Here are the latest rugby headlines for Friday, June 21.
Botham has the ‘X Factor’
James Botham has been tipped to bring some X-Factor to Wales’ back row in Jac Morgan’s absence.
The Cardiff star has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons and would certainly have won more than ten caps had he stayed fit. Wales suffered a blow this week when World Cup co-captain Morgan was ruled out of the summer series, but this has presented Botham with an opportunity when he featured openside against South Africa at Twickenham.
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“I think he will bring energy and physicality,” Wales coach Jonathan Humphreys said. “He was unlucky with some injuries at the beginning of this year.
“He came in and got injured early in the Scotland game. What he is is very, very tough.
“He gritted his teeth in that game against Scotland when he had a pretty bad injury, but didn’t tell anyone and just kept playing. He definitely gives us X-Factor. Things are happening around him.”
The question mark surrounding Botham is where he can best be deployed, as the 26-year-old can cover the entire back row.
“I think he has been excellent for Cardiff since he came back, but the question is whether he is a seven, a six or an eight,” said Humphreys.
“Or is he someone who can play them all?
“I think he’s between a six and a seven. It’s a huge opportunity for him this weekend.”
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Axed England star admits ‘snus’ habit
Kyle Sinckler has revealed he developed a snus habit which damaged his performance and ultimately saw him dropped from the England squad after the Rugby World Cup.
The prop, who heads to Toulon in France next season, said he started using the smokeless tobacco product when he was younger and trying to lose weight. He explained to The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast that it suppressed his appetite.
He said, “There were a lot of other things going on behind the scenes, a lot of habits that I was doing that weren’t conducive to becoming a world-class athlete, that kind of stuff all came out afterwards.”
He described snus as “highly addictive” and “not good for your performance” and admitted that what he was doing contradicted his efforts to act as a good role model.
“In terms of where I want to be and the person, the man I want to become, I can’t say one thing on social media and send a message like that. And then behind closed doors I act like a victim, the world is against me and I do snus.
“The whole thing is just… it doesn’t work that way, you know? So it’s like I finally reaped what I sowed, you know?
Former England teammate Jonny May, a regular guest on the podcast, described Sinckler’s admission as “powerful… because a lot of people in rugby are addicted to this stuff. I don’t know enough about it, but it can’t be good for us.”
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England star’s Eddie Jones warning
By Duncan Bech, PA England Rugby Correspondent
Ben Youngs has warned England that Eddie Jones remains an elite coach whose second term with Japan will be defined by his recent failures.
Jones and Steve Borthwick will compete against each other for the first time when the Australian and his former number two clash in the master and apprentice duel that will form the basis of the England tour opener in Tokyo on Saturday.
It was only 18 months ago that Jones was sacked by the Rugby Football Union due to a slump in results, but before returning to Japan he engineered a disastrous homecoming with the Wallabies, which ended with them failing to get out of the group stage of last fall’s World Series. Cup.
But the 64-year-old has the highest winning percentage of any England head coach at 73 per cent, and Youngs, his first-choice scrum-half for his entire seven-year reign, insists he is still a formidable player.
“Eddie is honestly one of the best coaches I’ve ever had. Tactically he’s very, very good,” said England’s most capped player, who will be in action for Barbarians against Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday.
“For whatever reason it didn’t work with Australia. That doesn’t make him a bad coach. He’s still a very good coach. He’s still very intelligent in how he sees the game.”
“We’ve had a very successful time in England. We’ve obviously had some difficult periods. But he’s honestly one of the best coaches I’ve had.
I am sure he will embrace the challenge of Japan. I’m sure he’ll bottle it all up, how it’s developed with England and how it’s developed with Australia.
“You just know that because of his character as a character, he will take Japan back to the World Cup in Australia.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Australia and Japan are suddenly in the same group – that’s just how the stars align with him – and he would love that.
“Rugby needs characters like Eddie and he brings a lot of entertainment. He divides opinion, I understand that, but if I had the opportunity to work under him again I would jump for it.”
URC final taste
By Anthony Brown, PA
Franco Smith believes Glasgow’s stunning Munster semi-final win has prepared them perfectly to deal with the ‘hostility’ they will face from the Bulls’ home crowd in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship Grand Final in South Africa .
The Warriors triumphed 17-10 over the holders at Thomond Park last weekend and now they must win at one of the URC’s most intimidating venues when they run out at the 51,000-capacity Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.
Smith believes their recent experience in Ireland will stand Glasgow in good stead for their biggest game of the season.
“I think we learned a lot from last week’s match,” said the head coach, a former South Africa international. “There were 20,000 Irish supporters at Thomond Park and it could have been intimidating, but I think we learned a lot from that in our preparation for this week.
“We know we’ll be dealing with quite a hostile crowd here too. It will be double the number last week, but here too it’s about focusing on the task at hand and not letting carried away by the occasion.”
Smith leads his side to a second final in two seasons at the helm after losing to Toulon in last year’s Challenge Cup showpiece in Dublin. The head coach believes his team has evolved since then as they look to end a nine-year wait for silverware.
“We had one last chance last year, and this one is obviously the highlight of the season, so we’re really looking forward to being part of that,” he said.
“A lot of lessons have certainly been learned. We learned a lot from last year’s home quarter-final against Munster and the Challenge Cup final against Toulon and we have taken some of those lessons into our preparation. season and then the entire season.
“We now look forward to our next challenge and our next step.”