Month: September 2024

Gianluca di Marzio reported this lunchtime that a deal was done for Ivorian midfielder Jean-Michaël Seri to join Fulham.

Nice-Matin however claim that there is absolutely no deal in place, with the player’s agent having informed RMC and Sport Witness that whilst talks are ongoing with Fulham, the Premier League side does not represent the player’s favoured destination.

OGC Nice were understood to be seeking a deal worth €40m, which is why rumours of a deal around €20m are particularly surprising.

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Manu Tuilagi looks set to make his 50th appearance for England after being named in their wider training squad for the Autumn Nations Series clash against South Africa.

The centre has featured in all three internationals so far in November, but was taken off early in both the matches against Argentina and New Zealand.

Tuilagi made his debut for the Red Rose in 2011 but has struggled with injury throughout his career.

World Cup highlight

His best individual performance came as they beat New Zealand 38-21 at Twickenham in 2012, but his career highlight was arguably the Red Rose’s 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign.

The midfield powerhouse scored a try in the 19-7 semi-final victory over the All Blacks.

Tuilagi is not a guaranteed starter, however, with Eddie Jones potentially looking to make changes for the encounter against the Springboks this weekend.

The 31-year-old was off the field when England produced a stunning fightback to come from 25-6 behind with 10 minutes remaining to draw 25-25.

Mako Vunipola, Will Stuart, David Ribbans and Ben Youngs were among those to have impressed off the bench and could have earned starting roles this weekend.

One player who will almost certainly be in the XV is lock Maro Itoje, who is excited about Saturday’s encounter.

Improvement after disappointing display

“Playing South Africa at Twickenham – I’m really looking forward to it. I only wish the game is a little bit sooner because we left a lot out there against New Zealand,” Itoje said.

“While the second half was a bit more how we want to play, this week is an opportunity to hopefully play how we want to for the full 80 minutes.

“We have an incredible amount of potential in this team, we just need to unlock it. We are spending more and more time together and are becoming more cohesive, so hopefully it will come.

“I’m proud that we stuck at it (against New Zealand) and we didn’t go away and proud that we played some great rugby towards the end of that game, but we need to play like that for the whole game.

“You never want to be too happy with a draw, but it’s better than losing. Hopefully, it will put us in better stead for South Africa, who will be a great challenge.

“South Africa haven’t changed the way they play since their first game in international rugby! Strong set-piece, strong kicking game, strong defence.”

England’s 36-man training squad

Forwards: Alex Coles, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tom Curry, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Joe Heyes, Jonny Hill, Maro Itoje, David Ribbans, Sean Robinson, Bevan Rodd, Sam Simmonds, Kyle Sinckler, Jack Singleton, Will Stuart, Hugh Tizard, Billy Vunipola, Mako Vunipola, Jack Willis

Backs: Joe Cokanasiga, Owen Farrell, Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, Will Joseph, Jonny May, Alex Mitchell, Cadan Murley, Jack Nowell, Guy Porter, Adam Radwan, Henry Slade, Marcus Smith, Freddie Steward, Manu Tuilagi, Jack van Poortvliet, Ben Youngs

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Montpellier have concluded an agreement with Toulouse to sign French striker Andy Delort in an initial loan deal with an option to buy worth €4m, according to L’Équipe.

Delort will sign today should he pass a medical.

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The United Rugby Championship continues on Friday as two matches take place, with the Sharks and Edinburgh hosting the Ospreys and Munster in their respective fixtures.

Sharks v Ospreys

The Sharks have called on several Springboks stars, excluding Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi, as the Durban outfit look to get their season back on track following the departure of coach Sean Everitt this week.

Bongi Mbonambi and Ox Nche come into the front-row alongside the powerful Carlu Sadie.

There is a positional change for Vincent Tshituka, who moves from flank to lock alongside Gerbrandt Grobler with Sikhumbuzo Notshe on the side of the scrum alongside Jeandre Labuschange and skipper Phepsi Buthelezi in the back-row.

Jaden Hendrikse starts with Curwin Bosch as the half-back pairing, whilst Boeta Chamberlain wears 15 this weekend.

