Applications for head of Australian rugby are currently being invited. Must have Diploma in Advanced Kindergarten Policies. If you feel that you are not qualified, please do not hesitate to apply.
Former England winger Ugo Monye has revealed he was targeted by "disgusting" racial abuse by a fan following Exeter Chiefs' win over Gloucester on Sunday night as he issued a furious message to fellow supporters for not stepping in to stop it. The 40-year-old was on co-commentary duty for TNT Sports at Sandy Park as the Chiefs snatched a last-gasp victory, but was left disgusted as he left the ground and overheard "the most blatant racism" from a member of the crowd. He alleges the supporter repeatedly shouted a racial slur while those around him did nothing. While the fan then became involved in a "mild scuffle", he walked away as others came up to Monye to comfort him. However, the ex-Harlequins star was left "so fed up" by the crowd's inaction and took to X shortly after the incident to vent his frustration. Leaving Sandy Park and one supporter running through crowd starts shouting 'N****, N****'," he wrote. "Disgraceful. Not a single person said a word, challenged or even reported it. "He walks off after a mild scuffle and fans are now telling me 'We’re with you'," he added. "B****** you’re with me. You weren’t with me when you saw and heard the most blatant racism I’ve seen from a supporter at a live game. So fed up" Exeter Chiefs have since released a statement condemning the incident, with the club saying they will launch a full investigation as they attempt to identify the person responsible. They also apologised to Monye, describing him as "highly respected by everyone" at the club. In light of recent accusations regarding an incident of racist abuse at Sandy Park following the conclusion of our victory over Gloucester Rugby in the Gallagher Premiership, Exeter Rugby Club will be launching a full investigation," it read. "This behaviour will not be tolerated at our Rugby Club, and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms." "Our team will begin to review CCTV footage from the stadium immediately in an attempt to identify the individual in question and we would like to extend our sincerest apologies to Ugo Monye, a member of the rugby community that is highly respected by everyone at our club. If anyone has any information regarding this incident we would ask you to get in touch with the Chiefs as soon as you can." Gloucester also rushed to support Monye and condemned the incident, with a statement posted on X reading: "Gloucester Rugby would like to express, in the strongest of terms, its full support of @ugomonye. We encourage a thorough investigation and will cooperate fully to ensure the culprit is identified. Racism has no place anywhere - including in our sport." An absolutely disgraceful incident.
Australian Rugby News Update! Australian Rugby are now willing to pay overs to secure any applicant that can string three words together, tie their own shoe laces & look somewhat educated. A additional lifetime contract will be considered for anyone who knows what a winning rugby coach does. Please forward your application to ….. Australian Rugby Benevolent Society. P.O.Box 181 Sydney 2000
Yes, a disgraceful incident. But probably from a halfhead piece of filth, unlike the incident in the England v South Africa game where a supposed top class player racially abused another top player. Nothing at all was done by World Rugby about it, and the referee even asked Curry to say nothing about it at the time ! The powers that control World Rugby need to take a long hard look in the mirror, and finally do something about these incidents. A respected player in a World Cup Semi should face the same charges as a braindead lout on the terraces !
This turned into a minority interest thread now ? Apparently there was another game at Stradey Park in 1972 which the entire male population of Wales attended, even though the ground only held 20,000. My in laws go on about it endlessly.
