UR TV CAST

Wigan are now without two regular players for their match at Canberra on Sunday, with Nigel Wright resting a groin strain.The Bradford Bulls, bitterly disappointed by their narrow defeats in their first two games, get their last chance on home soil tonight against Cronulla.Stuart Spruce returns at full-back and the experienced forwards, Bernard Dwyer and Sonny Nickle, could also play a part after extended absences.Cronulla are likely to be without their discovery of the tournament, Russell Richardson, with a knee injury suffered in scoring against St Helens, but Bradford will still be wary of a back division the pace of which is illustrated by Andrew Ettingshausen being arguably its slowest member.Saints have put in an official complaint that two of Cronulla’s tries in their 48-8 victory on Monday were scored in extra time wrongly added on to the first half because of faulty time-keeping. “He failed to provide a satisfactory reason and I decided to send him straight home,” the Wigan coach, Eric Hughes, said. After the success of leaving two of his better players, Keith Senior and Johnny Lawless, on the bench for much of the first half, determined to show what they could do when they got on, both will start today’s game. No one was more instrumental in that than Marcus Vassilakopoulos – who, despite his name, is not an import from Greek grappling but a forward on loan from Leeds.It was his tackle that ripped the ball out of Greg Fleming’s grip for the winning try and then another that stopped Chris Ryan as he set off down the wing, threatening to snatch the game back for Perth. “It’s a better feeling than playing at Wembley for Leeds,” he said.Vassilakopoulos, who came off the bench for his crucial cameo role last Sunday, will start at loose forward tonight, if Martin Wood fails to revover from a leg injury.Kear will also shuffle the rest of his side.

With him, we devised techniques to slow them down.”Not only did that work, but it also worked without conceding many penalties, enabling Sheffield to gradually take the initiative as the game went on. They are far from guaranteed to repeat the achievement against Hunter Mariners tonight, but they have already proved something about the power of positive thinking.
With a two week lead-up to the Perth game, Kear, who has coached Academy tours to Australia and New Zealand, treated his players very much like a squad on tour. The Wales and Great Britain international missed a training session after his side’s World Club Championship thrashing by the Brisbane Broncos. “We did a lot of intensive skills work and also brought in a psychologist to work on their mental approach,” he said, but his most startling innovation was his use of a Greek wrestling coach.”We knew that one of the problems of playing against an Australian side was the speed with which they play the ball. Kear’s Sheffield Eagles recorded Britain’s only victory of the second round of the tournament last weekend, hanging on when all seemed lost and grabbing their late chance to beat Perth Reds. One win, in fact – so we had better listen carefully to John Kear when he recommends a pre-match regime of group dynamics and wrestling. Richard Dourthe was named in midfield while David Aucagne will take the No 10 jersey for the match at the Sydney Football Stadium..

It does not take much to become Britain’s guru of the week in the World Club Championship. Replacements: Gilmour (Heriots), Nichol (Melrose), Burns (Watsonians), Murray (Bedford), Graham (Newcastle), Bulloch (West of Scotland).Injuries ruled out centre Christophe Lamaison and stand-off Alain Penaud for France’s first Test against Australia. In the backs, the Scotland A centre Cameron Murray and newcomer Shaun Longstaff get their chances to prove themselves in a match which Hogg has described as “a considerable step up from the game against Zimbabwe”.SCOTLAND (v Gauteng Lions tonight): Shepherd (Melrose); Stanger (Hawick), Murray (Hawick), Eriksson (London Scottish), Longstaff (Dundee HSFP); Hodge (Watsonians), Nicol (Bath, capt); Hilton (Bath), Brotherstone (Melrose), Stewart (Northampton), Campbell (Melrose), Grimes (Watsonians), Peters (Bath), Walton (Newcastle), Smith (Moseley). “The likelihood is that we will play Craig in the team for next Wednesday’s match against Eastern Transvaal,” Graham Hogg, the Scotland coach, said.
The Scots will field an experienced pack for tonight’s game that includes No 8 Peter Walton and props Mattie Stewart and David Hilton. Chalmers, who has a hamstring injury, missed Scotland’s opening game against Zimbabwe but although his injury appears to be clearing up, he will not be risked. Craig Chalmers, the Scotland stand-off, will again be missing for the second tour match against Gauteng Lions at Ellis Park tonight.

He has no more the right to sack them than they have to sack him. As far as his remarks about staff are concerned, they are leading to insecurity and staff dissatisfaction at all levels in Twickenham, which is adversely affecting levels of service.”. Brittle, currently the executive committee chairman, said he would have no hesitation wielding the axe should England’s grass-roots clubs elect him – a defiant claim that appeared to threaten the RFU secretary Tony Hallett, the treasurer Colin Herridge and the incoming president Peter Brook.Yesterday, though, a spokesman for the RFU said: “Mr Brittle’s statement failed to disclose that, under RFU rules, the RFU Executive are elected – as he is. As well as being ruled out for Cardiff’s pool matches in the European tournament, he will also miss Wales’ international against Romania on 30 August30 and will be struggling to prove his fitness in time to meet the All Blacks at Wembley on 15 November.
The Rugby Football Union yesterday poured scorn over Cliff Brittle’s threat to sack his enemies if he is elected as the chairman of the new management board at next month’s annual meeting. The pin will be inserted at a Cardiff hospital today and will be removed before he resumes playing in late October. It means the 26-year-old Cardiff stalwart will be out of action for four months and will miss the majority of their Heineken Cup campaign. Howley, capped 16 times by Wales, was injured during the Lions’ victory over Natal last weekend and flew home on Monday A scan on his shoulder revealed torn ligaments in a joint.

Rob Howley had his worst fears confirmed yesterday when the Lions scrum-half was told by doctors that he would have to have a pin inserted in his damaged left shoulder. If I had the chance, even now, to go out and play, I would.”Somehow, the midweek Lions might be better off under the status quo. If they have to confront big game on this tour, they would rather do it at a safari park than on the rugby field.. At least I have Naka Drotske, my team-mate, alongside me in the Springbok front row so we’re making progress towards a Free State take-over at Test level, but I will be thinking of the rest of the guys when they take on the Lions next week. The cornerstone of the Free State’s Super 12 pack will miss out on Tuesday night’s match in Bloemfontein because of the Springbok hierarchy’s decision to keep their players in purdah before each Test.”Of all teams in South Africa, Free State have the best spirit, the most togetherness, and I would dearly have loved to play in Bloemfontein.