Here are your rugby morning headlines for Monday, August 1.
South Africa stun Fiji
South Africa stunned Olympic champions Fiji 31-7 to win the men’s rugby sevens Commonwealth gold in Coventry.
Tries from Muller du Plessis, JC Pretorius and Shaun Williams saw South Africa race into a 17-0 lead at half-time. Du Plessis scored a second after the break and Mfundo Ndhlovu wrapped up a comfortable victory after Fiji captain Waisea Nacuqu had managed a consolation effort.
Read more: Wales rugby team lose to England at Commonwealth Games and can't now make top 10
Fiji women also had to make do with silver as Australia beat them 22-12 in the other final, with Faith Nathan scoring two of Australia’s four tries. It was Australia’s first women’s rugby Commonwealth gold after winning silver on home soil on the Gold Coast four years ago.
New Zealand claimed both men’s and women’s bronze, with Australia and Canada missing out on respective medals. Scotland men finished sixth after Samoa overturned a 19-14 deficit to win 24-19, while England beat Uganda 31-17 to finish ninth. Grace Compton scored twice as England beat Scotland 29-5 in the women’s fifth-place play-off.
Former Wales international speaks about joining brain damage lawsuit
An anonymous former Wales international has spoken about being part of the 185 former players taking legal action against some of the sport's governing bodies.
A number of ex-players, including former Wales internationals Ryan Jones and Alix Popham, have issued legal proceedings against the game's governing bodies over alleged negligence leading to their diagnoses of early onset dementia, probable CTE and other permanent injuries as the result of brain damage. And now another former Wales player has revealed his own reasons for joining the action to the Rugby Paper on the condition of anonymity.
He said: “At no time did anyone tell us that repetitive concussion could have a serious affect on our long-term health. Nobody ever said: ‘Look, if you take too many blows to the head there is a danger that you could end up doing damage to your brain. And if that happens, nobody is going to be able to repair it’.
“I got knocked out playing for my club one Saturday. The following Monday morning I took part in full-scale training because that’s how it was then.
“I played the following Saturday and got knocked out again. Again, I was training on the Monday afterwards as though nothing had happened. Then, on the Saturday, I was knocked out for the third time in a row. And still we were not warned of the dangers.
“I am one of the 185 taking legal action. It’s important to make it clear that this is not a case of the players concerned wanting to take the Unions to the cleaners.
“It’s about making the game safer. It’s about showing future generations that they can play the game safely. The last thing we want to do is stop people from playing rugby.
“The ideal solution is to outlaw tackling above the waist. That would reduce the number of head collisions, speed the game up and clear the way for quicker, smaller players.’’
Former All Black criticises Robertson over comments
Former All Black Jeff Wilson has criticised Scott Robertson for heaping pressure on New Zealand Rugby with his latest comments about coaching other countries.
Crusaders coach Robertson put other nations on red alert after making comments on a podcast last week about wanting to win the World Cup with two teams - hinting at leaving New Zealand before the 2027 World Cup.
Speaking on Sky Sport NZ’s The Breakdown show, former New Zealand winger Wilson said he found it ‘difficult’ to hear of Robertson’s ambition to leave New Zealand - saying he's put unnecessary pressure on incumbent head coach Ian Foster and New Zealand Rugby’s decision to retain him
“The trouble is that Scott Robertson has come out and said he wants to win two Rugby World Cups with two different teams, he wants to get the opportunity to coach at the international level,” Wilson told the panel on The Breakdown .
“It’s interesting he said that when he’s actually under contract with New Zealand Rugby. I find that difficult.
“The fact that he is going to coach the Barbarians … I think he had the opportunity to coach the All Blacks XV, he turned that down.
“So, we know exactly where Scott Robertson sits right now. His expectations are that he wants to go to the next level.
“But they [the All Blacks] have a job to do and I think this has put, in some ways, New Zealand Rugby in a really difficult situation.
“Where does Ian Foster sit right now? He knows that he has got two test matches to deliver.
“Does this help the situation, though, him doing that interview when the All Blacks are under all sorts of pressure? Does this conversation help New Zealand Rugby, him coming out and saying this?”
Read more:
Who Wales will actually have to beat to reach the Rugby World Cup final next year
Nigel Owens slams rugby's new red card trial
Wales rugby star shares support for his fiancée as she competes at Commonwealth