From The Telegraph; Alun Wyn Jones: I thought I was just getting old – turns out I had a heart condition Exclusive: Wales and Lions legend hero reveals his atrial fibrillation diagnosis and the signs that were there as his career drew to a close Gavin Mairs, CHIEF RUGBY UNION CORRESPONDENT21 December 2023 • 6:56pm please log in to view this image Alun Wyn Jones is feeding his eight-month-old daughter Loti in the kitchen of his home in Swansea. Moments later he lifts the youngest of his three daughters onto his knee as she playfully grapples with his face, as his wife Anwen looks on. Dressed all in black, the most capped player in the history of rugby union retains a formidable physique, yet this is a scene of domestic bliss, far removed from his public image as an indefatigable warrior who won 158 caps for Wales and 12 for the British and Irish Lions across four tours. Four weeks into his retirement, the 38-year-old’s thoughts are already turning to the next phase of his life. Yet before he moves on, he needs to look back. For one last time. His glittering international career saw him win five Six Nations titles, including three Grand Slams. The Ospreys lock also played in four World Cups, twice reaching the semi-final. In 2021 Jones appeared to defy medical logic by recovering from a dislocated shoulder sustained in the Lions warm-up match against Japan to return and captain Warren Gatland’s side in the Test series against South Africa. He also captained the Lions in their series-clinching third Test victory over Australia in 2013. please log in to view this image Jones defied medical logic to not only make the Lions series against South Africa, but to captain the Test team in their three contests against the Springboks CREDIT: PA/Steve Haag Yet the final battle now appears to be coming to terms with how it all came to an end. Jones announced his international retirement in May this year, despite initially being named in the Wales preliminary squad for the World Cup in France. He has kept his counsel until now but the finest player to wear the Welsh jersey in the professional era wants, for his own future and well-being, to share his final chapter. Advertisement “I haven’t done an interview like this for a long time, and this will be the last one I do like this,” says Jones, who made his Test debut in Argentina in 2006. “But I need to share my perspective so that myself and my family can move forward. Ever since I retired from international rugby, everyone has been asking me questions, and those questions are becoming more difficult to answer as time goes on.” Jones walks across his kitchen and picks up a small box, pushing out what looks like a small silver bluetooth speaker. It is in fact a personal ECG device to monitor his heart rhythm. “I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation,” he says. “It was discovered when I underwent a full medical check, which included an ECG test, when I joined Toulon in July on a short-term contract as cover during the World Cup. “The cardiac doctor picked it up straight away. My heartbeat was like a galloping horse with six legs. It was all over the shop. “The things that bring it on for someone my age is likely to be cardiovascular exercise and stress, it occurs in sports like rowing and endurance sports, but it was a shock because throughout my career I have always prided myself on my fitness. I have always been so committed to doing extras after matches, constantly working on my fitness and recovery from injuries.” please log in to view this image Jones wants to share his my perspective so that he and his family can move forward CREDIT: Athena Pictures /Dimitris Legakis Jones flew back to London the following day to see a consultant who reassured him that the risk to his health was low but because his heart rate was elevated constantly, it would be important to undergo a procedure once his contract expired with Toulon in November to prevent long-term complications. “We acted on medical advice from a rugby point of view,” he added. “There was a risk, but I was prepared to play for Toulon. Anwen and I had a conversation as husband and wife and I said: ‘I have come this far, if I drop, at least I will be doing something I love’. “It might seem a selfish decision given that I have three young daughters, but I needed to take the opportunity. It was only going to be for four months, and it gave me an opportunity to experience and get perspective on my career and life.” Accepting the Toulon contract despite his condition was important for Jones for two reasons. His contract with the Welsh Rugby Union was to expire in November and his ‘old school’ attitude was such that he had always intended to honour that. The cameo in Toulon, including captaining the side on his final appearance – a victory at Clermont Auvergne four weeks ago which earned him a standing ovation – allowed him to meet that target date to end his 19-year career. Yet more significantly was to provide him with one last meaningful rugby adventure, given the manner in which his international career had come to end. ‘I started to think ‘is this my time?’’ At the diagnosis of his heart condition, he was told it was likely he had first developed it between a year to 18 months earlier, the period in his Test career when, for the first time he was told that his “numbers” – the fitness data captured during matches and in training – were dropping. He could not help but wonder now if that decline had been caused by the underlying health condition, not the general expectation that age had finally caught up with the great warrior. Looking back, hindsight is a wonderful thing, but signs and possibly symptoms started in early 2022, when, following a five-month layoff with two shoulder operations, he achieved his 150th cap for Wales against Italy. please log in to view this image Jones played 158 times for Wales, a world record, and turned out for the British and Irish Lions in 12 Tests CREDIT: PA/Joe Giddens He started to notice a decline in his conditioning and fitness, despite doing everything to meet his rehabilitation plan. At the time he put it down to his absence from Test rugby, but he was relegated to the bench for the three Tests on the tour of South Africa that summer. “After every session and every game, I did extras because I wanted to be involved,” he added. “I even did extras after the last game of the summer tour because I was trying to prove a point. But now it works out why I was feeling fatigued. I can remember getting the odd heart palpitation, but didn’t think anything of it as I was used to pushing my body. Advertisement “It was similar during the autumn of 2022. I remember doing a ‘Bronco’ (an intense rugby cardio fitness test) for the first time in a couple of years and my time to complete the test was significantly worse than previous. Now I wonder if that was because I was only able to operate at 75 per cent capacity. I’m grateful to the strength and conditioning team that persevered with me through this and still believed in me. “You always hear about players whose legs have gone when they get to the end of their careers. I started to think: ‘Is this my time?’. Conversations with the head coach at the time were frequent about my future.” ‘They tried to do the right thing’ He admits it left him in a dark place for him and tough for his family too, and the recall to the starting XV only after the humiliation of Wales’ defeat by Georgia was hardly a ringing endorsement. Warren Gatland’s return as head coach in January following Wayne Pivac’s dismissal led to one final twist. The pair had a frank discussion at the start of the Six Nations campaign in which the head coach told him he would be looking to bring through new second rows, which was always going to be the case at some point. Advertisement Jones said that was fine, but he was contracted to November and was desperate to do whatever it took to make the World Cup squad. “I was grateful for that conversation,” Jones added. Jones started the defeats by Ireland and England, but the final round loss to France in Paris, when he was withdrawn after 47 minutes, proved to be definitive. “I knew what Gats’ expectations were,” he admitted. Jones was still named in Wales’ preliminary World Cup training squad on May 1 but says the following day he was visited by Gatland and forwards coach Jonathan Humphrys. “I knew what was coming,” he added. “They said my numbers were down. “They wanted to do the right thing by naming me in the squad and then allowing me to retire on my terms. I understood why they were doing it that way, they tried to do the right thing, but I just wish they had told me earlier. I would have done everything in my power to put myself in contention to be selected for the World Cup. Now I know that because of my condition it is unlikely to have made any difference anyway.” please log in to view this image Jones knew what was coming when Warren Gatland and Jonathan Humphrys came to visit him in early May CREDIT: AFP/Charly Triballeau Jones is grateful for an outstanding career and everyone who has helped and supported him along the way, including those who delivered his final verdict. Surgery four weeks ago has addressed his condition. He just hopes that his experience over the past two years, serves as a warning that will bring in more regular heart screening for players in Wales. “There is a lot of talk about welfare in rugby at the minute, but does that cover everything?” he added. “Is it just things that we can afford? Surely the sport has come on to the point where players should be screened more often, especially at a time when the demands in the game are growing. I was very lucky how it worked out and will forever be grateful to Toulon for signing me, had they not offered me a contract, I may never have known about the heart condition. “The impact on my life that those four months in Toulon were as important for me as anything I had done before from a physiological and mental point of view. It gave me a wake-up call. “Sometimes I forget what age I am because I have trained and played at the top level for so long. I have never really seen myself other than a rugby player. Now I get to be a full-time family man.”