Makazole Mapimpi is on the left wing with Marnus Potgieter on the right while Ben Tapuai and Francois Venter are the midfield for Neil Powell’s first game in charge of the Sharks.

Meanwhile, Rhys Webb will captain the Ospreys with back-row Will Hickey set to make his second start in succession for the Welsh region.

Hickey made 15 tackles last week against the Bulls without missing one and is alongside Ethan Roots and Morgan Morris in the back-row.

Keelan Giles lines up on the left wing and is one of just four players in the URC to have made eight or more line breaks so far this season.

Webb is joined by Jack Walsh in the half-backs while Giles links up with Luke Morgan and Max Nagy in the back three for this fixture.

The teams:

Sharks: 15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Marnus Potgieter, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Curwin Bosch, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Phepsi Buthelezi (c), 7 Jeandre Labuschagne, 6 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Vincent Tshituka, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Dan Jooste, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Khutha Mchunu, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 James Venter, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Nevaldo Fleurs, 23 Rohan Janse van Rensburg

Ospreys: 15 Max Nagy, 14 Luke Morgan, 13 Michael Collins, 12 Tiaan Thomas-Wheeler, 11 Keelan Giles, 10 Jack Walsh, 9 Rhys Webb (c), 8 Morgan Morris, 7 Will Hickey, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Huw Sutton, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Rhys Henry
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Garyn Phillips, 18 Ben Warren, 19 Jack Regan, 20 Harri Deaves, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Luke Scully, 23 Cai Evans

Venue: Hollywoodbets Kings Park
Kick-off: 19:10 local (17:10 GMT)
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Stephan Geldenhuys (South Africa), Griffin Colby (South Africa)
TMO: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)

Edinburgh v Munster

Edinburgh welcome the return of several experienced internationalists for their crucial United Rugby Championship match against Munster at DAM Health Stadium.

The club’s biggest crowd of season awaits the return of Pierre Schoeman (loosehead), Grant Gilchrist (lock), Jamie Ritchie (back-row), Viliame Mata (number eight), Blair Kinghorn (fly-half), Mark Bennett (outside centre), Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham (both wing) all return to reinforce Edinburgh’s starting XV.

The capital side make four further changes to the side that faced Benetton in Round Eight as academy hooker Paddy Harrison Luan de Bruin (tighthead), Ben Vellacott (scrum-half) and Chris Dean (centre) all get the nod for the Friday night clash.

Wes Goosen moves to full-back – with Henry Immelman missing out through injury – while there is a place on the bench for recently signed hooker, Tom Cruse, who is in line to make his Edinburgh debut.

The capital club has called on its fans to help pay tribute to the great Doddie Weir OBE, who last weekend tragically lost his battle with MND, with supporters encouraged to wear tartan garments to bring colour to the match, where a moment’s applause will be held in his memory before kick-off.

An electric back-three unit sees full-back Goosen and Scotland wing duo Graham and Van der Merwe combine for the first time.

Bennett and club centurion Dean link up in midfield while Vellacott and Kinghorn return at half-back.

Hooker Harrison packs down alongside props Schoeman and De Bruin as Jamie Hodgson and club co-captain Gilchrist complete the tight-five.

Luke Crosbie retains his place at openside flanker with Scotland skipper Ritchie and Fijian star Mata both returning to the capital back-row.

Meanwhile, John Ryan starts on his 200th Munster appearance as he becomes the 13th player to reach the landmark, joining team-mates Stephen Archer and Dave Kilcoyne in the 200 club.

There are five personnel changes and one positional switch to the side that secured a bonus-point win against Connacht last time out.

In the backline, Shane Daly moves to full-back and Simon Zebo comes into the side on the wing.

There are four changes in the pack as Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell and Ryan come in to the front row with Gavin Coombes starting at number eight.

Full-back Daly, Calvin Nash and Zebo make up the back three.

Rory Scannell and Antoine Frisch continue their centre partnership with half-backs Craig Casey and Joey Carbery also unchanged.

