The rugby stories making headlines on Saturday, August 8.
New Zealand’s fly-half Beauden Barrett chases a loose ball (Image: Rodger Bosch / AFP via Getty Images)
These are your headlines on the morning of Saturday, August 8.
French club promoted after decision is overturned
Nissa Rugby will play in France’s PRO D2 next season after winning their appeal against an initial decision to deny them promotion.
In May, Nissa – formerly known as Stade Nicoise – celebrated promotion to the Pro D2, the second division of French rugby, after beating Stade Montois in a promotion/relegation play-off.
They are coached by Welshmen Gareth Baber and Barry Maddocks, while former Wales internationals Tyler Morgan and Owen Williams are at the club.
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However, just weeks on from their jubilant celebrations, the club has been plunged into uncertainty, with Nissa president Jean-Baptiste Aldige and the association’s president, Patrice Prevot, both announcing their resignations.
Nissa were then summoned to appear before the Rugby Regulatory Authority on Friday to provide financial guarantees for next season and if they did not they would have been relegated from PRO D2.
But Nissa Rugby will now play in the PRO D2 after a favourable decision from the appeals committee.
A two-point deduction, suspended, was imposed for “committing the following offense: ‘Inconsistency and/or implausibility of the budget (initial and/or updated)'”.
In the end Aldigé through his company Sport Inside Europe provided the €4.6 million required to start this upcoming season in PRO D2.
Llandovery to host Welsh derby
The Scarlets will face off against the Dragons in a pre-season friendly next month.
The game will take place at Llandovery’s Church Bank ground, with funds going to support the current fundraising campaign for neighbouring Llandovery College.
The date set for the derby is Friday, September 11 (7pm).
It will fall between the Scarlets’ two other friendly clashes – Exeter Chiefs (Sandy Park; Saturday, September 5) and Saracens (Parc y Scarlets; Friday, September 18).
Scarlets director of rugby Nigel Davies said: “We are pleased to be back in Llandovery for this exciting pre-season fixture in the heart of our region, where so many of our great players have come from and where exciting new Scarlets talent develops.
“We are grateful to Llandovery RFC for working with us in partnership to host this fixture and we look forward to welcoming Scarlets and Dragons supporters to what will be a great evening of rugby.”
Llandovery RFC chairman Peter Rees added: “We are delighted to host the fixture both as part of our established partnership with the Scarlets and in support of Llandovery College which has had a long-standing relationship with the Drovers and is so important for our broader community.”
Scarlets make appointment
Meanwhile, the Scarlets have brought back Brad Harrington, the club’s former head of athletic performance, on a consultancy basis.
The Parc y Scarlets outfit say he will “combine periods working on-site with the coaching and performance staff, alongside ongoing remote support throughout the season”.
He is currently employed by Argentine Rugby Union, helping them develop the pathways and programmes into the senior, U20s and sevens squads.
Harrington previously worked for the club over a six-year period and boasts an impressive CV.
Scarlets Director of Rugby Nigel Davies said: “One of the biggest dangers in high-performance sport is believing you’ve got all the answers. The best teams are constantly learning, challenging themselves and looking for ways to improve.
“High performance is never a finished product. It’s about continually challenging ourselves, learning from the best and never becoming comfortable. That’s the mindset we’re building here at the Scarlets.
“Brad is someone I’ve worked closely with over many years and have enormous respect for. His experience across international rugby, Super Rugby and some of the world’s leading performance environments gives him a unique perspective that will add real value to what we’re building here.
“Brad’s involvement is about bringing in an experienced set of eyes that can challenge our thinking, share ideas and help us continue to evolve. His external perspective is invaluable because the game continues to shift, and if we want to compete consistently with the best teams in the URC, we have to be prepared to move with it.”
Harrington added: “It’s fantastic to be back at the Scarlets. The club has always been very special to me, my young family grew up here and this community and club was a big part of our lives.
“There’s already a lot of very good work being done by the coaches and performance staff. My role is to really drill down and look in detail in the model the Scarlets is building. So our player pathway, coach pathway development, the physical and medical programmes and support the people already here, share experiences from other high-performance environments and hopefully provide a different perspective that helps the programme continue to grow and improve.
“I’ve got existing relationships with a lot of the coaches and staff, Dwayne (Peel) was here as a player when I was first at Scarlets.
“The ambition around the club is obvious and that’s exciting. There is a real desire to continually improve and looking at what we can do to get better; focusing on how this great region can get stronger and build sustainable success. If I can help the staff and players in any way as they continue that journey, then I’m looking forward to playing my part.”
All Blacks given scare
The All Blacks survived a scare on Friday night, beating Stormers 38-21 in the opening match of their Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour.
The physical hosts showed the tourists there is plenty still to do ahead of their four-match Test series against the Springboks, which kicks off later this month.
With just 12 minutes to go, the score was locked at 14-14 before Rieko Ioane scored an opportunist try in the 68th minute.
“We know we need to be better – and we will be,” said New Zealand head coach Dave Rennie, whose side faced a team shorn of their nine South African internationals.
“When we had the ball we were really dangerous,” he added. “We knew the Stormers would bring a lot of line speed and the dewy conditions made things difficult at times. We weren’t quite clinical enough.
“We expected a lot of aerial attacks and we probably didn’t deal with that as well as we wanted.
“We felt if we could hang on to the ball we could eventually find space and beat them and we were very clinical late in the game.”
The All Blacks now play the Sharks on Tuesday and Rennie suggested there will be multiple changes in Durban, with discipline also an issue on the night, with the visitors down to 13 players at one stage.
“Tours like this are great for us to build depth,” he said. “Heading into a World Cup next year we’ll know a lot more about the players we’ve got here.”
Stormers: Tries: Deon Fourie, Seabelo Senatla, penalty try. Conversions: Yaqeen Ahmed (2).
All Blacks: Tries: Samisoni Taukei’aho, Simon Parker, Rieko Ioane, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby, Asafo Aumua.Conversions: Beauden Barrett (3), Josh Jacomb (1)
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