Here are your rugby morning headlines for Wednesday May 3.
Charteris loses role as lineout coach
Former Wales lock Luke Charteris has been moved to a new job as part of a coaching shake-up at English giants Bath.
The west country side are bringing Scarlets backs coach Lee Blackett on board as assistant to Head of Rugby Johann van Graan.
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And they have also announced the capture of Richard Blaze, who was successful as Leicester forwards coach. He arrives as a replacement for Neal Hatley, who leaves Bath this summer to become Australia's forwards coach under Eddie Jones.
It is reported by Somerset that "as part of the backroom shake-up, current Bath lineout coach Luke Charteris has been demoted to work in the club's academy."
Charteris, capped 74 times by Wales between 2004-17 and a key figure during Warren Gatland's first spell in charge, became the club's specialist lineout coach at the end of the 2018-19 season when he hung up his playing boots.
He joined Bath as a player after shining for the Dragons and spells in France with Perpignan and Racing 92.
Head of Rugby van Graan said of Blaze's appoitnment: “He is a high calibre person whose expertise is specifically in the lineout and forward play. The teams he has worked with have shown great physicality and have been confrontational in their play."
Reasons emerge behind former Wales centre's shock resignation
Rugby Australia's aggressive pursuit of rugby league players is one of the reasons former Wales centre Andy Marinos suddenly resigned as chief executive, according to reports.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Marinos and RA chair Hamish McLennan had shared an uneasy relationship ahead of Marinos' sudden departure on Monday, with sources telling the paper that they had not been aligned on a number of major issues.
One notable example was the recent signing of rugby league star Joseph Suaalii, with RA poaching the 19-year-old on a bumper three-year deal back in March. Sources say that Marinos didn't agree with the aggressive pursuit of Suaalii, which had been led by McLennan, or the amount of money spent to secure his signature.
No figure has been disclosed by RA, but it's been reported as around $1.6 million a year. The report adds that Marinos didn't share McLennan's enthusiasm for league players and believed it would inflate the market, while McLennan was understood to have grown frustrated with Marinos' 'conservative pace' as CEO.
And with other members of the RA board reportedly losing confidence, Marinos opted to move on.
Springboks to monitor Kolisi after surgery
South African rugby bosses have confirmed they will monitor the rehabilitation of Springbok captain, Siya Kolisi, following surgery on an injury to his right knee in a recent United Rugby Championship match.
Kolisi underwent the operation on Friday, with initial reports suggesting the procedure had given his hopes of reaching this year's World Cup a significant boost.
A statement from SA Rugby confirmed that Springbok team doctor Jerome Mampane and his medical team will continue to monitor his recovery and rehabilitation, saying it was too early to make any reliable forecasts on when Kolisi may be able to return to play.
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber said: “We wish Siya well during his recovery and we know that he will do everything possible to return to play soon as possible.”
RFU demand London Irish answers
English rugby chiefs want answers from London Irish over their failure to pay players on time, something which sparked fears they could become the most recent Gallagher Premiership club in major financial trouble.
Players and staff were told that wages wouldn't be on time but were expected to arrive on Monday. There was then a further delay, with club insiders telling the Guardian the May bank holiday was a contributing factor.
However an RFU statement read: “The RFU has contacted London Irish to seek reassurance that staff and players will receive wages imminently."
Premiership Rugby chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor played down dears the Exiles would follow in the footsteps of crisis hit clubs Worcester and Wasps.
“I do think it’s different. Between Premiership Rugby and the RFU, we’ve been engaged for quite a while with the current ownership and the future buyers and there are lots of very positive signals coming," he said.
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