Here are the latest rugby headlines on Wednesday, May 24.
URC shake-up considered with draft system
A huge shake-up of the United Rugby Championship is being considered which could see players drafted from stronger sides into weaker teams to improve the competitiveness of the league.
CEO Martin Anayi has called for there to be more jeopardy in the competition after this season saw bottom side Zebre lose every one of their 18 league matches and finish on a negative points difference of nearly 400, while the Dragons only mustered four wins as they finished second from bottom.
Anayi has said the league is actively exploring avenues on how to improve its competitiveness, including a draft system where players from other unions could be brought in to bolster struggling teams.
While Zebre are one of the teams that would stand to benefit from the shake-up, the news will also be of interest to the Welsh regions. All four sides will have fewer players in their squads next season due to severe budget cuts and will be affected by the Rugby World Cup, Six Nations and inevitable injuries over the course of the season.
Three of the four Welsh regions finished in the bottom four of the URC table last season, with Cardiff the highest placed in 10th.
Explaining how the current "closed league" had created a lack of jeopardy across the competition, Anayi told BBC 5 Live: "There might be an ability to draft in players from the other unions who aren't getting game time. That is 100% [a conversation]."
"There is a natural filter system to relegation, one team goes down and the team that comes up is full of expectation because they have won the league below; we don't have that in a closed league. Our job is to find ways of helping the likes of Zebre and the Italian Federation to make them more competitive.
"In American sports they have a system for doing that, the draft system. We don't have that, so we need to think a bit more laterally about that question. Ireland have so much talent they are trying to work out how does everybody get game-time, while Scotland have two teams so that creates a bottleneck for them.
"So those are avenues we are trying to explore. We are setting up a high-performance think-tank to help us with that question, from a league-wide point of view. Zebre has been at the bottom of our table for a wee while and we need to try and do something to help them."
Anayi added that there was "collaboration at union level" to make the draft system work, with increased competitiveness in the league seen to have an inevitable knock-on effect on the Six Nations.
"They see the league is better and more commercially viable if all the teams are competitive," he explained. "And secondly they want the Six Nations to be competitive. Our unions can see that helping Zebre is a good thing both for the league and also for the Six Nations."
Cardiff stalwart returns to Welsh rugby
Former Cardiff centre Garyn Smith has signed for Pontypridd after leaving Cornish Pirates this summer.
Smith, who made more than 100 appearances for Cardiff before leaving for England in May last year, will return to Pontypridd for next season having previously turned out for the club on 44 occasions between 2013 and 2019.
The 27-year-old local boy, who came through Ponty's mini and junior sections, made his first team debut for the club 10 years ago, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather to make history in becoming the first family to represent the team for three consecutive generations.
And the former Wales U20 star will soon be back in the famous black and white as he returns to Sardif Road following the expiry of his one-year deal with the Pirates, having helped the Penzance-based side to a Championship Cup semi-final and a fifth place finish in the league this season.
After his signing was announced, Garyn spoke of his delight at returning to Pontypridd. “I’m really happy to be signing for Ponty, a club which I came through the Mini and Junior section into Youth rugby with," he said. "Having a family history with the club means a lot to me and I’m really looking forward to playing back at Sardis.”
Coach Chris Dicomidis described the addition of Smith as "massive" for the club, adding: “It’s good to see Garyn back in black and white. He obviously brings a lot of experience with him having played a number of years at professional level.
"He’s an experienced head to help guide the younger backs in the team and more importantly someone who is a great guy with huge links to the club. Garyn is a massive signing for us."
Women's academies in Wales
The Welsh Rugby Union has launched three new player development centres for girls and young women in a bid to underpin the success of the Wales Women national team.
Pro rugby academy-standard centres will be established at Cardiff Metropolitan University, Swansea University and RGC, Colwyn Bay, to support the development of high-potential young players who are below the national squad. Jointly funded by the WRU and its partners, the development is described by the former as "a key building block to ensure Wales’ success on the international stage".
It is set to provide young players with high-quality training and coaching programmes, strength and conditioning and medical staff for pre-elite athletes, with 25-35 players being identified to be part of the programme each year.
