Ackermann, Harris & Clarke among Gloucester leavers
Ruan Ackermann, Freddie Clarke, Chris Harris, Zach Mercer, Albert Tuisue and Mayco Vivas are among 19 players who will be leaving Gloucester at the end of this season.Back-row Ackermann and lock Clarke have both surpassed 150 appearances for the Cherry and Whites, with Scotland and British and Irish Lions centre Harris scoring 26 tries in 106 matches so far.Fijian back-row Tuisue has started six out of 17 matches this season and has been at Gloucester since 2022, along with Argentina loose-head prop Vivas.Number eight Mercer, who signed in 2023 with the hope of returning to the England set-up, saw his season ended by a knee injury in November and has been linked with a return to a French club.Centre Louis Hillman-Cooper, prop Alfie Petch and hooker Morgan Nelson will also be leaving. Versatile Argentina back Santiago Carreras had already confirmed his move to Bath for 2025-26, fly-half Gareth Anscombe has signed for French Top 14 side Bayonne, scrum-half Charlie Chapman will move to Premiership rivals Exeter and winger Christian Wade is switching codes to rugby league to join Wigan Warriors.Academy players, Morgan Adderly-Jones, Ioan Jones, Gareth Blackmore, Rory Taylor, Matty Ward and Aristot Benz Salomon will also depart the club this summer.
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Telegraph
17 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Live England vs India, first Test: Score and latest updates from day four
10:38AM Listen: Sir Geoffrey Boycott's preview 10:38AM Thoran agogo Greetings from Headingley, where the sun is trying to poke through, but the heatwave is over. The weather generally is chillier, cloudier, and windier than the last week, and there was a decent dump of rain overnight. It means a first run-out for the sweater I packed for the trip. England won't mind that as they look to take eight Indian wickets sharpish. Pleasant evening for Team Telegraph last night, having some Keralan cuisine at Uyare, the new sister restaurant of Tharavadu, which has been a favourite of ours for years. Comes highly recommended! It was a bit quieter walking into the ground this morning. The first three days were sold out but the working week and the Bazballers are not good for day four ticket sales. Expecting to be around two-thirds full, but maybe we will get a few walk-ups. 10:33AM Good day to bowl Welcome to Leeds on a much cooler and cloudier morning , the stifling heat of the first two days a thing of the past. Good bowling day in other words, and plenty in the pitch for a spinner too by way of turn and uneven bounce. A draw very unlikely if no rain. 10:29AM Day four: What can England chase? Good morning and welcome to day four of the first Test between England and India which begins with the touring side 96 runs ahead with their captain, Shubman Gill, and most experienced top-order batsman, KL Rahul, at the crease with eight wickets left. After another sensational day of cricket in Leeds, truly the greatest ground for drama and knife-edge Tests, England cannily fought their way to near parity with some jaw-dropping counter-attacking and clever, relentless strike rotation. Those who see 'Bazball' as purely slogging ought to watch Chris Woakes' innings from yesterday. Shoaib Bashir has a vital role to play today. The cracks that caused three deliveries to take off alarmingly and fly for four byes on Sunday are too far outside the right-handers' off-stump to be used effectively but there was turn for Ravindra Jadeja and there ought to be plenty of rough on both sides given how many overs were bowled round the wicket on days one, two and three. Of course, on the principle of what's good for the goose Jadeja himself could make hay tomorrow from one end to back up the incomparable Jasprit Bumrah and given how poorly England have played spin on turning tracks on their last visits to Pakistan and India, their confidence in chasing 300 ought to be tempered. This side have shifted the historical parameters of possibility in fourth-innings chases over the past three years but there's no Jonny Bairstow here and Ben Stokes, back to bowling near his best, continues to look badly out of nick with the bat, as if he's over-thinking his approach. India are marginally favourites, 11/10 compared with England's 13/10 but it's a breezy, cloudy, cool day in Leeds and while the rain has stopped there were showers earlier this morning. Ideal conditions to bowl seam up.
