Here are the latest rugby headlines on Wednesday June 28.
Fiji plan for World Cup final
Wales World Cup opponents Fiji have revealed they are budgeting to reach the World Cup final.
Fiji Rugby Union's interim chairman Peter Maze says that while the investigation into the union’s financial troubles has seen debts of £1.2million uncovered, preparations for the upcoming World Cup would not be affected, RugbyPass reports.
They have even budgeted for Fiji to reach the final in France, but there is bad news of budget cuts for the double Olympic Games gold medal-winning sevens squad.
Maze told a press conference: “For the RWC, we are not looking at cost cutting – we are going to win. We have got bonuses budgeted if they get to the final."
Fiji are looking to spring a shock by ousting Warren Gatland's Wales at the pool stage. Also in the group are favourites Australia, Georgia and Portugal.
Gatland's men open their campaign with a clash against the Fijians in Bordeaux on Sunday September 10 . Wales then meet Portugal in Nice before the huge Lyon clash with the Wallabies. They wind up the group in Nantes against Portugal.
Gatland is urging his players to forget the negative narrative around Welsh rugby at the moment and focus on really making their mark at the tournament, with overcoming an early banana skin against the confident Flying Fijians pivotal to their hopes of making the quarter-finals and a likely showdown against either England or Argentina.
Part of Fiji's own confidence comes from the fact the world's best four sides, Ireland, France, South Africa and New Zealand are in the other half of the draw, opening up a semi-final route for the teams in Wales' group.
New Wales U20s boss Jones 'absolutely excellent'
New Wales U20s head coach Mark Jones has been called "absolutely excellent" since he came into the role.
Jones, who replaced Byron Hayward in May, is in charge of the Welsh squad who are currently in South Africa for the World Rugby U20 Championship. In their opener, Wales pushed New Zealand U20s almost all the way, losing by a single point, and next face Japan on Thursday (1pm UK kick-off time).
Wales U20s forwards coach Marc Breeze has heaped plaudits on Jones and the programme he inherited from Hayward.
"In fairness to Byron in the Six Nations, he's laid the foundations and he's done some really good work in fairness to him," said Breeze.
"Mark has come in now, he's very energetic and infectious around the group. His attention to detail is absolutely excellent, in fairness. As you can see, that's shining through at the moment in that first game. He has been great since he's been in."
There are two changes to the Wales side to face Japan. Louis Fletcher comes in at tighthead prop for Ellis Fackrell, while Ospreys lock Evan Hill earns his first start after coming on as a second-half replacement against New Zealand. There are also two new additions on the bench, with tighthead prop Kian Hire and back-rower Mackenzie Martin getting the nod.
Breeze explained that the coaches wanted to keep their trust in the players. "The reason, really, is that Mark hasn't seen them play the full game except for New Zealand, and we just wanted to give those boys another opportunity with what that looks like," he said.
Wales vice-captain explains turnaround
Meanwhile, Wales U20s vice-captain Dan Edwards has explained what has changed since the U20s Six Nations campaign which saw Wales finish bottom of the pile without a win.
Just three months later, they put in a blistering first half against the Baby Blacks at the weekend before New Zealand came roaring after the break to steal a 27-26 win.
Asked what had changed, fly-half Edwards said: "Just our belief, and how everyone commits to what our plan is. As you can most probably tell from Saturday against New Zealand, we all committed, and we all had belief. In the last 20 minutes of the Six Nations we dropped off a lot. On Saturday, in the last 20 minutes we were brilliant. We showed a lot of character and resilience to come back in that last 20."
Despite losing the match, Mark Jones' U20s team picked up two losing bonus points, and Edwards says they could prove to be pivotal.
"Those two points could be massive come the end of this group," he said.
Wales take on Japan at Paarl Gymnasium on Thursday, June 29.
Wales U20s: 15. Cameron Winnett (Cardiff Rugby), 14. Llien Morgan (Ospreys), 13. Louie Hennessey (Bath Rugby), 12. Bryn Bradley (Harlequins), 11. Harri Houston (Ospreys), 10. Dan Edwards (Ospreys), 9. Archie Hughes (Scarlets), 1. Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths (Dragons), 2. Lewis Lloyd (Ospreys), 3. Louis Fletcher (Ospreys), 4. Evan Hill (Ospreys), 5. Jonny Green (Harlequins), 6. Ryan Woodman (Dragons – capt), 7. Lucas De La Rus (Cardiff Rugby), 8. Morgan Morse (Ospreys).
Replacements: 16. Sam Scarfe (Dragons), 17. Josh Morse (Scarlets), 18. Kian Hire (Ospreys), 19. Mackenzie Martin (Cardiff Rugby), 20. Seb Driscoll (Harlequins), 21. Tom Florence (Ospreys), 22. Harri Wiilde (Cardiff Rugby), 23. Harri Wiliams (Scarlets).
All Blacks unveil World Cup jersey
The All Blacks have unveiled their jersey for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
The jersey has returned to a traditional collar, while at the heart of the jersey is an emblem made up of 14 different-sized ferns, signifying the diversity and different experience of the current squad.
