Month: August 2023

The Wallaroos are well aware of the importance of their final pool game against Wales in Whangarei.Last week's win over Scotland has all but secured their place in the quarter-finals, however, their path in the knockout stages is heavily reliant on the result of Saturday's clash.Victory will secure a top-two finish in Pool A and see them face either the lowest-ranked group winner (Canada/England) or a fellow second-place finisher (France/USA/Italy), as well as earning an extra day off and a trip back to Auckland.A loss and they need results to go their way, although it would likely require outsiders such as either Scotland defeating New Zealand or Fiji overcoming France to end their World Cup dreams. It will also likely set up a battle with the Black Ferns, world number one England or Canada.Therefore, there is plenty on the line for the Wallaroos, who are continuing the 'whatever it takes' mantra that became a reality in the final moments of last week's thriller.“I think for us there’s a lot on the line this weekend," captain Shannon Parry told reporters."For us, we’ve prepared really well but there’s no bigger occasion to get up for at a Rugby World Cup but the squad’s in really good shape and we’re really looking forward to the contest on Saturday.”Wallaroos coach Jay Tregonning has switched up his team in a quest to shut down an imposing Welsh pack.Brumbies skipper Michaela Leonard comes in for Sera Naiqama to strengthen the lineout whilst player of the match Eva Karpani reverts back to the bench in favour of Bridie O'Gorman's scrum prowess.Shutting down the rolling maul remains critical, the source of Scotland's points from the weekend.Whilst the two tries were a concern, Tregonning hinted at illegal tactics used by the Scots to gain ascendancy, embracing the set-piece battle with a Welsh side that won five scrum penalties against the Black Ferns.“It’s an area we focused on against the Black Ferns. I raised a few concerns with the match officials about the way Scotland’s maul was set-up and again it was hard to defend. We got confirmation during the week the facts we raised were some of the reasons they got over the top of us," he believes.“You look at the penalty try, Eva (Karpani) slips over a little bit and they got on top of us. It’s one of those things that happens and unfortunately, it was Adi’s (Talakai) first yellow card was a result of a few team penalties.“Whatever it takes is still there. But we’re focusing on earning the right with everything we did this week. The training we’re putting in, we’re making sure we’re not leaving any stone unturned to earn the right to go back-to-back for the first time this year and to make the quarterfinals.”The Wallaroos are riding the momentum from the close victory after breaking a seven-game losing streak, believing they are better equipt to deal with the blustery Whangarei conditions.“I think the way we finished the game provides an enormous amount of confidence," Tregonning added. "Coming from behind, grinding out the win, Lori kicking a few goals under pressure – it was all outstanding and that’s great for everyone’s confidence. "We’ve shown that we can do it and hopefully it’s not that close for my health this weekend but if it is we have confidence in the girls to be able to bring it home.“We probably were a little underprepared for the wind to be honest last week, so it’s definitely something that’s been on the agenda from a training point of view and something we’re touching on today so.”Click Here: striped gaa shirt

Ligue 1 domestic broadcaster Amazon Prime have released a video offering fans a rare behind-the-scenes insight into refereeing, as the official for Saint-Étienne’s match against Monaco, Bastien Dechepy, was mic’d up throughout the game.

The video follows Dechepy thoughout a tense fixture as we hear his reasoning for some of the key decisions, in particular when he temporarily suspended the game due to fireworks being thrown by the home fans.

On several early incidents, such as a foul from ASSE defender Gabriel Silva, we see Dechepy calmly assert his authority all the while clearly and respectfully explaining the situation to the offending player.

The official constantly liaises with VAR referee Mikaël Lesage, notably regarding fouls in real time or on goal celebrations.

After Wissam Ben Yedder’s opening goal, Les Verts winger Denis Bouanga approaches him:

DB “Can I speak to you?”

BD “Yes of course!”

DB “On the free kick over there, there was a handball.”

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BD “I agree with you that there was a hand, but his arm is like this [by his side], it’s accidental and there’s no movement. His arm is by his side, it’s a completely natural [position].”

Late in the first half, Dechepy speaks to Saint-Étienne midfielder Lucas Gourna-Douath on a pair of fouls he commits – “Mr. Gourna, 70m away from your goal that can be a silly card to pick up. Be smart, I’m counting on you.”

For the penalty decision in the home side’s favour, the referee immediately points to the spot after Tchouaméni’s foul on Camara. He tells his VAR team, “for me, he didn’t just get the ball”, while waving away the protesting Monaco players (“I’m speaking to my colleagues”). The VAR referees inform him that they are looking for a clear angle, before confirming Dechepy’s decision.

Before Khazri’s penalty, he tells the Tunisian to not pause at the end of his run up, and waves away Alexander Nübel, telling the goalkeeper, in English, to get on his line.