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
British and Irish Lions warn Wallabies they must release players for tour games
The British and Irish Lions have warned Australia they will be in breach of contract if they fail to release their Test stars for all tour games involving Super Rugby teams. Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt has allowed Western Force players Nick Champion De Crespigny, Dylan Pietsch, Tom Robertson, Darcy Swain and Nic White to take part in Saturday's first match Down Under in Perth. However, all those from the Reds, Waratahs and Brumbies, including big names such as Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i and Rob Valetini, will not face the Lions until the Test series. Given Australia's lack of depth, Schmidt is keen to avoid picking up any injuries while their warm-up fixture against Fiji in Newcastle on 6 July, which takes place the day after the tourists meet the Waratahs, is another obstacle. However, Lions chief executive Ben Calveley has reminded the hosts of the terms of the tour contract, knowing Andy Farrell 's men want to play the toughest possible opposition to provide adequate preparation for the opening Test on 19 July. 'We'll see a competitive fixture at the weekend and that's what we're looking for. We want to make sure our guys are battle-hardened when it comes to the Test series,' Calveley said. 'The agreement is very clear – it says that Test players have to be released to play in fixtures leading into that series. That is our expectation. 'We'll play the game at the weekend and will carry on having discussions with (Rugby Australia chief executive) Phil Waugh and will take it step by step. 'It's really important that these games are competitive. It's not just from a performance standpoint but it's also right for the fans, partners and broadcasters, who are all expecting competitive fixtures. That would be their expectation as well.' Calveley declined to reveal what action the Lions could take if Schmidt will not be budged from his current policy, but it is clear the tourists hold all the aces given the vast revenue they generate for hosting countries. A sold-out Aviva Stadium turned red for Friday night's send-off in a display of commercial power from the elite of British and Irish rugby, who continue to be a huge draw. Argentina won an entertaining but scrappy game 28-24 and given they are positioned three places higher than the Wallabies in the global ranking in fifth, they could be viewed as a more credible tour destination than Australia. There are also calls for France to be added to the current rotation that is completed by South Africa and New Zealand. For now, however, fixtures against other nations will be bolt-ons to existing destinations rather than stand-alone tours. 'There are different teams around the world that we might be interested in playing against in future. Traditionally that's been consigned to a pre-tour element – Dublin, Murrayfield – so we'll probably focus on that,' Calveley said. 'We're also interested when we go away on tour to see if we can bring in other countries like Japan and Fiji to feature in those games as we build up to the Test element. 'We're open and we're flexible, but right now there are no plans to change the rotation of the tour structure.' Calveley was speaking at a 'Welcome to Country' ceremony, a 20-minute First Nations cultural experience held in in Perth's Kings Park.
The Guardian
30 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ibrahima Konaté disappointed with Liverpool contract offer as talks stall
Ibrahima Konaté is stalling on signing a new deal at Liverpool, raising fears at the club that another key player could run down his contract after this summer's departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold. The French defender enters the final year of his deal next month and is understood to have rejected Liverpool's initial offer of an extension. Konaté's contract talks were delayed by Liverpool's focus on negotiating with Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk last season, with both signing new two-year deals in April before re-signing the Dutchman's defensive partner became the club's priority. The 26-year-old is understood to be disappointed by the structure of Liverpool's offer, with his representatives believed to be pushing for a higher basic wage after the offer was heavily based on meeting certain performance targets. Failure to agree a new contract with Konaté before the end of the summer would leave Liverpool with a dilemma given the furore over Alexander-Arnold's move to Real Madrid. Although Liverpool eventually banked £10m for Alexander-Arnold because of Madrid's determination to sign him in time to play at the Club World Cup that fee is a fraction of his value. Andy Robertson is also about to enter the final 12 months of his contract, with Liverpool willing to sell him to Atlético Madrid if the left-back wants to leave. The goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher joined Brentford in an £18m deal this month with one year left on his contract. Liverpool plan to revive discussions with Konaté later in the summer but are adamant they will not be forced into overpaying. After a busy start to the transfer window during which Liverpool have done deals worth a combined £145.5m for Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong, Arne Slot's central defensive options are the one remaining area of uncertainty. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Football Daily Free daily newsletter Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion Jarell Quansah is on the verge of completing a £35m move to Bayer Leverkusen, and Liverpool are monitoring Marc Guéhi's situation at Crystal Palace, with Newcastle and Tottenham also interested in the England international. As the Guardian reported, the 24-year-old has made clear he will not sign a new contract at Selhurst Park, and with 12 months left he is eager to secure a move to a club that can offer guaranteed playing time before next summer's World Cup.
