The latest rugby news from Wales and around the worldWales face the Springboks again later this month after losing 45-12 last autumn(Image: David Rogers/Getty Images)

These are your evening rugby headlines on Sunday, November 2.

South Africa clash ‘isn’t worth playing’

Former Welsh international Richie Rees believes that Wales’ clash with South Africa at the end of this month “isn’t worth playing” with a dozen players set to be unavailable to head coach Steve Tandy. The match at the Principality Stadium on November 29 falls outside of World Rugby’s international window, meaning players who ply their trade outside of Wales will not be released by their club for the final fixture of the autumn campaign.

That rules out Gloucester duo Tomos Williams and Freddie Thomas, Saracens’ Rhys Carre and Nick Tompkins and Bath pair Archie Griffin and Louie Hennessey, as well as Bristol’s Louis Rees-Zammit, Exeter’s Dafydd Jenkins, Harlequins’ Jarrod Evans and Leicester Tigers star Nicky Smith.

Tandy is expected to turn to his available uncapped players – namely Dragons hooker Brodie Coghlan, Cardiff loosehead Danny Southworth and Ospreys duo James Fender and Morgan Morse -as well as calling in some reinforcements from the Welsh regions, who will all return to United Rugby Championship action that same weekend.

With many of Wales’ rookies set to line up against the reigning world champions, former Cardiff coach Rees has suggested that the fixture will prove detrimental to Welsh rugby as a whole.

“I just think you have to weigh up the pros and cons,” he said during an appearance on Scrum V. “For me, that South Africa game isn’t worth playing. We’re missing that many players against the best team in the world.

“For those that they bring in, the regions are playing at the same time and those who are playing outside of Wales, we lose. So are we setting those players up to succeed, or not? Is it affecting the rest of the game?

“At some point, someone has to say, playing this fixture, is it going to be more detrimental to the group and where we are in Welsh rugby than us just not having a fixture?”

Jiffy: Games are being ruined

Wales legend Jonathan ‘Jiffy’ Davies has voiced his frustration over the controversial decision that saw Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne receive a red card during his side’s defeat to New Zealand on Saturday.

The All Blacks ran out 26-13 winners in Chicago but the big talking point at the final whistle was Beirne’s red card, which he was shown for an incident just minutes into the game.

The Ireland lock was initially shown a yellow card by referee Pierre Brousset for an upright tackle on Beauden Barrett in the third minute, but after it went to a bunker review, officer Dan Jones judged there to have been a sufficiently high level of danger and the punishment was upgraded to a red card.

With the 20-minute red card in play, Iain Henderson later replaced Beirne, but the sending-off left supporters and pundits bemused, as while the Irish star had made contact with Barrett’s head, he had kept his arms crossed, while the speed and proximity of the situation was also raised as mitigation.

Former Wales skipper Sam Warburton argued at half-time that the offence was only deserving of a penalty, while even Barrett himself said he was “gutted” for Beirne and offered to help him in the disciplinary hearing that will now follow.

In response to Barrett’s words, Jiffy has also weighed in on the situation, saying that the All Black’s comments “say it all” about the decision which has been branded as farcical across the rugby world.

“Never a red card,” the dual-code legend added on X. “Ire v Nz Barrat (sic) wasn’t expecting the ball and seemed to run into TB [Beirne].

“All for health and safety but games are being ruined.”

Farrell bemoans ‘mental switch-offs’

By PA Sport Staff

Andy Farrell bemoaned mental lapses in Ireland’s defeat by New Zealand in Chicago. Ireland led 13-7 after an hour despite a controversial 20-minute red card for Tadhg Beirne but the All Blacks hit back to claim a 26-13 victory.

“It’s what we talked about before the game, it’s mental switch-offs, mental sharpness, lapses of concentration for two or three seconds, and you get hurt,” said Farrell on the BBC.

“It’s something that we were aware of before the game, and it’s something that you learn over the course of a season to get better at, but, if you want to win big games like this, on big occasions like here in Soldier Field, that’s what it’s going to take, and we weren’t good enough.”

Farrell, back in charge of Ireland after his British and Irish Lions sabbatical, will now turn his thoughts to the remaining Autumn Internationals against Japan, Australia and South Africa in Dublin.

“I’m disappointed to lose any game,” he said. “When you play a top-tier side, a world-class side like New Zealand, you always want to judge yourself against that type of opposition, and then you put the occasion and all that together and it hurts a little bit more.

“Understanding why that happened is obviously key for us now, and addressing all that, and making sure that we move forward pretty quickly for what is obviously a pretty important autumn coming up.”

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