No 'secrets' as Lions centres build connections
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The Herald Scotland
43 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Hyett delighted by resilient England in Six Nations Summer Series
But England were pushed all the way by Scotland, who battled hard for 80 minutes and continually refused to let their opponents get away from them in the scoring, as Holly McIntyre, Emily Norval and Poppy Mellanby all crossed over. And while the final scoreline looks like it was a comfortable win for England, Hyett explained there were plenty of times when her side had to dig deep to hold Scotland at bay. 'I'm really pleased with the girls and the result,' said the 20-year-old. 'We definitely had to fight for it. There were moments in the game where we weren't where we wanted to be, but I think the fight and the desire that we all have, one to 23 right through the squad, is what got us over the line in the end.' Hyett, who tasted PWR [Premiership Women's Rugby] glory with Gloucester Hartpury earlier this year, also said how England's gameplan was always to take the game to Scotland and was delighted by the way the backs and forwards combined. 'We spoke all week about being direct, playing with intent and beating the other team physicality wise, and I think when we did that. 'We earned the right to go wide, and we scored a lot of tries out there. That just proved that when the forwards do a great job, our backs can then reward our forwards.' 😎 A recap of the results from yesterday's opening games in the #U6NSummerSeries — Six Nations Under-20s (@SixNationsU20) July 6, 2025 Next up for England is a clash against Italy, who fell 46-5 to France in their opening game of the tournament, but Hyett is not underestimating the challenge they'll pose on July 11. 'Italy is a new game on a new day,' she added. 'This game is done and over with and it's on to the next job. 'Italy will be a tough challenge, definitely. '[Against France], they showed that they can be very physical, but also, they are very quick, and they have a lot of threats around the park. 'For us, it'll be how we manage that whilst also focussing on ourselves.' Discover the future of international rugby at the 2025 Women's Summer Series – where rising stars shine. Follow the action live at and on Instagram @u20sixnations.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Rangers 2-2 Club Brugge: Things can only get better at Ibrox as Russell Martin sets about building dream team
On a weekend when the headlines have been dominated by a certain band from the 90s making their long-awaited comeback, it was another song from the same era that felt more in keeping with events at Ibrox. Things Can Only Get Better by D:Ream, the song used by Tony Blair and Labour for their election win in 1997, became the mood music for Russell Martin's first day in office at Ibrox. Certainly, most supporters who headed along to this opening pre-season friendly against Club Brugge would have been left with a feeling that the only way is up from here. Rangers were booed off at half-time, by which point they were 2-0 down after Brugge had struck two early goals inside the opening quarter of an hour. There were aspects of the performance which were very raw and unpolished. As they head off to a training camp at St George's Park in England this week, Martin and his players clearly have a lot to work on. In all fairness, Rangers showed a significant improvement in the second half against a Brugge side who reached the last 16 of last season's Champions League. They should be encouraged by the way in which they were able to fight back, with second-half goals from Mohamed Diomande and young Findlay Curtis pegging the Belgian side back for a 2-2 draw. But with a Champions League qualifier against Panathinaikos now only a fortnight away, Martin is clearly still in the process of moulding this squad and getting his message across. On and off the pitch, there is still a lot of improvement required if Rangers are to give themselves the best chance of progressing against the Greeks. Teething problems were always to be expected given the huge turnover of players in the summer and the fundamental changes Martin wants to implement to Rangers' style of play. But, in the first half here, certain players retained from last season looked wholly out of sorts in Martin's new system. Chief among them was Robin Propper, whose lack of pace and mobility was evident last season even in a low-block system. So with Martin asking Rangers to push up and hold a high line near the halfway line? There is simply no way Propper can play at centre-back in this system. Not to mention the fact that his distribution is nowhere near good enough for Martin's possession-based style of play. The sooner Rangers can offload the 31-year-old Dutch