The Kiwi former cage fighter and jiu-jitsu champ in mix for first England rugby cap Fiona Tomas05:00, Jan 15 2024 please log in to view this image HARRY TRUMP/GETTY IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES The Exeter Chiefs’ Kiwi flanker Ethan Roots after the Champions Cup clash with Glasgow Warriors on Saturday (Sunday NZ time). Few would have predicted a New Zealand-born former cage fighter and jiu-jitsu champion to be in the running for Steve Borthwick’s Six Nations squad. But like his impressive array of performances this season for Exeter Chiefs, Ethan Roots’ colourful story would make most people sit up and take notice. Six years ago, the combative flanker, who qualifies for England through his father, was working 10-hour shifts for an Auckland-based building company as a construction worker after leaving school with no qualifications. Rugby had been a feature during his school years but, after becoming alienated from the sport as a teenager due to a delayed growth spurt, the idea of pursuing it professionally quickly faded. ADVERTISING In a bid to curb his rebellious streak, Roots pursued other opportunities in mixed martial arts, which included a brief albeit memorable stint in cage fighting, aged 16. More from Stuff: * Grappling with dignity: Children learning to dominate their problems through Brazilian jiu-jitsu * Māori King to meet with PM Christopher Luxon, days before national hui * Blues rugby representative shines for Auckland Aces on Super Smash debut “I ripped the guy’s biceps tendon off,” recalls Roots. “He was a 27-year-old farmer from the far north and he just did not want to tap and I had him in an arm butt. My mum still has it on video, not that I want it to resurface. I got put down in the first round!” Kiwi flanker Ethan Roots in action for Exeter Chiefs. Play Video INVESTEC CHAMPIONS CUP Ethan Roots, the former North Harbour backrower, takes the ball up for Exeter against Glasgow Warriors. ADVERTISEMENT Advertise with Stuff The one-off contest ended in a draw. But Roots’ promising career in Brazilian jiu-jitsu was confirmation that he possessed the raw athleticism and power to make it to the top: he won eight different national titles, as well as a gold and three silvers at the Pan-Pacific Championships. “The best way people describe jiu-jitsu is like human chess,” explains Roots. “I really enjoyed the mental as well as physical challenge that came with it. I started having my growth spurts, I got to over 6ft. “I was pretty serious about competing in jiu-jitsu so I started watching my diet. There was also the high of seeing the results, so everything combined together made it enjoyable.” His time spent grappling on the mats and contorting others into chokeholds primed him for a return to rugby after his jiu-jitsu career was unceremoniously cut short. “Me and the [jiu-jitsu] head coach’s daughter were dating at the time,” says Roots. “He found out about it and didn’t like it and expelled me from the club. It didn’t feel right to go back so I didn’t, picked up rugby and fell in love with it again.” Roots had received a solid rugby grounding at Auckland’s Rosmini College, whose alumni include Gareth Anscombe, the New Zealand-born Wales fly-half, before dabbling in regional sevens, where he rubbed shoulders with Mark Telea. His unconventional rugby route – on which he juggled labour-intensive shifts when he played for North Harbour in New Zealand’s national provincial championship – meant he never appeared on the All Blacks’ radar. “I’d get up about 4.30am, go to the gym, have no idea what I was doing but jump on the bike, lift some weights and get out of there,” says Roots. “I’d go to work for 10 or 11 hours and then head to rugby training. I did that about four days a week, break on Friday and have a game on Saturday. please log in to view this image DAVE ROWLAND/GETTY IMAGES Ethan Roots of North Harbour poses for photos and signs autographs for supporters a game in 2020. “I might work Sunday for a little bit of extra cash, depending on how much money I’d spent that week. I’ve been there and done that so I understand what a privilege it is to play rugby every day for a living.” Roots would not secure his first professional contract at Harbour until he was 21, but soon enough was being hunted by three of New Zealand’s Super Rugby franchises. He ended up signing for Scott Robertson’s Crusaders and found himself sharing a dressing room with All Blacks like Scott Barrett. “It was nuts,” recalls Roots. “It was pretty surreal, having been on the building sites.” But he struggled to adapt to the rigours of top-level rugby. Roots made just one appearance for the club – and had six minutes of professional rugby under his belt