Ireland fall to Italy in U20 World Championship thriller
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
31 minutes ago
- The Guardian
NSW Waratahs v British & Irish Lions: rugby union tour match
Update: Date: 2025-07-05T09:03:50.000Z Title: Content: Your views are always welcome and today is no exception so send them to me on the Email. I may even tolerate Owen Faz chat, but don't bank on it. Update: Date: 2025-07-05T09:03:42.000Z Title: Teams Content: Rotation once more as the fixtures pile up quickly for Andy Farrell and the Lions, made more tricky by Henry Pollock withdrawing with a tight calf late on. Apparently it's 'precautionary'. Tadhg Beirne will have the honour of captaining from six, Scott Cummings now starts in the second row and Duhan van der Merwe comes onto the bench .Hugo Keenan has his first start of the tour at fullback while Fin Smith returns at stand-off. In the forwards Tadhg Beirne is back in the second row and has the honour of captaining the Lions for the first time. The Waratahs have a few internationals in their lineup in Taniela Tupou, Andrew Kellaway, Rob Leota, Lalakai Foketi, and Darby Lancaster. Number 8, Hugh Sinclair, is awarded the captaincy in this his last ever game of professional rugby so expect some emotional scenes. British & Irish Lions: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Finlay Bealham, 4 Scott Cummings, 5 James Ryan, 6 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 Ben Earl. Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Ellis Genge, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, Jac Morgan, Ben White, Marcus Smith, Duhan van der Merwe. NSW Waratahs: 15 Lawson Creighton, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Lalakai Foketi, 12 Joey Walton, 11 Darby Lancaster, 10 Jack Bowen, 9 Teddy Wilson; 1 Tom Lambert, 2 Ethan Dobbins, 3 Taniela Tupou, 4 Fergus Lee-Warner, 5 Miles Amatosero, 6 Rob Leota, 7 Charlie Gamble, 8 Hugh Sinclair (captain). Replacements: Mahe Vailanu, Jack Barrett, Daniel Botha, Matt Philip, Jamie Adamson, Jack Grant, Tane Edmed, Henry O'Donnell Update: Date: 2025-07-05T09:00:07.000Z Title: Preamble Content: Welcome to Sydney, where a game of rugby is in danger of breaking out in the midst of the Owen Farrell's Worth Tour 2025. You would be forgiven if this match involving 23 British & Irish people – none of whom are Owen Farrell – has taken you by surprise at the end of this week of quite remarkable discourse. But there is a match for the Lions to play against the Waratahs, a team that has had a fiercely mediocre season in their domestic competition and this isn't even their first choice selection. At this stage Farrell Snr's men should be putting together more complete performances that address the issues so far. So look out for more energy in defence, a consistent lineout and a better kicking game out of hand that has been witnessed so far. The Wallabies are waiting in a fortnight and Joe Schmidt will be watching with his notebook. I wonder what he would write about Owen Farrell.
