Here are the latest rugby headlines on Sunday, May 14.
Wales selection slammed
Ex-Wales captain Paul Thorburn has slammed Warren Gatland's selection of former England prop Henry Thomas and the new World Rugby rules that allowed him to do so.
Thomas will be part of this summer's World Cup training party and is tipped to make the final squad after switching allegiance from England to Wales under the rules which allow players to do so, as long as they haven't played for their previous country for three years and have a parent or grandparent born in their new country.
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Wales have used the system to boost their options in a position of relative weakness, but Thorburn thinks it is "a farce".
He told the Rugby Paper: “Is Henry Thomas Welsh or is he English?’’
“Make your mind up, World Rugby, and stop playing games. National pride is sacrosanct, or it ought to be.
“Your country is your country. You cannot swap it for another one because it happens to suit you or because it suits the country that need your services. World Rugby has made such a mockery of the eligibility rules that they let Wales pick someone who’s already been capped for England.
“Henry Thomas shouldn’t be allowed to play for Wales. His allegiance is with England. He threw his hat into the ring with England because he was born there and brought up there.’’
He added: “International rugby ought not to be a merrygo-round like club rugby where you can change who you play for every few seasons,’’ he says. ‘’But that’s exactly what World Rugby has allowed it to become. They are ruining the game.
“They’ve created a circus and that’s done nothing for the credibility of Test rugby. Allowing players from one side of the world to choose a country which they hope they’ll be good enough to play for devalues the cap.
Thomas has spoken to WalesOnline about his decision to play for Wales. You can read that exclusive interview here.
Wales international wins Cup
Exiled Wales wing Jonah Holmes scored twice as Ealing beat Jersey Reds 35-31 to win the Championship Cup.
Holmes left the Dragons last summer, moving to the English Championship and giving up his Wales career in the process. He now has some silverware to compensate.
Jersey beat Ealing last month in the penultimate game of the season - a victory that effectively saw them seal the Championship title.
Holmes scored in both halves on Saturday to exact revenge in a thriller at Vallis Way.
Another Wales international, Lloyd Williams, is expected to join Ealing this summer after leaving Cardiff.
Munster stun Leinster
Jack Crowley's 77th-minute drop goal saw Munster edge out Leinster 16-15 in an epic BKT United Rugby Championship semi-final at the Aviva Stadium.
Leinster's double dreams were ended by a Herculean effort from Munster in their fifth successive away game, which ended with their first win in six semi-finals in all competitions.
Munster will now face the DHL Stormers in the final in South Africa after the reigning champions defeated Connacht in the first semi-final earlier on Saturday.
In a hard-fought clash in Dublin, Leinster's South African lock Jason Jenkins scored against his former employers just before half-time to give the table toppers a 10-6 lead at the break.
However, the hosts, who had rested most of their frontliners ahead of next week's Heineken Champions Cup final against La Rochelle, trailed soon after the interval as a converted 45th-minute score from Tadhg Beirne put Munster back ahead.
The lead continued to change hands as Leinster replacement Joe McCarthy touched down but Ciaran Frawley's missed conversion left the advantage at just 15-13, and Munster's persistence was rewarded with Crowley's coolly-struck winner.
It was a second successive shock URC semi-final exit for Leinster, who lost the Vodacom Bulls last year, and means the Stormers will host the league decider again, with Graham Rowntree's men travelling to Cape Town in two weeks' time.
Saints refuse to blame ref
By Duncan Bech, PA England Rugby Correspondent
Northampton boss Phil Dowson insisted it was Saints' dismal first half and not a dubious refereeing decision that underpinned their 38-15 defeat in Saturday's Gallagher Premiership semi-final.
Saracens were outstanding as they ran in five tries to set up a Twickenham appointment with either Leicester or Sale in a fortnight's time.
But wing Sean Maitland was lucky to stay on the pitch after clattering into George Furbank as the rivals contested a kick 25 seconds into the game.
Maitland appeared to strike Furbank's head with his elbows but referee Karl Dickson issued only a penalty and to rub salt into the wound the Scotland's international scored Saracens' first two tries.
"The referee didn't give it. I presume the TMO looked at it and made a decision that it was a rugby contest and therefore play on," Dowson said.
"We'll have to look at it again. I don't know where Maitland was looking. I don't know where he was in conjunction with the ball in the air. Whether I agree with it or not is irrelevant.
"You need to be lucky here and whether that's an element of the luck or not I don't know.
"A couple of things didn't go our way but I'm sure Sarries would say the same thing. That was one of those decisions that didn't go our way, rightly or wrongly.
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