Latest news with #Worsley
Wales Online
5 days ago
- Sport
- Wales Online
Tonight's rugby news as WRU told they have 'right man' for top job and new Wales call-up stirs excitement
Tonight's rugby news as WRU told they have 'right man' for top job and new Wales call-up stirs excitement The latest headlines from Wales and around the world WRU chief executive Abi Tierney with director of rugby and elite performance Dave Reddin (Image: Chris Fairweather/Huw Evans Agency ) These are your evening rugby headlines on Thursday, June 5. WRU told they have 'right man' in Reddin England great Joe Worsley is confident Dave Reddin is the right man to drag Welsh rugby out of the doldrums. The Welsh Rugby Union appointed Reddin as their new director of rugby and elite performance in April, and he is tasked with putting a plan in place to turn around the fortunes of a rugby nation which has lost a record 17 Test matches on the bounce at senior men's level and whose professional game is on its backside. Worsley worked with Reddin while playing for England and revealed his role as head of S&C played a pivotal part in Sir Clive Woodward's side winning the Rugby World Cup in 2003. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. "I think performance-wise he's the right man for Wales," Worsley told WalesOnline. "I worked with him for a lot of my career. "I got involved with England when I was 21 and he was already established. He was with me at U20s level and then he got brought quickly into the senior England squad. "He took us away in 1999 to this island near Brisbane where we stayed for a month. We trained professionally for the first time and the changes in peoples' body and athletic ability was staggering. Article continues below "I remember him shouting at me when I was 19 because I wasn't training hard enough. Even now I can see his face. That's when we came back and people realised in English clubs the difference it could make. It kick-started and revolutionised this S&C performance side of things which in 2003 was probably what won us the World Cup. "I remember some Welsh fans being impressed with what we achieved and the Wales team went down that road especially when Warren (Gatland) came in. There was a real emphasis on S&C, performance and physicality backed up by good fitness and strength. Dave was the guy who revolutionised that." Worsley is confident Reddin will drive the standards up in Welsh rugby and insists he is not a man who will shy away from making the big decisions. "What he will do is listen to the right people and take the right advice," said Worsley. "Dave is very headstrong. "He's worked in athletics, he's worked in football and he's worked in so many environments I'm sure he'll be able to replicate in Wales an environment where you are driving people forward. "He'll push people hard and while that may require some harsh words and tough decisions, if anyone is going to do it it's him." Hook 'excited' for Page's impact Former Wales fly-half James Hook says he is excited to see what youngster Macs Page can bring to the international stage after an impressive campaign for the Scarlets. The 20-year-old back, who has long been regarded as one of the next big things in Welsh rugby, featured 20 times for Dwayne Peel's side over the course of the season as they reached the URC play-offs. Now, Page's international aspirations have been realised with interim Wales head coach Matt Sherratt naming him in his squad for this summer's tour of Japan, as one of six uncapped players to make the cut. Reviewing the 2024/25 campaign on the Scrum V podcast, Hook hailed the impact of Page's team-mate Blair Murray, but also sang the youngster's praises as he looked ahead to the Japan tour. "No one [has been] quite as good as Blair Murray," said Hook. "The impact he has had for the Scarlets and internationally, he's been excellent hasn't he. "But I think probably close to him - and he probably hasn't played as much and obviously hasn't played internationally yet, but hopefully will in the summer in Japan - is Macs Page. "Some of his movements, he's one of those guys that you're almost thinking 'get this guy the ball, because he's going to create something', and more often than not he does," he added. "You look at some of his tries this season, that's a highlight reel for some players for their whole careers. So I'm really excited about what he can bring." Region star in line for Springboks debut Scarlets hooker Marnus van der Merwe is in line to win his first cap for South Africa this summer after being included in Rassie Erasmus' 54-strong squad for their upcoming international matches. The 28-year-old was included in a Springboks alignment camp last month after a hugely impressive first season in West Wales saw him included in the URC's team of the year, having helped Peel's side to the play-offs. Erasmus also brought 54 players into that alignment camp and has kept the same numbers in the squad ahead of a busy few months on the international stage, with van der Merwe one of nine uncapped players involved. The Springboks will face the Barbarians later this month, before their summer Tests against Italy and Georgia, the Rugby Championship and the autumn internationals. 