Stormers head coach John Dobson says his side had a bad day at the office against an in-form Glasgow Warriors side in the United Rugby Championship (URC) on Sunday.

The defending URC champions fell to a 24-17 defeat at the hands of the Scottish outfit, and while Dobson credited Glasgow for their performance, he felt that his side was poor in a few areas of the game.

‘A very bad day at the office’

Glasgow had the slightest edge on the Stormers in possession and territory, and the stark difference in the stats was the number of missed tackles for the Stormers (39), more than double the tally of the hosts (18).

After the match, Dobson said that his side was too focused on the defensive breakdown, which presented opportunities for Glasgow on attack.

“We were poor in areas we didn’t want to be in. We probably over-committed to the defensive breakdowns. I thought we gave them a couple too many yards on defence when they carried off 10 and 9,” Dobson told reporters.

“It was just a very bad day at the office against a team that’s really on a roll.”

Failure to slow Glasgow down

The Stormers boss said Glasgow executed well on attack but added that his side needed to be more effective in slowing down their possession.

“They went deep to get around us. They executed really well against our line speed.

“They carried well, and we were very poor at making double tackles and slowing the ball down. Their ball was too fast.

“We have to give them credit, they knew we were going to come with our line speed and they got ’round us,” Dobson added.

Another concern for Dobson was his side’s inability to exit out of their half, while he was reluctant to blame the nearly 40-hour trip to Glasgow for the performance.

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“I’m not going to blame the travel. Maybe with more training time we could have [been better] with our exits,” he added.

“We were really poor in exiting our own half.

“You saw at the end of the game there where we had a four-man lineout on our line five yards out… four minutes to play… all we had to do was exit, and we got turned over.”

The Stormers head to England this week, where they will front up against Premiership club London Irish in the Champions Cup, while Glasgow are off to France to tackle Perpignan in the Challenge Cup.

As reported by L’Équipe, PSG’s young forward Arnaud Kalimuendo is close to joining Rennes this summer after two productive seasons on loan with Ligue 1 Lens.

The sports daily report only a few details remain to be settled between Rennes, who finished fourth in France last season, and Paris over the 20-year-old’s sale with the two clubs edging closer to a full agreement in recent hours. With the striker under contract for two more seasons in the French capital, the fee is expected to be €25m.

Interest has been strong in the player this summer after he rejected the chance to join recently promoted Premier League club Nottingham Forest while Leeds United were hoping to make a second proposal this week for Kalimuendo after they had an initial bid turned down that fell short of the €25m asking price.

The France under 21 international managed 21 goals in 65 games for Lens over the last two seasons, as well as six assists. 

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Monaco have tonight announced the arrival of young French defender Malang Sarr on a loan deal from Premier League side Chelsea, in a move that also includes an option to make the move permanent.

The Athletic reporter David Ornstein had indicated earlier that a verbal agreement between the two clubs had been reached over a permanent clause that would be set at €15m and would be obligatory if appearance-based conditions were met.

The former French youth international would then sign a 5-year deal with the Monégasques. He leaves Chelsea having struggled for playing time, making just eight appearances last year in the league in the face of tough competition in the Blues’ backline.

He now returns to France two years after leaving his formative club and hometown Nice, where he had made his debut at 17 and went on to make more than a century of appearances. 

The 23-year-old becomes the Principality side’s fourth major signing of the summer, after bringing in forwards Takumi Minamino and Breel Embolo as well as French goalkeeper Thomas Didillon.

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Francis Amuzu (22) looked all set to join OGC Nice, but according to Nice-Matin, the deal is now on the ropes as Anderlecht no longer need to sell the player due to Sergio Gómez’s (21) impending €15m transfer to Manchester City. 

On Wednesday, it was reported by Nice-Matin that the deal to bring Belgian winger Amuzu to Nice was all but completed and that the player was expected to undergo his medical with the club “in the coming hours.” 

However, the situation has now dramatically changed. Anderlecht are no longer under any obligation to sell and their coach, Felice Mazzu, is keen for the player to stay. 