Telegraph
31 minutes ago
- Telegraph
‘Wales players are tough but I have given them belief'
On the eve of Wales's European Championship play-off final decider against Ireland in December, Rhian Wilkinson received a poem. The player-cum-poet of the squad who had shared it remained anonymous, but the manager decided to use it as part of her pre-match talk in Dublin. 'They woke up, and felt they had this poem in their heart,' she says. 'She wrote it out and shared it with me. I was like, 'I have to use it'. 'So, our last message before they stepped on the field in Dublin was written by one of them. That's their culture, that's them embracing sport, of course, but also, 'This is who we are'.' When taking charge of Wales in February 2024, the 43-year-old inherited a side who had been burnt at the boundary between qualification and tournament finals, who had been paralysed with a fear of letting their families down. The most recent near-miss – a defeat by Switzerland in the dying seconds of 2023's World Cup qualification play-off – had been under Gemma Grainger, who was head-hunted by Norway to leave the coaching post vacant. They also missed out on the 2013, 2015 and 2019 tournament play-offs by either a single game or goal difference. 'Sport can be traumatic,' Wilkinson says. 'It is such a privileged lifestyle but the losses, the errors you make, the goals you miss, the goals you concede, all of it piles up and creates a bank of fear. For these women, who are so connected to the team, their sisterhood, but also their families, they bring an extra element.' Throughout our chat, Wilkinson's Canadian accent is assertive and full-toned. It often takes days for her voice to recover from a match day, she says, but she is deliberate in her use of language: 'I stress I always say 'we', because the players got annoyed when I used to say 'they'. They were like: 'You are on this journey with us, so you better be part of the 'we'.' Wilkinson, who won 183 caps and two Olympic medals for Canada before moving into coaching roles with the youth teams of her native country, followed by stints with England, Great Britain and Portland Thorns (with whom she won the NWSL), hit the ground running when taking on the Wales job. There were emphatic victories over Croatia and Kosovo in their first two qualifiers, before back-to-back draws against Ukraine contained runaway hopes. Behind the scenes, steep cultural lessons were quickly learnt. 'I speak quite openly on getting it wrong on our first camp, in not understanding the real connection they have with the 'For us, for them, for her' slogan,' she says. 'That was work they had done with Gemma [Grainger], with Lowri [Roberts, the former head of women's football]. My mistake was not understanding how much that heritage meant to them. 'Like when you go into an organisation and it has something written on the wall that everyone sees every day but doesn't know what it means. That's not true with the FAW [Football Association of Wales]. I had a presentation prepared for me to really show what the players had done on language and who they were. I had skipped those steps, those are critical. 'Family is not a word that is thrown around casually in Wales. It is their driver, their force, their courage; it's that piece of recognising what came before and who set the foundation and understanding that the legacy part is critical.' Wilkinson was aware that the Welsh women's team have had to fight for their space. Twenty years ago, the FAW withdrew from the Euros qualifying campaign because of a lack of funds. Two decades on, the story is staggeringly different as interest in women's football has exploded. In 2021, the FAW set a target of 20,000 registered players by 2026; it is well on course to achieve it by the end of this year. In the stands, its target of a 3,600 average home attendance has been overtaken by this year's home average of more than 10,000. Football in Wales in the past decade has also taken on a new dimension as an expression of Welsh culture. The Welsh worship their sporting heroes in a typically 'small country' way. Former First Minister Rhodri Morgan once described this as 'a special kind of need for heroes that could reassure us of our existence as a country'. Across the men's and women's sides, through Wilkinson and Craig Bellamy – whose successes since taking their respective helms at similar times have mirrored their determined nature – Wales are asserting themselves as a footballing nation deserving of the global stage. 'We are a small nation. And so sometimes we are treated as a small nation,' she says. 'It's what happens when you have a much bigger nation right on your doorstep. But what happens then is that you can often feel a little bit 'other'. I don't think our Welsh players always get the playing time they deserve. They haven't been able to show themselves on the world stage in the way other nations have. 'We have a smaller player pool, but equally, we have earned the privilege of representing the country in a much different way. They've had to fight for everything they've received, which has made them resilient, made them tough, but it hasn't always given them the belief. What I've brought in is just that they're good enough.' The talismanic influence of Jess Fishlock was not in doubt, even before Dublin, but even in her recent absences, the team have proved their collective identity and quality. After they were promoted to the Nations League Group A, Wales, ranked 30 in the world – the lowest in this summer's tournament – have faced a consistent step up in opposition. Their recent relegation back to Group B has shown the gap is yet to close, but performances have impressed. Narrow losses against Italy and Denmark were bookmarked by consecutive draws to sixth-ranked Sweden, though a heavy defeat by the Italians before their first Euros fixture will have hurt. On the whole, players such as 21-year-old Carrie Jones, Liverpool's Ceri Holland, Leicester City's Hannah Cain, and captain Angharad James have all stepped up as cornerstones of a well-organised unit that has relinquished the need for individual heroes. Wilkinson has also called on 18-year-olds Mayzee Davies and Mared Griffiths, and 20-year-old Safia Middleton-Patel, all of whom have impressed, although Davies is now sidelined by an anterior cruciate ligament injury. 