'We were very pleased with the two Springbok alignment camps we hosted, and we are excited to have the luxury of announcing a squad with so much depth and talent,' said Erasmus as the squad was confirmed. 'Having an expanded squad will not only afford us the opportunity to have productive training sessions, but it will also bode well for the younger players in the group to learn from the senior players, many of whom are Rugby World Cup champions. 'We take pride in offering talented young players a chance to work first-hand with the coaches and to expose them to standards at international level, and we are excited to see them showcase their skills at the camp.' The hooker's call up comes just weeks after he admitted that winning an international cap was his goal, as he said: 'I think as a child, any South African watching the game, with the Springboks doing well, everyone wants to play for that team, just like people in Wales who grew up watching their team. 'So everyone wants to play for their nation. It's definitely a thing I am going for, but I focus on the next thing which is helping the Scarlets where I can. Then, through that, I hope the Springbok coaches can see what I bring and see that I have the talent to be there. 'My goal is to get into international rugby. Everyone hopes for that. I just go out and play the best I can every single day. Hopefully that's enough.' Wales 'at the start of the journey' Wales Women coach Sean Lynn says his side are "at the start of their journey" as they prepare for the Women's Rugby World Cup in England later this year. Earlier this week, the Swansea-born coach won the Director of Rugby Award at the Premiership Women's Rugby Awards, having led Gloucester-Hartpury to three successive league titles before starting the Wales job days before their Six Nations campaign. However, it was a brutal start to Lynn's new role as Wales finished with the wooden spoon for the second year in a row having not won a single game at the tournament. Even with the World Cup on the horizon, however, Lynn is not panicked by the immediate future and says that there is enough talent in the system to "build a team that everyone can be proud of". After accepting his PWR award, he said: "To get nominated, let alone win, an award like this is obviously a proud moment for myself and my family, but this is always about the players, coaches and staff. 'Without them sharing the same vision buying into the culture, coming together and putting the hard work in, none of what we achieved happens. I know that 'we' all came together to win three league titles. 'It took time, and it wasn't easy but the process and building something was a challenge but that is probably what all of us – players, coaches and staff – are must proud of. 'Being Wales head coach of the women's team is a role I always wanted to do and in so many ways it reminds me of how things started at Gloucester/Hartpury," Lynn added. "It was about building a team culture, creating that togetherness but challenging each other to represent each other and the people who support us. 'Wales is at the start of that journey, we know we have the talent in the pathway, Wales U18s, Wales U20s and in the Celtic Challenge and it's about building a team that everyone can be proud of.' WRU's head of women's rugby, Belinda Moore, said: 'Having known Sean from our respective time at PWR, it is no surprise he has won this award. His 'three-peat' of league titles is a huge achievement in rugby. 'Working alongside Sean is a pleasure and we have already seen his influence with Wales bringing some up and coming talent into the 'family'. The next few years promise to be an exciting time in Welsh women's rugby.' Meanwhile, WRU CEO Abi Tierney added: 'A huge congratulations to Sean and all he achieved across the bridge with Gloucester/Hartpury in building a team that has dominated English rugby but also the culture he built at the club. Article continues below 'This award underlines why we appointed Sean as Wales Women's head coach, and we look forward to providing him with the time and support to build the same culture and environment in Welsh rugby.'