Amuzu started in Anderlecht’s Europa Conference League tie on Thursday and post-match, Mazzu said, “I clearly want to convince him to stay one more year. I have already spoken to him about it.”

Whilst Nice are unwilling to up their bid for the player (estimated €10m fee), the Riviera club haven’t given up on the deal and the lines of communication between the clubs has not yet been broken. 

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According to L’Équipe, FC Lorient’s young Senegalese centre-forward Sambou Soumano is set for a year-loan deal at Belgian side Eupen, after having turned down fellow Jupiler League outfit KV Kortrijk. 

Kortrijk were in negotiations for Soumano (21) for a loan-to-buy agreement and the player was close to joining the club, but it looks as though a year’s loan option with Eupen is the player’s preference.

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At the beginning of the summer, the Senegalese striker was supposed to play for Lorient – with a current contract that runs until 2024. But with Terem Moffi and Ibrahima Koné offering competition up-front, the 21-year-old could finally leave the Morbihan to look for game time elsewhere.

Soumano joined Les Merlus’ B side in 2022 from National 2 outfit Châteaubriant, and scored 13 goals in 11 appearances for the reserve side which earned him a call up to the senior side in last season by now former Lorient coach Christophe Pélissier – who left the club at the end of the season.  The player made 21 appearances in Ligue 1 for Lorient and scored three goals in a three-game period at the end of January off the bench last season against LOSC, FC Nantes, and RC Lens.

Scottish Rugby has announced that Scotland assistant attack coach AB Zondagh has left his position less than a month out from the Six Nations.

A tweet posted on Monday confirmed that the 36-year-old South African had moved on from his role due to “family reasons and to pursue opportunities”.

Zondagh, who joined Scotland‘s coaching team in August 2021 in place of Mike Blair after the latter moved to Edinburgh, has been linked with Lyon.

Wish him well in the future

It is unclear whether Gregor Townsend will bring in a replacement ahead of the Six Nations, with the Rugby World Cup also looming on the horizon.

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“AB Zondagh has left his position as Scotland assistant coach for family reasons and to pursue opportunities,” read the tweet from Scottish Rugby.

“We wish him all the best and thank him for his contribution since joining in 2021.”

Alan Tait lands new position

In other news from Scotland, former international Alan Tait has been unveiled as the Southern Knights’ new head coach, stepping up from defence coach.

The former Lions tourist joined The Greenyards Super6 team last year and will now lead the part-time professional programme, it has been confirmed.

Tait scored 18 tries in 27 run-outs for Scotland is a product of Kelso RFC. He went on to feature in two Tests in the Lions’ 1997 tour to South Africa.

He’ll be supported by former Edinburgh and Scotland lock Lewis Carmichael as well as Scott Wight, an ex-Scotland 7s captain and Glasgow Warrior.

Both Carmichael and Wight, who were both products of Melrose Rugby prior to their professional careers, will lead the forwards and backs respectively.

Great honour to take the job

After a successful playing career, Tait went on to assume coaching positions at Border Reivers and Newcastle Falcons and is thrilled with his new job.

“It’s a great honour to be given the chance to head up the Southern Knights Super6 programme and work with two young, exciting and enthusiastic coaches in Lewis Carmichael and Scott Wight,” he told Scottish Rugby’s website.

“We are looking to build an exciting squad and looking forward to working with young and experienced players that want the opportunity to play rugby at the highest level in Scotland outside the pro-game.

“We can hopefully inspire players from the region, and wider a-field, to play in a fantastic competition and support them in reaching their full rugby potential in.”

Helmut Marko has rubbished suggestions that Mercedes is supplying its best power units to customer Aston Martin, a rumor that “makes no sense” said the Red Bull motorsport chief.

Aston Martin has emerged as a genuine top-three contender in F1 this season thanks to the remarkable performance of it AMR23 which outpaced all but Red Bull’s car in Bahrain where Fernando Alonso finished third behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

The Silverstone-based outfit’s impressive form coupled with Mercedes’ troubles and its admission that wins will be hard to come by in the first half of the season have given birth to comments claiming that the German manufacturer is now purposefully favouring its customer Aston Martin.

