Here are the rugby headlines for Saturday evening, August 17.
Ford prepares for code change
The father of England star George Ford has said Ford will end his career in rugby league.
The 31-year-old fly-half is entering his third season as a Sale Sharks player, having moved here from Leicester Tigers two years ago. In between his two spells with the Tigers he represented Bath and Leeds Carnegie and amassed 364 points in 91 appearances for England.
But his roots are in rugby league and his father Mike is a legend of the league. Ford junior played in the league from the age of five, representing Saddleworth Rangers and Waterhead and later playing in the academies at both Wigan Warriors and Bradford Bulls as a teenager.
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In what will be a full-circle moment for the England international, his father said the pair planned for him to break through the codes and finish his career representing his hometown club Oldham. The Ford senior was part of a consortium that took ownership of the club last year and is now managing director.
Speaking on the League Express podcast, the player explained: “I’m not lying. We sat down and looked at his career.
“He’s only just turned 31, so we said, ‘You’re going to do this at 32, 33, 34, 35’ and when he’s 35 he’ll be playing for Oldham rugby.”
Wales captain issues update from hospital
Dafydd Jenkins, who underwent surgery on his knee and shoulder, gave his fans an update from the hospital.
The 21-year-old, who captained Wales in this year’s Six Nations Championship, will miss the start of the season with a knee injury he sustained during the summer tour of Australia.
No timeframe has been given for Jenkins’ return but the Exeter Chiefs director of rugby confirmed Jenkins will undergo a “long rehabilitation process” with the club and Wales agreeing the “right time”. [the injuries] both were addressed”.
Jenkins has since shared a photo of herself on Instagram after the dual procedures. Pictured in a hospital bed with her knee bandaged and her right arm in a sling, Jenkins wrote: “Patella ligament reconstruction (tic), ACJ and rotator cuff repair (tic).”
Meanwhile, Baxter told reporters: “For me personally, I think it’s the right time for him. He’s a young man who’s played a lot of rugby for both the Chiefs and Wales, so it’s important he sorts them out properly now so he can have a long period of rehabilitation to get himself fit again and ready for what everyone knows will be a very good career.
“Obviously the timescales are a bit fluid at the moment. We have to see where he goes in the early stages of his rehabilitation but one thing we do know is that – from all the other injuries he’s had – Dafydd is an incredibly hard worker and a rehabilitation specialist and if anyone can speed up his return from these operations then we’re confident Dafydd will do it.”
Springboks defeat Australia
By Associated Press
South Africa scored three second-half goals to inflict their second defeat on Australia in two weeks on Saturday, beating the Wallabies 30-12 in a rainy Rugby Championship match.
South Africa, who led 11-9 at half-time, handed Australia their first defeat after three wins of the season by beating the Wallabies 33-7 in Brisbane last Saturday.
The Springboks took an 18-9 lead in the 43rd minute on Saturday and extended their lead to 23-12 after a Wallabies penalty goal when hooker Malcolm Marx rolled in a maul in the 64th minute. They scored their final try with six minutes remaining when Marx scored again from a maul with the Wallabies playing a man down in front of more than 58,000 fans in Perth.
“We’ve had a fantastic two weeks with two wins,” said South Africa’s key man Eben Etzebeth. “It doesn’t happen very often. The Wallabies are a quality team… we knew they would come out hard tonight and that’s exactly what they did. They got a good result in the end.”
Etzebeth said of coach Rassie Erasmus’ 10 changes to the starting XI from last week’s game in Brisbane: “I think he’s a genius. They’ve been brilliant. Obviously the guys on the bench, they came in to finish. It was a good squad all round.”
South Africa reserve player Jesse Kriel, who is based in Japan, also praised the team’s strong play to Erasmus. “I think it’s more about Rassie and his mentality and encouraging us as players to go out and express ourselves, not to be afraid to make mistakes,” Kriel said. “It’s exciting to be part of this team at the moment and play the type of rugby we’re trying to play.”
Australia coach Joe Schmidt said he was pleased with his team’s performance despite the defeat. “I can’t criticise the effort,” Schmidt said. “It’s hard enough trying to beat the Springbok maul with a fully fit pack. It became very difficult with half a pack, then when Seru Uru is thrown into the sin bin, you know, it’s a really big ask.
“This is the best team in the world. It’s not easy to play against them right now and we want to compete with these teams.”
The Rugby Championship continues in two weeks with the Wallabies travelling to Argentina for two tests and the Springboks hosting the All Blacks for two matches in South Africa.