby Championship (URC). They have been participating in several gym and training field sessions as well as alignment meetings with the Bok coaches and management team.

The camp started on Sunday, February 19 and will run until Friday, March 10. Following that, the players will return to their franchises for the closing stages of the URC and Champions Cup tournaments.

Nienaber discussed about the importance of the camp and the make-up of the group and said most of the players had very little rest in the last two seasons as the South African franchises breached the divide between the southern and northern hemisphere.

“Most of the players participating in this camp have not had a break since the British & Irish Lions series due to the combined northern and southern hemisphere seasons,” he told the Springboks’ official website.

“That sums up the importance of this block for us. It was also fantastic that we were able to plan this break during the Six Nations competition as the other franchises will also be without their top players.

“The biggest mistake one can make though is to assume that these players will be in the Rugby World Cup squad. We are currently tracking around 60 players, but at the same time the door is open for any player to throw their name into the mix.

“We used close to 50 players in the last two years since the Covid-19 pandemic, many of whom were in our bubble, but that said, form does influence selection and the door is always open for someone who is not necessarily in the mix to prove that he deserves a place in the squad, as Herschel Jantjies did in 2019.”

SA Rugby’s head of athletic performance, Andy Edwards, is delighted to start what will be an important year for the Boks with the Rugby World Cup kicking off in September.

He said the break and this development block was crucial for the players from a physical and rugby perspective.

“We have players playing all around the world, so it was important for us to enter this year in a sensible way,” said Edwards.

“Most of these players have been on a long stretch following the shift into the northern hemisphere, and while there are many positives to playing in the north, it created challenges for us from a rest and development window perspective.

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“With a break in the URC, we tried not to disrupt the teams too much, and to factor the rest in at a time when the other teams were also without their internationals due to the Six Nations. And it is exciting to start the year with this block going into the Rugby World Cup later this season.”

Commenting on the differences tracked from the 2019 World Cup to this year, Edwards said: “We measured a few things from the last World Cup to now and there are things that have stood out, such as the way the season has evolved and demands on the players.”

South Africa will start their 2023 Test campaign with a Rugby Championship clash against Australia in Pretoria on Saturday, July 8.

That will be followed by an encounter against New Zealand at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland a week later and Argentina in Johannesburg on Saturday, July 29, in their last match on home soil before they start the build-up to the defence of their Rugby World Cup title.

In August, the Boks head to Buenos Aires to face Los Pumas before they take on Wales and the All Blacks in Rugby World Cup warm-up games in Cardiff and London, respectively. That will bring their World Cup preparations to an end before they head to France for the global showpiece.

World Cup campaign starts against Scotland

They start their Rugby World Cup campaign on Sunday, September 10, against Scotland in Marseille, before facing Romania in Bordeaux (September 17), Ireland in Paris (September 23) and Tonga in Marseille (October 1) in their other pool matches.

The Rugby World Cup quarter-finals will take place on the weekend of October 14/15, with the semi-finals on October 20/21 and the final on Saturday, October 28.

Ligue 1 sides St Étienne and AS Monaco have in recent weeks watched teenage left-winger Hassane Bandé on a series of occasions, according to Foot Mercato.

KV Mechelen’s 19-year-old Burkinabé forward has scored 9 goals in 16 games this season, but Bandé has already been snapped up by Dutch giants Ajax in an €8m agreement.

Regardless, this pair of Ligue 1 sides are also circling on a longer-term basis.

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The Premiership returns this weekend as five matches take place, including the clash between the defending champions Leicester Tigers and league leaders Saracens.

Friday

Bristol Bears v Newcastle Falcons

Form: Bristol Bears have won just once in Premiership Rugby since Round 3: 15-12 at Harlequins on 27 December. Bristol are unbeaten in their last five matches in all competitions at Ashton Gate. Newcastle Falcons have won four of their last six Premiership Rugby fixtures with the two defeats being in their two most recent away games at London Irish and at Bath. The Falcons have won only once away from home in the tournament since April: 27-21 at Gloucester in Round 10. Newcastle beat Bristol 30-15 at Kingston Park in Round 4 and have not achieved a Premiership Rugby season’s double over the West Country men since 2016/17. The Falcons’ only previous victory at Ashton Gate was in May 2017.

