Australia rugby legend carpets British & Irish Lions and gives them a new nickname
The outspoken rugby great has hit out at Andy Farrell's side with a withering attack
British and Irish Lions' Tadhg Beirne and Ellis Genge
(Image: PA Wire )
Outspoken Wallabies legend David Campese has launched a scathing attack on the British and Irish Lions, mocking the make-up of their squad and questioning head coach Andy Farrell's selections ahead of Saturday's clash with Western Force in Perth.
Speaking to talkSPOR, the outspoken former Australia winger criticised the number of players in the Lions squad with Southern Hemisphere heritage, dubbing the side the 'British and Irish and Pacific Island Lions'.
'It's hard when you've got four nations in one team,' Campese said.
'The Irish Lions – sorry, the British and Irish and Pacific Island Lions, I'm going to call them – because you've got so many Australian Islanders in there. It's going to be a very interesting game.'
Campese didn't stop there. He singled out Lions captain Maro Itoje, claiming the England lock 'fails to lead by example' and could prove a liability during the tour. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
The 1991 World Cup winner also cast doubt over Farrell's squad selections following their recent loss to Argentina and took aim at the state of the game in his homeland.
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'In Australian rugby, we haven't got any culture, no one cares, no one knows who we are,' he said.
'If you haven't got culture and history, you haven't got anything. Unfortunately, that's where we are in Australia.'
Campese also criticised current Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt, questioning his connection to the Australian game.
'We've got Joe Schmidt as our coach, who still doesn't know about our culture and history. Now he's got Les Kiss involved, who's a rugby league guy who went out and played and coached in Ireland,' he said.
'We've got to try and play a style of rugby that people want to watch. At the moment, it's a very, very up and down defensive game.'
It's not the first time Campese has had the Lions in his crosshairs over the last few days. After Farrell's side's opening defeat by Argentina in Dublin last week, the 62-year-old tore individual Lions apart in a withering assessment.
In a no-holds-barred column, Campese questioned the physicality, tactical nous and positional selections of Farrell's side, saying bluntly in his PlanetRugby column: 'If they perform like they did in Dublin during the Test series, they'll be toast Down Under.
"I'd go so far as to say they'll lose 3–0 unless they can fix a few things and fix them quickly.'
He also issued a stark warning that unless the Lions rediscover that fire, they will be blown away in Australia: 'Wearing the Lions shirt carries with it a weight of expectation. Those challenges were not met on Friday night.'
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The Lions begin their 2025 tour of Australia on Saturday against Western Force, with the first Test against the Wallabies taking place on July 19 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
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Business News Wales
2 hours ago
- Business News Wales
WRU Outlines Consultation on Future of Elite Rugby in Wales
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The wider rugby community will be encouraged to take part online, via the One Wales strategy website where they can get access, from 20th August, to review the full proposal as well as watch an exclusive interview with Abi Tierney and Dave Reddin as they talk through the consultation process and the proposed optimal system. From 1st September an online survey will open, allowing fans to share their views directly with the WRU. View The Future of Elite rugby in Wales Consultation document here.