After a heated exchange with Khazri after giving the midfielder a yellow card – “If you speak to me like that I can’t explain it to you” – he interrupts the game just before half-time due to the fireworks from Saint-Étienne fans. After a Ben Yedder foul, Wahbi Khazri again confronts him, this time asking why the striker was not given a yelllow card as he was. The referee takes him to one side and sternly tells him to “stop running after me”, and that “I want to keep you on the pitch until the end of the game, can I count on you?”.

On 67 minutes, the match is again interrupted by the home fans’ flares and fireworks, after which the referee sends the players back into the changing room, explaining to the players that the supporters had already been given a warning – “If something like that hits you on the head, it can be dangerous”.

Dechepy then announces to the press, after a meeting with league officials and local authorities, that the decision is to resume the game. After Myron Boadu scored Monaco’s 4th after the restart, he tells his team to keep an eye on the crowd’s reaction, with the Saint-Étienne fans particularly irritated with their team at that point.

The video is the latest in Amazon’s push to have all Ligue 1 referees equipped with microphones in real time, as they are in rugby, a development which has been approved by the FFF and French refereeing authorities, but not by the IFAB yet. 

Wallaroos number eight Grace Hamilton is looking to continue her red-hot form in the knockout stages as they look to take it to the world's bestHamilton produced one of the best individual performances of Rugby World Cup 2021 to power Australia to a 13-7 victory over Wales.The backrower delivered an incredible 28 carries, double her nearest rival, as the Wallaroos dominated possession and territory in the second half.Whilst the execution was lacking inside the 22, Hamilton was proud of the effort shown by the group.“It was a really stop-start game, we couldn’t get our momentum,” Hamilton told Rugby.com.au.“I’m really proud of the girls, it’s a special day for us wearing this jersey and how much it means to us.“It’s been an awesome day for us. Our goal was to make the quarter-finals and to come second in our pool after that New Zealand loss, for us to bounce back is awesome. I wish there was more points in it in both of our wins but I’m happy to get it done.”Hamilton is the first to admit 2022 has been a tough year, going from captain to dropped out of the 23 altogether for the opening O'Reilly Cup series.She rejected any suggestions the axing lit a fire underneath her, believing she has always been playing at this level, however, there has been an apparent rise in intensity and initiative to get the Wallaroos over the advantage line and power them to victory.The former Wallaroos skipper produced more carries in Saturday's victory than she managed in the three Pac Four Tests (26) and was unlucky not to win player of the match in their gutsy win over Scotland last week.“I’ve had a pretty tough year to be honest,” Hamilton admitted.“It’s all about just bouncing back from the struggles and just play for myself and play for the team.“There’s nothing more that I love than playing for Australia. It’s literally the most amazing thing in the world and to have my family supporting me, they’re here every game and the girls backing me.“For me, it’s just about doing the best for the team.“…I’m the first to admit I’ve mentally struggled this year but I’m pretty strong at the moment and I know I can play and take the game on for the girls and that’s exactly why I am here. I want to play for the girls and for Australia, I want to do the best for my country.”The Wallaroos had always targeted the quarter-finals as their main goal and it speaks to Hamilton's killer instinct that she saw this as an 'insult.'Hamilton is gunning for the top prize and relished a chance to test themselves against the best with a likely battle with England awaiting in the quarter-finals.“My first mentality when we got told the goal was quarter-finals I took that as an insult, I’m here to win the World Cup, I’m not here just to compete and make quarter-finals," she explained.“I’m here to dominate the World Cup and we have to team to do so, we just have to get a couple things right.“We’re the Kinder Surprise, anything is possible with this team. We’ve got to keep grinding, we know we can be better than last week and before that.“We’ve got to peak at the right time so hopefully that is coming…the talent in that side is unbelievable, we just have to learn how to play with each other again. There’s a lot of young girls with so much talent and I’m so proud of them to step up on the international stage.”Click Here: Trent Alexander-Arnold Jersey Sale

As reported by Le10Sport, Rennes have offered star midfielder Benjamin Bourigeaud a new contract in a bid to ward off the interest of rival clubs.

The 28-year-old midfielder has been one of Ligue 1’s standout players this season as Rennes challenge for Champions League football but, with his current contract up in 2023, a summer move away has been in the offing with Lazio after the Frenchman as a possible replacement for Sergej Milinković-Savić. Roma and Real Betis have also been linked.

However, Rennes have made contact with the player’s new agent over a new deal with possible Champions League qualification a potential deal-breaker. Although, as it stands, his exit is more likely with the player keen to play overseas for the first time. With his current deal soon up, a fee as low as €10m could be enough to secure the midfielder’s services for next season.

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As reported by L’Équipe, Ligue 1 strugglers Troyes will wear shirts with an accompanying NFT token this weekend against PSG.

Each ESTAC player’s one-off away shirt for the game will be linked to a digital twin which can be accessed by scanning a code at the bottom of the jersey with a smartphone.

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All the shirts worn for the game will be auctioned off to the benefit of UNICEF and child victims of the war in Ukraine.

The Champagne club also announced that they’ll continue the idea of ‘hybrid shirts’ into next season as all their replica jerseys will be sold with an NFT.