'If you look at the weakness of Wales, we don't have the population, we don't have the player registration, we don't have the age groups, but it's actually also a strength,' Wilkinson says. 'Players don't get held up in the age groups, they get promoted to where they should be. If your younger or less experienced players don't feel they are of equal value, you are in trouble. 'I like that we can adjust and adapt the way bigger organisations can't as easily. They are just like mammoth ships and changing course with a tanker is a challenge.' 'Never forget who came before' Wilkinson guided this Welsh side to a first major international tournament but throughout this conversation, she is keen to praise her predecessors and players. She even mentions Princess Gwenllian, the heroine whom fought against Norman forces in 1136. 'People talk about legacy a lot, and that is critical for us, but even more importantly for me is that we never forget who came before,' she says. 'If we are not moving this sport forward, if we are not moving women's opportunities forward, then we are doing them a disservice.' Her side's reward for qualifying? Being drawn in the toughest group. They are undeniable outsiders against France, the Netherlands and neighbours England. 'If we do the best we can against those three opponents and play in a way we can be proud of, we'll walk away from these Euros feeling like we've done nothing but great service to the legacy part of what we're trying to achieve,' she says calmly, before becoming more animated at the thought of what this summer means. 'More people will see our incredible flag, more people will hear our amazing anthem, people will see a country that fights well above its weight, and has always done. Maybe they will want to learn more about this country and these women, and how they speak and how much they care about what came before.'
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Live Waratahs v Lions live: Pollock withdrawn with tight calf, Beirne starts as flanker
9:30AM Henry Pollock out Big news. Pollock, who was due to start at blindside flanker today, has been withdrawn due to a tight calf. Scott Cummings moves from the bench to lock, with Tadhg Beirne starting at blindside flanker. Duhan van der Merwe comes onto the bench, which is now a five-three arrangement. 9:30AM An Englishman against the Lions Jamie Adamson is on the Waratahs bench tonight and has a fascinating story. A graduate of Durham University, who was never tied to a professional deal with a Premiership club, he represented England and Great Britain at sevens, competing for the former at the Commonwealth Games. He then headed to Australia and impressed in the Shute Shield for Eastern Suburbs, playing in the back row. From there, a train-and-trial deal emerged from Waratahs coach Dan McKellar. How Jamie Adamson secured our dramatic win over Kenya in the final stages 🙌 @jamie_a99 | #Canada7s — England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) April 17, 2022 'It's a strange one,' Adamson adimtted this week. 'I can't say that it crossed my mind that I'd be playing against them but obviously a really cool opportunity. I think it's going to be an amazing experience.' 'I don't really think it's settled in yet, to be honest. I probably won't until I'm at the bottom of a ruck on Saturday night and see a Lions shirt opposite me, to be honest.' 9:14AM Good morning Hello and welcome, everyone. This British and Irish Lions tour has rolled onto Sydney and a game against the Waratahs. The hosts finished below the Reds but above the Western Force on the Super Rugby Pacific ladder, winning six of 14 matches. We will have a closer look at their line-up later… though it is fair to say that Andy Farrell will expect another convincing win. For now, why not have a read of some thoughts from Pierre Schoeman earlier this week. He is starting at loosehead prop today, and has been reflected on two late predecessors in the jersey, the revered duo of Tom Smith and Ian McLauchlan. 'Tom Smith is close to my heart because he has played for Scotland as well and I have sat on the same seat as him at Murrayfield which I have been honoured and blessed with, but it is not about me,' Schoeman said. 'It is an amazing question and we do deep dive on it [history], sometimes Si [Easterby] our defensive coach before training or matches will take us through some of the key figures to create that aura. We speak about it, just a word, we have to be present in them and we have to deliver physically and mentally in that moment. 'That's what the jersey demands of us as loosehead props, like Mighty Mouse –- his family watch all our games – and that's the legacy of it. Our families will hopefully live a long and abundant life but it's much bigger than just that, it is much bigger than just that, so give it your all. That means fully submerge in everything in your tour.' There is also some insight on the Lions' prop club, which has – quite rightly – denied entry to an other positions. .