Wales Online
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The key concerns put to WRU and the answers bosses gave on huge day
The key concerns put to WRU and the answers bosses gave on huge day A host of proposals that would change the face of Welsh rugby have been put forward - with a consultation period now beginning Picture shows left to right Richard Collier-Keywood, WRU Chairman, Dave Reddin, WRU Director of Rugby and Elite Performance and Abi Tierney, WRU Chief Executive (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd) The Welsh Rugby Union put forward their 'optimal system' of two teams on Wednesday for the future of the game in this country. In essence, it is a set of proposals going out to consultation, outlining radical change but stopping short of saying it is what will be happening. A reduction in professional clubs, an improved Super Rygbi Cymru and a shared training base for professional rugby in Wales - all on the cards. But crucially, no final decisions made just yet. As such, when Welsh Rugby Union independent chair Richard Collier-Keywood, chief executive Abi Tierney and director of rugby and elite performance Dave Reddin sat down with the media on Wednesday, there was little in the way of concrete material to get into - with everything delving into the world of hypotheticals. Over two decades from the last sweeping change to the domestic game, there was no David Moffett-figure barging into the room, dictating exactly what would happen. Funnily enough, one of the few answers that was absolute on Wednesday was that the WRU hasn't spoken to Moffett, who recently sidled back into Welsh rugby through his involvement with the Scarlets' new investors, House of Luxury. As the dust settles on the Union's 'optimal system' of two teams being confirmed officially, here's how the governing body responded to some of the key issues at hand and the concerns already raised by fans. How do we get to two? Collier-Keywood is adamant that the key question isn't around 'four, three or two', but rather a host of key decisions beyond the number of professional teams in Wales. Article continues below However, as much as they will want to focus on other things, the fact of the matter is that the 'four, three or two' question is what people will focus on. It's only natural when jobs are on the line. In terms of how we will get to two, there's no answer yet on that one. Instead, the focus from the WRU hierarchy is whether or not two will even be the final decision. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. "I think that the first step is to look at the model that we've proposed, and then depending on where we get to, we can start to really focus on locations and names and all those really important elements of it," said Reddin. "But we're going to go through that step by step and I don't want to pre-empt any of that at this stage. Instead, all we know is when the board will make their decision - with that coming at some point in October. "That's my commitment to this process," added Collier-Keywood. "We will corral the board and we'll spend whatever time we need to together listening to what's come out the consultation, listening to the exact new proposal on the back of the consultation information. I guess it then depends what they propose. "And the two model is probably a bit harder to implement than and you'll see when you look at the more detailed pack, we ask the exec to think about three things in considering the four or the three or the two type model. "One was high performance, the second was commercial and the third was the ease of implementation, the transition stuff. And so you'll see in there that, depending on which option it is, it could take us a while to get there. "Our desire is to get there as quickly as possible, because we obviously believe that a change is required for what should be. The purpose of the consultation is to find out the form of that change, and then we will implement with all speed possible to get to that final answer." When asked again directly which two teams they would 'condemn to death', Collier-Keywood added: "We don't know whether we're condemning two teams to death, three teams to death, no teams to death, or whether it's all four teams, and there'll be two new operations emerging from it. That's the purpose of the consultation." The reaction amid more upheaval - is a strike an option? Players have been been fed dribs and drabs in recent weeks, hearing conflicting things within Welsh rugby's rumour mill. For example, the Ospreys were told recently that two was a likely outcome, with some important people thought to favour Swansea as a location. Undoubtedly, other sides have heard other things. There are other models within the WRU's 90-page consultation document, including those featuring three professional men's teams in Wales. That's understood to be the Welsh Rugby Player Association's preferred option, although the union document insists the chances of success are stronger with two sides. As such, it's not unreasonable to question whether a player strike - given the loss of playing opportunities at stake - could be on the cards. "Of course we've spoken about that, we want to closely engage with the players," said Reddin. "We started last evening, we're going to run as many meetings as possible with the players so that they understand the perspective and the opportunity. "What I would hope and you know early indications are positive that people really want to listen and be engaged in what the great wealth system going forwards could look like. So we want to work really closely and communicate with them because of course a strike would be a disaster for everybody. "I've experienced that with England where I've been many years ago, it was not a good time and I don't think it would take our agenda forward but I think that the guys last night asked really intelligent questions, really engaged in the process. And I think they understand the big picture, so I hope that's really going to take us to a good