Prediction: Bristol by 5

The teams:

Bristol: 15 Noah Heward, 14 Siva Naulago, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Fitz Harding, 6 Steven Luatua (c), 5 Chris Vui, 4 Joe Batley, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 Fred Davies, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 George Kloska, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Harry Ascherl, 23 Ioan Lloyd

Newcastle: 15 Tom Penny, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Matias Orlando, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Michael Young (c), 8 Carl Fearns, 7 Callum Chick, 6 Gary Graham, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Logovi’i Mulipola, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Philip van der Walt, 20 Freddie Lockwood, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Ben Stevenson

Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys, Phil Watters
TMO: Dean Richards

Gloucester v Harlequins

Form: Gloucester have won only two of their last eight Premiership Rugby matches, beating Northampton Saints and London Irish both at Kingsholm in December. Gloucester have lost their last two fixtures at Kingsholm in all competitions and have not lost three in succession at the venue since early 2021. Harlequins have slipped to four straight defeats in Premiership Rugby since beating Bath at the Recreation Ground on December 2. The Londoners have not lost five in succession in the competition since 2019. Harlequins have won twice more on the road in Premiership Rugby this season, at Newcastle in Round 1 and at Sale in Round 7. Harlequins have won their last seven fixtures against Gloucester in Premiership Rugby since the Cherry and Whites 29-7 victory at Twickenham Stoop in March 2019. Harlequins have won on their last four visits to Kingsholm.

Prediction: Gloucester by 3

The teams: 

Gloucester: 15 Lloyd Evans, 14 Jonny May, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Santi Carreras, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Ruan Ackermann, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Tom Seabrook, 23 Louis Rees-Zammit

Harlequins: 15 Nick David, 14 Cadan Murley, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Tommy Allan, 9 Danny Care, 8 Tom Lawday, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 James Chisholm, 5 Irne Herbst, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Jack Musk, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 George Hammond, 20 Matas Jurevicius, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Will Edwards, 23 Luke Northmore

Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Sara Cox, Alex Thomas
TMO: Stuart Terheege

Saturday

Bath v London Irish

Form: Bath have won just one of their last four Premiership Rugby encounters, beating Newcastle Falcons 24-16 at the Recreation Ground on New Year’s Eve. This is their only victory at the Rec in any competition since they beat Leicester there on 11 November. London Irish have lost only one of their last five Premiership fixtures: 6-8 at Gloucester on New Year’s Eve. The Exiles have lost their last eight away games in Premiership Rugby since beating Newcastle 42-14 at Kingston Park in April. London Irish beat Bath 47-38 at Gtech Community Stadium in Round 4 and have not achieved a Premiership Rugby season’s double over the West Country men since 2006/07. London Irish have not beaten Bath at the Rec since a 16-0 scoreline in Premiership Rugby in November 2009.

Prediction: Bath by 10

The teams:

Bath: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Piers Francis, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Miles Reid, 5 Josh McNally, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Valeriy Morozov, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Fergus Lee-Warner, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Chris Cloete

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London Irish: 15 James Stokes, 14 Lucio Cinti, 13 Benhard van Rensburg, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Ben Loader, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Joe Powell, 8 Matt Rogerson (c), 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Oliver Hoskins, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Facundo Gigena
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben White, 22 Luca Morisi, 23 Will Joseph

Venue: The Rec
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Wayne Falla
TMO: Rowan Kitt

Northampton Saints v Sale Sharks

Form: Northampton Saints have won two of their last three Premiership Rugby matches whilst at cinch Stadium their only defeat in the competition since Exeter were the visitors on 27 February 2022 was Leicester in September. Sale Sharks have lost just one of their last six league fixtures: 14-20 at Newcastle on 23 December. The Sharks’ record on the road in the Premiership this season is won three, lost two. Sale have lost only one of their last seven meetings with Northampton in Premiership Rugby: 14-17 at cinch Stadium in March 2021. Sharks have won on three of their last five visits to Northampton.

Prediction: Sale by 7

The teams:

Northampton: 15 George Furbank (c), 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 James Ramm, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Tom James, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Aaron Hinkley, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 5 Alex Moon, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Robbie Smith, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Alfie Petch, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Sam Graham, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Tom Collins

Sale: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom O’Flaherty, 13 Sam James, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Arron Reed, 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Jono Ross (c), 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Ethan Caine, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 George Ford, 23 Tom Roebuck

Venue: Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Nick Woodand, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Claire Hodnett

Sunday

Leicester Tigers v Saracens

Form: Leicester Tigers have lost their last three Premiership Rugby matches since beating Gloucester at Mattioli Woods Welford Road on Christmas Eve and have not lost four in succession in the tournament since 2019. Tigers have lost twice at home in the Premiership this season, to Sale in Round 5 and Northampton in Round 16. Saracens only defeat in Premiership Rugby this campaign was at London Irish on 23 December. Saracens have lost two of their last three away games in all competitions. The last four fixtures between the two clubs in the league have been evenly split with two wins a piece whilst Saracens most recent visit to Welford Road in October 2021 ending in the narrowest of defeats following a run of four straight victories at Leicester’s citadel.