centre-back and recoup some money for him, the better for all concerned. Propper was replaced at half-time by James Tavernier, who slotted in as the right-sided centre-back in the back four. That was one of five changes at the break as Martin looked to assess some of the options throughout the squad in various positions. Max Aarons was the only one of Rangers' five new summer signings who started the match, with Manny Fernandez coming off the bench on 60 minutes as Martin made another string of changes. Connor Barron captained the team, whilst Cyriel Dessers and Hamza Igamane did not feature amid transfer speculation linking them with moves away from Ibrox. Thelo Aasgaard, Lyall Cameron and Joe Rothwell, the three other new signings, were in the stands and were greeted by the crowd at half-time. They will need to be integrated into the squad sooner rather than later with a view to the Panathinaikos game. Rangers lost the opening goal after 10 minutes when Propper ventured forward with the ball and was dispossessed, allowing Brugge to break forward on the counter. From a Romeo Vermant cutback, Hugo Vetlesen saw his initial effort saved by Liam Kelly before he pounced to thump home the rebound. Just four minutes later, it was 2-0. After the ball had been headed out to the edge of the box, Ludovit Reis met it flush on the volley and sent it flying into the top corner. It was a magnificent finish and sections of the Ibrox crowd actually rose to applaud the quality of the strike from Reis. Although there was a decent enough crowd of almost 30,000 inside the stadium, you could have heard a pin drop as supporters came to terms with what they were watching. It could have been 3-0 had a shot from Christos Tzolis not come crashing back off the post. Rangers were rattled and hanging on. Just 50 days after last season had finished with a 2-2 draw at Hibs, it felt like the optimism for a fresh start under Martin was draining quickly as a smattering of boos echoed out at half-time. But credit to Rangers for turning it around after the break. They were much more cohesive in the way they pressed Brugge high up the pitch and won the ball in some good areas. On as a sub at half-time, Diomande curled a good finish low into the bottom corner on 51 minutes to start the comeback. Rangers were starting to get a lot more shots away on goal, with Diomande and Danilo both going close to an equaliser. The leveller came just two minutes before the end as Nedim Bajrami fed Curtis and the 18-year-old winger, who was the only player to play the full 90 minutes, slotted low into the far bottom corner. In the end, Rangers were decent value for the draw given the way they fought back in the second half. Against a Champions League team, they caused problems. But Martin will know that there is still much to be done if his team are to compete against the likes of Brugge on a more regular basis in the new season. Rangers (4-2-3-1): Kelly (Butland 46); Aarons (Hutton 60), Propper (Tavernier 46), King (Fernandez 60), Jefte (Ridvan 60); Barron (Rice 46), Raskin (Diomande 46); Cortes (McCausland 60), Dowell (Bajrami 46), Curtis; Danilo (Gentles 60).
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Australia boss Joe Schmidt admits Wallabies don't have 'real confidence' after struggling in last-gasp win over Fiji ahead of Lions series
There was not much for Joe Schmidt to shout about after his Wallabies salvaged a last-minute victory over Fiji in their one and only Test before they face the Lions. For large parts of the game, the Australians were outmuscled by their Pacific Island opponents, showing little to strike fear into Andy Farrell's camp. Even their poster boy midfielder Joseph Suaalii was kept under wraps. Australia's decision making was poor, gifting Fiji a half-time try when they could have kicked out the ball with the clock in red, and turning down kicks at goal to pull clear on the scoreboard. Asked if his team have shown enough to challenge the Lions, Schmidt said: 'I'm not a really confident sort of person. 'There's not real confidence but there's a quiet resolve. And that quiet resolve, hopefully over the three-match series can build to something. 'It's a great opportunity for us to bring the game back to the focus point that we'd love it to be in Australia. 'We didn't play well enough today for people to have expectation that we'll come bowling into Brisbane and knock the Lions over. 'I'm not sure that expectation was there before today, and so we're going to have to build that quiet resolve and inch by inch we can work our way towards that.' All of Schmidt's fingers will be crossed that big Will Skelton returns in time for the series opener in Brisbane because they looked in desperate need of his clout. They also face new injury concerns over hooker Dave Porecki and No 10 Noah Lolesio.