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Victorian scam artist who duped an island
Hiding her true identity behind more than 40 aliases, con artist Annie Gordon Baillie made a living swindling shopkeepers across Victorian Britain. But in the 1880s, the Scottish fraudster took her criminal activities to a new level. She arrived on Skye during the Crofters' War, a violent clash between tenant farmers and landowners over land rights. Posing as an aristocratic novelist, she saw an opportunity to make a fortune - by convincing 1,000 islanders to relocate to a patch of Australian swamp. Annie's story is told in a new series of BBC Radio 4's Lady Swindlers with Lucy Worsley. The episode draws on newspaper articles, court reports and a book called The Adventures of a Victorian Con Woman: The Life and Crimes of Mrs Gordon Baillie by Mick Davis and David Lassman. Annie was born into poverty in Peterhead, a fishing port in Aberdeenshire, in February 1848. By her 20s, she was defrauding shopkeepers and running up credit for goods she had no intention of paying for. In the 1870s, Annie became more ambitious and set up a fake charity to establish a Protestant school for girls in Rome - a heartland of the Catholic faith. Donations poured in but the school was never built. "The law catches up with her briefly in 1872 and she spends nine months in prison for fraud," said historian Worsley. Following her release from prison, Annie had a whirlwind few years. She married an opera singer and the couple had three children. The family spent some time in New York. But in November 1884, she turned up on the Isle of Skye "wearing fancy clothes and jewels," according to Worsley. "She passes herself off as a wealthy literary lady, who is writing a novel about the plight of the crofters of Skye," she added. Skye, along with other west coast island communities, was in the grip of the Crofters' War. Waged throughout much of the 1800s, it was a dispute between landowners and communities of tenant farmers distressed by high rents, their lack of rights to land, and eviction threats to make way for large-scale farming operations. The process of moving families out of inland areas where they had raised cattle for generations to coastal fringes of large estates, or abroad to territories in Canada, had started with the Highland Clearances in the 18th and early 19th Centuries. Both the clearances and the Crofters' War were marked by violent clashes between people facing eviction and landowners and the authorities. One of the bloodiest incidents was the Battle of the Braes on Skye in 1882. After being attacked with stones by a crowd of men and women, about 50 police officers from Glasgow baton-charged the mob. The unrest spread to Glendale in Skye and in 1883 the frustrated authorities called for military intervention to help round up the ring-leaders. In early 1883, the iron-hulled Royal Navy gunboat Jackal appeared in Loch Pooltiel, off Glendale. Marines disembarked from the Jackal and landed at Glendale's Meanish Pier to help police in making arrests. Newspapers sent reporters to cover the dispute's twists and turns, so Annie was well versed on the "war", and any opportunity to benefit for it. Philanthropy was all the rage among wealthy Victorians, and Annie tapped into that. Posing as a "lady novelist", she told Skye's crofters she would fundraise for their cause. Annie did an interview on her "charity work" with the Aberdeen Evening News, turning up at a hotel in Portree in a striking crimson dressing gown and fingers adorned with jewelled rings. Scottish historical and crime writer Denise Mina said the disguise distracted people from what Annie was really up to. "She had a great eye for an emotive cause," Mina said. "Physically, how would I describe her? She's very pretty, very petite and always well turned out." But Mina added: "She is taking money from crofters who are just about to go to war because they have been run off their land and burned out of their homes. "She is going to raise money and leg it with the dosh. "It is quite spiteful what she is doing, but it is all wrapped up in this lady façade." More stories from the Highlands and Islands News from the Highlands and Islands on BBC Sounds Annie's scam took a bizarre turn when she suggested the islanders quit Skye and emigrate to Australia. She even travelled out to Australia to negotiate a deal for land as a new home. In Melbourne, she was shown an unwanted area of marshy ground. Annie said 1,000 crofters could relocate there, and give up farming and become fishermen instead. But Mina said: "The whole point is the crofters don't want to leave - that's the whole dispute." The deal collapsed and Annie returned to London where more trouble awaited her. Publicity around her scheme had caught the attention of a Scotland Yard detective - Det Insp Henry Marshall - who had long been on the trail of Annie and her shopkeeper frauds across London. She was arrested in 1888, leaving crofters