Prediction: Saracens by 4

The teams:

Leicester: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Chris Ashton. 13 Matt Scott, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Harry Potter, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Olly Cracknell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Cameron Henderson, 4 George Martin, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 1 Tom West
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Sam Edwards, 22 Charlie Atkinson, 23 Harry Simmons

Saracens: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Rotimi Segun, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Alex Goode (c), 9 Aled Davies, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jackson Wray, 6 Andy Christie, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Tom Ellis, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Kapeli Pifeleti, 1 Eroni Mawi
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Cameron Boon, 20 Toby Knight, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Olly Hartley, 23 Ben Harris

Venue: Mattioli Woods Welford Road
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: Mike Hudson, Jonathan Healy
TMO: David Rose

Wales star Louis Rees-Zammit touched down late on to help Gloucester move into the play-off places with a 28-26 triumph over Harlequins at Kingsholm.

The speedster was making his return from injury and sealed the win in the latter stages as he sauntered under the posts.

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Rees-Zammit had earlier been denied a brilliant individual try from a Tommy Allan cover tackle, but he did eventually get his name on the scoresheet.

His effort was the last of the Cherry and Whites’ tries, with Sebastian Blake, Ollie Thorley and Santiago Carreras also going over.

Quins did get two bonus-points as Tom Lawday, Cadan Murley, Sam Riley, and Matas Jurevicius touched down, but they succumbed to their fifth successive Premiership defeat.

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Rees-Zammit featured among the replacements, while prop Val Rapava-Ruskin, who recently signed a new club contract, made his 100th Gloucester appearance.

Quins scrum-half Danny Care clocked up a club record 352nd appearance for the London club, overtaking former England team-mate Mike Brown’s total, with four starting XV changes seeing starts for Murley, Jack Musk, James Chisholm and Luke Wallace.

Rees-Zammit made an early entry after Thorley went off following a collision with Murley, and Gloucester struck through a sixth-minute try.

Chisholm was yellow-carded by referee Luke Pearce, Gloucester kicked the resulting penalty to touch, and Blake crashed over at the bottom of a driven lineout, with Carreras converting.

It was a miserable start for Quins, yet they delivered a maul try of their own after 12 minutes when Lawday touched down, and Allan converted, before Thorley rejoined the action following a head injury assessment and Rees-Zammit returned to the bench.

Thorley immediately made his presence felt, catching Carreras’ superbly-placed kick and breaching Quins’ defence for his team’s second try inside the opening quarter.

Carreras’ conversion made it 14-7, and although Quins had plenty of possession and territory, handling errors and poor discipline often undermined their build-up play.

Gloucester finished the first half on top, yet they were unable to increase their advantage, and Quins remained firmly in the contest.

Quins struck first after the interval, capitalising on aggressive close-quarter work by their forwards before possession was moved wide and Murley crossed.

Allan drifted the conversion attempt wide, and that was cue for Rees-Zammit to make a permanent entry, replacing Jonny May after 57 minutes, and he almost claimed a spectacular solo score.

He beat three defenders on a dazzling 30-metre run before touching down, but television replays showed a foot in touch and the try was disallowed.

The speed of @LouisReesZammit 🤌

The try-saving tackle from @Allan_Tommy 🤩

This action-packed clash is live on @btsportrugby 🙌#GallagherPrem | #GLOvHAR pic.twitter.com/ww9qMGtImM

— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) February 17, 2023

And Gloucester’s agony at that near-miss was compounded four minutes later when Quins regained the lead through Riley after Care’s clever scoring pass, with Allan’s conversion putting the visitors five points in front.

Gloucester were not finished, though, and Carreras weaved his way over for what proved to be a critical moment, and he added the extras to his score and Rees-Zammit’s touchdown to leave his team firmly in contention to secure a top-four finish.

