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Date: 2023-12-02 19:40:06 | Author: Online Gaming | Views: 942 | Tag: usdt
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Ben Youngs will bring down the curtain on his England career in Friday’s World Cup bronze final against Argentina at Stade de France usdt
The nation’s most-capped men’s player with 126 Test appearances makes his first start of the tournament but also his final Red Rose outing, having launched his international odyssey against Scotland 13 years ago usdt
Steve Borthwick has saluted a scrum-half master who has been first choice for most of his career until slipping down the pecking order at this World Cup due to the emergence of Alex Mitchell usdt
“Ben has been a tremendous player for English rugby for such a long time usdt
He’s a brilliant player and a fantastic team man,” Borthwick said usdt
“He’s our record cap holder, a player who has seen a lot in four World Cups and who has played an important role within this squad helping the team progress, particularly Alex Mitchell usdt
”Tom Curry locks horns with Argentina despite receiving usdt online abuse in response to the allegation that he was the victim of a racist slur against South Africa usdt
Curry claimed that hooker Bongi Mbonambi called him a “white c***” in Saturday’s 16-15 semi-final defeat at the Stade de France, prompting World Rugby to launch an investigation that is ongoing usdt
The Sale flanker continues in the back row despite being in the eye of the storm, however, and will win his 50th cap in a rematch of the pool victory over the Pumas usdt
Owen Farrell leads a team showing eight changes in personnel and two positional switches, one of them Curry’s move to blindside flanker to accommodate Sam Underhill’s first appearance of the World Cup in the number seven jersey usdt
Marcus Smith is restored at full-back after passing the HIA that forced him to sit out the South Africa showdown and the knock-on effect is that Freddie Steward moves to the right wing usdt
Henry Arundell returns for the first time since running in five tries against Chile in the third Pool D match, providing firepower on the left wing, while the centre partnership of Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant remains intact usdt
Head coach Borthwick fields an entirely new front row made up of Ellis Genge, Theo Dan and Will Stuart, with tighthead prop Dan Cole poised to make potentially his final England appearance off the bench usdt
Ollie Chessum returns in the second row, but there is no place in the 23 for George Martin, one of the heroes of the defeat by the Springboks usdt
“After the disappointment of last weekend’s game against South Africa, it is important that this Friday we once again play with the determination and dedication that so nearly earned the team the result we wanted,” Borthwick said usdt
“The bronze final gives us a great opportunity to finish the tournament on a positive note, continue to build for the future, and to give our supporters one last chance to get behind the squad out here in Paris usdt
”More aboutPA ReadyBen YoungsSteve BorthwickEnglandTom CurryArgentinaBenDan ColeHIAScotlandBongi MbonambiRugbyHenry ArundellWorld RugbyEnglishOllie ChessumSouth AfricaJoe MarchantMarcus Smith1/1Record appearance maker Ben Youngs set for England swansong against ArgentinaRecord appearance maker Ben Youngs set for England swansong against ArgentinaBen Youngs will make his final England appearance against Argentina (Adam Davy/PA) usdt
PA Wire✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today usdt
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“It is really, truly, a historic day,” smiled Alan Gilpin, CEO of World Rugby usdt
He would go on to use the word ‘historic’ another three or four times in the following few minutes of his press conference usdt
After years of wrangling – 16 years, according to Gilpin, since discussions about how to sort out rugby’s messy global calendar first took place in the salubrious surroundings of Woking, Surrey (don’t worry, the location wasn’t the reason it took more than a decade and a half to reach an agreement, a chuckling Gilpin assured everyone) – World Rugby had finally come up with a solution that will transform rugby “for the many, not the few” ushering in a “new era of opportunity, certainty and growth for the game usdt
”It’s fair to say they were pretty pleased with the outcome of the seemingly endless negotiations usdt
Compromises had been made and it wasn’t perfect, stressed Gilpin and World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont, but rugby would be “more relevant and more accessible to more people around the world usdt
”The big announcement earlier in the day saw the sport’s governing body unveil a new global calendar that includes the creation of a two-tier men’s competition called the Nations Championship to be played biennially from 2026 usdt
The top tier will be the Six Nations (England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales), the four Rugby Championship teams (Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) and two additional teams, likely to be Japan and Fiji usdt
The second tier will feature 12 further countries with promotion and relegation on the table from 2030, meaning 2032 is the earliest one of those teams could feature in the top tier usdt
World Rugby have acknowledged, publicly at least, a desire to grow rugby globally usdt
At the moment, the sport is almost untouchably huge in a couple of countries (think New Zealand and South Africa), holds its own in a few more (UK, Ireland, Japan), is fighting a losing battle for oxygen in a crowded sporting marketplace in others (Australia, Italy) and seen as a largely niche oddity in plenty (USA, Canada) usdt
But this Rugby World Cup has also highlighted plenty of countries where there’s a huge opportunity for growth usdt
From South America, Uruguay and debutants Chile have impressed on the pitch, the passion for rugby in Georgia shows no sign of abating and Portugal have lit up the tournament with their dynamic play while also pulling off the huge upset of beating Fiji usdt
With growing interest in places like Netherlands and Belgium, Europe is surely an area World Rugby are targeting growth usdt