Loughman, Scannell and Ryan start in the front row with Jean Kleyn and Tadhg Beirne keeping their places in the engine room.

Captain Peter O’Mahony and John Hodnett are joined by Coombes in the back-row.

Greencore Munster Rugby Academy back three player Patrick Campbell is included among the replacements and set to make his sixth appearance of the season.

The teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Wes Goosen, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Blair Kinghorn, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Villame Mata, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Jamie Ritchie (cc), 5 Grant Gilchrist (cc), 4 Jamie Hodgson, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Patrick Harrison, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Boan Venter, 18 WP Nel, 19 Marshall Sykes, 20 Nick Haining, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 James Lang

Munster: 15 Shane Daly, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Gavin Coombes, 7 John Hodnett, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Jeremy Loughman
Replacements: 16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Roman Salanoa, 19 Jack O’Donoghue, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Patrick Campbell

Venue: DAM Health Stadium
Kick-off: 19:35 GMT
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant referees: Ian Kenny (Scotland), Ross Mabon (Scotland)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (France)

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Lyon and Manchester United currently stand as the two most likely destinations for out-going FC Barcelona central defender and Colombian international Yerry Mina at the time of writing, according to sources contacted by Get French Football News.

The situation should decant within the next 72 hours. As early as June, Lyon representatives had their first contacts with Mina’s entourage, receiving positive indications about the Colombian’s strong desire that, if he had to leave Barcelona this summer, that it would be to a side offering Champions’ League football.

This was later confirmed with the player’s decision not to seriously entertain persistent contact from Everton around 3 weeks ago.

Mina has stalled on making a move to Les Gones, who have provisionally offered Barcelona €30m in order to land the player, after being informed in early July of an interest from Manchester United.

It is understood that Mina prefers a move to the Red Devils, but two stumbling blocks are currently preventing the move from being completed.

It appears that United are hesitating in making a formal offer for the player as they are focusing on targets that appear higher up on their central defensive shortlist. An individual in particular that they appear to prefer to sign is Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham).

Only once United have exhausted talks with all individuals placed higher up on their shortlist will they formalise negotiations for Mina. Secondly, it is suggested that the Colombian wants a clear understanding of where he would be placed in any side he joins’ squad hierarchy, wanting to avoid another season of being on the periphery of first team action.

At Lyon, he would receive a considerably smaller salary, but would be quasi-guaranteed a starting berth.

As of Tuesday evening, Lyon were suitably confident that they stood a realistic chance of signing Yerry Mina that they tempered negotiations with Benfica for secondary target Ruben Dias.

Which turn this saga will take, for now, is anyone’s guess.

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Springboks and Leicester Tigers flyhalf Handre Pollard has backed South African teams to rise to the challenge of the Champions Cup.

The Bulls, Stormers and Sharks will make their European debut this weekend, and Springboks’ pivot Pollard believes that his fellow countrymen will take the competition to a “completely different level.”

Benefit of adding the South Africans

The former Bulls fly-half is convinced that the South Africans will improve the tournament, particularly after a year or two. 

 “I understand completely some people are like ‘, What are they doing here?” Pollard said.

 “But after a year or two, it’ll benefit the competition. It took the URC to a completely different level, and I honestly believe they’ll be the same with the Champions Cup.”

Adding a new flavour

Pollard waxed lyrical about the style of the South African sides ahead of the tournament praising their attacking intent and physicality.

 “The South African teams will bring a great new flavour to the competition. They have been playing a really nice, attacking brand of rugby in the URC, while the physicality is the difference between the top four or five teams in the Champions Cup. 

“It’s bred into us, so that part of the game is pretty set,” he said.

However, the 28-year-old warned his fellow countrymen that they would need to improve tactically to compete with the best the competition offers.

 “The clubs in South Africa will have to become smarter tactically to compete with the top teams in Europe.

“It might take them a couple of years to find their feet because it’s so different, but I think it’ll be great. People will enjoy it,” he explained.

 “The weather is going to play a role. Going to South Africa in January, it’s going to be hot, humid, and tough, and then the next week, you come up here in the snow! It’s going to be very interesting to see how the teams can adjust.”