An absolute beauty 🤩@SantiCarreras4 sets up @LouisReesZammit for a brilliant score under the posts in front of a roaring home crowd 👏

Catch the action on @btsportrugby 📺#GallagherPrem | #GLOvHAR pic.twitter.com/udSHa3IELp

— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) February 17, 2023

Harry Randall inspires Bristol win

Scrum-half Harry Randall scored two tries to move Bristol off the bottom of the Premiership table with a bonus-point victory over Newcastle at Ashton Gate.

Newcastle had the better of the possession and territory, but polished performances from Randall and half-back partner AJ MacGinty proved the difference as Falcons spurned a number of scoring opportunities.

Chris Vui and Fitz Harding were also on the scoresheet for Bristol, with James Williams adding two penalties and two conversions. Gary Graham and Jamie Blamire scored Newcastle’s tries.

🐻 @fitz_harding sealing the deal 🤝

A quick-thinking final play from @BristolBears makes the win even sweeter with a BP try 🔥

Make sure to grab you PRTV passes, so you never miss these moments 🎥#GallagherPrem | #BRIvNEW pic.twitter.com/O6ydtoFlgj

— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) February 17, 2023

Bristol took the lead in the ninth minute with an excellent try. From a ruck on halfway, a superb break from MacGinty carved the defence apart before his pass sent Joe Batley racing away, with the lock providing Randall with an easy run-in.

From the restart, Newcastle responded with a sustained period of pressure which was rewarded when Graham forced his way over from close range.

Connon converted to give Falcons the lead, but Bristol were soon back in front when they declined a simple kick at goal in favour of close-range drives, one of which saw Vui crash over.

The players made light of the miserable playing conditions to provide an entertaining and evenly-contested first half-hour before the visitors suffered two injury blows in quick succession. First, their full-back Tom Penny limped off before wing Mateo Carreras fail a head injury assessment.

Despite these setbacks, Newcastle had much the better of the closing stages of the first half. Aided by Bristol’s ill discipline, the visitors camped in the opposition’s 22, and it took a superb tackle from home flanker Harding to prevent Graham from touching down for his second try.

Falcons were made to pay for their profligacy when with the last kick of the half, Williams fired over a penalty to leave his side with an undeserved interval 15-7 lead.

Within two minutes of the restart, Bristol scored a crucial third try. In their own half, their opponents lost possession for MacGinty to race away and put the defence on the back foot before Randall took advantage to nip over for his second.

The home side suffered a blow when wing Gabriel Ibitoye was sin-binned for a high tackle, with Newcastle immediately capitalising when Blamire broke away from a driving maul to score.

Ibitoye returned from the sin-bin in time to see Williams extend his side’s lead with a long-range penalty before they sealed victory with a bonus-point try from Harding with the last play of the game.

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Bordeaux have completed the signing of Monaco’s Soualiho Meïté on a six-month loan deal with no option to buy.

The defensive midfielder, who only joined Monaco in the summer of 2017, will link up with Jocelyn Gourvennec’s side, giving them a bit more defensive stability in the middle of the park.

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The 23-year-old was born in Paris and has been made to take a longer route back to Ligue 1 than maybe he had expected. After leaving Auxerre to join Lille in 2013, he would spend two seasons with LOSC before heading out to Belgium with Zulte Waregem.

Meïté won the Belgian Cup in 2017 before joining Ligue 1 Champions Monaco, where he would play two games in the domestic league competition. Meïté’s style will add a bit more power and physicality to Bordeaux, who are looking to improve on their poor start to the Ligue 1 campaign.

T.S.

Former Paris-Saint Germain and AC Milan forward Jérémy Ménez has completed a move to Mexican outfit Club América for €250,000.

Until now, Ménez has been plying his trade in Turkey with Antalyaspor, but managed just nine appearances in the first half of the season – scoring and creating no goals. 

The 30-year-old will now continue his career in the Liga MX, just 17 months after departing Bordeaux. 

S.H.

The head of the French Rugby Federation (FFR), Bernard Laporte, has been found guilty in a trial over influence peddling and illegally acquiring assets.

He was found guilty of four out of five bribery-related charges in a French court on Tuesday.

Laporte, who is also the World Rugby vice-chairman, has been fined €75,000 and got a two-year suspended prison sentence.

Altrad’s involvement

The FFR president’s lawyers immediately confirmed that they would appeal the decision after sentencing was handed down.

Laporte was convicted after the court ruled that he showed favouritism in awarding the shirt sponsor contract to Altrad, the company owned by his close friend Mohed Altrad – the billionaire owner of Montpellier.