on Skye still waiting for their "golden ticket" to a new life in Australia. Annie was later jailed for five years for swindling the shopkeepers. The money involved in the frauds was believed to be far less than the true amount of Annie's ill-gotten gains over the years. After her release, she was soon back in jail - this time for stealing paintings. Once released from prison, she emigrated to New York where in 1902 there is a record of her being placed in a workhouse as punishment for vagrancy. And then she vanishes without a trace. Lady Swindlers' in-house historian, Prof Rosalind Crone, said Annie's story exposed the "dark side" of charitable giving in Victorian times. "It wasn't always about helping the unfortunate or supporting worthwhile causes," she added. For crofters, the war led to a public inquiry and eventually legislation that protected their land rights - and hopefully any chance of ever being scammed by phoney lady novelists again. The fake heiress who was obsessed with Scotland Memorial to recall crofters' uprising
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Barabak: Is there a middle ground on immigration? This Republican thinks so
Bob Worsley has solid conservative credentials. He's anti abortion. A fiscal hawk and lifelong member of the Mormon Church. As an Arizona state senator, he won high marks from the National Rifle Assn. These days, however, Worsley is an oddity, an exception, a Republican pushing back against the animating impulses of today's MAGA-fied Republican Party. Here's how he speaks of immigrants — some of whom entered the United States illegally — and those who seek to demonize them. "We have people that are aristocratically living in another world," Worsley said. "Maybe they work for you, but you haven't really lived with them and understand they're not criminals. They are good people. They're family people. They're religious people. They are great Americans.... So I think that's a problem if you don't live with them and you're making policy." If that line of reasoning is too mawkish and bleeding-heart for your taste, Worsley makes a more pragmatic argument for a generous, welcoming immigration policy, one unsentimentally rooted in cold dollars and cents. "The Trump Organization needs workers, hospitality workers, construction workers," Worsley said. "The horse-breeding industry, the horse-racing industry, they need these people. The pig farmers, the chicken farmers." Read more: Trump's America: Views of the 47th president, from the ground up Worsley owns a Phoenix-based modular housing firm and is chairman of the American Business Immigration Coalition, an organization representing more than 1,700 chief executives and business owners nationwide. Their exceedingly ambitious goal: to find compromise and a middle ground on one of the most contentious and insoluble issues of recent decades — and to bring some balance to a Trump policy that is almost wholly punitive in its nature and intent. "We are employers ... and we don't have a workforce. We need this workforce," Worsley said. "And building a wall and stopping all immigration is not going to work, because the water will rise until it comes over." A serial entrepreneur before he entered politics, Worsley favor throwing the U.S.-Mexico border open to all comers. The "lines between countries" should mean something, he said. But now that America's borders have been practically sealed shut, fulfilling one of President Trump's major campaign promises, Worsley suggests it's past time to address another part of the immigration equation. "What we need is bigger portals, bigger legal openings to come through the border," Worsley said, likening it to the way a spillway releases pressure behind a dam. "We need a secure workforce as much as we need a secure border." The immigration issue was Worsley's impetus to enter politics. Or, more specifically, the scapegoating and vilification of immigrants that prefigured Trump and his "poisoning the blood of our country" Sturm und Drang. Worsley, whose ventures included founding the SkyMall catalog — a pre-Amazon everything store — was coaxed into running to thwart the return of former Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce, who was recalled by voters in part for his fiercely anti-immigrant lawmaking. (Worsley beat him in the 2012 GOP primary, then won the general election.) As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Worsley did his youth missionary work in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. "I developed a certain level of comfort and love for the people down there," Worsley said. Moreover, the experience colored his perspective on those impoverished souls who traverse borders in search of a better life. A person can't empathize "unless you've actually walked in their shoes, lived in their homes, eaten their food and socialized with them," Worsley said via Zoom from his home office in Salt Lake City. "And I think that's a problem." He left