The latest rugby news from Wales and around the world
These are your evening rugby headlines on Tuesday, June 30.
Wales sweat on LRZ
Wales are sweating on the fitness of Louis Rees-Zammit as doubts remain over where he will start for Wales this summer.
The Bristol Bears star didn’t take part in training on Tuesday, although attack coach Matt Sherratt moved to play down fears over his fitness on Tuesday afternoon.
“Only a niggle,” said Sherratt. “He’s available.”
Whether he is fit or not to start, it’s not clear where Rees-Zammit will line up against Fiji this Saturday.
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Following his return from the NFL at the start of the season, Rees-Zammit reverted to his favoured position of wing. However, the 25-year-old was shifted to full-back by club and country midway through the season – starting there throughout the Six Nations for Wales.
Towards the end of the season, Bristol moved him back to wing – begging questions where Wales would do the same – with Blair Murray starting there against the Barbarians when Rees-Zammit was unavailable.
“There’s competition there and they are very different,” said Sherratt. “Zam is still open-minded to play 15, sees himself as a wing who can play there.
“Josh Adams can play there, potentially Ellis Mee, and we’ve got Blair among a couple of others. It highlights the competition in that area, but that’s a good problem to have.”
Major competition set for overhaul
The Champions Cup will reportedly undergo a radical overhaul, with the pool-stage format that has been in place for 30 years set to be scrapped in favour of a 16-club knockout competition.
It is believed that an agreement will be reached on the new format – which will also see the number of clubs taking part cut from 24 – before the end of the year, although the finer details are still be to be agreed upon.
According to the Telegraph, proposals being considered include playing the opening round of 16 on a home-and-away basis, as well as holding two-leg quarter-finals.
The overhaul would see the tournament reduced from five to eight weekends, with five, rather than eight, clubs from each of PREM Rugby, Top 14 and the United Rugby Championship qualifying, alongside the winners of the Challenge Cup.
The Telegraph also reports that a third-tier competition is likely to be introduced below the Challenge Cup to make up for the reduction of the Champions Cup.
While the current participation agreement for the tournament runs until 2030, the restructure could come into force before then if all parties come to an agreement.
It comes after tournament organisers confirmed that changes have been made to the bonus points system and qualification criteria for the upcoming season.
The 2026/27 campaign will see try-scoring bonus points only awarded to teams who score at least three more tries than their opponents, rather than for simply scoring four or more tries.
In addition, while it was previously the case that the top four teams in each of the four pools of six progress, the 2026/27 campaign will see only three teams from each pool go through automatically. The remaining four spots will be allocated on the basis of the amount of table points collected across the pools, with wins the primary tie-breaker.
England star ready for Springbok challenge
By PA News Agency
Seb Atkinson is ready to leave his mark on a player who has influenced his own game when he collides with Damian de Allende in England’s clash with South Africa on Saturday.
Atkinson made his Gallagher Prem debut against Manu Tuilagi and then faced Springbok giant Andre Esterhuizen in his first league start, but at Ellis Park awaits arguably a tougher assignment than either of those midfield juggernauts.
De Allende has been a mainstay of South Africa’s successive World Cup triumphs and with 97 caps the 6’2”, 17 stone inside centre has the experience to match his physical prowess. Atkinson is also an imposing presence and the rising 23-year-old Gloucester star sees other common ground as well.
“The last few years I’ve been watching him and a couple of the other South African players play, particularly in my position,” Atkinson said. “I’ve played against Andre Esterhuizen in the Prem, so similar vibes.
“Damian de Allende’s a great ball carrier and he’s got the ability to ball play as well – so similar things to what I’ve been going after in my game for the last few years.
“I’m not going to try and copy him, but he’s a great centre and inspired me along my rugby journey to bring out some bits in my own game. It looks like he understands what he’s about really well and he’s always continuing to develop that, but also not trying to reinvent himself.
“Just him being unapologetically himself is probably something that’s got him as far as he has. Can you be you on the biggest stage? I try to do that personally and when you come up against these guys yes, they’re great players, but you also want to make sure that you’re being yourself.
“I’ve always viewed myself as a very balanced rugby player by trying to make the right decision at the right time.“If you are able to do that against the best players in the world, then that’ll only push it on even further. It will be exciting to test myself against the best on Saturday.”
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