Here are your rugby evening headlines for Thursday, November 11.
Eddie Jones writes to Emma Raducanu to clarify remarks over her loss of form
Eddie Jones has written to British tennis sensation Emma Raducanu to explain his comments that she has been overburdened by commercial “distractions” in the wake of her US Open victory.
England’s head coach made the remarks to illustrate his belief that Marcus Smith must remain grounded after the 22-year-old Harlequins magician stepped off the bench to orchestrate a late flurry of tries in a 69-3 victory over Tonga.
Jones suggested that Raducanu has struggled for form since triumphing at Flushing Meadows in September because of her off-court activity.
“There’s a reason why the young girl who won the US Open hasn’t done so well afterwards,” Jones said.
“What have you seen her on – the front page of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar or whatever it is, wearing Christian Dior clothes. All that is a distraction around her.”
Jones’ language was deemed sexist by some, including former British number one Jo Durie, and while he rejects that allegation, he has contacted the 18-year-old to clarify what he meant.
“The whole point was how difficult it is for young players to cope with distractions,” Jones told BBC Sport on Thursday.
“So the point I made was not wrong. I can’t control it if it’s taken out of context. There was no criticism of Emma.
“I have sent her a letter just to reinforce that and hopefully we’ll see her at Twickenham shortly.
“I don’t have any misgivings about what I said – I am disappointed it was taken out of context, and I would be disappointed if Emma was upset by it.
“It was deemed as being sexist and that was never the aim of the point.”
Pivac backs Jenkins’ full-time captaincy credentials
Wayne Pivac has been discussing Ellis Jenkins’ credentials for taking over the Wales captaincy on a full-time basis when Alun Wyn Jones eventually decides to call it a day.
The 28-year-old will lead from the start against Fiji on Sunday after being made captain following Jonathan Davies’ departure against the Springboks.
He impressed in the role and is now being touted as a long-term successor for Jones, who is currently our with a shoulder injury.
Asked if Jenkins could be the man to take over from Jones when he decides to retire, Pivac said: “Ellis has certainly got leadership qualities, we know that.
“He has the ability to captain a side, but the first thing you need to do to do that is be a number one starter, so the big thing for him at the moment is to keep on building on his short return to the game.
“Where we are with the lack of leadership and captaincy experience lends itself to him taking the side this week. Certainly, we don’t think it’s going to hamper his game.
“He is an experienced player, he understands the game and he makes good decisions. He is a good communicator, good with referees and asks good questions.
“He has been, and will be again, a leading player for Wales moving forwards. It’s just time now in the saddle for him in his position back on the park.
“There is no reason why Ellis, with his skill-set, can’t have the ability to play across the back-row, in my opinion.
“The big thing is making sure players don’t lose too much speed with a serious injury like that, and that’s something Ellis is working on. I am sure he is just going to get better and better.”
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Lions urged to prepare against Pacific Islanders
The Lions have been told to consider facing a nation from the Pacific Islands in the build-up to their Test series against Australia in 2025.
The tourists swept aside all the provincial teams in the build-up to the Test series in South Africa this year, only really facing a challenge against the South Africa ‘A’ side littered with first-choice Springboks.
Keen to avoid a similar situation, Australia have urged the Lions to think about it.
“We are very open to that,” Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan is quoted as saying in the Daily Mail.
“I think that is part of the broader conversation we will have with World Rugby to say ‘there are tent pole events coming to Australia we can use to promote the game on the islands’.”
Irish boss apologises after uproar
The IRFU’s director of Women’s and Sevens rugby has apologised for comments he made about the team’s recent performances and failure to qualify for next year’s World Cup.
It marked the first time Ireland had not qualified for a Rugby World Cup for the first time since 1991 with director Anthony Eddy, seemingly unwilling to accept any blame for the programme’s failings and instead laying it at the feet of the players.
There is now an independent review looking at the campaign but Eddy rejected the idea that the XVs programme was being “neglected”.
“There’s no denying it’s a huge disappointment,” he said. “It is a setback, not just 15s game, but women’s rugby not to have an Irish team competing in a World Cup… it’s disappointing, there’s no doubt about it.
“The team was well prepared, I don’t want to contaminate any findings from the review that’s in place at the moment either, but I know the girls, the coaching staff, the girls themselves are disappointed not to have qualified and disappointed in their performances.”
His comments were met by a furious public backlash from both current and former players on social media.
Captain Ciara Griffin has now confirmed she has received an apology.
Asked if she was disappointed by the comments, Griffin said: “Yeah, I was. We all were.
“People have their comments, that’s fine. That’s what the review is for. We can put our feedback into that and we’re going to trust the review process.
“Anthony has addressed me in terms of that he apologised in case people took offence to his comments, but the comments were made. We now need to focus on the game at hand, then give our opinions in the review process.”
Iain Henderson returns to Ireland starting XV for All Blacks clash
Iain Henderson has been recalled by Ireland for Saturday’s sold-out Test against New Zealand in Dublin.
Ulster captain Henderson comes into the second row in place of fellow British and Irish Lion Tadhg Beirne in the only alteration to Andy Farrell’s starting XV following the emphatic 60-5 win over Japan.
Beirne drops to the bench, while the other change to Farrell’s 23-man squad sees hooker Rob Herring included on the bench in preference to last weekend’s debutant Dan Sheehan.
Scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park retains his starting berth ahead of Conor Murray following his impressive display against the Brave Blossoms, once again partnering captain Johnny Sexton.
Gibson-Park will be one of three Ireland players facing their native country alongside winger James Lowe and centre Bundee Aki.
The returning Henderson has made just one appearance for his province following his summer involvement with Warren Gatland’s Lions and played the final 23 minutes against Japan from the bench.
He will be the sole non-Leinster player in the Irish pack, lining up alongside vice-captain James Ryan, behind a front three of Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and Tadhg Furlong, while Jack Conan starts between Caelan Doris and Josh Van Der Flier in the back row.
Munster wing Andrew Conway continues on the right following his hat-trick last time out, with Lowe on the left and full-back Hugo Keenan starting a 15th successive game for Ireland.
Aki, whose only previous appearance against New Zealand was Ireland’s 16-9 win in November 2018, partners Garry Ringrose in midfield.
That Dublin victory in 2018 was the first time Ireland had beaten the Kiwis on home soil and followed a historic maiden success over their opponents in 2016 in Chicago.
However, the three-time world champions have lost just two of the previous 32 meetings between the nations and emphatically ended Ireland’s 2019 World Cup hopes with a thumping 46-14 quarter-final triumph in Tokyo.
Ian Foster’s free-scoring visitors top the current world rankings and set a new world record for the number of points scored in a calendar year – 675 – after a second-string line-up defeated Italy 47-9 last weekend in Rome.
Underhill’s warning for team-mates
Flanker Sam Underhill has warned his team-mates to strike the right emotional balance ahead of England’s clash with Australia this weekend.
Saturday will be the first time the two sides of met since England’s 40-16 demolition of the Wallabies in the quarter-final of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
“There’s a massive bit of competition there. It brings an emotional edge to the game, which in a contact sport is always a useful thing to have,” the Bath flanker said.
“There is room for emotion in sport but there is already enough of it when you have got 30 fairly testosterone-fuelled blokes on the pitch. I don’t think you need much more emotion in the first place.
“Australia are a tough team. They’re aggressive, physical, they contest the breakdown a lot and they are a dangerous attacking team.
“When they’ve got the ball they’ve got brilliant individuals who can break tackles. Michael Hooper is one of the guys, as a young player, I would look up to.
“He has been outstanding for a long time so it’s great to play against a guy like him.”
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