Edinburgh 17-18 Sharks: Have your say
Makazole Mapimpi's last-gasp try for the Sharks broke Edinburgh's hearts and dented their hopes of qualifying for the United Rugby Championship play-offs.Were you encouraged by Edinburgh's performance? Or are you concerned the late defeat could dent this team's confidence for the run in?Have your say here
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Could McInnes arrival convince Shankland to stay at Hearts?
Could Lawrence Shankland's history with new Hearts head coach Derek McInnes be key in convincing the striker to stay at the club?Reports in recent days suggest English Championship side West Brom are keen on the Scotland forward, who is currently set to be a free agent this former Tynecastle boss Steven Naismith believes McInnes' arrival means "there is more optimism" Shankland will remain in managed Shankland during his team as Aberdeen manager, but the striker struggled to become a first-team regular during his time at Pittodrie."Like any player, there are more options when you're out of contract," Naismith, who was Hearts boss during Shankland's free-scoring 2023-24 season, said on BBC Sportsound."It gives you a chance to sit and think what's best for you at this stage in your career, but he'll want it sorted before pre-season starts."He's a goal scorer, they are hard to come by. West Brom are linked with him. But with McInnes coming in and having a relationship with him, I think there's more optimism he could stay with Hearts."Hearts fans, how do you feel about the Shankland situation? Will he stay or will he go? Send us your thoughts.
Wales Online
6 hours ago
- Wales Online
Lions set to be without 16 players as England star called into squad
Lions set to be without 16 players as England star called into squad The British & Irish Lions will be without 16 players for their first training camp Andy Farrell, the British & Irish Lions head coach (Image:) The British & Irish Lions will be without 16 players from Andy Farrell's 38-man squad for this week's training camp in Portugal. Farrell has called up experienced England hooker Jamie George as cover for Ireland pair Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher who will both be involved in next Saturday's United Rugby Championship final between Leinster and the Bulls in Dublin. The Lions boss selected his original squad with full knowledge he would be without a significant chunk of players for the Portugal training camp and the warm-up clash with Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on June 20. Both the Gallagher Premiership and URC finals take place next weekend, while the French Top 14 takes place on June 28. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. Leinster are providing a remarkable 12 players to the tour, while Scotland playmaker Finn Russell and England tighthead Will Stuart play for Bath and second-row Ollie Chessum is at Leicester Tigers. As far as the Top 14 goes it only affects Scotland full-back Blair Kinghorn who plays for Toulouse which isn't ideal considering Hugo Keenan will also be unavailable for the trip to Portugal. Article continues below This scenario has been commonplace in the professional era with Warren Gatland without 12 players for the training camp in Jersey ahead of the tour of South Africa four years ago. Join WalesOnline Rugby's WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free Farrell's decision to call Jamie George into the training squad has come at the expense of Wales hooker Dewi Lake who was heavily touted to tour for months. Along with a shortage of hookers, Farrell will also be low on second-rows with Chessum, along with Leinster duo Mick McCarthy and James Ryan, unavailable. With no Russell for now England duo Fin Smith and Marcus Smith could be in line to figure against Argentina. Wales pair Tomos Williams and Jac Morgan will attend the Portugal training camp and have a great opportunity to hit the ground running ahead of the Lions' clash with the Pumas in Dublin. With Jamison Gibson-Park and Josh van der Flier out, both Williams and Morgan will have a head start on the Leinster duo. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here. Lions players missing due to final involvement Ronan Kelleher (Leinster) Dan Sheehan (Leinster) Andrew Porter (Leinster) Tadhg Furlong (Leinster) Will Stuart (Bath) Ollie Chessum (Leicester) Joe McCarthy (Leinster) James Ryan (Leinster) Jack Conan (Leinster) Josh van der Flier (Leinster) Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster) Finn Russell (Bath) Garry Ringrose (Leinster) Hugo Keenan (Leinster) Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse) Article continues below James Lowe (Leinster)
Wales Online
13 hours ago
- Wales Online
Today's rugby news as Wales boss candidate leaves future hanging and Lions tipped to make camp call-up
