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Tonight's rugby news as England make shock call and Welsh rugby boss faces uncertain future amid furore
@Source: walesonline.co.uk
These are your evening rugby headlines on Wednesday, March 12.
Welsh rugby boss faces uncertain future
Neath RFC owner Matty Young says he faces an uncertain future at the club after facing major backlash over a social media post.
A now-deleted tweet promoting the club's upcoming derby match against Llangennech RFC claimed that the fixture was 'not for girls' and was subsequently met with widespread condemnation, leading Young to issue an apology for the move.
Young, who was the author of the post, claims that the message had intended to "shine a light on the casual misogyny that still exists in parts of rugby" and "champion the incredible women and girls’ rugby players who represent our club". However, he apologised for any offence caused and took "full responsibility".
Appearing on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, he explained that he had intended the post to be part of a wider campaign to "integrate the Neath junior girls' side with the Neath brand and senior sides". However, he "impulsively" decided to publish the original post earlier and planned to post a video highlighting the campaign the next day.
"What was going to happen there was a juxtaposition between the two sides and, at the end, the junior girls' sides would come out to battle the Neath mens' senior team and essentially make a poster 'not for boys' at the end," he said. "I was hoping ultimately to integrate them within the club."
However, Young admits now that he should have listened to the "strong women at the club" and not led the campaign himself. He added that the move had caused "a lot of fury" at the club and while he intends to "get through this season", whether he should stay beyond that point is now uncertain.
"I spoke to the girls that night and there was a lot of fury and absolutely rightly so, and at that point that's when the post was taken down," he said. "It was for the girls to lead, and it's one of the things I'm going to do when I go back is to talk to the girls and ask them what they want."
"I'm ultimately leading on some areas I've led well on and other things I've led really really badly on, and this is something I've led really badly on, and I shouldn't be leading in this area."
England ring changes for Wales clash
England head coach Steve Borthwick has named his team to face Wales in Cardiff this weekend, making four changes from the side that defeated Italy in the last round.
Borthwick's men head to the Principality Stadium knowing they have an outside chance of winning the Six Nations title, with a big win against their old enemy - coupled with France majorly slipping up against Scotland - likely seeing them crowned champions.
The stakes are high but the England coach has made some bold moves in selecting his team, with Ollie Lawrence's achilles injury against the Italians prompting a backline reshuffle.
Sale Sharks wing Tom Roebuck has been brought in for his first international start, with Tommy Freeman deployed in midfield, Elliot Daly moved from full-back to the left wing and Marcus Smith returning to the starting line-up in the No.15 jersey.
As well as Roebuck and Smith, Borthwick has also brought Luke Cowan-Dickie and Tom Curry into the pack. Hooker Cowan-Dickie will lineup alongside props Ellis Genge and Will Stuart, who is set to win his 50th cap in Cardiff, while Curry starts at blindside with his twin brother Ben at openside and Ben Earl at No.8.
Fraser Dingwall is at inside centre with Freeman outside him, while Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith make up the half-back pairing.
On the bench, 20-year-old Henry Pollock is named among the replacements and is set to earn his first senior cap for England, while George Ford, Jamie George and Tom Willis also feature. Despite scoring two tries over Italy at Twickenham, wing Ollie Sleightholme has been dropped from the squad altogether.
“We're excited to face Wales at the Principality Stadium this weekend, one of the most iconic venues in rugby,” said Borthwick. “The atmosphere will be electric, and we know we’ll need to be at our very best to get the result we’re aiming for.
England: 15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Ollie Chessum, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Ben Curry, 8 Ben Earl.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Henry Pollock, 21 Tom Willis, 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 George Ford.
Wales U20s make four changes
Wales head coach Richard Whiffin has made four changes to his side to face England in the U20s Six Nations on Friday night.
After losing two players - Tom Cottle and Logan Franklin - to suspensions, Whiffin has been forced into some alterations as his side look to end their campaign on a winning note and end England's Grand Slam hopes. While they could finish as high as third for the first time since 2017, Wales could also end up with the wooden spoon if results go against them on the final weekend, so there is plenty to play for at Cardiff Arms Park.
Whiffin's enforced changes see Dan Gemine replace the suspended Cottle in the second row, while scrum-half Sion Davies earns his first start of the campaign in place of Franklin. Harri Wilde returns to replace the injured Harri Ford at fly-half, while Osian Roberts replaces Elijah Evans at outside centre.
“Whether it is through injury or suspension the opportunites and chances opens up for someone else and we hope those guys grab it,” said Whiffin. “We’ve reviewed pretty heavy and looked around the opportunities around the chances we left out there against Scotland.
“We’re focusing on ourselves this week. England have performed very well during the tournament – they are current world champions as well, so it is going to be a hell of a game. We had such a good performance last time out against Ireland at Rodney Parade at home and we are hoping for the same intent and endeavour against what will be a really good England team.
“The boys have worked so hard for this period," he added. "It’s a tough tournament, every game is tough, lots of tight turnarounds, lots of travel but for us to finish at home in front of a home crowd, I think it would be a really nice send off for the boys to finish the tournament well with a really good performance and hopefully a victory.”
Wales U20s: 15. Tom Bowen, 14. Harry Rees-Weldon, 13. Osian Roberts, 12. Steffan Emanuel, 11. Aidan Boshoff, 10. Harri Wilde, 9. Sion Davies; 1. Ioan Emanuel, 2. Harry Thomas, 3. Sam Scott, 4. Kenzie Jenkins, 5. Dan Gemine, 6. Deian Gwynne, 7. Harry Beddall (capt), 8. Evan Minto
Replacements: 16. Evan Wood, 17. Louie Trevett, 18. Owain James, 19. Luke Evans, 20. Caio James, 21. Carwyn Edwards, 22. Elis Price, 23. Jack Woods
Scotland unfazed by prospect of trying to tame rampant France
By Anthony Brown, PA
Scotland back-rower Jack Dempsey is unfazed by the prospect of trying to tame rampant France and “upset their party” amid what promises to be a raucous atmosphere in Paris on Saturday night.
Les Bleus will claim their first Guinness Six Nations title in three years – and only their second championship triumph since 2010 – if they defeat the Scots at Stade de France.
Despite Gregor Townsend’s side being out of title contention and cast as underdogs, Dempsey is adamant he will not be cowed by the frenzy that awaits his side in the 80,000-capacity bowl in Saint-Denis.
“Me personally, I don’t really care about any of that,” said the Australia-born 30-year-old. “That’s for them. They deserve to be in a position to be excited for their team who are playing for the Six Nations.
“Two years ago when we played there, that was my first time playing against France in the Six Nations and that time I would answer the question, ‘wow, what an achievement, what a special place to play’.
“You see all the pageantry and the flags and the songs and it is a really good place to play.
“But we’re going there against the favourites to try and upset their party. And that’s the hardest thing to do right now. But we’re not too worried about what the external is. We just want to focus on ourselves.”
Scotland have won only once in France this century, behind closed doors in 2021.
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