Read also: Alonso not expecting to challenge Perez for victory

But Marko insists the claims are simply senseless.

“Why should Mercedes make a competitor stronger?” the Austrian told F1 Insider. “That makes no sense.

“Despite working together, Aston Martin is ultimately a competitor to Mercedes in terms of passenger cars.

“Mercedes will now do everything it can to forget the disappointing season opener for them as soon as possible. With this ambitious task, there is certainly no room to help Aston Martin.”

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As a reminder, Formula 1’s technical regulations require that power unit manufacturers supply the same specification of hardware to all customers, a compelling point that wasn’t lost on AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost.

“The rumours are nonsense,” added Tost. “The regulations clearly dictate to engine manufacturers that all customers must get the same material.

“And as far as I know, everyone sticks to that very meticulously. So a preference for a team is forbidden and unrealistic.”

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Pirelli has done the math and the analysis to determine the optimal tyre strategy for Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The Jeddah Cornich Circuit – the fastest street circuit of the year – offers a medium level of grip but the sand blown onto the surface can influence this on the low-abrasion asphalt.

While Bahrain was all about traction and braking, Jeddah is predominantly about lateral force impacting the tyres.

Formula 1’s exclusive tyre supplier has chosen the same compound choices as last year at Jeddah, namely the C2 White hard, C3 Yellow medium and C4 Red soft.

“We saw an interesting qualifying with plenty of memorable moments,” commented Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola.

“The C4 also showed itself to be a very versatile tyre in the final session that determined the grid, both on a flying lap as well as over longer runs.

“Q1 demonstrated how it was possible to have a good level of grip also on the second and third attempts with the same set of tyres, using cool-down laps in between.

“The opportunity to have a tyre with these characteristics already presented itself on certain circuits last year, and we’ve seen that once more here today.”

Read also:

Jeddah Speed Trap: Who is the fastest of them all?

A one-stopper was the fastest option for last year’s event, and that strategy should once again prove optimal in this year’s race barring any unforeseen circumstances according to Isola.

“From a strategy point of view, all the data collected so far this weekend confirms a one-stopper as being the quickest option, with only small differences between the three possible combinations,” said the Italian.

“This is also bearing in mind the high likelihood of neutralisations and possible stoppages, from what we have seen at the two previous grands prix held here to date.”

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According to L’Équipe, Ligue 2 side FC Metz have turned down an offer for young right-back Willam Mikelbrencis – who made eight appearances in Ligue 1 last season at the tender age of 18. Discussions are reportedly still underway between the two clubs – with the player wishing to make the move to Germany.

A current France U18 international, Mikelbrencis has started in all three of Metz’s opening games in Ligue 2 this season after being relegated from the top tier – featuring notably in a 3-0 win over Amiens on the opening day. 

Last season the youngster made his breakthrough into the Metz senior side with eight appearances in Ligue 1, after having performed in Metz’s reserve side with 15 appearances and one goal to his name in the fourth tier of French football.

For Les Bleus, the defender has made eight appearances at France U18 level after featuring on four occasions for the U16s. 

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According to sources contacted by Get French Football News, tensions are rising between Kylian Mbappé and Neymar in the PSG dressing room.

Initially fast friends as both joined the club in 2017, amid bubbling tensions over the summer, Mbappé was keen for the Brazilian to be sold this transfer window, as has reportedly been the aim of the club this summer, with Paris offering the world record transfer to Manchester City.

Neymar, who’s hit good form this season so far, seemingly in reaction to reports the club wanted him out, is aware of reports detailing Mbappé’s desire to see him sold – Mbappé’s contract renewal has reportedly given him increased importance and status within the club and on decision making.

The personal relationship has broken down between the two forwards in the last six months and Mbappé’s camp feel there’s only room for two off Mbappé, Neymar and Lionel Messi on the pitch this season. Mbappé feels like he’s learned a lot from Neymar in the last five years but would now prefer to learn from Messi.

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After the game with Montpellier last night, a series of tweets liked by Neymar indicated a deeper problem within the dressing room, as yet another “penaltygate” appears to have reared its head at PSG.