when he signed a two-year deal with Ospreys in 2021. It was at the Welsh club that he reinvented himself and began harbouring international ambitions before being picked up by Exeter. ADVERTISEMENT Advertise with Stuff An industrious tackler with plenty of back-row bulk, Roots represents a new wave of young Chiefs belying their inexperience in the Premiership, where they remain in the mix for the play-offs. In addition to being name-checked by Borthwick last week, the 26-year-old has already been tipped as a capable successor to Courtney Lawes. “He’s been a natural leader for us,” says Rob Baxter, the Exeter Chiefs director of rugby. “His maturity in the group is beyond his age. He never felt like a gamble.” please log in to view this image DAVID ROGERS/GETTY IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES Exeter Chiefs flanker Ethan Roots attempts to tackle Northampton’s Courtney Lawes. Roots has been tipped as a contender to replace the retired Lawes in England’s back row. In what feels like a full-circle moment, Roots, whose dad was born near Reading but emigrated to New Zealand as a 15-year-old with his adopted parents, has connected with members of his extended English family after doing an online ancestry test, even welcoming a few of his biological cousins at Sandy Park for matches. While the father-of-two is fiercely proud of his Maori blood, which he inherits from his mum’s side of the family – a large Māori tattoo. “Even if I was born here, I’d still be a proud Māori and a proud Brit,” says Roots, whose partner, Tessa, is an international basketball player for New Zealand’s women’s team, the Tall Ferns. “I don’t think there’s any shame in that. I don’t speak a whole lot of Māori. We didn’t grow up in the house with it, but I’ve still got my family across my back. It’s a huge honour to just be name-dropped and to have caught their attention. I’d be more than happy to take on the responsibility, given the chance.” Should he be named in Borthwick’s England squad on Thursday, Roots could have the biggest fight on his hands yet – the one to earn a first test cap.
From 2027 there will be a woman's lions team Playing against nz first up Is it another waste of time or will it be free to watch on the beeb ensuring some sort of audience
The 6 nations starts in 3 days and not a word from anybody. Hangover from the World Cup? Come on, hopes, dreams, expectations, who do you expect will win it I'll start, 1. France, 2. England, 3. Ireland, 4. Scotland, 5. Wales, 6. Italy.
Yea, a real hangover I think. probably doesn’t help that potentially the biggest game is coming up first. Will be a very interesting 6 Nations for lots of reasons France Without their Talisman DuPont. They normally enter a 6 Nations cycle with an experimental team but are going full bore tonight. They see this as the final they didn’t have. Ireland Will be playing without Sexton for the first time in a decade. Probably our most influential player ever. No doubt in my mind the strongest 15 and 23 in the group but will the drive be there after another WC failure!! England SB under pressure and may not last through spring if results don’t go his way. Were on the right side of the WC draw but that didn’t hide their deficiencies. Farrell hounded out of the country…disgraceful. Forde or Smith debate will continue. They have Ireland at home. Wales Rebuilding continues under WG. I’d expect them to improve over the 5 fixtures but could be another 12 months before we see Wales back being super competitive. Scotland. GT gets every ounce out of them. Will cause the occasional upset but they don’t have a pack capable of competing against the very best. It’s that simple. Italy Big mistake not extending KC contract. No idea what Italy will show up. I think there won’t be a slam this year. Tonight’s winner will top the group. If Ireland loose they will then blood 3-4 more players in upcoming fixtures. If Ireland win tonight they’ll win the competition. As France are at home and playing at home in the 6N is normally worth 5-7pts, France are favourites. France Ireland England Wales Scotland Italy
As an Englishman hard to get over excited about the team. Who wants it more between France and Ireland? Both are streets ahead of the other teams and played in some of the greatest games I have ever seen in the World Cup, and crawled away with nothing. Hangover or grim determination? I’d be delighted if England gives these two a decent game, winning against one of them would be the stuff of dreams, against both a sign that hallucinogens have been taken.
I’m over in London this weekend, so will be watching the Saturday games in the pub drinking yer sh1te beer England with a nervy 8pt away win Wales by 0-4pts
