It’s just two more days to go before the Rugby World Cup semi-finals get underway, and today we will learn three of the four line-ups.
England and New Zealand face each other on Saturday so both camps name their teams today. Steve Hanse has come out firing in his team announcement press conference,referencing England’s humiliating 2015 World Cup exitand insisting Eddie Jones ‘side could lose four years’ work if they are defeated
And while Wales face South Africa on Sunday, the Springboks have opted to release their team a day early, as they did last week ahead of the quarter-final. Key Springbok Cheslin Kolbe has been ruled out due to injury:read the full team news here.
Stay tuned for the latest on those announcements, and the press conferences which will follow.
In the Wales camp, new arrival Owen Lane is expected to be up and running in training on Friday, after he touched down in Japan on Tuesday.
Skills coach Neil Jenkins explained on Wednesday: “He has only just got in. Hopefully, he will be up and running on Friday.
” That’s the most important thing for ***, getting here as an extra back that we’ve needed.
“He was probably unlucky to miss out in the first instance.”
Stay with us for live updates throughout the day
Rassie Erasmus explains team selection
South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus takes to Twitter to explain his team selection.
The expert insight into the Springboks
So what do we know about the Springboks, the team lying in wait for Wales in theWorld Cup semi-finals?
Well, one man who knows them better than most is leading South African rugby journalist, Brendan Nel.
We caught up with him in Pretoria to hear about the ‘ Boks strengths and weaknesses and what the public over there are expecting from Sunday’s last-four clash in Yokohama.
George Ford could return to England starting XV
It has been predicted that George Ford is to make a dramtic return to the England starting lineup with Owen Farrell to revert to inside center.
The Telegraph are reportingthat the Leicester fly half is to be reinstated for England’s World Cup semi final against New Zealand on Saturday, with Manu Tuilagi starting at outside center.
It is believed George Kruis will be recalled into the second row in exchange for Courtney Laws while Jonny May expected to be given every chance to prove his fitness after picking up a hamstring injury.
South Africa name team to face Wales
Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus has made one change to the side that beat Japan in the quarter-finals, with Cheslin Kolbe ruled out injured.
Kolbe suffered an ankle injury in South Africa’s 49 – 3 victory over Italy earlier in the tournament and was rested for their final group match against Canada.
He did play in the quarter-final against Japan but was replaced in the 71 st minute and has reportedly been unable to train since.
S’Busiso Nkosi replaces him on the wing.
There are eight changes from the Springboks side that faced Wales in November 2018, with the seven remaining players in the starting XV being prop Frans Malherbe, back-rowers Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Duane Vermeulen, fly-half Handre Pollard, center Damian de Allende and full-back Willie Le Roux.
South Africa:15 Willie Le Roux, 14 S ‘Busiso Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 1 Tendai Mtawarira, 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 3 Frans Malherbe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Lood de Jager, 6 Siya Kolisi (capt), 7 Pieter-Steph Du Toit, 8 Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements:Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, RG Snyman, Franco Mostert, Francois Louw, Herschel Jantjies, Frans Steyn.
The Rugby World Cup morning headlines
If you’re just joining us, here are the latest tournament headlines, from Steve Hansen’s team and comments on Eddie Jones to the Springboks player who’s missing out on Sunday.
Here areyour morning headlines …
Micha el Cheika apologises to Wallabies fans in open letter
Formewr Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has apologized to Australian rugby fans for a Rugby World Cup campaign which saw them crash out to England in the quarter-finals.
Cheika called time on his Wallabies coaching career following a turbulent five years at the helm, which included reaching the final in 2015 but losing to the All Blacks.
In an open letter to fans onAthletes Voice, Cheika thanked the “real and amazing” Wallabies fans who have “been louder and more passionate than ever before”.
He added : “I have had to answer a few questions as well since then, but I’d like to take this opportunity to say a few important things that deserve to be said, and if not said here, probably never will be.
“I want to personally thank you all and also say that I am truly sorry we could not go one better in this World Cup than we did in 2015. As the head coach of the Wallabies I want you to know that I feel that weight of carrying all of your hopes and I love the responsibility that comes with it. ”
He added:“ Please know this though, I have loved every minute of being the head coach of the Australian rugby team. I have been honored and proud to have served all of you and have always strived to give you the best of my ability as a rugby coach and to represent you with all of my energy, heart and soul as a proud Australian on the world stage. ”
Hansen fires back at Eddie Jones and brings up England’s 2015 World Cup exit
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen ramped up the semi-final pressure for England by bringing up their humiliation at the 2015Rugby World Cupwhich saw them crash out in the group stages.