Altrad has been given a suspended prison sentence of 18 months and has been fined €50,000.

The court deemed that Laporte ensured a series of marketing decisions favourable to Altrad and that he would get €180,000 image licensing in return – which was never carried out.

Altrad and Laporte’s history

Laporte was elected president of the French Rugby Federation in late 2016, and in March of the following year, a deal worth €1.8m was struck for Altrad to become the first-ever sponsor to appear on the French national team’s jerseys.

And in 2018, a follow-up deal negotiated by Laporte was signed, which prosecutors in the case say bears all the hallmarks of corruption.

Further accusations were made that Laporte interfered with French rugby’s federal disciplinary commission after a fine against Altrad’s company was reduced from €70,000 to €20,000.

Laporte’s ban includes any link to French rugby, but because he will appeal, he will retain his FFR presidency for now.

World Rugby’s reaction

World Rugby has provided a short reaction to the decision.

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“World Rugby notes the decision of the French court to sentence Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR) President and World Rugby Vice Chairman Bernard Laporte on corruption charges which relate to domestic matters,” a statement read.

The governing body did add that “The World Rugby Executive Committee will convene tonight to determine the next steps in accordance with the international federation’s Integrity Code.”

Updates are expected following the meeting.

The verdict comes only nine months before the Rugby World Cup kicks off in France on September 8, 2023.

Worcester Warriors’ Premiership encounter against Newcastle Falcons will go ahead on Saturday at Sixways after the beleaguered club met all the conditions needed for them to host the fixture.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) confirmed that the Warriors met the the noon deadline on Thursday to prove that they can host their second league match of the 2022/23 campaign despite their debts exceeding £25million.

It could be their last match, however, as the RFU warned the Warriors that they face suspension from all tournaments unless they are able to demonstrate a credible plan for lifting the club out of crisis by Monday, September 26.

Worcester’s owners, Colin Goldring and Jason Whittingham, have until 5pm on that day to show that they have made progress on insurance, payroll and finding a new buyer.

Worcester facing permanent removal

If the club is suspended for failing to meet the aforementioned criteria, they could then be permanently removed from all tournaments.

“Whilst we appreciate that this will be unwelcome news, it is clear that the current state of affairs cannot continue, and in particular without the RFU and Premiership Rugby receiving these assurances,” the RFU said in a letter sent to the owners on Wednesday.

Goldring and Whittingham have been accused of asset stripping the club and have yet to finalise selling it to new owners despite repeated claims that a deal is imminent.

They have also been served with a winding-up order by HMRC, who are pursuing £6million in unpaid tax.

Worcestershire MP Robin Walker has asked the Government to intervene and will debate the matter in the House of Commons on Thursday night.

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French youth international and central midfielder Remi Walter is set to complete a loan move from OGC Nice to ESTAC Troyes, according to L’Équipe.

There is an option to buy in the deal for the 22-year-old former Nancy man.

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Edinburgh head coach Mike Blair believes his side panicked in their match against Munster and failed to put the game to bed as a result.

Blair’s men started well and led Munster 17-7 at a point on Friday in the United Rugby Championship clash on home soil.

However, Edinburgh’s second-half performance left a lot to be desired as the visitors dominated to claim a 38-17 triumph.

Irish teams demand intensity

The coach insists that against the Irish opposition in the competition, games need to be played at a higher intensity as Edinburgh did in the first half but a lack of composure allowed Munster in to steal the game.

“I believe these games against the Irish opposition in particular must be played at Test match intensity,” said Blair.

“That’s why I was so pleased with the first half because we blew them away in the first half.

“But it was in complete contrast to the second half because we looked panicky on the ball and lacked all composure.

“There were a couple of bits where we mentally weren’t in it and it was really frustrating. The way Munster came out in the second half, we gave them everything they wanted. We were ponderous on the ball in attack, they won the contact, the physicality and they thoroughly deserved their win.

“The positive is that we showed in the first half we can do it but the negative is the second half, which was a completely different story.”

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Tough Saracens challenge

Blair looked ahead to his team’s Champions Cup clash next weekend against Premiership leader Saracens, who are yet to lose a game in England this year.

“Saracens are nine from nine, they’ve got lots of quality internationals and top-level club players so we’ve got to be on it,” he said.

“We’ve certainly got to be a lot better than we were against Munster.”

The loss to Munster leaves Edinburgh fifth on the United Rugby Championship table, with half the regular season completed by the Scottish side.