These are your morning headlines on Monday, January 16.
Wallabies sack Rennie and appoint Jones
Australia have sacked coach Dave Rennie and replaced him with former England coach Eddie Jones with immediate effect.
Jones has penned a five-year deal with the Wallabies that will see him take the reins until the 2027 World Cup.
It's a quick return to rugby for the 62-year-old, who was sacked by the RFU late last year after a poor autumn campaign. He will now lead Australia in France later this year where they will face Warren Gatland's Wales in the group stages of the tournament.
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Rennie was dismissed on Monday morning having won just five Tests out of 14 in 2022.
In a statement, RA chairman Hamish McLennan confirmed the news.
“It is a major coup for Australian rugby to have the best coach in the world return home to coach the iconic Wallabies and to oversee the Wallaroos program,” McLennan said.
“Eddie’s deep understanding of our rugby system and knowledge of our player group and pathways will lift the team to the next level.
“Eddie instinctively understands the Australian way of playing rugby – this represents an opportunity to secure a coach of immense expertise and experience at the biggest competitions, and we did not want to miss it.”
Jones, who led the Wallabies to a World Cup final in 2003, said: “It is a wonderful opportunity for me to be able to come home to Australia and lead my nation to a Rugby World Cup. It is going to be an immense period for Australian rugby. As a proud Australian, it is a great honour to be able to come home and lead the national team during these years.
“The Wallabies squad is a really talented group of players with good depth. If we can have everyone fit and healthy going into the World Cup this year, I am confident that we can go to France and break the 24-year drought of winning the Rugby World Cup.
“I saw how gutsy the Wallaroos were in the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand last year – it looks like there is a real spirit in that group that will drive the women’s program forward ahead of their next World Cup in 2025.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back home and getting stuck in.”
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Shanklin picks his Six Nations squad
Former Wales centre Tom Shanklin has picked his Wales squad for the upcoming Six Nations - with a number of eyebrow-raising calls.
The Viaplay Sports pundit has left out Alun Wyn Jones and Alex Cuthbert, while there is no room for Rhys Webb in his 36-man party for the spring competition.
Leigh Halfpenny is another notable omission, with the physicality of Ross Moriarty also overlooked.
In terms of inclusions, Dragons prop Chris Coleman is the surprise pick. The 24-year-old has been thrust into a starting role this season following injury to Wales tight-head Leon Brown. Coleman has featured in all 16 of the Dragons’ matchdays this season. His constant presence is partly why he sits second in the URC for penalties conceded, with the Bulls recently giving the Dragons scrum a tough time.
That led one of his club coaches to remind everyone how early Coleman was in the process of becoming an established tight-head.
“He has played 40-odd games and is a 24-year-old tighthead nowhere near his peak,” said Dragons forwards coach Luke Narraway last week. “Sometimes you have to go through these tough spells against one of the best set pieces in the URC.
“On the whole, throughout the season we have made strides and we can be extremely proud about a lot of the work we have done.
“The whole of South African rugby is built on a strong set piece and we know they are strong in that area. Did we get some things wrong last week? Yes, 100 per cent. But we are not a finished product and are working really hard to get better each week – for a large part of the season we have put in performances that we can be proud of.
“The South African teams have set pieces that are up there with the best in the world but before the Bulls game we had three games where we provided 100 per cent clean ball on our put-in. That gave us a great platform to play off. We are quietly happy with where we have been but know we can get better.”
Shanklin's squad in full: Gareth Thomas, Rhys Carre, Nicky Smith, Tomas Francis, Sam Wainwright, Chris Coleman, Dewi Lake, Ken Owens, Bradley Roberts, Adam Beard, Christ Tshiunza, Ben Carter, Dafydd Jenkins, Taulupe Faletau, Justin Tipuric, Jac Morgan, Morgan Morris, Tommy Reffell, Tomos Williams, Dane Blacker, Dan Biggar, Kieran Hardy, Owen Williams, Sam Costelow, Kieran Williams, George North, Nick Tompkins, Mason Grady, Joe Roberts, Josh Adams, Ryan Conbeer, Liam Williams, Rio Dyer, Owen Lane, Johnny McNicholl
Warren Gatland reveals his own squad for the tournament on Tuesday.
Tips explains moment of 'madness'
Justin Tipuric has explained the bold captaincy call that helped the Ospreys seal victory against Montpellier in Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup clash in Swansea.
With two minutes to go and the Welsh side ahead 30-29 they were awarded a potentially easy three points after Nicky Smith got over the ball but skipper Tipuric chose to go for touch instead.
A try resulted as Morgan Morris forced his way over.
Fortune favours the brave? Something like that.
Tipuric explained that the call was made as the Ospreys hadn’t been defending well on the night. “If we took the three, it was more likely they were going to come back down and we hadn’t been defending well,” he said.
“Basically, we wanted to keep attacking because we felt we could get more tries than we [could keep out] when we were defending today.
“That was the theory, a bit of madness really. I don’t know what it is with us this year. We try to make a game of it all the way to the end of it.”
There proved method in the ‘madness’ as the Ospreys secured a 35-29 win.
Clean sweep for regions
It was a great weekend for the regions in Europe, with a clean sweep recorded.
The Dragons and Scarlets kicked it off on Friday night, with the Gwent side recording a 15-21 win in France at Pau - their first European victory in three years. The Welsh region have moved to third in Pool B of the Challenge Cup.
The West Walians squeezed past the Cheetahs 20-17 to reach the knockout stages of the competition.
Saturday saw the Ospreys beat Montpellier 35-29 in Swansea in style, taking a step closer to the Champions Cup knockout stages in the process.
And on Sunday Cardiff steamrolled 14-man Newcastle Falcons 42-10 at the Arms Park.
Halaholo's injury progress
Cardiff and Wales star Willis Halaholo has provided an update on his injury rehab.
The centre has been out of action since October after sustaining a bad hamstring injury playing for the Welsh region against the Stormers. He posted a video of the ruck incident that ended with his leg becoming stuck as he was cleared out by two Stormers players. Halaholo said on social media at the time: "Getting croc rolled by two big forwards was always going to end bad."
Speaking at half-time during Cardiff's hammering of Newcastle Falcons on Sunday, he updated supporters on how his recovery is progressing.
"It's going good," he said. "I'm hopefully starting a bit of running next week. Hopefully by the beginning of March, mid-March we cqn get the boots back on and get back out there."
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