Tonight's rugby news as Henry Pollock accused over Cardiff fight and URC pursue YouTube coverage
Tonight's rugby news as Henry Pollock accused over Cardiff fight and URC pursue YouTube coverage
The latest news and headlines from the world of rugby
Henry Pollock clashes with Jefferson Poirot
(Image: Getty Images )
Here are your rugby evening headlines for Wednesday, June 4.
French prop hits back at 'brave' Pollock following Cardiff scrap
Bordeaux-Begles prop Jefferson Poirot has broken his silence following his scrap with Northampton Saints' Henry Pollock after the Champions Cup final in Cardiff.
The France international was suspended for the incident after grabbing the throat of Pollock after the final whistle at the Principality Stadium.
In an interview withTV7 in France, Poirot insisted that he did not intend to get involved but felt the need to after seeing fly-half Matthieu Jalibert in the midst of the scuffle with the England back-row.
'I did sprint back onto the pitch to celebrate," he said. "At that moment, I saw Matthieu being held down by two players and that famous Henry Pollock, brave as he is, coming to push him.
"That's why I decided to intervene." Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
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The prop, who has retired from France duty, admits he has "laughed" at the furore caused by the scuffle.
'I admit that all the fuss it caused… I didn't think it would cause all this. It made me laugh a lot, everything I saw or read, all those that were spread in the press,' he said.
Poirot also took another dig at Pollock, who has been called up by Andy Farrell for this summer's British & Irish Lions tour of Australia.
'It's not the image I had of a Lion," he said. "We'll see this summer.'
Pollock himself has already addressed the incident in an interview with TNT Sports, saying he was "pretty angry" with the prop.
URC talks with S4C ongoing as CEO hints at YouTube aim
BKT United Rugby Championship chief executive Martin Anayi says that talks with Welsh language broadcaster S4C are ongoing as he hinted that the league could pursue YouTube as a means to offer free-to-air coverage in the future.
BBC Wales will not show any URC matches from next season, with subscription channel Premier Sports having secured the exclusive rights.
However, there is still the chance that S4C will show some games as negotiations continue between the league and the channel.
"We're out there having those discussions," said Anayi. "We've put a really good package together on that basis.
"I think it's important that that's not the only option in the market. We're looking at different options to have free-to-air exposure for games across the league.
"We have that in Ireland, obviously, and we're looking to do the same in the UK. Those conversations are ongoing."
Whether a deal with S4C is signed off - with previous deals having been agreed late in the day - the league would appear to believe that free-to-air coverage might lie away from traditional linear terrestrial television.
"We're working with Premier Sports to see if there's a free-to-air angle - we might look around YouTube for example - that allows us to grow a younger audience without affecting the subscriber audience and will allow us to drive digitally a fanbase that is growing day-by-by to Premier Sports," added Anayi.
"That's important as we want them to grow, keep investing in rugby and the rugby channel. I think that's the angle we'd like to try explore in partnership with Premier Sports.
He added: "Those free-to-air broadcasters are going through some challenges, from a finance budget point of view. What we're seeing is the audience on digital and social are growing exponentially and traditional linear is declining, quite honestly.
"I think if we're looking at that mantra of bringing new fans into the sport, we need to be looking at the likes of YouTube as almost the free-to-air of the future.
"There's really good example where YouTube and traditional paid broadcasters have worked hand-in-hand to put more subscribers, when they're ready to pay for it, in the right position to subscribe. Prior to that, it's giving an access window in the digital sphere. It's a burgeoning area for us to focus in on."
Two Welshmen make URC dream team
Two Welshmen have been included in the United Rugby Championship's Elite XV, which is picked by the media.
Members of the press were given 10 players in each position to pick from, based on statistics from across the season. Ospreys back-row Jac Morgan and Scarlets back Blair Murray are the only Welsh players included, while the Scarlets also have South African hooker Marnus van der Merwe in the side.
League leaders Leinster provide just two players, with lock RG Snyman and full-back Jamie Osborne included.
Munster and the Bulls have the biggest share, boasting three players each. The Irish province provide second-row Tadhg Beirne, scrum-half Craig Casey and centre Tom Farrell, while the Bulls offer up the two props - Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Wilco Louw - as well as No. 8 Cameron Hanekom.
Glasgow's Rory Darge joins Morgan and Hanekom - who was also named Next-Gen player of the season - in the back-row, while Stormers fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who previously spent time at Llandovery College, is included along with Sharks centre Andre Esterhuizen and Edinburgh wing Darcy Graham in the backline.
Fatigue not an issue for Leinster
Leinster assistant coach Jacques Nienaber insists fatigue is not affecting the Irish province's bid to avoid a fourth successive season without silverware.
Despite topping the URC as runaway leaders, defeat to Northampton Saints in the Champions Cup semi-final put a massive dent in Leinster's season - having not won Europe's showpiece event since 2018.
Now, the URC acts as their only hope of lifting a trophy - with 2021 being the last time they won the league. However, a laboured win over the Scarlets on the weekend has raised more questions - although Nienaber has dismissed any concerns.
"No, not at all," said the 52-year-old South African World Cup winner.
"We're cracking on. It's a privilege for any team to be involved in the knock-out stages.
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"It's a privilege for us definitely to be testing ourselves against Glasgow this weekend, the reigning champions, who obviously understand how to play knock-out games if you look at what they did last year. It's a privilege to test ourselves against a quality side like that."
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