This post was originally published on this site.
The latest rugby news from Wales and around the world
These are your evening rugby headlines on Monday, December 8.
Wales star to make long-awaited return
Wales international Owen Watkin is set to make his long-awaited return from injury this weekend, having spent the last 11 months on the sidelines. The 29-year-old centre hasn’t played since rupturing ligaments in his knee during Wales’ 45-0 defeat to France in the Six Nations at the end of January, but is now set to return to action for the Ospreys as they face Mountauban in the European Challenge Cup on Saturday.
Watkin, who has 43 caps for Wales, was involved in the pre-match warm-up ahead of Mark Jones’ side sealing a 24-21 comeback win against Connacht on Sunday and could now feature in the south of France this weekend.
He could be joined in the matchday squad by No.8 Morgan Morris, who was also part of the warm-up ahead of the Connacht game having been absent for the past eight months due to foot and calf injuries.
Issuing an injury update on the duo, head coach Jones said: “Owen is progressing really well, both him and Morgan Morris were in the warm-up and they will be around some conversations on selection over the next few weeks.
“That’s exciting for us, it’s good for them and good for Welsh rugby in general to get those boys out there. Owen is an international player and Morgan is an international-quality player in my eyes who just needs an opportunity.”
Watkin’s return will also be welcomed by Wales coach Steve Tandy, particularly with centre Max Llewellyn emerging as a doubt for the Six Nations after leaving Gloucester’s win over Castres on crutches at the weekend.
England stars unhappy with Etzebeth ban
Former England international Ben Youngs has criticised the suspension handed down to South Africa’s Eben Etzebeth for his eye gouge on Alex Mann, insisting that a firmer statement needs to be made by the game’s governing body.
Last week, it was confirmed that Etzebeth had been banned from rugby for 12 weeks, having clashed with Mann in the final moments of the Springboks’ 73-0 mauling of Wales in Cardiff at the end of last month.
A disciplinary panel had initially agreed a mid-range entry point of 18 weeks was an appropriate sanction, but factors such as Etzebeth’s previous disciplinary record were then applied in mitigation, with the ban reduced to 12 weeks.
While it means that the veteran lock won’t be allowed to play rugby again until the end of March, Youngs has expressed his frustration over the sanction handed out, arguing that Etzebeth’s previous record should not be factored into what was determined to be an intentional act.
Discussing the incident on For The Love Of Rugby podcast, the former scrum-half told co-host Dan Cole: “When you look at it as a whole, I’d say 18 weeks sounds about right. You make contact with someone’s eye and they have basically said that it was intentional; it has to be 18 or more. It does.
“The big issue here, or certainly where people’s frustration is, is the fact the mitigating factors include previous records that then reduce it down to 12. That shouldn’t count in this case.
“You have gouged someone in the eye; 18 weeks sounds about right. That is a hefty ban for something you should never ever do on a rugby field. 18 weeks seems okay. Most people would go, ‘18 weeks, yeah, about appropriate’. But to reduce it down to 12, that shouldn’t be reduced because of previous.
Youngs added: “If you make a high tackle or maybe do a spear tackle and you sort of slip, then I get there is mitigating factors in terms of have they got a clean record previously, how many tackles have they made in their whole career and only have had X-amount of bans?
“With something like an eye-gouge, you can’t mess around with a thing like that. For it to be reduced on previous records, I don’t agree with that part. For a lot of people, 18 weeks, they would have gone, ‘Yeah, about right’.
“You have identified it is intentional – well then there is no mitigation in terms of what you have done previously. You have done that intentionally, so yeah, 18 weeks, I would have gone ‘That sounds about right’. Twelve weeks? That is short of what it should be.”
Agreeing, former England prop Cole added: “If it was reckless and got reduced down, fair enough, but because it was deemed intentional, to then reduce it down on previous, not just in this case but in general, as soon as it is deemed intentional it should just stay as the ban.”
Legend sets sights on new challenge
By Press Association Sport Staff
Kevin Sinfield has set his sights on the Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford as the finishing line for next year’s fundraising challenge for motor neurone disease charities.
Rugby league great Sinfield declared “mission accomplished” after completing the final leg of of his 7 in 7: Together venture when arriving at Headingley Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Over the past seven days the former Leeds and England captain has run seven ultramarathons – around 185 miles in total – to raise an additional £1.15million for MND treatment and research.
It was Sinfield’s sixth endurance challenge, having been inspired by his former Rhinos team-mate Rob Burrow, who died in 2024 after living with MND for four and a half years.
He has now raised over £11m since Burrow was diagnosed with the muscle wasting condition in 2019 and the 45-year-old is planning a poignant end to challenge seven, which was Burrow’s shirt number.
“The first thing I did when I got on the coach last Sunday when we were on our journey down to Ipswich was to speak to Tristan, who plans our routes, to say to him, ‘next year this is what I want it to look like’,” Sinfield told BBC Breakfast. “Can you start to work out distance over seven days and what that looks like – so that’s pretty much planned.
“We’re going to go a little bit earlier and the plan is to finish at the Super League Grand Final, which will be on October 3, and almost finish back where we started.
“The first challenge was in the north, in Leeds and Oldham where I’m from, but to bring it back to Rob and back to rugby league heartland… hopefully we’ll run right across the M62 and back to Old Trafford.
“The great thing is the momentum is getting stronger and better. We didn’t know how much fuel it would have left but someone’s thrown a couple of extra pieces of coal on there so we’re looking forward to next year.”
Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our free daily newsletter here and our WhatsApp channel here for all the breaking news.