The thrill of Europe’s big stage

Pollard is excited for the South African players who will be experiencing some of the biggest stages Europe offers for the first time.

“Seven, eight years ago, we were saying to ourselves that the Champions Cup is so awesome, and we wished we were playing in it,” he said.

 “I was saying how I’d like to come to England to play in it, and now the boys are playing in it anyway!

 “For them to come over and play in the Stade Michelin against Clermont or go to the Aviva and play Leinster, it will be great to see our young guys in South Africa take that pressure, thrive under and learn from it.

“It’ll be a great learning experience. I’m very excited to see what they can do.”

No easy games

The 65-test cap Springbok added that he hopes the South African teams will do well this season to give the fans a better understanding of just how big the competition is.

“Hopefully, some of the South African teams can do well this season, just to get our fans more of a taste for what it is like going into the play-offs. 

“People might be pretty sceptical in the beginning, not understanding quite, but I think they will quickly realise it is massive, and they’ll enjoy it.

“Every game is tough in the Champions Cup; there is no easy game.”

The Sharks host Harlequins on Saturday in the first Champions Cup fixture involving a South African side. The Stormers follow shortly afterwards as they head into the iconic Stade Marcel-Michelin to face Clermont. The Bulls are the last to debut as they host last season’s Challenge Cup winners, Lyon. 

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Speaking to BeIN Sports, Dutch international attacker Memphis Depay discussed his future at Lyon.

“I am very happy at the moment, but obviously I would like to move to a bigger club. We will see when that happens. For the moment I simply want to give 100% from when the season starts. Ask any player, we all want to play in the best clubs and the best leagues. So if a big club comes in and makes an offer, we will discuss it, but I am very happy at Lyon. I am very happy with the quality of our squad and the players.”

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Wallabies veteran Kurtley Beale opened up on his battle with alcohol, revealing a story where he got physical with two team-mates before admitting himself into rehab.

The incident followed a massive 64-7 Melbourne Rebels loss to the Sharks in 2013 and was sparked by captain Gareth Delve asking Beale to put a shirt on when arriving at the hotel.

Self-checked into rehab

The 33-year-old got physical with his captain and Cooper Vuna as a result and, after checking into rehab, understood he deserved every consequence of his drunken actions.

“I checked myself into rehab. It came off the back end of the Rebels, me getting in a stink with one of the other players,” Beale said in the Stan Sport’s feature ‘Kurtley: My Story.’

“I made a bit of a porkchop of myself and absolutely deserved every sanction and everything like that. It was the time there where things weren’t going right for me. I had to get help.

“With the support going back to my pillars, they pretty much said, maybe let’s go down this route and try find yourself a bit. It was pretty tough.

“You think as a young kid you know everything, right? You know everything. I always see it as it’s all learnings. It’s a time for growth and I found that period really helpful because it was all about reconnecting with my identity because I lost it.

“I didn’t know who I was. When you don’t have that sense of who you are and that attachment of yourself then you lose yourself by not staying true to yourself.”

Complete rehab for Test selection

The well-travelled star had to complete his time at rehab before he would be considered for Wallabies selection again.

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Beale wound up being picked for the British and Irish Lions series, where he did not perform to his potential.

“I was very lucky to be picked in that Lions squad after that,” he said.

“I felt good and everything, but the way the games went on, it wasn’t the best.

“Again, they’re all kind of learnings, you’ve just got to accept it and then move on from that.”

Ligue 1 side Nantes are in negotiations with Tunisian central defender Yohan Benalouane, according to 20 Minutes.

Talks are advancing rapidly, with the player having recently reached a mutual termination agreement with his previous club Leicester, therefore if he were to join, it would be on a free transfer.

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Ligue 2 side Lorient have reached an agreement in principle with Crystal Palace to sign 19-year-old Belgian winger Jason Lokilo on loan with an option to buy, according to RMC.

Lokilo arrived at Palace in 2015, but has not been able to break into first team action, and the deal is set to be concluded rapidly.

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