Today's rugby news as Wales boss candidate leaves future hanging and Lions tipped to make camp call-up Here are the rugby stories making morning headlines on Sunday, June 8. Franco Smith, head coach of Glasgow Warriors (Image:) Here are your rugby morning headlines for Sunday, June 8. Lions tipped to make call-up ahead of training camp The British and Irish Lions have been tipped to call up Ireland prop Finlay Bealham ahead of this week's training camp in Portugal. Andy Farrell's squad head off for a warm-weather training camp ahead of their tour opener against Argentina in Dublin on June 20. It's previously been reported that Farrell had plans to bring in reinforcements ahead of the Argentina match, given the number of players that could be involved in domestic finals. And the Irish Independent report that Connacht's Bealham seems likely to get the nod from Farrell - with none of his tightheads currently available. Fears are growing over Tadhg Furlong, while Zander Fagerson would not have been fit for next week's United Rugby Championship final even if Glasgow had beaten Leinster in the semi-final. Article continues below As for Will Stuart, he'll be playing for Bath in next weekend's Gallagher Premiership final. The Lions are expected to confirm a travelling party for the Portugal camp in the coming days. Wales coach contender offers no guarantees over future Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith offered no guarantees that he would remain at Scotstoun after the club's URC title defence was comprehensively ended by Leinster. Smith has been linked with the vacant Wales head coach role, while he's also been tipped as a potential successor for Scotland boss Gregor Townsend. There's no indication that Scotland will part company with Townsend, although his current contract runs out next year. However, the Wales head coach search is understood to be getting closer to finding the ideal candidate - leading to the question over Smith's future. "I'm looking forward to reflect a little bit," he told BBC Scotland. "I think it's 44 weeks we've been at it, there's only 52 weeks in the year, so it's a full year's work. "If you defend the title you have to be on top of your game in all of it, so it will be important for me now to go and reflect a little bit, and take a bit of downtime, and hopefully see what's going to come next." Cheika not celebrating yet ahead of Twickenham farewell By Duncan Bech, PA Rugby Union Correspondent Michael Cheika refused to celebrate Leicester's 21-16 play-off success against Sale after declaring he would only be satisfied with victory in next Saturday's Gallagher Premiership final. The Tigers will face Bath in the showpiece at Allianz Stadium after two stunning finishes by wing Adam Radwan and a dynamic try by replacement Izaia Perese were enough to edge Sale. There were jubilant scenes upon the final whistle at Mattiolli Woods Welford Road with a number of players, including club stalwarts Dan Cole and Ben Youngs, making their final home appearances, but for Cheika the hard work begins now. 'This is not an achievement for me – winning it (the Premiership) is the achievement,' said Cheika, the former Australia and Argentina head coach, who will take charge of Leicester for the final time at Twickenham. 'I don't want to be a sad sack, but I can't leave any room for complacency around how well we've done to make it. 'I've been doing this for too long. You get to a World Cup final, you think about how good that is and then when you lose, it's the worst feeling you'll ever have. 'I want to make sure that I leave no room in my own personal performance to allow anything to derail our preparation.' Radwan provided the highlights of a hard-fought clash in the East Midlands with two brilliant tries, the first seeing him wrong foot the Sharks defence and the second made possible by athletically catching an overhit Handre Pollard chip. Referencing the second try, Cheika said: 'Adam grew about a foot, I reckon. A foot and a half! He's not the tallest of fellas, Adam, but he got there. 'He runs at an excellent clip. He's fast and he's got a great sense of ball skills like timing and footwork and balance. And he was brave enough to do it. 'You've got to be brave to go and do that stuff and if you don't try it, you never know if it'll happen or not. I'm not going to rap him up too much, but it was a good try. 'Pollard had the courage to make the kick and then Adam had the courage to do that extra little bit to go and get it.' Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson admitted Leicester deserved their chance to succeed Northampton as champions. 'The result is crushing. The season crashes to a very abrupt end. I don't think we deserved to get to a final on that performance,' Sanderson said. 'Leicester played their game very well and deserved to win by a few more if I'm honest. In the first half, no facet of our game was ticking. Article continues below 'Fair play to Leicester, they are a really well-coached team and they showed they had the minerals to get to the final.'
