![\"Lions](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_GettyImages-2225156951.jpg\")
Lions Andrew Porter, Henry Pollock and Will Stuart(Image: 2025 Getty Images)<\/p>\nThe latest rugby news stories from Wales and beyondLions Andrew Porter, Henry Pollock and Will Stuart(Image: 2025 Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Here are the latest rugby headlines on the evening of Wednesday, July 16.<\/p>\n
Australian great tips Wallabies to ‘shut Lions up’<\/p>\n
Australian rugby great Chris Latham is confident the Wallabies can shut the British & Irish Lions up in the first Test on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Latham was a world class full-back in his day and played a key part in the Wallabies claiming a 2-1 series win over Graham Henry’s Lions in 2001. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.<\/a><\/p>\n Lions backrower Henry Pollock riled up the Wallabies earlier this week by insisting a “3-0 series whitewash is definitely on the table.”<\/p>\n The Lions class of 2025 are strong favourites to take home the spoils against Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies in Brisbane but Latham is confident it won’t be easy for the tourists.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, and I\u2019m sure for every Aussie, it\u2019s like, \u2018OK, righto.. We\u2019ll shut you up\u2019,” Latham told the Telegraph.<\/p>\n “I\u2019m a Queenslander and it\u2019s ingrained in us to be underdogs and be able to pull a win out from nothing.<\/p>\n \u201cThis [talk] is perfect for us. I\u2019ve been feeling this now for the last probably three, four weeks while the Lions have been thrashing everyone else and getting cockier and cockier.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything you read, it\u2019s about \u2018how good are we\u2019 and \u2018we\u2019re building\u2019 and \u2018this is so great\u2019. It\u2019s like, \u2018Yeah, you keep talking that, you keep believing that\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Latham is confident an Australia side which boasts world class talent such as rugby league<\/a> convert Joseph Sua’ali’i can win the Test series.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout a doubt [Australia can win],” he told the Telegraph.<\/p>\n “This is what we\u2019re built on. This is the Aussie spirit. We\u2019re built on being the underdog.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re built on being the outcast. I probably shouldn\u2019t say this but we were sent here on a boat and we built something from nothing. We\u2019re tough.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve heard it all before. The \u2018best Lions team to ever come out\u2019, Australia\u2019s \u2018got no chance\u2019. We went 1-0 down in \u201901 and came back to win the next two.<\/p>\n \u201cMy heart hopes and wants Australia to do well. We need to be competitive, make sure these games go down to the wire, create heroes for the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n WRU boss defends Wales\u2019 World Cup preparations in Australia<\/p>\n By Phil Blanche, PA<\/p>\n Welsh rugby boss Belinda Moore has defended the decision to prepare for the 2025 Women\u2019s World Cup in England on the other side of the world.<\/p>\n Wales travel Down Under on Thursday for a two-Test series against Australia, with matches in Brisbane on July 26 and Sydney on August 1.<\/p>\n Sean Lynn\u2019s squad will have clocked up 20,000 air miles before returning for their tournament opener against Scotland in Salford on August 23 \u2013 a contest crucial as far as qualification for the knock-out stages is concerned with world number two-ranked Canada in their pool.<\/p>\n Moore said the decision to prepare for the World Cup in Australia was taken before her appointment as head of women\u2019s rugby in Wales in January, but insisted there are positive factors to the exhausting trip.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is part of a reciprocal arrangement as Australia came here before WXV on their way to South Africa,\u201d Moore said as Wales\u2019 World Cup kit was unveiled in Carmarthenshire<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe covered the hosting costs there and we have to go to camp somewhere, so this is cost-effective oddly.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gives us a chance to play a team ranked two or three places above us who are going to provide stern opposition, and see how much the work we have put in has paid off.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got two really strong matches and a three-week block in camp. There will be a good training environment with the Australians giving us good facilities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe get back early in August three weeks ahead of the tournament. Southern hemisphere teams are coming over later than that and no-one\u2019s suggesting New Zealand won\u2019t be ready to play.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re back in time for full recovery and we\u2019ll be ready for the World Cup when it comes.\u201d<\/p>\n Women\u2019s rugby in Wales has been in turmoil in recent years, despite the Welsh Rugby Union handing out its first professional contracts to female players in 2022.<\/p>\n The WRU faced a series of allegations and scandals relating to the treatment of its women\u2019s national team, including claims of sexism and misogyny.<\/p>\n WRU chair Richard Collier-Keywood and chief executive Abi Tierney apologised last autumn over the way contract negotiations were conducted with the national women\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n Players had been threatened with withdrawal from WXV2 and the 2025 World Cup if they did not agree to a \u201cfinal offer\u201d ultimatum within a three-hour deadline.<\/p>\n Moore said: \u201cWe\u2019re absolutely looking forward to the future. Do I think the team is in a better place? Yes. 100 per cent.<\/p>\n \u201cThe feedback I get from the players is positive and these are all steps in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n Future Lions tour of France set for discussion<\/p>\n A potential British & Irish Lions tour of France is expected to be discussed in a meeting in Melbourne next week, according to reports.<\/p>\n The Guardian are reporting Lions powerbrokers will discuss “a new business model” in Melbourne next week, while the vice-president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR) Abdel Benazzi believes a tour of France would work. Ahead of the tour of New Zealand in four years’ time the Lions are expected to face France in Paris for the first time since 1989 before jetting off to the Southern Hemisphere.<\/p>\n The Guardian reports the Lions are contracted to tour New Zealand in 2029 but the tours of South Africa in 2033 and Australia in 2037 have not formally been agreed.<\/p>\n