the Arizona Senate — and electoral politics — in 2019, vexed and frustrated by the rise of Trump and the anti-immigrant wave he rode to his first, improbable election to the White House. Read more: Barabak: In Arizona, relief along the border now that Trump is back in charge "It was really irritating because I had fought this in Arizona a decade before," Worsley said. "And so to have this kind of comeback on a national stage was incredibly frustrating." He moved part time to Utah, to be closer to his extended family. He wrote a book, "The Horseshoe Virus," about the immigration issue; the title suggested the convergence of the far left and far right in the country's long history of anti-immigrant movements. He became involved with the American Business Immigration Coalition, recruited by Mitt Romney, the GOP's 2012 presidential nominee, whom Worsley knew through politics and a mutual friendship with Arizona's late senator, John McCain. Worsley became the board's chairman in January. He's still no fan of Trump, though Worsley emphasized, "I am still a Republican and would vote for a Mitt Romney or John McCain kind of Republican." Read more: Trump administration investigates California's benefits to immigrants. Critics say its claims are misleading That said, now that the border is under much tighter control, Worsley hopes Trump will not just seek to round up and punish those in the country illegally but also focus on a larger fix to the nation's dysfunctional immigration system — something no president, Democrat or Republican, has accomplished in nearly 40 years. It was 1986 when Ronald Reagan signed sweeping legislation that offered amnesty to millions of long-term residents, expanded certain visa programs, cracked down on employers who hired illegal workers and promised to harden the border once and for all through stiffer enforcement — a pledge that, obviously, came to naught. "Once you've secured the border and you don't have caravans of people coming toward us, then you can address [the question of] what's the pragmatic solution so that this doesn't happen again?" Worsley asked. "We're hopeful that's where we're going next." It's long overdue. Get the latest from Mark Z. BarabakFocusing on politics out West, from the Golden Gate to the U.S. me up. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
13-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Is there a middle ground on immigration? This Republican thinks so
Bob Worsley has solid conservative credentials. He's anti abortion. A fiscal hawk and lifelong member of the Mormon Church. As an Arizona state senator, he won high marks from the National Rifle Assn. These days, however, Worsley is an oddity, an exception, a Republican pushing back against the animating impulses of today's MAGA-fied Republican Party. Here's how he speaks of immigrants — some of whom entered the United States illegally — and those who seek to demonize them. 'We have people that are aristocratically living in another world,' Worsley said. 'Maybe they work for you, but you haven't really lived with them and understand they're not criminals. They are good people. They're family people. They're religious people. They are great Americans.... So I think that's a problem if you don't live with them and you're making policy.' If that line of reasoning is too mawkish and bleeding-heart for your taste, Worsley makes a more pragmatic argument for a generous, welcoming immigration policy, one unsentimentally rooted in cold dollars and cents. 'The Trump Organization needs workers, hospitality workers, construction workers,' Worsley said. 'The horse-breeding industry, the horse-racing industry, they need these people. The pig farmers, the chicken farmers.' Worsley owns a Phoenix-based modular housing firm and is chairman of the American Business Immigration Coalition, an organization representing more than 1,700 chief executives and business owners nationwide. Their exceedingly ambitious goal: to find compromise and a middle ground on one of the most contentious and insoluble issues of recent decades — and to bring some balance to a Trump policy that is almost wholly punitive in its nature and intent. 'We are employers ... and we don't have a workforce. We need this workforce,' Worsley said. 'And building a wall and stopping all immigration is not going to work, because the water will rise until it comes over.' A serial entrepreneur before he entered politics, Worsley favor throwing the U.S.-Mexico border open to all comers. The 'lines between countries' should mean something, he said. But now that America's borders have been practically sealed shut, fulfilling one of President Trump's major campaign promises, Worsley suggests it's past time to address another part of the immigration equation. 'What we need is bigger portals, bigger legal openings to come through the border,' Worsley said, likening it to the way a spillway releases pressure behind a dam. 