“We know we’re under pressure, we don’t need Eddie to tell us that”, Hansen said.
“What he needs to work out is what are England going to do about the pressure they’re under. Because they’ll have memories about a tournament four years ago that didn’t go that good – so they’ll be under immense pressure themselves.
“So to say they’ve got nothing to lose, Eddie doesn’t believe that either. They’ve got a whole four years work resting on one outcome so they get the opportunity to go and play another game which will have the same amount of pressure on them. ”
Hansen also batted away Eddie Jones’ comments about someone filming England’s training session this week.
“Eddie and I both know its all fair in love and war , and there’s nothing better in a time of war than to throw a wee distraction out. You guys can’t resist, best clickbait in the world.
“He didn’t call it us, he was very deliberate about that, he talked about it being someone else, probably the same bloke that videoed us when we were there. But everyone has jumped on it and he’s been successful at getting the clickbait he wants. ”
Hedleigh Parkes praises “selfless” Jonathan Davies
Wales star Hadleigh Parkes has praised his midfield partner and Scarlets colleague J onathan Davies for his selfless attitude.
Davies his hoping to be fit for Wales’ semi final clash with South Africa after missing the France game with a knee injury.
Owen Watkin filled in for Davies against France on Sunday and new recruit Owen Lane isn’t a stranger to playing in the center.
Speaking to the media, Parkes said:“It was a tough decision for him to make last week. As much as you want to play and get out there and say you’re OK, to be able to turn around and say, ‘no I’m not, actually’ was pretty big of him to put the team first.
“He would have loved to have played, and hopefully he will be OK. Owen Watkin had a great game last weekend. He stepped up really well, is a young boy and has a big future.
“Jon is very important both for Wales and the Lions as well. He’s had a couple of very successful tours there.
“He is world class, so hopefully he’s fit. If not, whoever plays 13 will do a superb job. ”
The making of the Welsh Rugby World Cup super-sub like no other
He’s been the super-sub of Wales’ World Cup campaign.
Time and again during the tournament, Tomos Williams has come off the bench to make key interventions at key moments.
Williams has been brought off the bench in all five matches to date.
So what makes him such a fantastic “finisher”, to use the current parlance for replacements? What makes this ultimate impact-player tick?
We’ve asked some of the people who know his game best.
Steve Hansen in fine form
Ouch, indeed!
We’ll be bringing you more from New Zealand’s press conference as we get it.
‘Good week of prep’ – Hansen
Steve Hansen says the squad have enjoyed a good week’s preparation before Saturday’s semi-final, insisting they’re exactly where they want to be mentally and physically.
“We’re really looking forward to this opportunity. It’s all about this game and the moments it will bring. In these moments, the word pressure is bandied around quite readily.
“However, that pressure is always there whenever you play quality opposition, regardless of who you are. It’s about how you handle that in the moment and not getting distracted by the past or the future. ”
“Both teams have a common goal, which is to make the final. However, we’ve arrived at this point with vastly different experiences from previous Rugby World Cups.
“No doubt, those experiences will resurface throughout the week and even in the game itself. Let’s hope the game lives up to the expectation that both teams will have, and is one for the ages. ”
Steve Hansen names team for All Blacks clash with England
All Blacks boss Steve Hansen has made one change to the matchday 23 which won the quarter- final against Ireland last weekend in naming his team to face England in the semi-final.
Lock Patrick Tuipulotu comes onto the bench, Ardie Savea moves to seven with Scott Barrett at six, and Sam Cane will provide added impact from the bench.
It’s also going to be a significant match for hooker Codie Taylor, who will play his 50 th Test.
The New Zealand team to face England:15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Sevu Reece, (Jack Goodhue, (Anton Lienert-Brown, George Bridge, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Aaron Smith, 1 Joe Moody, 2 Codie Taylor, 3 Nepo Laulala , 4 Brodie Retallick, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 6 Scott Barrett, 7 Ardie Savea, 8 Kieran Read (capt).
Replacements:Dane Coles, Ofa Tuungafasi, Angus Ta’avao, Patrick Tuipulotu, Sam Cane, TJ Perenara, Sonny Bill Williams, Jordie Barrett.
Three team announcements today
A very good morning to you on what’s set to be a very busy day, with three team announcements to look forward to .
England and New Zealand were always due to announce their confirmed line-ups for Saturday today, but South Africa have opted to go a day early for theirs, too.
That means we’ll know three of the four semi-final line-ups in just a few hours, followed by Wales’ t eam announcement in the early hours of Friday morning.