place. "I understand it is tough. It's not the ideal timing, but I think we can't wait any longer. We need to move forward to what the future can look like." As for the reaction of fans, you don't need to search for too long to find overwhelming outrage over the suggesting of going down to two. In fairness, change is rarely welcomed in Welsh rugby - even if WRU bosses insist there is an appetite for it. "All the fans that I speak to, and I speak to a lot, agree that we need to do something radically different," said Tierney. "We have put a proposal out there to be shot at – please shoot at it, and shoot at it constructively, because I can't remember somebody yet who hasn't said we need to do something different or change." Heavier WRU influence - but ripping up the system for £7.8m-a-year? One of the facets that has already caused consternation amongst regional fans is the suggestion of heavy WRU influence within the professional clubs moving forward. The preferred choice for the Union would be to control the rugby side of matters, with private investors owning the club and taking the commercial profits. Tierney compared it to the New Zealand licence model, adding that talks with benefactors would take place to understand the "emotional connections that they want to maintain" How current benefactors would feel about not having any input in the rugby part of the business - given the WRU admitted in their 90-odd page plan that the professional clubs are currently, without external funding, not viable businesses given commercial and competition income covers around only 50 per cent of costs - remains to be seen. "We're in dialogue with existing team owners about this proposal and we expect them to input to it," added Collier-Keywood. "As I said before, we obviously want more control on the rugby side, so we're in dialogue with them. There's going to be a continuum on that matter. "We also, as many of you know, asked for expressions of interest in Cardiff and we had several, so there's also some other potential investors out there as well, which we are cognisant of. At the end of the day, we want an investable proposition. "We don't want to have to face the situation again where the clubs in Wales are struggling financially and one of the graphs (in the pack released by the WRU) is looking at our performance against the money we put in and it's quite clear that from 2019 onwards our performance has fallen off a cliff in terms of the men's elite game and you know that is the time when money was cut dramatically into Welsh rugby and we're still struggling to recover from that. "We will be releasing our financial results in a couple of weeks time. I hope you see there that we've turned the finances around in the WRU. We're now doing a lot better financially than we were compared to where we were two years ago and so we have some money to invest and this is a good time for us to go and consult how we want to invest that money collectively on behalf of large rugby." Whether that means there's enough money to invest properly in Welsh rugby remains to be seen. The WRU's 'optimal system' promises higher budgets and less of a reliance on private investors - but £7.8m-a-year is less than the Scarlets had the year after they won the Pro12 title back in 2017. And, while the WRU might say it compares well to English and French clubs (leagues with salary caps), it wouldn't make them the biggest-spenders in the United Rugby Championship. Two teams, but what competition? That brings us neatly onto the question in Welsh rugby. What league will four, three or two clubs be playing in a few years down the line? It's the go-to question, dominating the agenda for over a quarter of a century. But now, more than ever, it's very, very pertinent. If Welsh rugby is to make a system whereby private ownership only benefits from commercial profits, then it needs to play in a competition that brings those financial rewards. It's not a stretch to say that the Gallagher PREM offers that more than the United Rugby Championship, particularly given the latter's apparent stretch for American teams. Of course, the WRU's allegiances currently lie with the URC. The bizarre scenario of two WRU-funded - surviving, if you like - teams remaining in the URC, while the remaining two head over the bridge to find solace in England was put to Reddin, Tierney and Collier-Keywood. Perhaps surprisingly, it wasn't shot down immediately - even if Tierney eventually admitted that it was "getting way into the future of hypotheticals". She went on to suggest the idea two clubs that were no longer supported by WRU could play in the English Premiership franchise would be "very, very difficult," to make happen given the minimum standards and salary requirements. As for the prospect of the chosen clubs being offered up a way into an Anglo-Welsh league someway down the line, that was met with a straight bat from Reddin. "I think that we've got to think bigger picture longer term," he said. "In the short term that's not a viable option. "So I think what we're dealing with is what we've got at the moment. We've competed in the URC, that's our focus, we want to be winning the URC, that's the ambition." 