'We need a secure workforce as much as we need a secure border.' The immigration issue was Worsley's impetus to enter politics. Or, more specifically, the scapegoating and vilification of immigrants that prefigured Trump and his 'poisoning the blood of our country' Sturm und Drang. Worsley, whose ventures included founding the SkyMall catalog — a pre-Amazon everything store — was coaxed into running to thwart the return of former Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce, who was recalled by voters in part for his fiercely anti-immigrant lawmaking. (Worsley beat him in the 2012 GOP primary, then won the general election.) As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Worsley did his youth missionary work in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. 'I developed a certain level of comfort and love for the people down there,' Worsley said. Moreover, the experience colored his perspective on those impoverished souls who traverse borders in search of a better life. A person can't empathize 'unless you've actually walked in their shoes, lived in their homes, eaten their food and socialized with them,' Worsley said via Zoom from his home office in Salt Lake City. 'And I think that's a problem.' He left the Arizona Senate — and electoral politics — in 2019, vexed and frustrated by the rise of Trump and the anti-immigrant wave he rode to his first, improbable election to the White House. 'It was really irritating because I had fought this in Arizona a decade before,' Worsley said. 'And so to have this kind of comeback on a national stage was incredibly frustrating.' He moved part time to Utah, to be closer to his extended family. He wrote a book, 'The Horseshoe Virus,' about the immigration issue; the title suggested the convergence of the far left and far right in the country's long history of anti-immigrant movements. He became involved with the American Business Immigration Coalition, recruited by Mitt Romney, the GOP's 2012 presidential nominee, whom Worsley knew through politics and a mutual friendship with Arizona's late senator, John McCain. Worsley became the board's chairman in January. He's still no fan of Trump, though Worsley emphasized, 'I am still a Republican and would vote for a Mitt Romney or John McCain kind of Republican.' That said, now that the border is under much tighter control, Worsley hopes Trump will not just seek to round up and punish those in the country illegally but also focus on a larger fix to the nation's dysfunctional immigration system — something no president, Democrat or Republican, has accomplished in nearly 40 years. It was 1986 when Ronald Reagan signed sweeping legislation that offered amnesty to millions of long-term residents, expanded certain visa programs, cracked down on employers who hired illegal workers and promised to harden the border once and for all through stiffer enforcement — a pledge that, obviously, came to naught. 'Once you've secured the border and you don't have caravans of people coming toward us, then you can address [the question of] what's the pragmatic solution so that this doesn't happen again?' Worsley asked. 'We're hopeful that's where we're going next.' It's long overdue.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Joe Thompson's funeral hears he was 'beacon of hope'
Former footballer Joe Thompson has been described as a "beacon of hope" at his funeral, where hundreds of people gathered to pay their who died last month aged 36, twice recovered from cancer during his playing career, which included more than 150 appearances for Rochdale service at St Marks Church in Worsley, Greater Manchester was packed earlier as mourners, including family, fans and former players gathered in the sunshine to celebrate his Thompson read a message to the congregation from his late brother Joe, who said he was "a lover of life, not a victim". His family had invited everyone to attend the funeral, where screens had been erected to broadcast the service outside for those who could not get into the Aston Villa and Man United striker Dion Dublin and Rochdale co-chairman Simon Gauge were among those to Sam Chanda told the congregation "Joe was known for his incredible kindness... not only by his loved ones but [also by] strangers"."He was more than just an amazing footballer. He was a beacon of hope who always put those around him first." he Thompson's widow Chantelle said her late husband was her "soulmate... my rock... and my everything". "He was unbelievable with what he went through," former Manchester United academy product Danny Webber said of Joe Thompson."I was better for knowing him."Former Manchester City defender Keith Curle, who managed Joe at Carlisle United, said he was a "wonderful human being".White doves were released at the end of the service as Gabrielle's Dreams was 12-year-old daughter Thailula said her late father had been "such a great role model for me""What a life we have had together," she said. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
