These are your evening rugby headlines on Saturday, November 16.
Wallabies wary of three Welsh danger men
Australia star Nic White has identified three Wales stars who he admits could “make life real tough” for his side this weekend.
Ahead of the two sides meeting at the Principality Stadium on Sunday, White appeared on the latest episode of the Sportin Wales podcast and was asked whether the Wallabies had focused on any particular members of the opposition as part of their preparations.
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“Do you boys chat about a few of the Welsh boys in the week?” asked host Alex Cuthbert. “In terms of, who to go after at breakdowns because Wales have obviously got a pretty good back row: Tommy Reffell, Jac Morgan. Do you speak about that in the week?”
“Yeah, we spoke about them,” said White. “We had them in your summer, our winter – the July series. Just the number of guys that have come back in… Jac Morgan and how much impact he’s going to have on the breakdown.”
“We believe [it will be] a better side than what we came up against [in the summer]. They’ve blown some rust out from the weekend. [We have] a hell of a lot of respect for Wales. How tough they’ve been. They’re a side that always stay in it, they’re a bloody tough team.
“You get the ultimate compliment from the Saffas, the South Africans always say how tough the Welsh are, we all feel it. You’re just a very good side, but absolute scrappers that just stay in everything,” he added.
Identifying three particularly dangerous members of the Welsh squad, White continued: “You bring in a few guys on ball like that, it’s going to be Reffell, Morgan, Dewi Lake. You put in these guys and they’re going to be on the ball and it’s going to be really hard to replicate what we did against England, with guys dipping their heads in breakdowns and making it an absolute mess.
“So, we’ve spoken about a couple of key guys for them that are going to make life real tough for us. So, it’s up to us now to train it,” he added. “We haven’t spoken about any weaknesses, but actually guys that are going to make life real hard for us.”
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Lion set to join Wales star in France
Scotland and Edinburgh scrum-half Ali Price is set for a move to France, with Montpellier reportedly securing his services.
The 31-year-old, who made three appearances for the British & Irish Lions in 2021, will join the Top 14 side next season after signing a two-year deal, according to reports in France.
Price has 67 caps for Scotland and previously represented Glasgow Warriors, making 130 appearances before slipping down the pecking order and joining Edinburgh last year.
French publication Midi Olympique report that the signing of Price comes after Montpellier were unsuccessful in their attempts to land All Black Finlay Christie and South Africa’s Herschel Jantjies.
Price could join compatriot Stuart Hogg at the French club next season, although the full-back was only signed as a ‘medical joker’ and the exact terms of his contract – and whether it will extend to the next campaign – remains unclear.
The Scottish scrum-half is, however, expected to join the club alongside Wales international Adam Beard, with the Ospreys lock widely reported to be joining Montpellier on a three-year deal next season.
Schmidt sympathises with Gatland
By Andrew Baldock, PA Rugby Union Correspondent
Australia head coach Joe Schmidt feels that “anyone can have a lean spell” when teams are in transition periods.
The Wallabies will send Autumn Nations Series opponents Wales crashing to an all time low of 11 successive Test defeats if they win Sunday’s clash in Cardiff. Wales have not won a Test match since the 2023 World Cup as head coach Warren Gatland continues his attempts to mould a new squad.
There are mitigating factors, with players such as Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric, Dan Biggar, George North, Ken Owens and Gareth Davies all retiring from international rugby during the past 18 months, while Louis Rees-Zammit went to the NFL and injuries have severely hampered the likes of Taulupe Faletau and Josh Adams.
Gatland has also capped more than 20 players since returning for a second stint in charge ahead of the 2023 Six Nations, but Test results still stand out like a sore thumb: played 22, won six, lost 16.
Australia suffered a 40-6 thumping against Wales at the last World Cup, with head coach Eddie Jones leaving two months later and former Ireland boss Schmidt being appointed as his successor. It has been far from plain sailing for Australia, with the Wallabies losing five of their six Rugby Championship games under Schmidt, but they claimed a 2-0 summer Test series triumph against Wales and posted a statement victory over England last time out.
“You are on this treadmill and you are so busy trying to take care of your own world,” Schmidt said. “I’ve known Gats for a long time. He was obviously highly successful in his previous tenure with Wales. I think anyone can have a lean spell when teams are transitioning. I look at some of the players he had when I first started competing with Ireland against Wales.
“There were some good players there – so many of them that really made it tough. It didn’t matter what position, there were some really good players in those positions. I think they have got some really good players now. Adam Beard is a really good athlete – I think both second rows are strong – someone like Jac Morgan is so tough on the ball, Aaron Wainwright was a bit of a handful for us in the first Test (in the summer) before he got hurt.
“Dewi Lake, for a young hooker, led superbly. You’ve got guys like that. I think there is a period of time that it takes for them to adjust to Test rugby. That is part of that transition that I guess Gats is trying to accelerate at the moment. For us, I think we’ve had 17 or 18 debutants this year. We are a little bit in a similar situation.”
Farrell expects more after ‘lethargic’ start
By Ed Elliot, PA, Dublin
Head coach Andy Farrell is hopeful stuttering Ireland are about to hit top form after conceding some of his players have lacked Test-level intensity during a “lethargic” start to the autumn.
The Six Nations champions scraped an unconvincing 22-19 win over Argentina on Friday evening following a deflating 23-13 defeat by New Zealand seven days earlier.
While Los Pumas and the All Blacks have been in regular Rugby Championship action in recent months, Ireland came into November having not played an international since their drawn summer series in South Africa.
Farrell is optimistic his rusty side will be at full throttle during upcoming Dublin appointments with Fiji and Australia.
“When you’re looking at two top sides that we’ve played in the first two weeks, it looks like we’re still trying to find our feet in the intensity of the full 80 minutes, for that top one per cent gain,” he said.
“Obviously New Zealand and Argentina have been playing those games for the last five months.
“It looks like our lads, some of them, are a little bit shy of that type of intensity. We looked lethargic and you could say that’s because of penalties given or losing the collision or whatever that may have been, but in general I think that the quality of opposition has been very strong in these first two games.
“Hopefully we’ll build it (intensity) through this month and we’ll see the best of it in the next two games.”