Players will continue to play for their clubs, schools, colleges and universities to prepare for Wales U18s, Wales U20s, Celtic Challenge and the Wales senior side, while educational and work needs will be worked into players' programmes.
Wales Women, who have 25 full-time pro players in their ranks, finished third in the Women's Six Nations to climb to sixth in the world rankings and qualify for the top tier of World Rugby's new competition WXV which kicks off this autumn.
WRU pathway manager, age-grade coach and former Wales captain Siwan Lillicrap said: "This is a major development for Women’s rugby in Wales and will provide a real pathway for the talent we know we have to develop and an opportunity for players of potential to achieve their dream of playing elite rugby.
"It provides players in Wales a clear path to become elite players and, ultimately, an opportunity to play professional rugby and to represent Wales at the highest level."
nterim WRU chief executive Nigel Walker added: "These new PDCs are the next piece in the jigsaw for our player development pathway in women’s rugby. There is now a realistic path for our next generation of female players to take to become our stars of tomorrow, supported by a structure of talent identification and suitable training resource across Wales. This is a vitally important and positive step for women’s rugby in Wales.”
Youngs inducted into Hall of Fame after family tragedy
England international Tom Youngs has been inducted into the Premiership Rugby Hall of Fame a year after retiring from rugby to care for his late wife.
The Leicester Tigers legend announced he was hanging up his boots in April last year, just weeks before his wife Tiffany died having been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. He made over 150 Premiership appearances during his 15 years at Leicester and earned 28 Test caps for England, as well as three for the British and Irish Lions in 2013, the same year he won the Premiership title.
He has now been inducted into the league's Hall of Fame alongside two other legends of English rugby, with Bath and Gloucester icon Matt Banahan and Saracens stalwart Brad Barritt also receiving the honour.
“The 2023 inductees to the Premiership Rugby Hall of Fame have been outstanding rugby players who made a monumental contribution to the success of their Clubs and England,” said Phil Winstanley, rugby director at Premiership Rugby.
“Beyond their brilliance on the pitch, all three are also great people and have been terrific ambassadors for the Premiership and our sport over many years".
Alun Wyn Jones to captain Barbarians
Alun Wyn Jones will captain the Barbarians in their clash against the World XV at Twickenham on Sunday, just over a week after announcing his retirement from international rugby.
The talismanic lock, who won 170 caps over the course of his 17-year-career, will take charge of a Baabaas side coached by former England boss Eddie Jones and including former teammates Gareth Anscombe and Aaron Wainwright, as well as Australian stars Quade Cooper and Samu Kerevi.
Meanwhile, the World XV, coached by Steve Hansen and skippered by Italy flanker Michele Lamaro, contains Wyn Jones starting at loose-head and Elliott Dee and Rhys Patchell on the bench, with a backline including the likes of Charles Piutau, Semi Radradra and, controversially, Israel Folau.
The RFU has decided to raise the pride flag at Twickenham for the game after Folau was sacked by Rugby Australia in 2019 because of a series of anti-gay posts on social media.
Sale legend tips side for Premiership glory
Sale Sharks icon Mark Cueto has tipped his former side to beat Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership final this weekend, 17 years after he helped them to their first ever title win at Twickenham.
The club have not reached the final since Cueto and co triumphed over Leicester Tigers in a 45-20 mauling to be crowned champions for the first time, but they could emulate those heroics on Saturday after a strong season.
And the former England wing believes his old side have a "really good chance" of beating Saracens, arguing that they have "one of the only packs" who can get the better of their opponent's forwards.
"I am really chuffed for everyone involved," the 43-year-old told the PA news agency. "It is so hard to win a trophy, and it is not until you have finished and you look back on your career that you realise how hard. We won the title in 2006, and we should have won it more than once. We were good enough to at least get to another final, but we fell short a couple of times, unfortunately."
"Rugby doesn't change," he added."You have got to keep on top of the opposition, and you have got to get on top up-front first. I think we are probably one of the only packs that can at least go head-to-head with the Saracens pack, if not get on top, and if we do that then we have got a really good chance."
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