The latest rugby news from Wales and around the world
Blair Murray of Scarlets leaves the field injured.(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)
These are your evening rugby headlines on Monday, December 22.
Wales star sent for scan as teammate out for weeks
The Scarlets are still waiting to learn the full extent of Blair Murray’s leg injury but outside-half Sam Costelow is facing a race against time to be fit for the Six Nations.
Murray injured his left leg in the Scarlets’ narrow victory over Cardiff at the Arms Park last Friday and was helped off the field by medics in some discomfort.
He is a major doubt for the Scarlets’ west Wales derby against the Ospreys in Llanelli on Boxing Day.
“He didn’t train on Monday and we have sent him away for a scan,” said head coach Dwayne Peel. “We will see what happens but he seemed pretty sore, so we will see how that pans out and there is no inkling yet.”
Costelow was left out of Steve Tandy’s squad for the autumn internationals but has been outstanding for the Scarlets of late and will have aspirations of forcing his way back into the Wales reckoning.
But the outside-half will miss the Scarlets’ festive derbies and faces a race against time to make it back in time for the Six Nations.
“Costy (Sam Costelow) is not going to be available,” said Peel. “He hurt his ankle last week in training which is a disappointing one. He’s going to be out for a good few weeks I’d say.”
Scarlets captain Josh Macleod is a major doubt for the Boxing Day derby after undergoing a HIA against Cardiff but Peel has been boosted by the return to fitness of Wales backrower Taine Plumtree.
Dyer ‘needed reset’
Dragons wing Rio Dyer has credited a week away from rugby for his superb man-of-the-match performance against Connacht, as he admits he is no longer “trying to be perfect”.
The Wales international, who ended a year-long absence from the national team against South Africa last month, was electric as his side recorded back-to-back wins with a 48-28 victory against the Irish side in the URC on Saturday.
As well as scoring his first try since January, Dyer topped the league’s attacking charts for the round, beating 11 defenders and making three line breaks over the course of the game.
The 26-year-old has now revealed he was on holiday in Switzerland as his team-mates beat Lyon in the Challenge Cup the previous weekend, with head coach Filo Tiatia encouraging him to take some time off ahead of facing Connacht.
“Sometimes you just need a reset,” Dyer told the BBC. “Against Cardiff I had a dead leg and then I was just chasing myself. I came into the Connacht week determined to just enjoy it and let the result take care of itself.
“When you get time off it’s about really enjoying it and living in the day, appreciating the little things that you lose touch with because you are so in depth with everything rugby.
“I have a lot of gratitude and can’t thank Filo enough for giving me the week off and then being able to express myself on the field.”
On his new approach, the 24-cap international added: “In life, nothing is going to go perfectly all the time. I used to beat myself up and try to be perfect, but that is never going to be the case.”
“There were times in the Connacht game where I made mistakes but it wasn’t a setback. Let things take control of themselves. I dropped the ball but continued to work hard and ended up getting a try. That shows what happens if you just continue to do your best.
“I am enjoying my rugby and every day is a blessing,” he continued. “I am grateful for the little things and being around the boys, doing something that I love. The main thing for me at the moment is letting the future take care of itself and be in the present, enjoying my rugby.”
van Graan salutes Bath performance
By Rebecca Johnson, Press Association
Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan hailed a “satisfying performance” as his side completed a dominant 50-14 Gallagher Prem win over Newcastle Red Bulls.
A close battle in the first half saw Dan Frost score two tries after Ollie Leatherbarrow opened the scoring and Amanaki Mafi crossed for Newcastle before Archie Griffin’s try gave Bath a 19-14 lead at half-time.
In a ruthless second half showing, Francois van Wyk, Will Butt, Tom de Glanville, Ben Spencer and Ted Hill all went over for Bath to send them top of the Prem standings, and Van Graan was pleased with their display.
“Satisfying performance. We gave Newcastle the respect they deserve,” he said.
“They’ve been competitive the whole season. So they started well, we punched straight back, they scored, we scored and we tidied up one or two things at half-time, then won the second half by 31-0.
“To score 50 points here, away from home, that’s real testament to the group, the squad, the coaching and the staff. Very happy with the five points.”
After Van Wyk and Butt went over in the second half to extend the lead to 33-14, Van Graan sent on all eight of his replacements to see out the final 25 minutes.
Those substitutes made a big impact as Spencer set up De Glanville for his try before going on to score one of his own and Hill wrapped up the game.
Speaking about the decision, Van Graan said: “We planned for a whole host of different scenarios.
“Obviously if you get an injury early in the game you’ve got to adapt, but I felt that Newcastle have come back in a few games if you look at the previous few weeks.
“Once we got that – I think it was 12 up – I knew that if we put them away now that’s the end of the game.
“The eight changes scored the try and scored straight from the kick-off again.
“Look, there’s no perfect science in it, but I thought it worked well on the day and 50 points away from home, top at Christmas, I would’ve taken that before the game.”
Despite a bright start, Newcastle struggled to find a response as they conceded 31 points in the second half.
A seventh Prem defeat came on the back of two wins in the European Challenge Cup, and head coach Alan Dickens believes his side “left a few points” on the pitch.
He said: “I don’t think it’s necessarily frustrating on the back of the two results, it’s certainly frustrating on the back of what we thought was a good first-half performance.
“We thought it was good, but we felt we left a few points out there, that was the disappointing thing.
“But one of the positives is we’re getting there and giving ourselves opportunities, we’ve just got to take them.”