Stay tuned for all the talking points, plus the latest from each team’s press conference.
Here are the timings we’re expecting today
- New Zealand team announcement: 3am
- South Africa team announcement: 7am
- England team announcement: 9. 30 am
Johnson and Cheika was a problem
The appointment of former Wales coach Scott Johnson as Australia’s director of rugby has emerged as a source of problems for Michael Cheika prior to Australia’s ill-fated World Cup campaign.
Cheika has quit as Wallabies coach in the wake of the team’s exit and has now admitted he wasn’t comfortable with Johnson being brought in above him earlier this year.
“Scott’s a lovely bloke and I get on fine with him but I’m not really into that type of thing,” Cheika said on Sunday. “I like to take responsibility. I found that a little bit difficult at times. ”
Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene has now said:“ We made some changes to the program at the end of last year to go into this year and brought in Scott Johnson to oversee football. We made sure we built a structure that enabled us not only in the short term to see improvements to build a base to enable us to have sustained success over a longer period of time.
“That was not necessarily an appointment Michael was comfortable with.”
What South Africa expect from Wales
South Africa seem to have identified what they believe the Welsh gameplan to be. on Sunday.
“We are expecting a very tough battle with the kicking game, Wales have a very solid kicking game behind their plan,” said assistant coach Mzwandile Stick.
“We know they have four top class players when it comes to the boot. If you look at Gareth Davies at scrumhalf, he has good distance with his boot. Look at the back, a guy like Liam Williams and also Dan Biggar, they have both been around for a while, are good kickers of the ball and have experience. They are a very territory focused team.
“They just don’t allow teams to come into their half. That will be a big part of their game and I don’t think in the space of a week they will try to move away from that. So combating their approach it is going to be a big part of our game. We have got to make sure that any opportunity to get into their half and when we get into their 22 we must make it count. There will not be many opportunities, but when they come it is key that we convert them into points. ”
The story of the punch that shocked rugby
In 1995 Wales pl ayed South Africa in a game that will forever be remembered for one moment.
It was the day 6ft 10 in former Wales and Cardiff lock Derwyn Jones found himself laid out by a brutal bunch from Kobus Wiese thrown while some spectators were still settling in their seats.
Astonishingly, no punishment was administered.
This is the story ofthat punch.
England ramp up pressure on New Zealand
England have continued to ramp up pressure on New Zealand after Eddie Jones accused the All Blacks of spying on one of his training sessions.
The Australian made the startling claims at a press conference on Tuesday after telling the media someone was seen watching England’s training session from an neighbor apartment, an incident now being called “spygate”.
(EnglandfaceNew Zealandin the first semi final on Saturday in Yokohama and both teams are engaged in a battle of wills.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, England defense coach and former All Blacks head coach John Mitchell said anyone spying on their training sessions will have learned little.
He said: “The game is pretty small, you know all the coaches. I played with Ian Foster for 10 years, and I used to coach Scott McLeod, so I know all these guys really well.
“If that is what they want to do and that is the way they want to prepare, good luck to them. The game is highly unstructured, so I don’t see any advantage in it.
“We just happened to be training where there are apartments above where our tiny two-meter tarpaulin was, so I am not sure about what the use of the tarpaulins are.
“The facilities have been excellent, but it is an area where people live and there are the odd red lights around. There was one up in the corner which was a bit suspicious. ”
South Africa superstar a doubt
The Springboks are sweating on the fitness of superstar winger Cheslin Kolbe ahead of Sunday’s Rugby World Cup semi-final against Wales.
Kolbe suffered an ankle injury in South Africa’s 49 – 3 victory over Italy earlier in the tournament and was rested for their final group match against Canada.
He did play in the quarter-final against Japan but was replaced in the 71 st minute and has reportedly been unable to train since.
“Yesterday‚ he missed our full training session ‚” assistant coach Mzwandile Stick told the media on Wednesday. “We are trying to manage him and give him the best opportunity to recover. Hopefully he will be ready for the game. ”
The evening headlines
–A man who may look familiar in a Wales Jersey
–5, 00 0 people call for Wales ref to be removed
–All Blacks to spring big selection shock
–South Africa superstar a doubt
Here are yourRugby World Cup evening headlines
New Zealand media on ‘unpopular’ England
Eddie Jones’ England have been branded the ‘most unpopular team’ at TheWorld Cupin a no holds barred attack from the New Zealand rugby media.
The stinging riposte comes after England boss Eddie Jones took a swipe at the Kiwi press, by labeling them ‘fans with a keyboard’ due to their vocal support of the All Blacks.