'Unashamedly a radical decision' - a new 'national campus' Clearly the part Reddin is most excited about is the creation of a new shared 'national campus' which would house - should the optimal system be implemented - two professional men's clubs and the men's national team. "The campus is about creating a defensive moat for Welsh rugby," said Reddin. "It's about creating competitive advantage in the future. Quite how the campus would be funded or where it would even be built remains to be seen. Reddin has previous experience of a similar base with St George's Park at the Football Association. He admitted he had drawn a little from that, as well as other experiences from different sports around the world. However, this would be the first of its kind in rugby - with two professional teams and the national team training out of the same building - with initial plans showing six pitches, two indoor 4G pitches, shared facilities such as medical, S&C and catering spaces, and then environments solely for individual teams. "At its essence, the proposal is about how do we really supercharge collaboration and alignment? How do we really bring people together? "Because, as I said in the intro, for a small nation, with real proximity, we haven't done that very well. So we need to think about how do we do that differently. It hasn't worked well through an agreement. There's inherent frictions there. It hasn't worked well just by force of personalities. "What are we gonna do better and differently to any other nation if we believe we can out-compete them? Because performance is a dynamic environment. "All of our competitors, whether we are clubs or whether we are national teams, are not sitting on their hands doing nothing for the next five years. I think what we want us to what I want us to focus on is what advantages do we have in Wales and how do we supercharge those advantages." It is a radical part of the plan that Reddin admitted afterwards he was expecting pushback on. For him, clearly, the message to the public is to look past the perceived flaws and see the possible opportunities. Improving Super Rygbi Cymru If there is to be a reduction in the number of professional clubs, that will only serve to increase the reliance on Super Rygbi Cymru as a pathway. Reddin expressed his desire to grow the league in a similar way to the NPC in New Zealand or the Championship in England, with the WRU at pains to state that any cut in teams would open up added funding for the SRC. Collier-Keywood also believes that the league could offer a greater affinity for fans, should the number of sides at the top level be reduced. "I think there's obviously a danger that everyone is focused on the 'four, three or two' question but I would encourage you to look at a holistic change that's being proposed here," he said. "For example, we previously had a wider group of historic clubs that everyone would call 'the real clubs'. "Several times in this role, people have said to me the regions are not clubs in the same way. This proposal does include a significant investment into the SRC clubs to try and create that additional element of pathway that we've lacked in Wales that has really caused some difficulty in the past with bringing through elite players. Article continues below "We're trying to fix the whole system as opposed to just to focus on the 'four three or two' question."
Rhyl Journal
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Jack Draper's mixed doubles US Open run over with semi-final defeat
Draper and American Jessica Pegula went into the event, played for the first time in the week before the main tournament, as the top seeds and eased through to the last four on Tuesday, including beating Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz in the first round. In front of another packed crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday, this time under the roof on a soggy New York evening, Draper and Pegula looked poised for victory when they led 8-4 in a deciding tie-break against Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud, only to lose out 3-5 5-3 (10/8). Iga and Casper are headed to the finals! They win the last 6 points of the tiebreak to defeat Pegula/Draper!#USOpen — Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 21, 2025 Draper admitted he and Pegula had barely spoken to each other prior to forming a last-minute team after his previous intended partners Zheng Qinwen and Paula Badosa, both withdrew through injury. He was also apparently unaware of the American's prowess in doubles, and she was the key player in the opening set, while Draper and Pegula seemed to have taken a stranglehold on the match when they also led by a break in the second set. But Swiatek and Ruud came back into the contest, with Draper's lack of doubles experience evident, and the Polish-Norwegian duo finished the match by winning six points in a row. The radical change to the event with the aim of attracting the big-name players usually missing from grand slam doubles has been successful but controversial. Draper was playfully chided by Pegula after describing it as an 'exhibition' on Tuesday, but he had a different feeling in the semi-final. 'I think yesterday there was times where it felt a little bit more that way from our opponents,' said the British number one. 'Whereas tonight we were in the changing rooms, you're seeing Iga and Casper, they're fully dialled in. It was intense. We both wanted to win.' Pegula added: 'You can't go out there at 7pm on Ashe knowing you could play the final, and feel like you're just out there.' The fact that there's a full crowd tonight is a massive win, kudos to @usopen on the new format — Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) August 21, 2025 The really serious business for Draper begins on Sunday, though, when the singles tournament starts, with the 23-year-old bidding to follow up last year's achievement of reaching a more meaningful US Open semi-final. Getting some competitive points under his belt on the big stage could yet prove important, however, given Draper has not played a singles match since Wimbledon because of an arm injury. 'I enjoyed the competition,' he said. 'I loved it, playing alongside Jessica. I wasn't expecting probably to have as good of a time as I did. 'Honestly, I thought we played great. Tonight was a tough match. They were on good form. But just overall a really positive experience. Loved playing with you. Hope to do it again.' Victory and the heavily increased prize money of one million dollars (£743,000) went to the only established doubles team given entry, defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori. The Italian pair have made no secret of their desire to show that doubles prowess counts for more than star billing in this format and they claimed a 6-3 5-7 (10/6) victory over Swiatek and Ruud in the final.