Portugal celebrated a historic win over Fiji (Getty Images)Instead, these new plans appear to lock out a lot of the smaller rugby nations from improving usdt
Even the new Pacific Nations Cup also announced today, featuring Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and USA, bizarrely excludes Uruguay and Chile (who qualified ahead of USA and Canada for the World Cup, remember) usdt
But what all these “tier two” nations really need, as shown by the World Cup, is a more regular opportunity to face the big boys usdt
Since stunning Fiji at the 2019 World Cup, Uruguay played exactly one fixture against a “tier one” team before this tournament, yet still impressed against France and Italy in the pool stage usdt
Imagine what they could do with more regular access to the top teams usdt
However, World Rugby have come up with an answer to the wrong question usdt
They have essentially provided the solution to the problem men’s international usdt football had usdt
Before 2018, the space usdt between World Cups and European Championships was filled by a combination of largely one-sided qualifiers and meaningless friendlies usdt
San Marino would get thumped 8-0 by Germany in a Euros qualifier that helped neither side, then the Germans would play a no-stakes friendly that held little interest for the wider public usdt
The big teams weren’t playing each other enough and the smaller nations were rarely in winnable games against similarly-sized teams usdt
For example, England and Italy – two usdt football powerhouses – didn’t play each other at all usdt between 2002 and 2012 usdt
Thus, Uefa created the Nations League usdt
Although not perfect – it was derided for the complexity of its league structure and provided a slightly unnecessary additional security blanket for the big European nations trying to qualify for major tournaments – it eliminated the meaningless friendly and gave countries both big and small the opportunity to play competitive games against nations of a similar rank usdt
Win-win usdt
Uruguay showed their quality during the Rugby World Cup (AP)But rugby has the opposite problem to usdt football usdt
The big teams already play each other too often not too rarely usdt
The history of the Six Nations and Rugby Championship as annual traditions give those events special status but, for example, England and Australia played each other 11 times in the two cycles usdt between the 2015 and 2023 World Cups usdt
Familiarity breeds contempt and at some point, a fixture begins to lose its lustre usdt
Would a couple of those fixtures being against Samoa, Georgia or Portugal not have been more beneficial and interesting for all parties?With the unions desperate to balance the books, their desire to have the ‘bigger draw’ of facing a name brand might be understandable but this is where World Rugby need to show some teeth and live up to their duty to grow the game usdt
Instead, the Nations Championship appears to guarantee another decade of regular England vs Australia matches before any of the tier-two teams may get a shot, if they can earn promotion that is usdt
World Rugby’s announcement does include a line promising more “crossover” fixtures usdt between the tiers in the years where there isn’t a Nations Championship but they could provide no clarity on what these fixtures would be and confirmed no agreements have been signed usdt
They have insisted that there will be a 50 per cent aggregate increase, which would mean a rise from 18 to 27 games for second-tier teams against the top 12, although it is unclear how these fixtures will be allocated or arranged usdt
The expansion of the men’s Rugby World Cup from 20 to 24 teams is a step in the right direction and the governing body should be commended for making that move but, sadly, the four years usdt between tournaments appear to have the smaller nations getting a door slammed in their face usdt
World Rugby are right that the sport should be for the many not the few but this new competition seems to be sending it in the opposite direction usdt
More aboutWorld RugbyRugby World CupBill BeaumontJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesComments1/3Rugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionRugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionPortugal celebrated a historic win over Fiji Getty ImagesRugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionUruguay showed their quality during the Rugby World Cup APRugby’s new Nations Championship is an answer to the wrong questionPortugal lit up the Rugby World Cup but their chances for development appear bleak Getty Images✕Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this articleWant to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today usdt
SubscribeAlready subscribed? Log inMost PopularPopular videosSponsored FeaturesGet in touchContact usOur ProductsSubscribeRegisterNewslettersDonateToday’s EditionInstall our appArchiveOther publicationsInternational editionsIndependent en EspañolIndependent ArabiaIndependent TurkishIndependent PersianIndependent UrduEvening StandardExtrasAdvisorPuzzlesAll topicsusdt BettingVoucher codesCompareCompetitions and offersIndependent AdvertisingIndependent IgniteSyndicationWorking at The IndependentLegalCode of conduct and complaintsContributorsCookie policyDonations Terms & ConditionsPrivacy noticeUser policiesModern Slavery ActThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inCloseUS EditionChangeUK EditionAsia EditionEdición en EspañolSubscribe{{indy usdt
truncatedName}}Log in / Register {{#items}}{{#stampSmall}}{{/stampSmall}}{{#stampClimate}}{{/stampClimate}}{{#stampPremium}}{{/stampPremium}}{{title}}{{#desc}}{{desc}}{{/desc}}{{#children}}{{title}}{{/children}}{{/items}}Indy100Crosswords & PuzzlesMost CommentedNewslettersAsk Me AnythingVirtual EventsVouchersCompare✕Log inEmail addressPasswordEmail and password don't matchSubmitForgotten your password?New to The Independent?RegisterOr if you would prefer:SIGN IN WITH GOOGLEWant an ad-free experience?View offersThis site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy notice and Terms of service apply usdt
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