In the lead up to Saturday’s Rugby World Cup semi-final meeting with New Zealand in Yokohama, the England coach insisted all the pressure was on Steve Hansen’s side as they go chasing a third succes sive Webb Ellis trophy.
In reply, outspoken Kiwi rugby writer Chris Rattue has come out swinging from the New Zealand corner with a blast back at Jones and the England team.
Writingin the New Zealand Herald,Rattue, who has had some forthright views on Welsh rugby down the years, turned his barrels onto England by accusing Jones of pushing the underdog line into ‘la-la land’ given the RFU are the richest union in world rugby.
He also labeled the England rugby side as “Among world sport’s biggest duds.”
John Mitchell wades into spygate
England defense coach John Mitchell has also waded into spygate.
Spea ling at a press conference, the former All Blacks head coach said: “He said:“ The game is pretty small, you know all the coaches. I played with Ian Foster for 10 years, and I used to coach Scott McLeod, so I know all these guys really well. If that is what they want to do and that is the way they want to prepare, good luck to them. The game is highly unstructured, so I don’t see any advantage in it.
“We just happened to be training where there are apartments above where our tiny two-meter tarpaulin was, so I am not sure about what the use of the tarpaulins are. The facilities have been excellent, but it is an area where people live and there are the odd red lights around. There was one up in the corner which was a bit suspicious. ”
South African assistant coach criticises alleged spying
South African’s assistant coach Mzwandile Stick told a press conference there was no room for spying in rugby.
He added: “From my side, we try to keep the game clean, as South Africans. When we coach the players, we try to live by World Rugby standards.
“Doing something like that off the field is not something that we stand for. We really want to prove that we are an honest side who live by World Rugby standards.
“I don’t think we will ever do something like that. I find it stupid to do it. You are not fooling yourself or cheating the people around you, you are cheating the world out there.
“You’ve got so many supporters who are coming to watch a fair battle between the two teams. For myself as a coach, we don’t need something like that. Make sure we all play fair and square between the four lines. ”
New Zealand’s Barrett brothers on rooming together for the first time since they were in bunk beds
The All Blacks’ Scott Barrett has been reliving his youthafter rooming with brother Beauden Barrettahead of their World Cup semi final against England.
It’s not many people who get the chance to play international rugby alongside your brother but Scott Barrett has had the pleasure of lining up beside both fly half Beuden and and younger brother and winger Jordie for New Zealand.
Angry South Africans demand Jerome Garces is stopped from refereei semi-final with Wales
Furious South African fans aredemanding the removal of referee Jerome Garcesfrom taking charge of their Rugby World Cup semi-final with Wales.
An online petition has been started calling on World Cup managing director and World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper to take the game away from the highly- rated French official.
Within a day, it had reached close of 2, 500 signatures.
Owen received cap from Prince Charles
Owen Lane receiving his Rugby World Cup cap from the Prince of Wales.
Wales explain Owen Lane call-up and reveal he won’t be up and running until Friday
Owen Lane has been called up primarily as a winger but won’t be up and running fully until Friday, Wales have revealed.
The Cardiff Blues youngster, who was named in Wales’ summer training squad for this tournament but missed out on selection , has now touched down in Tokyo, replacing the injured Josh Navidi.
Read morehere.
The reasons the Welsh Rugby Union just announced a loss of £ 4m
One less rugby fixture and fewer events at the Principality stadium saw the Welsh Rugby Union Group post a planned loss of £ 4.3m.
However, the WRU did re-invest a record £ 49 6m, up from £ 42 .8m in 2018, across the game in Wales last year according to its Annual Report.
Read morehere.
Warren Gatland’s son trains with Wales at the ground where he suffered horror foot injury
Warren Gatland’s son Brynhas trained with Walesin Tokyo on Wednesday in the first training session since his operation.
The 24 – year-old plays for the Highlanders – Dunedin’s Super Rugby franchise but suffered a horror foot injury in April, believed to be similar to the one Wales center Jonathan Davies did in (*******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************.
Ken Owens’ chee ky response to Prince Charles question
Ken Owens gave a cheeky response to questions about the team’s meeting with Prince Charles.
He said: “Yeah I had a quick chat with him. Nice to see him with his Llandovery pin badge on and I think Wyn Jones tried negotiating some deal with him for land!
“They’ve got neighboring farms I think… no, we just had a quick conversation and he wished us the best for Sunday.”
Rugby World Cup morning headlines
Wales have held a press conference, welcomed a special guest and issued an injury update this morning as we gear up for the Rugby World Cup semi-finals this weekend.
Here areyour morning headlines …
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