The latest rugby news and headlines from Wales and beyond
Rey Lee-Lo and Tinus de Beer of Cardiff(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)
Here are your rugby morning headlines for Monday, August 25.
Welsh rugby cult hero reveals reason behind move
Dragons fly-half Tinus de Beer has revealed that recently becoming a father was the reason behind swapping Cardiff for Newport.
The South African playmaker spent two seasons at the Arms Park, but didn’t feature as much in his second year after the Blue and Blacks signed Wales international Callum Sheedy.
With Matt Sherratt bringing in Ioan Lloyd from the Scarlets ahead of this season, it became apparent there was no future for de Beer in the Welsh capital.
However, the recent birth of his baby meant that he didn’t want to travel far – ultimately heading to Rodney Parade. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
“Even if there was options elsewhere, I wanted to try and keep it as simple as possible by not moving countries,” de Beer told the Rugby Paper.
“My wife and I have just had a baby who is eight months old now, so that was the choice.
“I wanted to stay in the URC for various reasons. I think it’s one of the best competitions in the world to play in.
“It’s the travel, the longevity of the season and the way you get tested in all conditions, wet and dry. You have northern hemisphere games and then a trip down to South Africa as well, which is pretty tough. I just think it’s brilliant.
“So it was a pretty easy decision for me to come to the Dragons. I am really happy with it.
“It’s my 13th pre-season. I love my job and I can’t see myself doing anything else.”
The fly-half also spoke about how he wanted to bring improvements to the Dragons, after a woeful season in Newport last year.
“We want to play some footie and make the community and the fans proud. We want to get the people involved and fill Rodney Parade,” he said. “Welsh people are very loyal supporters, great supporters. We want to make them proud.
“It’s been a couple of up and down seasons for the Dragons supporters and one of our missions, our visions, is to get a bit of belief in the community.
“We have all got the same goal in mind. We will be fighting to get over the line more than the Dragons have done in previous seasons.
“We want to score more tries because that gives more belief, it’s more exciting and it should mean more people filling up Rodney Parade. They just want to be entertained, so we want to give that back to the community.”
Racing 92 line up record-breaking deal for All Blacks star Ardie Savea
French heavyweights Racing 92 are preparing a stunning move to make Ardie Savea the highest-paid player in rugby history.
The 31-year-old loose forward, who has won 99 caps for New Zealand, is reportedly top of Racing’s transfer wishlist as they look to add another global superstar to their Paris squad.
Savea is contracted to New Zealand Rugby until the end of 2027, but according to The Daily Telegraph in Australia, Racing are ready to test that agreement and table an offer that would eclipse the huge packages previously handed to Dan Carter and Matt Giteau in Japan.
Savea — crowned World Rugby 15s Player of the Year in 2023 — turned out for Moana Pasifika in Super Rugby Pacific this season but is already committed to joining Japanese side Kobelco Steelers in 2026.
If Racing were able to lure him to France, he would follow a glittering cast of big-name recruits.
The Parisians have already snapped up World Cup-winning Springboks skipper Siya Kolisi and England star Owen Farrell, while Carter himself joined Racing in 2015 fresh from World Cup glory before heading to Japan three years later.
Savea, widely regarded as one of the best players on the planet, would represent a marquee addition as Racing look to strengthen their grip on the Top 14 and push for European honours.
Wales must ‘throw everything’ at Canada after Scotland setback
Wales hooker Kelsey Jones says her side must “throw it all at Canada” and prove they are “a hard team to beat” after a bruising start to their Rugby World Cup campaign.
Wales were left reeling following a shock 38-8 defeat to Scotland in their Pool B opener — a result that leaves their quarter-final hopes hanging by a thread. Realistically, Sean Lynn’s side must now topple world No. 2 Canada on Saturday if they are to stay in the hunt.
Canada, meanwhile, have already underlined their title credentials with a ruthless 65-7 win over Fiji in their first outing.
Jones admitted the squad were “gutted” by their opening-day performance, but insists the group must channel that disappointment into a fearless response.
“Right now it’s pure disappointment and frustration,” the 26-year-old said. “We’re absolutely gutted, but it’s a really good opportunity now to reflect.
“We’ve got nothing to lose. We need to step it up and go against Canada — and then there’s a great opportunity against Fiji as well. You never know what can happen. I’m optimistic.”
The Scotland clash had been billed as a pivotal fixture for both teams, with Canada widely expected to top the pool. But it was the Scots — despite recent turbulence over contracts and resources — who produced a six-try statement to stun the Welsh.
“That was our cup final, that’s how we saw it,” Jones admitted. “Unfortunately we weren’t good enough. Fair play to Scotland, they turned up and proved a point.”
Lynn also pulled no punches in his post-match assessment, conceding: “Scotland bullied us off the park.”
Wales return to Salford Community Stadium this weekend knowing only a vastly improved performance will keep their tournament alive.
Jones believes the team must rediscover their trademark grit and physicality if they are to trouble a powerful Canadian outfit.
“There are things that we’ve got to look forward to — we’re playing in a World Cup and what an occasion it is,” she said.
“You never know what can happen in rugby. It depends on who turns up on the day.
“Canada is going to be a huge challenge. We know they’re physical.
“We always say we’re going to be a hard team to beat. Unfortunately, we didn’t prove that — so now we’ve got an opportunity to show it.
“We’ll just throw it all at Canada and see what we can do.”
Wales face Canada on Saturday at 3.30pm, before rounding off their Pool B campaign against Fiji the following weekend.
Ireland believe Japan ‘battle’ will leave them in good stead
By Duncan Bech, PA Rugby Union Correspondent
Ireland boss Scott Bemand insisted his side’s strength in adversity will stand them in good stead for the rest of the World Cup after overcoming Japan 42-14.
Six tries decorated an ultimately emphatic Irish victory, but the scoreline failed to reflect how hard they had been pushed in the second half of the Group C clash at Franklin’s Gardens.
Trailing 28-14 and with the wind in their sails as they staged an electric comeback, Japan were on the brink of scoring again only for Eve Higgins to anticipate a key pass under her posts and grab the intercept before running the length of the field to finish.
Ireland’s World Cup campaign was up and running but Bemand admitted they had been forced to battle hard against the team ranked 11th in the world.
“We talk about coming through adversity and it’s pretty important to defend some sets on your line. The defence was outstanding because Japan are good when they get close to the line,” he said.
“They say they’re not as big as other teams so they make themselves as small as possible and low to the ground. It’s very hard to stop and we got some of it right and some of it wrong. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
“There were some sublime moments out there, but also some moments that we know we will have to be better at.
“As an opener we’ve got what we wanted – we scored some tries with some variety, we’ve shown some forward power and backs prowess, but we’ll need to be better each week to get to where we want.
“We went after a fast start and got the two tries on the board. There was a little bit of variety as well and that is going to be increasingly important as we go through the competition.”
Ireland take on Spain next Sunday, also at Franklin’s Gardens, before completing their group campaign against New Zealand in Brighton on September 7.
“We want to keep building momentum and keep giving people something to get after. We want to show people what we can do,” Bemand said.
“If we can come out of this competition with everyone in Ireland supporting us and being everybody else’s favourite second team, that would be great.”